JP2003114081A - Food cooling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cooling device for cooked food capable of cooling a food in the middle of cooking or a cooked food easily, speedily and properly even in an untouched state. SOLUTION: In the cooling compartment provided with the cooling means, a control device comprises an end setting means for setting a final processing condition of the food contained, a completion information means for informing the outside that the final processing condition is achieved, and a start input means for starting control in cooperation with the means mentioned above, and those means are connected with themselves.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food cooling device for cooling foods to be cooked or cooked foods at high speed to an optimum temperature.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In cooking food, a cooling operation is often used together with a heating operation. Cooling in the process of processing foodstuffs includes cooling sushi rice after mixing sugar and vinegar, cooling crushed potatoes for potato salad, cooling when solidifying gelatin-based foods such as jelly and bavarois. It is also used for cooling after freezing and cooking frozen food such as edamame. Further, after cooling after cooking, the noodles such as somen and cold noodles, chilled foods such as white egg dumplings, and vegetable salad are cooled before being served on the table. To cool these ingredients or cooked foods,
Air cooling such as placing it near the window or blowing it with a fan
Water cooling such as exposure to running water or immersion in ice water has been commonly used for a long time. In recent years, due to the widespread use of household refrigerators, there are cases where refrigerators are used, but even then, in many cases, a refrigerating room whose interior temperature is controlled to 3 ° C to 5 ° C is often used, and the interior temperature is -20. I rarely used a freezer that was around ℃. However, in order to quickly cool the cooked food together with the pan, a method of providing a cool storage material in a separate cooling chamber and rapidly cooling it by contact cooling with a large heat capacity has also been put into practical use. Several means for utilizing the cold heat source have been proposed.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above conventional method,
Since the temperature of air and water, which are heat carriers for cooling, is relatively high,
Although it was not overcooled even if left for a long time, it took a long time to cool. Especially in the case of air with a small specific heat of the heat medium, the amount of heat per unit flow rate that is conveyed by contact with food is small, so if you do not blow at high speed with a fan like fan or fan It was difficult to cool it sufficiently. Also, during cooling for a long time, because water evaporation from the food is continued, depending on the type of food, such as sushi rice and potatoes, the surface may be dry and impair the taste and texture, It could not always be left alone. On the other hand, when water is used as the heat medium, the specific heat of water is large, so the speed of heat transfer is fast, and when hurrying, temperature control such as using water with ice floating is also possible, which is quite fast. Although it can be cooled, it requires a waterproofing means such as putting it in a plastic bag, except for foods that have no effect even when soaked in water (for example, boiled noodles and edamame). In addition, even if the food is soaked in water, the water content gradually increases if it is kept in the water for a long time, and it cannot always be left alone.

On the other hand, in order to avoid the slow cooling rate due to the natural cooling, a refrigerator or a freezer is sometimes used. However, the cooling in the refrigerator (the temperature inside the refrigerator is around 5 ° C.) is the atmosphere described above. Although somewhat faster than cooling, it was not able to significantly reduce the cooling time. For this reason, if the stored food is cooled by using a freezer or a freezer (internal temperature is around -20 ° C) and the stored heat quantity of the inner wall of the refrigerator is also used, radiative heat transfer is also added in addition to contact heat transfer. It was possible to cool at a very high speed. However, in this case, if it is left unattended, it will reach a completely frozen state, and it will be necessary to take out at an appropriate time while checking the end point each time, so it is necessary to save the labor, especially during the other cooking. Operation was extremely difficult.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and to provide a high-speed and high-quality food cooling device which can safely entrust the food cooling process even when the operation is repeated with other cooking. Is.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a food cooling device according to a first aspect of the present invention is provided with a cooling chamber for storing food, which is provided with a cooling means for the atmosphere in the refrigerator, and is housed in the cooling chamber. An end setting means for setting the final processing condition of the food, an end notification means for notifying outside when the final processing condition is reached, and a start input means for starting the control linked to the end setting means and the end notification means. It is characterized by having.

