JP2002277129A - Container for vacuum cooling - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a container for vacuum cooling capable of preventing a substance to be cooled from being accompanied and sucked from the container during vacuum suction. SOLUTION: In the container 1 for vacuum cooling having a vacuum suction port 4, an accompany suction preventing means 6 is provided to prevent a substance to be cooled from accompanying to suction during vacuum suction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum cooling container used for vacuum cooling an object to be cooled.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in the food industry, when storing cooked food in a refrigerator, it is required to rapidly cool hot food after cooking from the viewpoint of food hygiene. Such food is generally cooled by a vacuum cooling method. This vacuum cooling method
By depressurizing the inside of the container containing the food and lowering the saturated vapor temperature in the container below the temperature of the food, the water contained in the food is evaporated, and the latent heat of vaporization during the evaporation is used to produce the food. Is a method of cooling.

Meanwhile, as an apparatus used for performing vacuum cooling, that is, as a vacuum cooling apparatus, there is a vacuum cooling apparatus disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-60438. This vacuum cooling device includes vacuum suction means, an upper lid connected to the vacuum suction means, a movable container body, and opening / closing means for separating or closely contacting the container body and the upper lid. Then, after storing the food in the container main body and moving the container main body toward the upper lid, the container main body and the upper lid are brought into airtight contact with each other to form a cooling container, and the cooling container is provided by the vacuum suction means. The inside is decompressed and the food is vacuum cooled.

[0004] However, in the vacuum cooling device, depending on the decompression speed in the cooling container by the vacuum suction means, the food may be gaseous in the cooling container (ie, air in the cooling container and vapor evaporated from the food). Was sucked along with

For example, when the food is liquid, when the liquid food (hereinafter, referred to as “liquid food”) boils due to the reduced pressure in the cooling container, the liquid food is scattered as droplets. The air is sucked toward the vacuum suction means while being entrained by the gas in the cooling container. In particular, in the case of a liquid food, bumping may occur depending on the decompression speed, and when the bumping occurs, a large amount of liquid food is sucked toward the vacuum suction means while being entrained by gas. When the food contains small light food pieces, such food pieces are sucked into the vacuum suction means together with the gas in the cooling container.

As described above, when the food is sucked together with the gas in the cooling container, the food in the cooling container loses its weight. Further, as described above, when food is sucked into the vacuum suction means, a pipe for vacuum suction of the cooling container is clogged, and the efficiency of vacuum suction is reduced. Further, there is a problem on food hygiene such that if the food is left as it is sucked into the pipe or the vacuum suction means, the food rots and emits an odor.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum cooling container which can prevent the object to be cooled from being sucked from the inside of the container during vacuum suction. It is.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the invention according to claim 1 provides a vacuum cooling container provided with a vacuum suction port, which is used for vacuum suction. It is characterized in that entrained suction preventing means for preventing entrained suction of the object to be cooled is provided.

[0009]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present invention is embodied as a container for vacuum cooling (hereinafter, referred to as a “container”) used when evaporating water in a cooled object under reduced pressure and vacuum cooling the cooled object. This container can be used as a container for accommodating a high-temperature food after heating and cooking, for example, in vacuum cooling in the food manufacturing industry.

The container according to the present invention is a container for accommodating an object to be cooled in an airtight state. The container is provided with a vacuum suction port, and is configured to vacuum suction the inside of the container via the vacuum suction port when the object to be cooled in the container is vacuum-cooled. The container is provided with accompanying suction preventing means for preventing the object to be cooled from being sucked together with the gas in the container during vacuum suction. The accompanying suction prevention means serves to separate the object to be cooled from the gas sucked into the vacuum suction port, and is arranged between the vacuum suction port and the object to be cooled in the container.

The container will be described in more detail. First, the container comprises a container body having an opening at an upper part, and a lid for closing the opening in an airtight state.
The lid is provided with the vacuum suction port. The lid is provided with separating means for separating an object to be cooled from gas sucked into the vacuum suction port as the accompanying suction preventing means. As the separating means, for example, a plate-like member can be used. The plate-like member is provided below the vacuum suction port on the lower surface side of the lid with a predetermined gap interposed between the lid and the lid. To place.

In order to perform a vacuum cooling operation using the container, an object to be cooled is housed in the container, and then the inside of the container is vacuum-sucked using an appropriate vacuum suction means. Here, when vacuum-evacuating the container, the inside of the container can be directly vacuum-evacuated by connecting an appropriate vacuum suction means to the vacuum suction port. In addition, by connecting the vacuum suction means to an appropriate decompression tank, storing the container in the decompression tank, and vacuum-evacuating the inside of the decompression tank,
The inside of the container can be indirectly evacuated.

[0013] When the object to be cooled in the container is scattered when the inside of the container is vacuum-evacuated by the vacuum suction means, the scattered object to be cooled is the gas in the container (ie, the container). Together with the air inside and the vapor evaporated from the object to be cooled). However, since the scattered object to be cooled is separated from the gas by the separating means, only the gas flows into the vacuum suction port. Therefore, the separating means can prevent the droplets of the object to be cooled from flowing into the vacuum suction port accompanied by the gas in the container.

Therefore, when the vacuum cooling operation is performed using the container, the object to be cooled can be prevented from being discharged out of the container, and the object to be cooled can be prevented from being lost. In addition, since the object to be cooled can be prevented from being sucked into the vacuum suction means, the problem of clogging of a pipe for vacuum suction in the container can be solved. Further, when the object to be cooled is a food, it is possible to solve a problem on food hygiene such as generation of an unpleasant odor due to spoilage of the food in the pipe or the vacuum suction means.

