JP2001221557A - Food freezer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance a thermal efficiency and to suppress drying of food by making a velocity and an air volume of a cooling air passing a food shelf uniform. SOLUTION: A cooler 3 and a fan 4 are aligned laterally in parallel in a food freezer surrounded by a heat insulation case 2 having a door 1 on its front surface. Food shelves 6 of many stages are disposed in its front side. Thus, the cooling air fed forward from the fan 4 flows through the shelves 6, returns back in a U state, and passes the cooler 3 to suck from a back surface of the fan 4. In this case, a food freezer comprises a bypass channel 17 for guiding a part of the cooling air flowed and folded in the shelves 6 to the back surface of the fan 4 without passing through the cooler 3 but guided to the back surface of the fan 4 and a shutter mechanism 18 for opening/closing this bypass channel 17 in response to an air temperature in the food freezer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food freezer mainly for business use which stores fresh fish, raw meat, processed foods and the like in a frozen state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As this type of food freezer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a freezer), there is one as shown in FIGS.
Here, FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the freezer, FIG. 8 is a front view of the inside, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the cooler and the upper half portion of the food shelf in FIG. In these figures, a box 2 enclosed in a heat-insulating box 2 having a door 1 (FIG.
A cooler 3 having a rectangular front shape approximately the same size as the wall is installed along the wall surface of the back wall 2a, and the inside of the refrigerator is supplied with air in front of the cooler 3 perpendicularly to the front surface of the cooler 3 as shown by an arrow in FIG. A fan 4 for blowing air in the direction is arranged.

The front surface of the cooler 3 is substantially square when it is divided into two vertically, and two fans 4 are provided so as to be located on a diagonal line of each of these squares. In the freezing space 5 formed between the fan 4 and the door 1, a plurality of food shelves 6 are vertically stacked and inserted into guide rails (not shown). As shown in FIG. 9, the front end of the food shelf 6 made of a plate body is bent at a right angle to form a front wall 6a, and the peripheral wall 6b lower than the front wall 6a is bent at the left, right, and rear ends. Is formed.

In such a freezer, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 9, when the cooling air from the fan 4 advances forward along the food rack 6, it hits the front wall 6a and bends laterally to the side without the fan 4. Then, it hits the left and right side walls 2b or 2c (FIG. 8) of the box body 2 and is bent toward the cooler 3 side. In this case, in FIG. 9, the directions of the cooling air that folds in a U-shape on the front wall 6 a and the side wall 2 a or 2 b of the food shelf 6 are opposite to each other between the fans 4 a and 4 b positioned diagonally up and down.

When the flow of the cooling air shown in FIG. 9 is observed for each stage (6-1 to 6-7) of the food rack 6, the middle stage is observed.
As described above, the upper stage 6-1 to 6-3 and the lower stage 6-5 to 6-7 are the same as described above, but the boundary between the upper and lower fans 4a and 4b. In the stage 6-4, the flows of the fans 4a and 4b in opposite directions interfere with each other, and their progress is hindered, and the cooling air hardly flows. Further, the cooling air from the fans 4a and 4b is blown out as a swirling flow having a certain spread in a substantially cylindrical shape due to the influence of the motor portion at the center, and the spread becomes larger toward the downstream side. Therefore, the above phenomenon occurs in the upper and lower stages 6-3 of the middle stage 6-4.
And 6-5 also exist to some degree. Furthermore, as described above, one fan 4a, 4b is provided with several food shelves 6 in one stage.
The cooling air flowing into each stage has a different air volume and velocity at each food rack 6.

