JP2000249446A - Food refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a food refrigerator in which temperature control in a chamber is facilitated, and consumption of electric power is reduced. SOLUTION: A food refrigerator is adapted such that there are provided coolers 7a, 7b for cooling air in a chamber, and cooler air fans 11a, 11b, 11c disposed in an air passage of the coolers 7a, 7b whereby the cooler air fans 11a, 11b, 11c are operated to circulate cold air heat exchanged in the coolers 7a, 7b in the chamber for cooling foods in the chamber. In the refrigerator, a food temperature sensor 33 is provided for detecting food temperature, and further control means is provided which operates the cooler air fans 11a, 11b, 11c with high performance until foods are inserted into the chamber and detected temperature of the food temperature sensor 33 reaches set temperature and operates the cooler air fans 11a, 11b. 11c while reducing the capability of the cooler air fans 11a, 11b, 11c after the detected temperature of the food temperature sensor 33 reaches a set temperature.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to controlling the capacity of a fan for a cooler of a food cooler.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a cooling circuit including a cooling unit including a compressor and a condenser, and a cooler for cooling air in a warehouse is provided by a pipe, and is arranged in an air passage of the cooler when the cooling unit is operated. There is known a food cooler that operates a blower for a cooler and circulates cool air exchanged by the cooler in the cooler to cool food in the cooler.

[0003] Into the food cooler, high-temperature food of about 70 ° C, for example, which has been cooked in a steam convection oven or the like, is introduced, and is rapidly cooled to a predetermined temperature or less in a short time. It is required to keep cool in the temperature range.

[0004]

However, in the conventional configuration, the blower for the cooler is always operated at a high capacity both at the time of rapid cooling and at the time of cooling. When the blower for the cooler is operated at a high capacity, the electric motor of the blower is overheated, and this heat is blown into the inside of the refrigerator, so that the temperature inside the refrigerator becomes difficult to be cooled. In addition, when the blower for the cooler is always operated at a high capacity, there is a problem that wasteful power is consumed.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to provide a food cooler which facilitates temperature control in the refrigerator and reduces power consumption.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A cooler that cools the air in the refrigerator, and a blower for a cooler arranged in an air passage of the cooler, the cooler blower is operated to circulate cool air that has been heat-exchanged by the cooler into the refrigerator, In a food cooler that cools food in the refrigerator, a food temperature sensor that detects a food temperature is provided, and a blower for a cooler is used until food is put into the refrigerator and the temperature detected by the food temperature sensor reaches a set temperature. Is operated with high capacity, and after the temperature detected by the food temperature sensor reaches the set temperature, a control means is provided for operating with reduced capacity of the cooler blower.

According to the present invention, until the food temperature reaches the set temperature, the blower for the cooler is operated at a high capacity because of the necessity of rapidly cooling the food. After the temperature detected by the food temperature sensor reaches the set temperature, the operation of the cooler blower is reduced.

Normally, when the number of revolutions of the blower for the cooler increases, the electric motor of the blower is overheated, and the heat of the electric motor is blown into the inside of the refrigerator, so that the temperature inside the refrigerator increases. It may decrease. To prevent this,
After the temperature detected by the food temperature sensor reaches the set temperature,
This is to prevent overheating of the electric motor by reducing the rotation speed of the blower for the cooler as compared with when the food is put in.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooler for cooling the air in the refrigerator, and a blower for the cooler disposed in an air passage of the cooler, and the blower for the cooler is operated to operate the cooler. In the food cooler that circulates the heat-exchanged cool air in the refrigerator and cools the food in the refrigerator, a food temperature sensor that detects a food temperature, and a refrigerator sensor that detects the temperature in the refrigerator are provided. The temperature difference between the temperature detected by the food temperature sensor and the temperature detected by the sensor in the refrigerator is below a predetermined temperature,
And control means for operating the cooler blower with a high capacity until the change in the internal temperature with respect to time becomes a predetermined change amount, and after reaching the above state, reducing the capacity of the cooler blower and operating the control means. It is a thing.