The food cooling device according to the second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a cool storage member for storing and holding cold heat is arranged in the cooling chamber or the heat medium passage of the cooling means.

The food cooling device according to the third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a blowing means for circulating a high-speed air flow in the cooling chamber in conjunction with an input operation of the start input means.

The food cooling device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention includes a heat medium flow path for connecting the cooling chamber and the cold air generating means provided outside the cooling chamber in conjunction with the input operation of the start input means. The feature is that the flow path is changed to reduce the resistance.

The food cooling device of the fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the end setting means is set to the ultimate temperature in conjunction with the food temperature detected by the temperature detecting means provided in the cooling chamber. I am trying.

Further, in the food cooling device of the sixth aspect of the present invention, the end setting means is set to the operation time set from the necessary and sufficient processing time estimated from the state of the amount of food and the initial temperature. It has a feature.

Further, the food cooling device of the seventh aspect of the present invention is characterized in that at least one of a visual indication such as a lamp and an auditory indication such as a buzzer is used as the end notifying means.

Further, the food cooling device of the eighth invention is
In conjunction with the operation of the end detection means, an opening operation is performed so that the cooling chamber is electrically connected to the outdoor atmosphere.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present invention, a means for cooling the air circulating in the refrigerator is required, but this requires a heat pump cycle used in a refrigerator or the like (composed of a compressor, a radiator, a capillary, and a cooler), A Peltier element is used. As the temperature detecting means, a contact-type temperature measuring element such as a thermocouple or a thermistor, or a non-contact type temperature measuring element using an infrared sensor may be used. Various motors, conduction dampers, and the like are used for the mechanical drive unit, but these are all commonly used in the related art, and therefore detailed description of the configuration and operation will be omitted here. Further, although the structure of the present invention can be used as an independent device itself, it can be incorporated as a part of a system that shares some components with a refrigerator, a freezer, a freezer-refrigerator, etc. that have been widely used in the past. It is also possible and does not limit the effect of the present invention.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a side sectional view (A) showing a first embodiment of a food cooling device according to the present invention and a front view of a main part (B), and FIG. 2 shows its operation control. It is a control flow figure shown. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a cooling chamber, inside which a slidable storage container 13 integrated with a door 12 is provided.
Is provided. Reference numeral 14 denotes a heat pump cycle, which reaches the cooler 18 in the freezing compartment 11 from the compressor 15 via the radiator 16 and the capillary 17, and emits cold heat there. 1
9 is a cooling blower, and 20 is a heat dissipation blower. 21
Is a tableware stored in the storage container 13, and 22 is a food material contained therein. Reference numeral 23 is a temperature sensor of a non-contact detection type using infrared rays provided in the ceiling portion of the cooling chamber 11. The temperature sensor 23 and the cooling blower 19 are connected to a control unit 25 arranged on the back surface of the control panel 24. There is.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the control panel 24 has an end temperature setting unit 26, an operation start control unit 27, a notification lamp 28 for notifying the end of the required operation, and a notification buzzer 29.
Is provided.

The control flow and operation of the above-mentioned structure will be described with reference to FIG. After the tableware 21 containing the warm food material 22 is stored in the storage container 13 and inserted into the cooling chamber 11 (operation 111), first, the end temperature control unit 26 on the control panel 24 sets a desired final temperature (operation). 11
2). Next, when the button of the operation start control unit 27 is pressed (operation 113), the cooling blower 19 rotates at high speed and the cooler 18
The sufficiently cooled cold air is circulated in the cooling chamber 11 (operation 114). The surface temperature of the foodstuff 22 is always detected by the temperature sensor 23, and it is judged whether or not the temperature has been cooled to the temperature previously set by the end temperature control unit 26 (operation 115). If not reached, cooling is continued (operation). 116), when it reaches, the operation of the cooling blower 19 is interrupted and the cooling operation is ended (operation 117). At the same time, the control unit 25 issues a signal of end notification (operation 118), the notification lamp 28 blinks a red light, and the notification buzzer 29 emits a buzzer sound. The user notified by this end notification (operation 118) is the storage container 1
The tableware 21 is taken out of 3 (operation 119), and a series of operations is completed, and the control unit 25 is reset.