[0006]

It is considered that the above-mentioned conventional freezer requires improvement in the following points. (1) Cooling air becomes difficult to flow due to interference between the fans as they approach the boundary between the upper and lower fans, so that the cooling speed of the food racks at each stage varies, and as a result, the particle size of ice crystals inside the food becomes uneven. Occurs on food shelves with a low wind speed, the particle size grows large, and the cell tissue of the food is easily destroyed. (2) To minimize evaporation of water from food,
It is necessary to suppress the decrease in humidity of the cooling air due to frosting,
Conventionally, the amount of air that comes into contact with the heat exchange surface of the cooler is constant regardless of the cooling load.When the cooling load is small, the humidity of the cooling air decreases due to unnecessary contact with the heat exchange surface. Frost on the cooler. An object of the present invention is to improve these points, to form a food freezer with high thermal efficiency, which can freeze foods in the refrigerator uniformly and minimize the amount of water evaporation to a high quality. Is what you do.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a cooler, a fan, and a plurality of food shelves are installed in a refrigerator surrounded by a heat-insulating box having a door on the front side and blown out from the fan. In a food freezer that freezes and stores food placed on the food shelves by cooling air circulating in the refrigerator through the cooler, while smoothly flowing without interfering with the cooling air, between the cooling air and the cooler This problem is solved by appropriately controlling the amount of heat exchange of the first embodiment according to the cooling load.

That is, according to the present invention, a cooler and a fan are arranged side by side, a food shelf is arranged in front of the cooler and a fan, and the cooling air blown forward from the fan flows through the food shelf and turns back. The cooling device is configured to pass through the cooler from the front surface to the back surface and to be sucked from the back surface of the fan, and to provide a means for limiting a heat exchange amount between the cooler and the cooling air. The replacement amount is adjusted according to the air temperature in the refrigerator or the food temperature.

[0009] According to such a food freezer, even when a plurality of fans are arranged vertically, the cooling air sent from each fan circulates in the refrigerator along the same path, so that the cooling air of each fan is cooled. There is no possibility that the flows interfere with each other. In addition, the cooling air flowing out of the fan flows through the food shelf and turns back, and the whole amount passes through the cooler and then is circulated into the fan, so that sufficient heat exchange with the cooler is performed. On the other hand, by providing a means for limiting the amount of heat exchange between the cooler and the cooling air, when the cooling load is small, the amount of heat exchange is adjusted accordingly,
It is possible to suppress a decrease in the humidity of the cooling air due to unnecessary heat exchange and frost formation on the cooler.

As means for restricting the heat exchange amount, there are provided a bypass flow path for guiding a part of the returned cooling air flowing in the food rack to the back of the fan without passing through the cooler; A shutter mechanism for opening and closing the flow path in accordance with the internal air temperature (claim 2); a shutter mechanism for opening and closing a part of a ventilation passage passing through the cooler in accordance with the internal air temperature; A mechanism (claim 4) for shutting off the supply of the refrigerant to a part of the cooler can be provided.

[0011] In the food freezer, the number of revolutions of the fan is changed according to the temperature in the refrigerator.
Further, if the rotation speed of the refrigerating compressor is changed according to the temperature in the refrigerator (claim 6), the cooling capacity can be more finely adjusted according to the cooling load.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. It is to be noted that the same reference numerals are used for portions corresponding to the conventional example, and the description of the portions substantially the same as the conventional example is omitted. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a freezer showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a view of FIG. (A) is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the left half of the interior along the line IV-IV in FIG. 1, and (B) is the left and right cooling air of each ventilation path in FIG. It is the top view which showed the direction with the arrow.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a back wall 2a of the box 2 is placed in a warehouse surrounded by a heat insulating box 2 having a door 1 on a front surface.
A cooler 3 is installed on the right side of the refrigerator along the inner wall surface and at an appropriate interval to form a ventilation path 7 from the inner wall surface, and two fans 4 are installed vertically alongside the left side. Have been. Eight upper and lower food shelves 6 are arranged in front of the cooler 3 and the fan 4. As indicated by the arrows, the cooling air blown forward from the fan 4 forms a U-shaped flow in the food rack 6 and turns back, passes through the cooler 3 from the front to the back, and passes through the ventilation path 7. And circulates so as to be sucked from the back of the fan 4. The food shelf 6 is provided with a vertical ventilation guide plate 16 that divides the shelf from left to right from the cooler side to the front of the door side, either fixedly or removably by fitting. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the upper and lower two fans 4 correspond to the upper four-stage and lower four-stage food shelves 6, respectively.