According to the present invention, the food is maintained until the temperature difference between the temperature detected by the food temperature sensor and the temperature detected by the internal sensor is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature and the internal temperature changes over time to the predetermined amount. Operation of the cooler blower with high capacity from the necessity of rapid cooling. After the above state is reached, the operation of the cooler blower is reduced.

Normally, when the number of revolutions of the blower for the cooler rises, the electric motor of the blower is overheated, and the heat of this electric motor is blown into the inside of the refrigerator, so that the temperature inside the refrigerator increases. It may decrease. In order to prevent this, after reaching the above state, the number of revolutions of the blower for the cooler is reduced to prevent overheating of the electric motor.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, a buzzer sound is generated when the temperature detected by the food temperature sensor reaches a set temperature.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the buzzer sound is stopped when a predetermined time has elapsed or when the door of the food cooler is opened.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a blast chiller (hereinafter referred to as a food cooler). The food cooler 1 includes two cooling units 3a and 3b, and the two cooling units 3a and 3b are connected to coolers 7a and 7b via refrigerant pipes 5, respectively. The coolers 7 a and 7 b are integrally formed in parallel with the air path, and are disposed in the air path leading to the inside 9 of the refrigerator.

The coolers 7a, 7b are provided with three cooler blowers 11a, 11b, 11 for circulating the cool air heat exchanged by the coolers 7a, 7b into the refrigerator 9.
c is attached. These three cooler blowers 11
Each of a, 11b, and 11c has a speed control means (not shown).

One cooling unit 3a is provided with a rated compressor 13
It has. The refrigerant discharge pipe 13a of the rated compressor 13
Is connected to a water-cooled condenser 15.
5 is provided with a water pipe 16. 17 is a solenoid valve for water, 18 is a blower for a compressor, and 19 is an oil cooler of the compressor. Refrigerant outlet pipe 15a of water-cooled condenser 15
, A receiver tank 21 and a dry core 22 are sequentially connected, and further, an expansion valve 23 is connected via a refrigerant pipe 5. The above-described cooler 7a is connected to the expansion valve 23, an accumulator 24 is connected to the cooler 7a via the refrigerant pipe 5, and the accumulator 24 is connected to the refrigerant suction pipe 13b of the rated compressor 13. I have. Further, a bypass pipe 25 is connected to the refrigerant discharge pipe 13 a of the rated compressor 13, and the bypass pipe 25 is connected to a refrigerant outlet pipe 23 a of the expansion valve 23 via a hot gas solenoid valve 26.

Since the two cooling units 3a and 3b have the same configuration, the description of the configuration of the other cooling unit 3b will be omitted.

In this embodiment, as described above, two cooling circuits for connecting a cooling unit and a cooler to one food cooling cabinet 1 are provided. The food cooling cabinet 1 is provided with an in-compartment sensor 31 for detecting an in-compartment temperature and a core temperature sensor (food temperature sensor) 33 for detecting a core temperature of food, and each outlet pipe of the coolers 7a and 7b. Are provided with refrigerant temperature sensors 32a and 32b for detecting the refrigerant temperature.

A high-temperature food of about 70 ° C., for example, heated and cooked in a steam convection oven (not shown) or the like is introduced into the inside 9 of the food cooling cabinet 1. A needle-shaped core temperature sensor 33 is inserted into any one of the foods, and the core temperature of the food is detected by the core temperature sensor 33.

Next, this control operation will be described with reference to FIG.

The temperature detected by the core temperature sensor 33 is compared with the set temperature (S1). If the food temperature is high, such as when the food is charged, the rated compressors 13 of all the cooling units 3a and 3b are used.
Is operated (S2), and the blower 11a for the cooler is
11b and 11c are operated at a high capacity of 60 Hz (S
3), the food temperature drops in a short time.