Thus, the food material 22 in the cooling chamber 11 is rapidly cooled by the circulation of cold air at a sufficiently low temperature, and a desired cooling state can be obtained in a short time. Further, by setting the end state in the end temperature control unit 26 (operation 112), the cooling is stopped promptly when the desired state is reached without continuing the excessive cooling state (operation 117), and the cooling operation is performed. From the notification of the end (operation 118), it is possible to recognize even when performing other cooking work, etc., and it is possible to finish the cooling in the optimum state and proceed to the next treatment.

Here, since the temperature inside the cooling chamber 11 is monitored by the temperature sensor 11 so that the food 22 is not overcooled, it can be set sufficiently lower than the desired cooling temperature. The cooling chamber 11 is rotated.
Although it is effective to shorten the cooling time simply by circulating the air flow inside, in order to increase the amount of heat transferred by contact with the food material 22, if the rotation speed of the cooling blower 19 is increased to provide high-speed air flow, the heat transfer characteristics will increase. Further, the cooling capacity is further promoted by the heat capacity, and high-speed cooling is possible.

Although the non-contact temperature sensor 23 is used to detect the surface temperature of the food 22, the food 22
Depending on the type of food, it is possible to use a thermocouple or thermistor to insert it directly into the food 22. More accurate and responsive, especially when cooling in the middle stage of cooking does not obstruct the shape of the food 22. This is an effective means for good temperature detection.

Further, the end notification of the cooling operation (operation 11
8), in the present embodiment, the notification lamp 28 and the notification buzzer 2
Although it is more reliable by using both of 9 above, either one of the notification means is sufficient at the intermediate cooking stage where it is unlikely to leave a long distance, and both of them are not necessarily required. In order to avoid confusion with the notification buzzer of other cooking utensils, it is also effective to use only a silent notification lamp.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment has the same basic constituent elements and actions as those of the first embodiment, and is different in the method of setting the end condition and the operation control method associated therewith. Therefore, the present embodiment will be described focusing on this difference. Although illustration of the configuration is omitted here, the component numbers are in accordance with the first embodiment (FIG. 1), and the same numbers indicate the same components.

FIG. 3 is a control flow chart showing the operation control in this embodiment. In FIG. 3, the food 2 is placed in the storage container 13.
After storing the tableware 21 containing 2 and inserting it into the cooling chamber 11 (operation 211), the cooling time until the end is input (operation 2
12) Then, the operation start control unit 27 is pressed to start cooling (operation 213). The low-temperature air current circulates in the cooling chamber 11 by the operation of the cooling blower 19 to cool the foodstuff 22 (operation 214), but at the same time, the timer also continues counting from the start of cooling (operation 213). The cooling time initially set (operation 212) and the elapsed time (operation 214) are compared and judged (operation 215), and if the time is within the set time, the cooling operation is continued, and when the time is reached, the cooling is ended (operation 217) and the operation is ended. Is issued (operation 218), and all the operations are completed (operation 219) by taking out the foodstuff 22.

Here, the time until the end of cooling is set (operation 2
12) is automatically calculated from the temperature in the cooling chamber 11, the flow rate of circulating air according to the number of rotations of the cooling blower 19, the weight of the foodstuff 22 detected by a separately provided weight sensor, the final desired temperature of the foodstuff 22 and the like. Although it is not impossible to obtain it, there are many error factors such as the initial temperature, the water content, the type and size of the container, etc., and it cannot always be finished in a preferable state. Rather, the empirical method generally used in microwave oven heating, that is, if the amount and temperature of this food is approximately this amount, the cooling time is almost this, is sufficiently effective, and no major abnormality occurs. . In any case, since the control is performed by time input, there is no need for complicated configuration or control such as temperature detection, and an effective action can be easily obtained.

