JP2002107078A - Thermal storage device and refrigerator provided with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal storage device capable of quick and uniform cooling, refrigerating, thawing and heating. SOLUTION: This thermal storage device comprises rod-like heat reservoir parts 31, formed of a good heat conductor such as aluminum and copper with a thermal storage material 33 enclosed inside and connecting parts 32 arranging the heat reservoir parts 31 to connect them. The connecting part 32 is formed of a male engagement piece 32b, provided with an engaging bar fixed to the end part of one long side in the heat reservoir part 31 and a female engagement piece 32a which is fixed to the end part of the other long side and provided with an engagement groove turnably supporting the engaging bar inserted and fitted. Thereby, foodstuffs and the like are wrapped to be heated, cooled, etc., uniformly and efficiently.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat storage device capable of quickly cooling or heating food or the like to a desired temperature, and a refrigerator provided with the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, in general households, preservation of meat and the like at low temperatures and cooling of canned juice are performed by storing these foods in a refrigerator.

[0003] Such a refrigerator is provided with a refrigeration circuit to generate cool air, and the cool air cools air in the refrigerator, thereby cooling foods and the like.

[0004] On the other hand, when meat and fish are stored frozen, they are thawed and used. However, if they are rapidly thawed, the cells are destroyed and the freshness and quality are deteriorated. Now, a function that allows slow thawing at low temperatures has begun to be introduced.

[0005] In addition, some foods may be damaged when frozen and the taste of the food may be lost, and such foods are stored in a temperature range immediately before freezing (about -1 ° C) (hereinafter referred to as ice temperature). (Called frozen).

[0006]

However, in the cooling of canned juice and the like, the thawing of frozen food and the like, or the freezing of ice at the temperature just before freezing, unexpected failures occur for the following reasons. There was a case.

That is, in the refrigerator, as described above, when cooling food or the like, the air in the refrigerator is circulated through an evaporator serving as a source of cold air in the refrigeration circuit to cool the air in the refrigerator. And then cool the food with that air.

However, since various kinds of foods are stored in the refrigerator, the air around the foods is not always replaced by the circulating air in the refrigerator. There may also be places where the air flow stagnates.

Therefore, the food stored in such a place takes a longer time to cool than other foods.

In particular, as can be understood from the fact that air is also used as a heat insulating material, when air layers having different temperatures are formed so as to wrap food, cooling does not proceed because this air layer acts as a heat insulating material. I will.

Under such circumstances, in the case of food such as canned juice, etc., which is desired to be cooled in a relatively short time, an operation such as lowering the temperature in the refrigerator is performed. The temperature of the food is too low, and the food stored in a refrigerator not intended for freezing, such as a refrigerator, may freeze.

Also, when meat or fish is frozen or thawed, the air layer formed around the food similarly inhibits heat transfer, so that freezing and thawing as desired may not be possible. .

That is, when food such as meat or fish is frozen, an air layer having a large temperature difference is generated between the food and the air in the refrigerator because the temperature of the food is approximately room temperature. Therefore, in order to rapidly freeze this, the set temperature must be lowered.

However, since the food is cooled from its surface, if the set temperature is too low, the surface may be completely frozen even if the inside is frozen at ice temperature.

Also, when thawing is performed, there is a problem that the thawing time becomes long due to the air layer.

Further, since the inside of a refrigerator or a tray is generally made of a resin or the like having a low thermal conductivity, for example, when meat is thawed, the temperature of the portion where the meat is in contact with the meat is reduced. There is a problem that freezing and thawing are delayed without going down forever.

Of course, in order to solve such a problem, it is only necessary that the circulating air always blows on the surface of the food so as to suppress the generation of the air layer having the temperature difference. However, it is difficult to realize such a refrigerator in which various foods are arbitrarily stored, and in order to do so, the amount of circulating air must be increased.

When the air volume is increased, there arises a problem that the energy consumption such as an electricity bill increases, and also a problem that the food dries or that when the door is opened, cool air blows into the room violently.

Further, the interior of the refrigerator is usually formed of a member having low thermal conductivity such as resin, and canned juice and the like are directly placed in such a refrigerator, and the meat is placed in a wrap or the like. .

Therefore, there is a difference in the cooling rate between a portion that contacts the inner wall of the refrigerator and the like that has low thermal conductivity and a portion that contacts the air in the refrigerator.