When the detected temperature of the core temperature sensor 33 reaches the set temperature in S1, the detected temperature of the refrigerant temperature sensor 32a of one of the cooling units 3a is compared with a predetermined temperature (-2 ° C.) (S4). ). When the temperature is lower than the predetermined temperature, the hot gas from the rated compressor 13 is injected into the cooler 7a of the operating cooling unit 3a (S5), and the operation of the cooler blowers 11a, 11b, 11c is stopped. (S6). In this case, referring to FIG.
3 is fully closed, and the hot gas solenoid valve 26 is opened. According to this, hot gas from the rated compressor 13 is supplied to the bypass pipe 25.
The temperature of the cooler 7a is close to the set temperature (2 ° C. lower than the set temperature indicated by the point a in FIG. 3).
Low temperature).

This hot gas injection is performed to prevent the food from freezing due to a temperature drop due to the overshoot by the cooler 7a.

It is preferable that a buzzer beep is sounded when the temperature detected by the core temperature sensor 33 reaches the set temperature. This is because the worker's attention is raised.
It is desirable that this buzzer sound be stopped, for example, when a predetermined time has elapsed or when the door of the food cooler 1 is opened.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic operation in the chilled mode.

As described above, when the food temperature is high, such as when the food is charged, the rated compressors 13 of all the cooling units 3a and 3b are operated (S2), and the blowers 11a, 11b and 11c for the coolers are operated. It is operated at a high capacity of 60 Hz (S3). This corresponds to step 100 in FIG. 3, during which the temperature detected by the core temperature sensor 33 drops rapidly. During this time, the detected temperature used for operation control follows the core temperature sensor 33. According to the core temperature sensor 33, when the process proceeds to step 101, the food temperature may be overshot by the cooler 7a, and this food may be frozen.

In step 101, the cooler 7 in the operating cooling unit 3a is operated until the temperature detected by the internal temperature sensor 31 becomes lower than the set temperature by 2 ° C.
A hot gas from the compressor 13 is injected into a (S5).

Since the temperature of the cooler 7a rises to near the set temperature due to the injection of the hot gas, the overshoot of the food temperature is suppressed, and the temperature inside the refrigerator reversely rises within a short time, so that the freezing of the food is prevented. Is prevented.

In FIG. 2, after S6 is executed, the temperature detected by the refrigerant temperature sensor 32b of the other cooling unit 3b is compared with a predetermined temperature (-2 ° C.) (S2).
7). When the temperature is lower than the predetermined temperature, the hot gas from the rated compressor 13 is injected into the cooler 7b of the cooling unit 3b in operation (S8), and the blower 1 for the cooler is used.
The operation of 1a, 11b, 11c is stopped (S9). The purpose and effect of this hot gas injection are the same as those described above.

In S4, if the detected temperature of the refrigerant temperature sensor 32a of one of the cooling units 3a is higher than a predetermined temperature (-2.degree. C.), since no overshoot has occurred here, the flow proceeds to S10. This time, the temperature detected by the refrigerant temperature sensor 32b of the other cooling unit 3b is compared with a predetermined temperature (−2 ° C.). When the temperature is lower than the predetermined temperature, hot gas from the rated compressor 13 is injected into the cooler 7b of the operating cooling unit 3b (S10).
8), the operation of the cooler blowers 11a, 11b, 11c is stopped (S9).

In short, the above steps are executed for each cooling unit, and the overshoot of the food temperature is suppressed by this step, and the temperature in the refrigerator reverses and rises to near the set temperature within a short time. Is prevented.

After the above steps, the process proceeds to step 102 in FIG. 3, and the on / off control of the rated compressor 13 is executed.

In the control during this time, it is determined whether six hours have elapsed with reference to FIG. 2 (S11). If six hours have not elapsed, one of the cooling units 3a is shut down, and the rated compressor 1 of the remaining cooling unit 3b is turned off.
3 is turned on / off within a range of ± 1 ° C. with respect to the set temperature (S12).