(Embodiment 3) A third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment has the same basic configuration as that of the first embodiment, but is not frozen at other temperature levels.
This embodiment is characterized by a cold air distribution and supply configuration in combination with a refrigerating means, and this embodiment will be described focusing on this point.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a main part configuration showing this embodiment. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 31 denotes a refrigerator-freezer, and the storage block inside thereof has an uppermost refrigerating compartment 32, a lowermost preserving compartment 33, a freezing compartment 34 above it, and a cooling space between the refrigerating compartment 32 and the freezing compartment 34. A chamber 35 is arranged. On the other hand, 36 is a heat pump cycle, which includes a compressor 37, a radiator 38, and a capillary 3.
9 and the cooler 40 are connected. Reference numeral 41 is a cooling blower. A flow path control damper is provided in the flow path between each storage block and the cooler 40. A refrigerating compartment damper 42 is provided on the rear surface of the refrigerating compartment 32 and a fresh food compartment is provided on the rear surface of the fresh food compartment 33. A cooling chamber damper 45 is arranged on the rear surfaces of the chamber damper 43 and the cooling chamber 35, and both of them are provided with a control panel 44.
The opening degree can be changed by communicating with.

With this structure, the cooling chamber damper 35 is closed when the cooling chamber 35 is not used, and the cooling air is controlled so that the cool air generated by the cooler 40 hardly flows into the cooling chamber 35.
Most of the cold air directly flows into the freezing compartment 34 and keeps it at a sufficiently low temperature, and the refrigerating compartment 32 and the preserving compartment 33 include the refrigerating compartment damper 42.
Also, the preserving chamber damper 43 is appropriately opened to take in a part of the cold air generated by the cooler 40, and the refrigerating chamber 32 is maintained at about 5 ° C and the preserving chamber is maintained at about 7 ° C. When food is put in the cooling chamber 35 and the control panel 44 controls the start of cooling (detailed control is omitted), the refrigerator chamber damper 42 and the preserving chamber damper 43 are slightly closed to reduce the flow rate and cooled instead. The chamber damper 45 is fully opened to reduce the flow path resistance, and the cooler 4
A large part of the cold air emitted at 0 is intensively flown into the cooling chamber 35. By doing so, the food in the cooling chamber 35 can be rapidly cooled, and while the temperature of the refrigerating chamber 32 and the preserving chamber 33 is slightly weakened during that period, there is no extreme effect and the conventional heat pump cycle 36 is usually used to achieve the desired rapid cooling. Operations can also be executed.

Unless an extremely high load is applied, such as when hot food is actually stored in the cooling chamber 35, for example, when a large amount of boiled food is put in a pan, or when rice immediately after cooking is stored in a rice cooker pot. The desired cooling can be performed within a few minutes to a dozen minutes after the storage, and during that time, the temperature of the refrigerating room 32 and the preserving room 33 can be maintained with almost no increase unless frequent opening and closing. Thus, the effective, rapid and high-quality food cooling described above can be achieved without significantly changing the configuration of the refrigerator-freezer generally used for home use.
It is possible to provide a device that is simple and effective and has a high practical effect.

(Embodiment 4) A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment is similar to the first embodiment in the configuration of the basic part, but is characterized by the configuration provided with a means for discharging the airflow generated in the cooling chamber to the outside during cooling. An embodiment will be described.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the essential parts showing the embodiment. In FIG. 5, a storage container 13 storing tableware 21 containing foodstuffs 22 is inserted into a cooling chamber 11, and at the same time, a cooler 1 for a heat pump cycle (the whole is not shown).
8 is arranged so that the cooling fan 19 circulates cool air. Note that 24 is a control panel and 25h is a control unit. Here, the cooling blower 19 operates so that a high-speed airflow circulates in the cooling chamber 11, and at the same time, the openable / closable exhaust door 30 provided on the upper part of the door 12 is opened, and the cooling blower 19 is opened. The airflow sent by is brought into contact with the cooler 18 to become a low temperature, and this is brought into contact with the high-temperature foodstuff 22 stored in the storage container 13 to be heat-exchanged, and then the hot airflow is cooled again. It is configured to be discharged from the exhaust door 30 to the outside without returning to the container 18. By doing so, the hot air and steam generated from the food material 22 are directly discharged to the outside of the cooling chamber 11, and the cooler 1
8 is fed to fresh, relatively cool and dry ambient air. Therefore, the heat load on the cooler 18 is much less than the hot and humid stream after heat exchange with the foodstuff 22,
Since the cool air sent into the cooling chamber 11 can be in a lower temperature state, the cooling action of the food material 22 can be further accelerated. Not only the temperature, but also the water content contained in the airflow becomes a load on the cooler 18, so that it has the effect of allowing the load on the cooler 18 to be controlled from both aspects of temperature and humidity.