At the front of the fan 4, distribution ducts 8 for uniformly distributing the cooling air blown from the fan 4 to the food shelves 6 at the respective stages are provided. The distribution duct 8 includes a rectangular frame 9 surrounding the front of the fan 4,
And a horizontal partition plate 10 provided in multiple stages (three stages in the figure) in accordance with the food shelves 6, and a four-stage ventilation path 11 communicating with the food shelves 6 is defined in the frame 9. ing.

The air from the fan 4 is blown out as a substantially cylindrical swirling flow, and the cooling air is swirled in the direction of rotation of the fan 4 (clockwise in the illustrated case) as shown by the arrow in FIG. Has components. Therefore, the cooling wind swings up and down,
The direction is reversed between the left side and the right side of the fan 4. Therefore, when there is no distribution duct 8, the vertical angle of entry of the cooling air with respect to the food shelf 6 varies depending on the height position of the food shelf 6 and whether it is on the left side or on the right side, and accordingly the air volume also varies. Therefore, if the distribution duct 8 is provided on the front surface of the fan 4, the cooling air from the fan 4 is divided by the partition plate 10 before swinging up and down, so that the above-described variation can be suppressed. In order to divide the cooling air into the number of food shelves 6, at least the partition plates 10 corresponding to the number of food shelves 6 are necessary. The partitioning plate 10 may be added in the middle of the above to achieve rectification.

In FIG. 1, the ventilation fan 4 at each stage is provided with a rectangular outer peripheral cover 12. The frame 4 is so designed that the cooling air blown from the fan 4 is introduced into the frame 9 without leakage. The body 9 is formed integrally with the fan outer peripheral cover 12. The frame 9 and the partition plate 10 are made of, for example, an aluminum plate or a stainless plate. In the illustrated example, the fan outer peripheral cover 12 is rectangular. However, if the fan outer peripheral cover 12 is circular and the fan side of the frame 9 is gradually changed from a square to a circular shape to be integrated with the fan outer peripheral cover 12, the flow of the cooling air can be reduced. Become more smooth.

As described above, the wind from the fan 4 is blown out as a substantially cylindrical swirling flow.
The air flow introduced into each ventilation passage 11 in FIG.
Can be considered to be substantially proportional to the area of the portion of the fan 4 that overlaps the annular blade contour (indicated by a dashed line) excluding the motor 13, and the amount of air varies depending on the height position of the ventilation passage 11 relative to the fan 4. For example, in FIG. 4A, for each distribution duct 8, the first and fourth air passages 11
It is larger than the ventilation passages 11 of the third and third stages. Therefore, in order to make the air volume uniform on this surface, in FIG.
An airflow adjusting piece 14 for distributing cooling air up and down is integrally formed on the edge on the fan side of the partition plate 10 of the third and third stages. As a result, the entrances of the second-stage and third-stage ventilation passages 11 are enlarged, while the entrances of the first-stage and fourth-stage ventilation passages 11 are reduced, and the amount of air flowing in is adjusted.

Further, in the swirling flow of the cooling air shown in FIG. 4 (A), the directions of swinging to the left and right in the distribution ducts 8 are, for example, opposite at the first stage and the fourth stage of the ventilation path 11.
FIG. 4B is a plan view showing the variation of the wind direction due to the influence of the swirl component with respect to the ventilation path 11 of each stage. Therefore, in order to make the wind direction uniform in each food shelf 6, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of sheets (4 in FIG.
) Wind direction guide plates 15 are attached.