In this case, the detected temperature follows the sensor 31 in the refrigerator. Then, in synchronism with the on / off operation of the rated compressor 13, three of the cooler blowers 11a, 11b, and 11c are operated with their capacity reduced to 30 Hz equally (S13).

In S11, if 6 hours have elapsed, a 6-hour elapsed timer is set (S14), and the cooling unit 3b in operation is defrosted (S15). In this case, referring to FIG. 1, the expansion valve 23 is fully closed and the hot gas solenoid valve 26 is opened. According to this, the rated compressor 13
From the cooler 7b through the bypass pipe 25
And the cooler 7b is defrosted.

Next, the operation of the cooling unit 3b, which has been operating so far, is stopped, and the operation is executed by switching to the remaining cooling unit 3a (S16). Then, the operation ends when the operation end switch is turned on (S17).

In this embodiment, the operation of the cooling unit is switched every time the defrosting operation is performed, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is possible to store the accumulated operating time of the operating compressor 13 and switch the operation to the stopped compressor 13 when a certain time has elapsed. In addition, the number of times of operation of the compressor 13 during operation is stored, and when the compressor 13 is operated a certain number of times,
It is possible to switch the operation. In any case, it is desirable to give the cooling unit a priority order of operation stop in advance.

When the priority order of the operation stop is given to the cooling unit, the operation time of the compressor can be made uniform without any one of the cooling units continuously operating, and the durability of the compressor can be improved. it can.

In this embodiment, when a plurality of cooling circuits are provided, the plurality of cooling units 3
In the case where the temperature inside the refrigerator reaches the set temperature and the temperature inside the refrigerator is maintained in the control temperature range (chilled mode), some of the cooling units are stopped and the control is performed. Control (S12) for turning the cooling unit on / off.

According to this, each of the cooling units 3a and 3b is reduced in size, and when maintaining the inside temperature in the control temperature range (chilled mode), one of the small-sized cooling units 3a and 3b is turned on / off. Since it is only necessary to operate, the temperature control width can be narrowed to the range of ± 1 ° C., and the control accuracy can be improved. Therefore, the refrigeration temperature range is accurately maintained. Does not freeze. Since a compressor controlled by inverter control is not used, the cost does not increase.

As described above, this embodiment has the following effects.

(1) Usually, the blowers 11a and 11 for the cooler
When the rotation speeds of b and 11c increase, the electric motor of the blower is overheated, and the heat of the electric motor is blown into the inside 9 of the refrigerator, so that the temperature inside the refrigerator increases and the cooling efficiency in the refrigerator decreases.

In this embodiment, after the temperature detected by the core temperature sensor 33 reaches the set temperature, the number of rotations of the blowers 11a, 11b, and 11c for the coolers is reduced from 60 Hz to 30 Hz as compared with the time when the food is put in (S3). (S1
3) Overheating of the blower electric motor is reduced, and the cooling efficiency in the refrigerator can be improved.

(2) After the temperature detected by the core temperature sensor 33 reaches the set temperature, the number of rotations of the blowers 11a, 11b, and 11c for the cooler is reduced from 60 Hz to 30 Hz, which is half of that at the time of feeding the food (S3). (S13), the power consumption is reduced.

(3) In addition, the blowers 11a, 11
Since the number of rotations of b and 11c is reduced equally to three units, the air volume in the air passage is reduced uniformly, and therefore, the air volume going into the refrigerator does not become unbalanced, and the occurrence of temperature unevenness is prevented. .

(4) In this embodiment, the chilled mode has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to a refrigeration mode.

(5) In this embodiment, two cooling circuits are provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Naturally, the present invention can be applied to a single cooling circuit.

In another embodiment, for example, the difference between the temperature detected by the core temperature sensor 33 and the temperature detected by the sensor 31 in the refrigerator is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature, and the change in the temperature in the refrigerator with respect to time is a predetermined change amount. Until it becomes cooler blower 11a, 1
It is possible to provide control means for operating the cooling air blowers 11a, 11b, 11c by reducing the capacity of the cooler blowers 11a, 11b, 11c after the operation of the cooling air blowers 1b, 11c with high capacity and the above-mentioned state is reached.