Here, in the above description, the vacuum suction port is provided in the lid, but may be provided in the container body. In this case, the separating means can be provided on the container body.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing an embodiment of a vacuum cooling container according to the present invention and an example of use of the vacuum cooling container. Here, the object to be cooled in this embodiment is a liquid food such as soup or broth.

In FIG. 1, first, a vacuum cooling container (hereinafter, referred to as “container”) 1 has an opening (not shown) at an upper part.
And a lid 3 attached to the container body 2 and closing the opening in an airtight state.
At substantially the center of the lid 3, a vacuum suction port 4 for reducing the pressure inside the container 1 is provided. This vacuum suction port 4
Is a cylinder 5 attached so as to penetrate the lid 3
Is formed by On the lower surface of the lid 3, a plate-like member 6 as an accompanying suction preventing means is provided with an appropriate support member 7,
7,... Are provided. The plate-like member 6 is a rectangular plate-like member, and is disposed substantially horizontally with a predetermined gap interposed between the lower surface of the lid 3. That is, the plate-like member 6 is disposed a predetermined distance below the opening at the lower end of the cylindrical body 5.

A check valve 8 is provided in the cylindrical body 5 as means for maintaining the inside of the container 1 at a vacuum. The check valve 8 also has a function as vacuum release means for releasing the vacuum state in the container 1 when removing the lid 3 from the container body 2.

Further, a vacuum suction means 9 for vacuum suctioning the inside of the container 1 is provided on the cylindrical body 5.
0. Here, the cylinder 5 and the vacuum suction line 10 are connected to be detachable as appropriate.

Next, a vacuum cooling operation using the container 1 will be described. First, the high temperature liquid food after heating and cooking is stored in the container main body 2, and the lid 3 is attached to the container main body 2 so that the liquid food is stored in the container 1 in an airtight state. .

Next, the container 1 and the vacuum suction means 9
Are connected by the vacuum suction line 10. Then, the inside of the container 1 is depressurized by operating the vacuum suction means 9. Then, as the pressure in the container 1 decreases, the saturated steam temperature decreases, so that the water contained in the liquid food evaporates actively, and the liquid food is cooled by the latent heat of vaporization released at this time.

When the liquid food is cooled to a predetermined temperature, the vacuum suction means 9 is stopped. Then, the connection between the container 1 and the vacuum suction means 9 is released by removing the vacuum suction line 10 from the cylinder 5. In a state where the connection with the vacuum suction means 9 is released, the inside of the container 1 is maintained in a reduced pressure state by the check valve 8, and the lid 3 is connected between the inside and the outside of the container 1. The container is pressed against the container body 2 by the pressure difference. Therefore, by transferring the liquid food after vacuum cooling to the storage means such as a refrigerator together with the container 1, it is possible to prevent the liquid food from being contaminated due to mixing of dust and various germs. Further, during storage in the storage means, since the inside of the container 1 is maintained in a reduced pressure state, propagation of various bacteria in the residual air in the container 1 and oxidation of the liquid food by oxygen in the residual air are prevented. Thus, deterioration of the quality of the liquid food can be prevented.

By the way, when the pressure in the container 1 is reduced, the saturated steam temperature in the container 1 becomes lower than the temperature of the liquid food, and when the liquid food boils, a large amount of bubbles are generated one after another in the liquid food. These bubbles burst sequentially. And
When the foam bursts, the liquid food will be scattered and splashed. The amount of the droplets increases when the liquid food boils intensely, such as when the pressure in the container 1 is reduced in a short time. In particular, as described above, bumping occurs in the liquid food, and when this foam bursts, the amount of splashing increases significantly.

However, since the plate-shaped member 6 is provided in the container 1, the droplets scattered from the liquid surface of the liquid food collide with the plate-shaped member 6 and the liquid in the container 1 Fall to food. On the other hand, the vapor evaporated from the air or the liquid food in the container 1 flows into the vacuum suction port 4 through a gap between the lid 3 and the plate-shaped member 6. That is, the plate-like member 6 separates the liquid food droplets from the gas flowing toward the vacuum suction port 4 and allows only the gas to pass through the vacuum suction port 4. It is possible to prevent the liquid food from being sucked in along with the liquid food 9.

Accordingly, when the vacuum cooling operation is performed using the container 1, it is possible to prevent the liquid food from being discharged out of the container 1, and to prevent the liquid food in the container 1 from being reduced. Can be. In addition, since it is possible to prevent the liquid food from being sucked into the vacuum suction means 9, there is a problem of clogging of the vacuum suction port 4 and the vacuum suction line 10, the inside of the vacuum suction line 10, and the like. Food hygiene problems such as generation of off-flavor due to spoilage of liquid food in the vacuum suction means 9 can also be solved.

[0026]

According to the present invention, when the object to be cooled, in particular, the liquid object to be cooled is vacuum-cooled, it is possible to prevent the object to be cooled from being sucked from the container. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem of loss of the object to be cooled and the problem of clogging of a pipe for vacuum suction in the container as described above.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing one embodiment of a vacuum cooling container according to the present invention and an example of use of the vacuum cooling container.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container (container for vacuum cooling) 4 Vacuum suction port 6 Plate-shaped member (entrainment suction prevention means)

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yuki Matsufuji 7 Horie-cho, Matsuyama-shi, Ehime Miura Industrial Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3E067 AB01 EA32 EC40 FC01 GA15 3L044 AA04 BA05 CA11 DD04 KA04

Claims (1)

[Claims] A vacuum cooling container provided with a vacuum suction port.
3. The vacuum cooling container according to claim 1, further comprising an entrainment suction preventing means 6 for preventing entrained suction of the object to be cooled during vacuum suction.