FIG. 2 shows the wind direction guide plate 15 in the second-stage ventilation path 11. The wind direction guide plate 15 is installed by being swung to the left as viewed from the front, and the cooling air is passed through the food rack 6. The angle is set so that it is blown out diagonally to the left end. According to the experiment, it was confirmed that the cooling wind circulated along the inner peripheral surface of the food shelf 6 as shown in the drawing and that no air stagnation occurred in the food shelf 6 by adopting such a direction. However, if the swing angle is too large, stagnation tends to occur at the central portion of the food shelf 6 on the fan side, so the degree of the shake is appropriately selected according to the individual characteristics of the food freezer such as the internal dimensions, air volume, and wind speed. There is a need.

The proper angle of the wind direction guide plate 15 depends on the height position of the ventilation passage 11, and as can be seen from FIG.
Since the cooling air in the ventilation passage 11 of the stage swings rightward,
In order to correct this to the left as described above, the wind direction guide plate 15
Must be larger than the second or third stage. On the other hand, since the cooling air in the fourth-stage ventilation path 11 has already largely swung to the left, the swing angle needs to be smaller than that of the second or third stage in order to suppress this to an appropriate degree.

On the other hand, in FIG. 2, bypass passages 17 are provided vertically on both sides of the cooler 3. The bypass flow path 17 is for guiding a part of the cooling air that has flowed back into the food shelf 6 and turned back to the back of the fan 4 without passing through the cooler 3. A rotating blade type shutter mechanism 18 that opens and closes is provided.
The shutter mechanism 18 is driven by a solenoid, a motor, or the like, and is opened and closed according to the temperature of the food or the temperature of the cooling air detected by a temperature sensor (not shown). Shutter mechanism 1
By the opening degree of 8, the ratio of the amount of airflow in which the cooling air that has turned back inside the food shelf 6 bypasses the cooler 3 and is guided to the back of the fan 4 changes.

The shutter mechanism 18 is closed as shown in FIG. 2 when the temperature in the refrigerator rises above a prescribed value due to, for example, the introduction of food, and the wind speed in the cooler 3 is increased to increase the amount of heat exchange. If the temperature in the refrigerator falls below the specified value,
As shown in FIG. 3, the shutter mechanism 18 is opened to limit the amount of heat exchange, prevent unnecessary decrease in humidity, and suppress drying of food. In addition, by simultaneously performing the rotation speed control of the fan 4 and the inverter control (rotation speed control) of the refrigerant compressor, the capacity of the cooler 3 is finely adjusted to a required heat exchange amount according to the wind speed, and cooling is performed. In addition to preventing a decrease in the humidity of the wind, it is possible to freeze the food at an appropriate temperature at an optimum wind speed according to the temperature of the food, and at the same time, to realize power saving. Note that FIGS. 2 and 3 show a state where the shutter mechanism 18 is fully closed and fully opened, respectively, but the shutter opening can be changed stepwise.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views of a food freezer showing different embodiments. In this embodiment, a shutter mechanism 1 for opening and closing a part of an air passage passing through a cooler 3 is provided.
9 is provided. Here, the cooler 3 is 3 in the lateral direction.
A shutter mechanism 19 similar to that in FIG. 2 is disposed on the front of the left and right coolers 3a and 3c. The opening and closing of the shutter mechanism 19 is controlled in accordance with the temperature of the food or the temperature of the cooling air detected by a temperature sensor (not shown), and the cooling air that is turned back inside the food shelf 6 by the opening degree of the shutter mechanism 19 activates the coolers 3a and 3c. The passing air volume changes.

