JP2002107036A - Refrigerating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To promptly perform thawing treatment of frozen objects, such as foods or the like, which are subjected to low-temperature frozen storage, without the need for moving the frozen objects to another accommodation chamber, so that the objects are brought to the conditions appropriate for cooking. SOLUTION: A refrigerating apparatus is provided with a control unit for controlling an air channel or a heating medium channel, such that the storage temperature and the temperature of the frozen objects are speedily rendered to be a prescribed thawing temperature. The control is executed by mixedly introducing outside air into a freezer compartment, or by recovering and introducing waste heat of radiating portion of a cool-air production cycle, at the time of performing refrigeration operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for controlling the temperature in a refrigerator for realizing an increase in the storage temperature or a high-speed thawing after a freezing operation in a freezing apparatus for freezing and storing foods and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A device for generating a cold heat source by a heat pump cycle or the like and circulating cold air generated by cooling by the cold heat source into a refrigerator to freeze a frozen object is used in a household freezer or a commercial refrigeration facility. Commonly used. In the case of freezing meat and fish, the freezing temperature of the frozen object is around -2 ° C, and it is necessary to cool down to about -5 ° C to completely freeze the water in the cells, In order to suppress the deterioration of the quality inside and the growth of bacteria, it is preferable to lower the temperature further. For this reason, a device that secures a temperature inside the refrigerator of −18 ° C. or less has been widely put into practical use. On the other hand, the frozen object in this temperature range cannot be cut with a blade, and even during heating cooking, the temperature difference between the surface and the inside becomes remarkable, so that proper cooking is impossible,
There is also used a freezer (freezer) controlled at around −3 ° C., which does not lead to complete freezing, or at around −7 ° C., which is the lower limit of the freezing state where cutting with a blade is possible.

[0003]

In the above conventional method,
In the case of a freezing temperature of about -3 ° C or -7 ° C, the taste deteriorates due to the progress of ripening (deterioration) of the frozen object, and the growth of bacteria such as spoilage bacteria is not sufficiently suppressed. Long-term storage over a long period of time, while low-temperature storage at around -18 ° C can maintain quality, but requires so-called thawing to raise the temperature and soften the frozen state before use for cooking. Becomes Therefore, in the case of the latter low-temperature storage, it is necessary to replace the storage room (refrigeration room) at about 0 ° C. with thawing several hours or more before serving for cooking, or to put it out of the refrigerator and expose it to heat supplied by outside air or running water. Thawing by heat supply was required. Further, a part of the room for storing the frozen object is subjected to separate and independent temperature control.
The temperature was lowered to about 8 ° C, and -5 was obtained by switching the control conditions.
Some devices can be set to a medium temperature of about 3 ° C. or −3 ° C. In this case, too, the internal temperature depends on the temperature rise due to natural cooling, so it takes several minutes to raise the temperature to the set temperature for relaxing the thawing state. It takes a long time to exceed the time, and before it becomes possible to serve it after raising the indoor temperature and thawing the frozen material,
It took less than half a day, and the degree of freedom was poor.

The present invention solves the conventional drawbacks and quickly and arbitrarily adjusts the temperature in the refrigerator to the condition of medium-temperature storage for returning from a low-temperature storage that enables long-term storage of a frozen object to a state ready for cooking. It has been made to provide an adjustable refrigeration system.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerating apparatus for storing a frozen object, and a cool air generator for generating cool air having a temperature equal to or lower than a freezing temperature of the frozen object. Means, air blowing means for circulating the cool air in the freezer, ventilation means for mixing and introducing outside air into the freezer, temperature detecting means in the freezer, and circulation in the freezer in conjunction with the temperature detecting means. It is characterized by comprising temperature control means for controlling the operation of the ventilation means and / or the cool air generation means and the ventilation means so that the air has a predetermined set temperature.

In the refrigeration apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, a flow path is formed so that the outside air introduced by the ventilation means flows into the freezer through the vicinity of the cold air generation means, and the flow path is formed. It is characterized in that a road opening / closing means is provided and operated in conjunction with the temperature control means.

Further, in the refrigeration apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, a freezer for storing the frozen object, a cool air generating means for generating cool air below the freezing temperature of the frozen object, and sending the cool air into the freezer. Blowing means, heating means for supplying heat to the cold air, temperature detecting means in the freezer, the blowing means so that the freezer circulating air at a predetermined set temperature in conjunction with the temperature detecting means and And / or temperature control means for controlling the operation of the cold air generation means and the heating means.

In a refrigeration apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a heat pump cycle is used as the cold air generating means, and the heating means recovers and supplies heat released from a heat radiating portion of the heat pump cycle. I have.