Here, a solid or liquid regenerator material is placed near the cooler 18 or in any position within the passage area of the air flow generated by the cooling blower 19, and when not in use, the regenerator material is surrounded. The cooling rate of the foodstuff 22 can be further increased by cooling the cold storage material by the flowing cold air to store and store the cold heat and transferring the heat so that the stored cold heat cools when the hot foodstuff 22 is stored. At the same time, the temperature inside the refrigerating chamber 32 and the preserving chamber 33 existing in the surroundings is not increased, and a stable internal temperature can be obtained, which is more effective.

[0032]

As described above, the food cooling device of the present invention inputs the final desired state of the food in advance and sets the end condition, and then chills the stored food by circulating the cold air to ensure that the food is adequate in a short time. It is equipped with a notification means that can visually and / or audibly detect that the set condition has been reached, and if necessary, change the flow path of cold air, discharge the exhaust air to the outside, or store cold heat with a cold storage material. It is possible to further speed up and stabilize the cooling quality by utilizing the above, and it is possible to provide an extremely effective support means for performing high quality cooking.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A is a side sectional view of a food cooling device according to a first embodiment, FIG. 1B is a waist front view of a food cooling device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a control flow chart of the food refrigeration apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a control flow chart of the food cooling device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a main part configuration showing a food cooling device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a main part configuration showing a food cooling device according to a fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Cooling chamber 13 storage containers 14,36 heat pump cycle 15,37 compressor 16,38 radiator 17,39 capillaries 18,40 cooler 19,41 Cooling blower 20 Heat dissipation fan 21 tableware 22 ingredients 23 Temperature sensor 24,44 Control panel 25 Control unit 26 End temperature setting section 27 Operation start control unit 28 Notification lamp 29 Notification buzzer 30 exhaust door 31 Freezer-Refrigerator 32 Refrigerator 33 Fresh Room 34 Freezer 35 Cooling chamber 42 Cooling chamber damper 43 Freshener damper 45 Cooling chamber damper

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Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A cooling chamber which is provided with a cooling means for an internal atmosphere to store food, an end setting means which sets a final processing condition of the food stored in the cooling chamber, and when the final processing condition is reached. A food cooling device comprising: an end notifying means for making an external notification; and a start inputting means for starting control associated with the end setting means and the end notifying means. 2. The food cooling device according to claim 1, wherein a cool storage member for storing and holding cold heat is arranged in the cooling chamber or a heat medium passage of the cooling means. 3. The food cooling device according to claim 1, further comprising an air blowing unit that circulates a high-speed air flow in the cooling chamber in association with an input operation of the start input unit. 4. The flow path is changed so as to reduce the resistance of the heat medium flow path that connects the cooling chamber and the cool air generating means provided outside thereof in conjunction with the input operation of the start input means. The food cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is characterized. 5. The end temperature setting means is set to an ultimate temperature which is linked with a food temperature detected by a temperature detecting means provided in the cooling chamber.
The food cooling device described. 6. The food cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the end setting means is set to an operation time obtained from a necessary and sufficient processing time estimated from the state of the amount of food and the initial temperature. . 7. The food cooling device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a visual display such as a lamp and an auditory display such as a buzzer is used as the end notification means. 8. The food cooling device according to claim 1, wherein an opening operation is performed so as to connect the inside of the cooling chamber with an outdoor atmosphere, in conjunction with the operation of the end detecting means.