The shutter mechanism 19 is opened as shown in FIG. 5 to increase the amount of heat exchange in the cooler 3 when the temperature in the refrigerator rises above a prescribed value due to, for example, the introduction of food, and thereafter the temperature in the refrigerator is increased. Is smaller than the specified value, the shutter mechanism 19 is closed and only the cooler 3b is passed as shown in FIG. 6, and the amount of heat exchange is limited to prevent an unnecessary decrease in humidity.
If an electromagnetic valve is inserted into a pipe for supplying the refrigerant to the coolers 3a and 3c in addition to the shutter mechanism 19, the amount of heat exchange in the coolers 3a and 3c can be reduced by supplying and shutting off the refrigerant by opening and closing the electromagnetic valve. It can be adjusted more finely. Alternatively, the electromagnetic valve can be provided in place of the shutter mechanism 19, whereby the amount of heat exchange is increased by operating the coolers 3a and 3c, and the amount of heat exchange is limited by stopping the operation. be able to. Further, the coolers 3a, 3
If c is constituted by an electronic cooler using a Peltier element,
It is possible to simplify control of the amount of heat exchange in the coolers 3a and 3c. In the illustrated embodiment, the example in which the cooler 3 and the fan 4 are installed on the back wall side of the box body 2 is shown, but it is also possible to install them along the side wall. Further, the number of bypass passages 17 and the number of divisions of the cooler 3 are not limited to the illustrated example, but can be increased or decreased.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, a cooler and a fan are arranged side by side, a food shelf is arranged in front of the cooler and the fan, and cooling air blown forward from the fan flows through the food shelf. By flowing, turning back, passing through the cooler from the front to the back, and sucking in from the back of the fan, the cooling air of each fan interferes with each other and the flow is obstructed. In addition, since the cool air circulating in the refrigerator circulates in such a manner that the whole amount passes through the cooler and then is sucked into the fan, sufficient heat exchange is performed between the cooler and the cooler. Further, in that case, a means for limiting the amount of heat exchange between the cooler and the cooling air is provided, and the amount of heat exchange is adjusted according to the temperature of the air in the refrigerator. Since the amount of heat exchange can be adjusted accordingly, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the humidity of the cooling air due to unnecessary heat exchange and the formation of frost on the cooler. That is, the present invention can realize uniform and high-quality food freezing with a high thermal efficiency while minimizing the amount of water evaporation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a food freezer showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state where a shutter mechanism in FIG. 1 is closed.

4 (A) is a cross-sectional view of a main part along line IV-IV of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 (B) is a plan view showing the wind direction of each ventilation path in FIG. 4 (A) by arrows. .

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of a food freezer showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a state in which a shutter mechanism in FIG. 5 is closed.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a food freezer showing a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing the inside of the food freezer of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a main part of a food shelf and a cooler in FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Front door 2 Insulated box 3 Cooler 4 Fan 6 Food shelf 17 Bypass flow path 18 Shutter mechanism 19 Shutter mechanism

Claims (6)

[Claims] A refrigerator, a fan, and a plurality of food shelves are installed in a refrigerator surrounded by a heat-insulating box having a door on the front side, and are blown out from the fan and circulated through the refrigerator. In a food freezer that freezes and stores food placed on the food shelf by cooling air, the cooler and the fan are installed side by side, the food shelf is arranged in front of the cooler and the fan, and the fan is located forward from the fan. The blown cooling air flows through the food shelf and turns back, passes through the cooler from the front to the back, and is configured to be sucked from the back of the fan, and the cooler and the cooling air Means for limiting the amount of heat exchange between the two, and the amount of heat exchange is adjusted according to the air temperature in the refrigerator or the food temperature. 2. A means for limiting the amount of heat exchange, comprising: a bypass flow path that guides a part of the cooling air that has flowed through the food shelf and turned back to the back of the fan without passing through the cooler; 2. The food freezer according to claim 1, further comprising a shutter mechanism that opens and closes the bypass passage in accordance with the air temperature in the refrigerator. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for restricting the amount of heat exchange comprises a shutter mechanism for opening and closing a part of an air passage passing through said cooler in accordance with an internal air temperature. Food freezer. 4. The food freezer according to claim 1, wherein said means for limiting the amount of heat exchange comprises a mechanism for interrupting the supply of refrigerant to a part of said cooler. 5. The food freezer according to claim 1, wherein the number of revolutions of said fan is changed according to the temperature in the refrigerator. 6. The food freezer according to claim 1, wherein the number of revolutions of the refrigerating compressor is changed according to the temperature in the freezer.