Further, in the refrigeration apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the heating means has a heat transfer structure for circulating a heat medium in which a radiating portion of the heat pump cycle is on a high-temperature heat source side and circulating air in the freezer is on a low-temperature radiating side. It is characterized by doing.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a main part configuration showing an embodiment of a refrigeration apparatus according to the present invention. FIG.
Wherein 1 is a freezing room for storing frozen objects such as fish meat,
2 is a heat pump for generating cold air,
Is a compressor 3 for compressing the refrigerant vapor, a radiator 4 for dissipating and condensing the heat from the compressed refrigerant vapor, and a capillary for passing the condensed refrigerant under pressure loss and evaporating the refrigerant by a decrease in pressure after passing. The cooling unit 6 includes a cooling unit 6 that obtains cool air by heat exchange from a refrigerant vapor whose temperature has been reduced by evaporation, and a blower 7 that circulates cool air into the freezing compartment 1. Reference numeral 8 denotes a temperature detector for detecting the ambient temperature in the freezer compartment 1, and reference numeral 9 denotes a vent for introducing outside air provided in a part of the side wall of the freezer compartment 1 and a ventilation door a10 which can be freely opened and closed. Has been established. Reference numeral 11 denotes a temperature control unit, which controls the operation of the ventilation door a10, the compressor 3, and the blower 7 in accordance with a signal input from the temperature detection unit 8 (details are omitted).
Is installed.

In the above configuration, during normal freezing, the heat pump 2 is operated with the ventilation door a10 closed.
Cool air of about −25 ° C. generated in the cooler 6 is circulated in the freezing room 1 by the blower 7. This operation is continued while the temperature in the freezing room 1 is detected by the temperature detecting unit 8, and when the temperature in the freezing room 1 reaches a predetermined temperature (for example, −20 ° C.), compression is performed according to an operation signal from the temperature control unit 11. Stop the operation of the machine 3,
Thereafter, when the temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature in response to the detection signal of the temperature detection unit 8, the operation of the compressor 3 is repeated again.

Here, when the food stored in the freezer 1 is set to a medium temperature of about -3.degree.
A control signal is issued according to the setting of the temperature control unit 11, and the ventilation door a
This operation is performed so that the air can be introduced by opening 10 and the outside air is mixed and circulated in the freezing room 1 by operating the blower 7 so as to secure and maintain −3 ° C. set by the temperature detection unit 8. You can continue. When the inside of the freezing room 1 reaches a predetermined temperature, the ventilation door a10 is closed, and only the blower 7 is operated to perform the air circulation operation in the freezing room 1. However, since the stored food has reached a sufficiently low temperature, If the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 8 again falls below the set temperature of -3 ° C. according to the heat capacity, the operation of opening the ventilation door a10 and repeatedly introducing high-temperature outside air is performed. Thus, the inside of the freezer compartment 1 has the ventilation holes 9 despite the heat insulating structure on the side walls.
By introducing high-temperature outside air from, it is possible to quickly reach the optimal setting temperature for thawing food, and to provide cooking without replacing stored food and without a long time. Will be possible.

Here, the ventilation port 9 can be opened at any side wall in the freezer compartment 1, but by opening it near the cooler 6 as in the present embodiment, it is possible to generate cold air during normal freezing operation. The blower 7 used for circulation can perform the action of forced introduction of outside air, and the steam contained in the introduced outside air can be removed by dew condensation in the cooler 6. Without increasing the dew point in the chamber 1, unnecessary freezing in the freezing chamber 1 can be avoided, and the effect of preventing the atmosphere for cold storage from being damaged can be obtained.

Further, in the present embodiment, the freezing room 1 is configured as a single unit. However, a plurality of freezing rooms 1 are installed in parallel, and the coolers 6 are disposed in a distributed manner or generated by the coolers 6. By branching a flow of cold air (indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1) and flowing into each freezer 1, it is possible to raise only the temperature of the freezer 1 in which foods to be thawed and stored for cooking are stored. Thus, usability according to the timing of using the food can be provided.

(Embodiment 2) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, the basic components and functions are the same as those in (Embodiment 1), but the outside air introduced into freezing room 1 is brought into contact with radiator 4 of heat pump 2 to be introduced. The points are different. Therefore, the present embodiment will be described focusing on this difference.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a main part of a refrigeration apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the cool air generated by the radiator 6 is directly circulated in a large amount to -20.
The freezing room 1 and the auxiliary freezing room 25 that perform freezing storage at about ° C.
And a refrigerating room 26 for introducing a small amount of cold air to maintain the room temperature around 0 ° C. The auxiliary freezing room 25 is provided with a ventilation path 22 for introducing outside air through the vicinity of the radiator 4 of the heat pump 2 and a ventilation door b23 for opening and closing the flow path. a21 is arranged. In the cold air introduction part of the auxiliary freezing room 25,
An openable / closable shield door 24 is provided.