In the same manner as in the case of thawing meat, in this case, thawing is usually carried out by placing the meat on a tray, but the tray is often made of metal or resin. However, a temperature difference occurs between the portion in contact with the tray and the portion in contact with the surrounding air, resulting in a difference in the thawing speed.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for rapidly cooling, freezing,
An object of the present invention is to provide a heat storage device capable of performing thawing and heating uniformly and a refrigerator using the same.

[0023]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rod-shaped heat storage member formed of a good heat conductor such as aluminum or copper and having a heat storage material sealed therein. And a connecting portion for arranging the heat storage portions and connecting the heat storing portions to each other so that the food and the like are wrapped so that heating, cooling, and the like can be uniformly and efficiently performed.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that a material having a large latent heat, such as water or an aqueous glycerin solution, is used as the heat storage material.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the cross section of the heat storage unit is formed in a substantially equilateral trapezoidal shape, and connection portions are provided at the left and right long side ends.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the connecting portion has a male engaging piece provided with an engaging rod fixed to one long side end of the heat storage section, and a connecting portion fixed to the other long side end. And a female engaging piece having an engaging groove into which the engaging rod is inserted and fitted to rotatably support the engaging rod.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the connecting portion has a deformable bending portion provided to be bendable, engagement claws provided symmetrically at left and right ends of the deforming bending portion, and a left and right portion of the heat storage portion. And an engaging hole provided at an end of the long side, into which the engaging claw is inserted and fitted.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator for cooling and preserving food, comprising a cool air generating means.
A heat storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, is provided.

[0029]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the refrigerator 10. The refrigerator 10 has a refrigerator 11, a vegetable room 19, an ice room 20, a select room 21, a freezer room 22, and the like provided inside the housing 11 by a partition wall.

As will be understood from the following description, the heat storage device according to the present invention may be used outside the refrigerator 10 or may be used inside the refrigerator. In the following description, a case where cold heat is stored in the heat storage device will be described as an example, but it goes without saying that warm heat may be stored.

The refrigerating compartment 18 mainly stores foods to be stored without freezing. In FIG. 1, an ice temperature chamber is provided below the refrigerator compartment 18. A tray is provided in the ice temperature chamber, and food is put in the tray and stored at the ice temperature.

The vegetable room 19 is used for storing fruits and vegetables, and the ice room 20 is used for storing ice and storing ice cream. The freezer compartment 22 is used for storing foods to be frozen and stored.

The select room 21 is set, for example, at about 3 ° C., the refrigerator compartment 18, at about 1 ° C., the chilled room, at about −1 ° C., at the ice temperature room, and at about −3 ° C., at the partial temperature. Room, set to about -7 ℃ soft freezer room 22,
The temperature is set to about −18 ° C. and is used by switching as the freezing room 22.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a heat storage device 30 according to the present invention. The heat storage device 30 is connected to a heat storage member 31 formed of a good heat conductor such as copper or aluminum. The heat storage part 31 is sealed with a cold storage material 33 which is constituted by the connection part 32 (32a, 32b).

As the cold storage material 33, a material having a large latent heat, such as water, an aqueous glycerin solution such as propylene glycol, or alcohol can be used.

The heat storage section 31 has a long rod shape having a substantially trapezoidal cross section, and is provided with a connecting portion 32 along the longitudinal direction. The connecting portion 32 is provided with a female engagement piece 32a and a male engagement piece. It is constituted by a piece 32b.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a schematic configuration of the connecting portion 32. FIG. 3A shows a female engaging piece 32a, and an engaging groove 35 is formed in the female engaging piece 32a. ing. FIG. 3B shows a male engaging piece 32b, and an engaging rod 36 is formed on the male engaging piece 32b.

Then, the engaging rod 36 of the male engaging piece 32b is inserted and fitted into the engaging groove 35 of the female engaging piece 32a, so that the engaging state shown in FIG. Heat storage devices 30 are connected.

Accordingly, the number of connected heat storage devices 30 can be arbitrarily set in accordance with the size of food or the like.

The present invention is not limited by the structure of the connecting portion 32 shown in FIG. 3, but may be, for example, a connecting portion 32 having a structure as shown in FIG.

The connecting portion 32 shown in FIG. 4 has a deformed curved portion 42 formed symmetrically left and right, and has a configuration in which engagement claws 43 are provided at both ends. The heat storage device 30 connected by the connecting portion 32 is provided with an engaging hole 44 into which the engaging claw 43 is inserted and engaged.

