JP2003217817A - Electric field unit device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric field unit device capable of rapidly defrosting at a low temperature and increasing the value of an electric current applied to a workpiece. <P>SOLUTION: This electric field unit can be freely stored and taken out as a unit to the existing refrigerator or defroster. An electric field is applied to the above unit by an electric field generating device 13. The side of a frame F is provided with a plurality of fans 29 corresponding to storing racks 24, 25, 26. The workpiece is held by electrode plates 54, 56, or held by the electrode plate 54 and grounding plates 62, 63. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric field unit device provided in a cold food storage device such as a refrigerator or a defroster for applying an electric field to food and thawing or keeping the food fresh.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The applicant of the present invention has filed various applications for an electric field device for applying an electric field to foods. For thawing frozen foods, wind (air flow) is applied to the foods. It was found that the magnitude of the current value flowing in the food is important for thawing and maintaining freshness.

In view of the above points, the present invention relates to an existing refrigerator,
An object of the present invention is to provide an electric field unit device that is unitized in a food cold storage device such as a thawing container and is attached so that it can be stored freely, and that food can be reliably thawed at a low temperature in a short time and that food can be kept fresh for a long time. And

Therefore, the first invention of the present invention is unitized in a food low-temperature storage device for storing food at a low temperature, such as an existing refrigerator or a defroster, and is attached so as to be freely stored and taken out. In an electric field unit device to which an electric field is applied, the electric field unit device is characterized by including a fan for blowing air on the frozen food.

A second aspect of the present invention is an electric field to which an electric field is applied, which is unitized into a low-temperature food storage device for storing food at a low temperature, such as an existing refrigerator or a defroster, so that it can be stored and taken out freely. In the unit device, this electric field unit device, in order to facilitate the flow of the current flowing through the food,
It is characterized in that a current guide member is provided to face the electrode member.

[0005]

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

In FIG. 1, a horizontal small thawing cabinet M has a box-shaped casing 1, a machine room 2 is provided on the left side of the casing 1 in the figure, and a storage room 3 is provided on the right side of the figure. There is. A heat exchange device 4 is provided in the machine room 2, and hot air or cold air is supplied to the storage chamber 3 by the heat exchange device 4 to thaw the food in the refrigerator and keep the freshness of the thawed food. Do. The heat exchange device 4 is provided with a fan 5 for producing a circulating air, and has an evaporator 6 adjacent to the fan 5, and the air passing through the evaporator 6 is sent out from a blower port 7 in the A direction. . Further, the heat exchange device 4 is
If necessary, a heater (not shown) is provided, and warm air can be sent into the storage chamber 3 by this heater to accelerate the thawing speed of the food in the storage chamber 3. The warm air or the cold air thus created hits the right end of the storage chamber 3 along the flow path A, changes its direction, and flows into the machine chamber 2 through the inflow window 8 and circulates.

On the front surface of the casing 1, double doors 9 and 10 are provided, and in the storage chamber 3, the electric field unit devices 11 and 12 of the present invention are removably accommodated. These electric field unit devices 11 and 12 are respectively connected to an electric field generator (transformer) 13 provided in the machine room 2. The casing 1 is provided with an electrically insulating lining, and the electric field unit devices 11 and 12 are detachably housed in the housing chamber 3 in an electrically insulated state.

Since the electric field unit devices 11 and 12 have the same structure, the electric field unit device 11 will be described.

The electric field unit device 11 has a frame F made of, for example, a conductive aluminum plate, and leg plates 21 and 21 are provided on the lower surface under the frame. Below the frame, there are a back plate 20, left and right side plates 22 and 23 extending forward from both sides of the back plate 20, shelf plates 24 and 25 partitioning the inside of the frame into a plurality of stages, and a bottom plate 26. 9, 10
The side is open. An aluminum box 27 is placed on the shelves 24, 25 and the bottom plate 26, and the aluminum box 27 is housed in the unit device from the open side.
Frozen foods 28 of meat and seafood, which are foods to be processed 28 to be thawed, are stored in the container 9. The side plate (side plate on the machine room 2 side) 22 has small fans 29, 29 corresponding to each shelf.
... 29 is provided. Since it was found that wind plays a very important role in thawing,
The thawing time can be remarkably shortened by sufficiently blowing cold air or warm air. The small fan 29 may be an ordinary propeller fan or a sirocco fan.