The operation in this configuration will be described. During frozen storage of food, a large amount of low-temperature cold air of about −25 ° C. generated by the cooler 6 is introduced and circulated into the freezing room 1 and the auxiliary freezing room 25 to quickly freeze the food and maintain the temperature at −20 ° C. or less. I do. In the auxiliary freezing chamber 25, the food to be provided after being thawed before cooking is stored, and a thawing mode setting signal is sent from the temperature control unit 11 until a predetermined time before use. Based on this signal, in the auxiliary freezing room 25, the shielding door 24 is closed to suppress the inflow of cool air, and the ventilation door b23 is opened to communicate the ventilation path 22. At the same time, auxiliary blower a
21 is operated to start the inflow of the outside air.
Is open near the radiator 4 of the heat pump 2, and the outside air takes in the heat radiated by the radiator 4 and flows in at a high temperature (40 ° C. to 50 ° C.). Therefore, the temperature in the auxiliary freezer 25 rises more quickly than when the room temperature air is introduced, and can reach a predetermined thawing temperature condition. Depending on the operation control of the temperature control unit 11, the temperature in the auxiliary freezing chamber 25 is temporarily raised to about + 5 ° C. from the state of being frozen and stored at −20 ° C., for example, and rapidly thawed, and then again to about −3 ° C. It is also possible to lower the temperature and keep it cool after thawing.
This can be realized by appropriately selecting the high temperature outside air introduction by the opening 23 and the auxiliary blower a21 and the cold air introduction by opening the shielding door 24. Thus, by recovering and utilizing the waste heat radiated into the atmosphere by the operation of the heat pump 2, a high-speed thawing operation can be realized without providing a special heat source.

(Embodiment 3) A third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment has the same basic configuration as that of (Embodiment 2), but is characterized by a means for transferring heat from the radiator 4 to the auxiliary freezing chamber 25. Will be described.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing a main part of a refrigeration apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG.
33 is an auxiliary radiator provided in the auxiliary freezing room 25;
Is a pump, and 34 is a heat medium flow path. The heat radiated by the radiator 4 is transferred to the auxiliary heat radiator 33 by the pump 32 via a heat medium (oil or the like) flowing in the heat medium flow path 34, It is configured to be supplied into the auxiliary freezing chamber 25 by the operation of b31.

In the above configuration, when the auxiliary freezing chamber 25 is set to the medium temperature for thawing, the shielding door 24 is closed to stop the introduction of cool air, and conversely, the pump 32 and the auxiliary blower b31 are operated. The heat medium flows through the heat medium flow path 34. Since the heat medium flows through the radiator 4, the heat medium absorbs the high-temperature heat here, and the auxiliary radiator 3 in the auxiliary freezing room 25 is absorbed.
A heat transfer operation of radiating heat at 3 is performed. By doing so, it is not necessary to directly circulate the auxiliary freezing chamber 25 with the outside air, and there is no inflow of odor, bacteria, water vapor, and the like in the surrounding environment, and appropriate and high-speed fluctuation of the temperature can be realized in a clean atmosphere. In addition, the heat generation of the radiator 4 is intermittently operated for cooling the inside of the freezing room 1 and the refrigerating room 26,
Since a sufficient amount of heat can be obtained, it is not necessary to supply heat by a separate heating means such as a heater, and the energy used is sufficient only by the operation input of the pump 32 and the auxiliary blower b31. A system can be realized.

[0022]

As described above, the refrigeration apparatus according to the present invention introduces external heat when thawing a low-temperature-frozen food or the like to be frozen to a medium temperature before serving it for cooking. This makes it possible to change the temperature of the freezer compartment at a high speed and to an appropriate temperature, and to provide an economical refrigeration apparatus that enables a quick thawing operation without requiring replacement of the storage compartment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a main part configuration showing a first embodiment of a refrigeration apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a main part configuration showing a second embodiment of a refrigeration apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a main part of a refrigeration apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Freezer room 2 Heat pump 3 Compressor 4 Radiator 5 Capillary 6 Cooler 7 Blower 8 Temperature detection part 9 Ventilation opening 10 Ventilation door a 11 Temperature control part 21 Auxiliary blower a 22 Ventilation path 23 Ventilation door b 24 Shielding door 25 Auxiliary freezing Room 26 Refrigeration room 31 Auxiliary blower b 32 Pump 33 Auxiliary radiator 34 Heat medium flow path

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tomoko Tani 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Pref. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A freezer for storing an object to be frozen, a cool air generating means for generating cool air below the freezing temperature of the object to be frozen,
Air blowing means for circulating the cool air in the freezer; ventilation means for mixing and introducing outside air into the freezer; temperature detecting means in the freezer; and circulating air in the freezer in conjunction with the temperature detecting means. A refrigerating apparatus comprising: a temperature control unit that controls an operation of the air blowing unit and / or the cold air generating unit and the ventilation unit so that the temperature reaches the set temperature. 2. The outside air introduced by the ventilation means,
The flow path is formed so as to flow into the freezer through the vicinity of the cold air generation means, and the flow path is provided with an opening / closing means for operating in conjunction with the temperature control means. Refrigeration equipment. 3. A freezer for storing an object to be frozen, a cool air generating means for generating cool air below the freezing temperature of the object to be frozen,
Air blowing means for feeding the cold air into the freezer; heating means for supplying heat to the cold air; temperature detecting means in the freezer; The blowing means and / or
Alternatively, a refrigerating apparatus comprising: the cold air generating means and a temperature control means for controlling an operation of the heating means. 4. The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a heat pump cycle is used as said cool air generating means, and said heating means recovers and supplies heat released from a heat radiating portion of said heat pump cycle. 5. The heat transfer means according to claim 4, wherein the heating means has a heat radiating portion of the heat pump cycle as a high-temperature heat source side and a circulating air in the freezer as a low-temperature heat radiating side. A refrigeration device as described.