Thus, the two heat storage devices 30 are connected by inserting the engagement claws 43 into the engagement holes 44 and fitting them.

The heat storage device 30 connected by such a connecting portion 32 can be bent at the connecting portion 32 as shown in FIG.

Such bending is made possible by rotation of the engagement rod 36 inserted and fitted in the engagement groove 35 in the connecting portion 32 as shown in FIG. At 32, it bends at the thin portion of the deformation bending portion 42, so that it can be easily bent and extended, and can be performed any number of times.

A case where, for example, can juice is cooled by the heat storage device 30 will be described with reference to FIG. When using the heat storage device 30, the heat storage device 30 is stored in a refrigerator or the like in advance and cooled. At this time, the number of connected heat storage devices 30 does not matter.

Then, the heat storage device 30 is taken out and wound around the can juice A. In this state, the can juice A is cooled by being left or stored in a refrigerator. Since the can juice A is wound around the heat storage device 30 in which the cold heat is stored, the cooling heat is supplied from all the side surfaces and is in direct thermal contact with the heat storage device 30, so that efficient cooling can be performed. Therefore, the cooling time can be significantly reduced.

[0047]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rod-shaped heat storage body portion formed of a heat conductive material such as aluminum or copper and having a heat storage material sealed therein. Since the heat storage device is configured by connecting the heat storage units and connecting them to enable connection thereof, it is possible to uniformly and efficiently heat and cool the food and the like.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the heat storage material is formed of a material having a large latent heat, such as inexpensive water or an aqueous glycerin solution, the cost can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the cross section of the heat storage unit is formed in a substantially equilateral trapezoidal shape and the connecting portions are provided at the left and right long side ends, the heat storage device can be largely bent. It becomes possible to wrap various foods.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the connecting portion has a male engaging piece having an engaging rod fixed to one long side end of the heat storage section, and the other long side end. Is fixed to
Since the engaging rod is formed by the female engaging piece having the engaging groove which is inserted and fitted and rotatably supports the engaging rod, the heat storage device can be largely bent with a simple configuration. It becomes possible to wrap various foods.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the connecting portion has a deformable bending portion provided so as to be able to bend, the engaging claws provided symmetrically at the left and right ends of the deforming bending portion, and the heat storage portion. And the engaging holes provided at the left and right long side end portions and into which the engaging claws are inserted and fitted, so that the heat storage device can be greatly bent with a simple configuration and wrap various foods and the like. It becomes possible.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator for cooling and preserving foods provided with a cool air generating means, wherein the heat storage device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects is provided. It is possible to efficiently cool foods having different shapes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator applied to the description of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the heat storage device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a connecting portion.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a connecting portion having a configuration alternative to FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a heat storage device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of using a heat storage device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Refrigerator 30 Heat storage device 31 Heat storage body part 32b Male engagement piece 32a Female engagement piece 32 Connection part 32 (32a, 32b) Connection part 33 Cold storage material 35 Engagement groove 36 Engagement rod 42 Deformation curved part 43 Engagement Claw 44 engagement hole

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hitoshi Aoki 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yuki Kakinuma 2-chome Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka No. 5-5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaya Matsuoka 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka F-term in Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. 3L045 AA01 BA04 CA08 DA05 KA16 PA04

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A rod-shaped heat storage member formed of a good heat conductor such as aluminum or copper and having a heat storage material sealed therein, and a connecting portion for arranging the heat storage members and connecting them. A heat storage device, characterized in that: 2. The heat storage device according to claim 1, wherein the heat storage material is formed of a material having a large latent heat, such as water or an aqueous glycerin solution. 3. The heat storage device according to claim 1, wherein a cross section of the heat storage unit is formed in a substantially equilateral trapezoidal shape, and the connecting portions are provided at left and right long side ends. . 4. A male engaging piece having an engaging rod fixed to one long side end of the heat storage unit, and a connecting part fixed to the other long side end of the heat storage unit. The heat storage according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the mating bar is formed by a female engaging piece having an engaging groove that is rotatably supported by inserting the mating bar. apparatus. 5. A deformable bending portion provided so that the connecting portion is bendable, engagement claws provided symmetrically at left and right ends of the deformable bending portion, and left and right long side ends of the heat storage section. The heat storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the heat storage device has an engagement hole provided in the portion and into which the engagement claw is inserted and fitted. 6. A refrigerator for cooling and preserving food, comprising a cool air generating means, comprising the heat storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.