In this embodiment, the temperature difference between the temperature detected by the core temperature sensor 33 and the temperature detected by the internal sensor 31 is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature, and the change in the internal temperature with respect to time becomes a predetermined amount. Operates the cooler blowers 11a, 11b, 11c with high capacity because of the need for rapid cooling of food.
After the above state is reached, the blowers 11a, 11
Operate with the capacity of b and 11c reduced equally to three units.

Usually, the blowers for the coolers 11a, 11b, 1
When the number of rotations of 1c increases, the electric motor of the blower is overheated, and the heat of the electric motor is blown into the refrigerator, the temperature in the refrigerator increases, and the cooling efficiency in the refrigerator may decrease.
In order to prevent this, after reaching the above state, the number of rotations of the cooler blowers 11a, 11b, 11c is reduced to prevent overheating of the electric motor.

Although the present invention has been described based on one embodiment, it is apparent that the present invention is not limited to this.

[0053]

According to the present invention, when rapid cooling of food is required, the cooler blower is operated at high capacity to achieve rapid cooling, and otherwise, the cooler blower is operated with reduced capacity. Therefore, unnecessary overheating of the electric motor of the blower is prevented, the rise of the inside temperature due to this heat is prevented, and therefore, the inside cooling efficiency can be improved and the power consumption can be reduced. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a food cooler according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of operation control.

FIG. 3 is a time chart illustrating a schematic operation in a chilled mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Blast chiller (food cooler) 3a, 3b Cooling unit 5 Refrigerant piping 7a, 7b Cooler 9 Inside refrigerator 11a, 11b, 11c Blower for cooler 13 Rated compressor 15 Water-cooled condenser 23 Expansion valve 25 Bypass pipe 26 Hot gas Solenoid valve 31 Internal sensor 32a, 32b Refrigerant temperature sensor 33 Core temperature sensor (food temperature sensor)

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Katsuhiko Suzuki 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture Inside Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takashi Ishida 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masakazu Kurihara 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka F-term in Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. 3L045 AA01 AA02 AA03 BA04 BA06 CA05 DA02 EA01 HA02 HA09 JA03 JA14 LA05 LA09 LA10 LA18 MA01 MA02 MA04 MA11 NA03 NA16 PA01 PA03 PA05

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cooler for cooling air in a refrigerator, and a blower for a cooler disposed in an air passage of the cooler, and the cooler blower is operated to store cool air exchanged by the cooler. A food temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the food, wherein the temperature of the food reaches the set temperature when the temperature of the food is detected by the food temperature sensor. The food cooling device further comprises a control means for operating the blower for the cooler with a high capacity and reducing the capacity of the blower for the cooler after the temperature detected by the food temperature sensor reaches the set temperature. Warehouse. 2. A cooler for cooling air in a refrigerator, and a blower for the cooler disposed in an air passage of the cooler, and operating the blower for the cooler to cool the cold air exchanged by the cooler. In a food cooler that circulates and cools food in the refrigerator, a food temperature sensor that detects the food temperature, and a refrigerator sensor that detects the temperature in the refrigerator, wherein the food is put into the refrigerator Until the temperature difference between the temperature detected by the food temperature sensor and the temperature detected by the internal sensor is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature, and until the internal temperature changes over time to a predetermined amount, the blower for the cooler is operated at a high capacity. A food cooler comprising a control means for operating and, after reaching the above-mentioned state, operating the cooler blower with reduced capacity. 3. The food cooler according to claim 1, wherein a buzzer sound is generated when the temperature detected by the food temperature sensor reaches a set temperature. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the buzzer sounds after a lapse of a predetermined time,
4. The food cooler according to claim 3, wherein the food cooler stops when the door of the food cooler opens.