When the material of the frame F is a conductive plate such as aluminum, as shown in FIG.
The electric field generator 13 may be connected to the. If the aluminum box 27 is placed on the shelves 24, 25 and 26 as described above and the objects to be processed are stored in the aluminum box 27, the thermal conductivity can be remarkably increased, and reliable thawing is guaranteed. To be done. Further, windows W, W ... W are formed in the frame F so that the wind can easily flow therethrough, and as shown in FIG. 3, the wind from the fan 29 blows against the frozen object 28 to be processed. A plurality of openings 0, 0 ... 0 are formed on the side wall of the box 27. If necessary, the fan 29 is provided with heaters 30, 30 ... 30 so that warm air is sent into the electric field unit device 11 at a low temperature in the initial stage of thawing. The heater 30 is connected to a power source 31.

The frame F of the electric field unit devices 11 and 12 is formed of an aluminum plate in the present embodiment, but when the inner wall of the thawing chamber is not insulated, for example, when it has a stainless wall. Is made of an insulative ABS resin plate or PVC plate under the frame, an electrode plate is provided in these plates, an electric field generator (transformer) is connected to this electrode plate, and the object to be processed is directly attached to these electrode plates. Alternatively, it may be indirectly electrically connected.

In the present embodiment, the electric field generator 13 connected to the AC power source is provided, but instead of this, a battery type may be formed. That is, a rechargeable battery may be provided in each electric field unit device 11 or 12 at an appropriate place.

The electric field generator 13 is a high-voltage transformer, and is 500 in the case of a small thaw cabinet as in this embodiment.
A voltage of V-8 kV is applied to the electric field unit devices 11, 12. By applying the electric field to the object to be processed, the thermal conductivity is improved, and the thermal conductivity is transferred into the object to be processed 28 even when the ambient temperature is in the range of -1 ° C to + 3 ° C. A small amount of uniform thawing is possible. When the core temperature of the object to be treated 28 is as low as −20 ° C. at the time of actual thawing, warm air of about + 10 ° C. is provided in the heat exchange device 4 at the initial stage of thawing in the case of thawing quickly. It is made with a heater (not shown) or the electric field unit device 1
It is made with the heater 30 provided in the fan 29 of 1 and 12, by this, the temperature of the object to be processed is quickly raised to about -5 ° C.
Thereafter, a cold air of about -1 ° C to + 3 ° C is applied so that the surface and the center of the object to be treated are uniformly thawed in a short time by the action of the electric field. At this time, since the wind is cold, the occurrence of drip is significantly suppressed. In order to maintain the freshness after thawing, it is necessary to apply an electric field and keep the object to be processed at a low temperature while suppressing the wind. It should be noted that the freshness can be effectively maintained by forming a photocatalyst layer on the wall surface of the electric field unit device. Further, in FIG. 1, the electric field unit devices 11 and 12 are set in a horizontal defroster, but they can be set in a vertical food low temperature storage device such as a normal refrigerator.

It has been found that the current value flowing through the object to be processed has a great influence upon thawing in the thawing chamber or maintaining freshness in a general refrigerator, and particularly in the case of thawing, the current value is large. Although the speed is faster, in the case of keeping freshness, it is necessary to select a current value according to the type of food. That is, a low current value (100 μA or less) is sufficient for fruits and vegetables, but a higher current value (0.1 mA) is appropriate for meat.

Generally, a low voltage is preferable for safety, but in order to increase the current value at a low voltage, the current value is improved by grounding the object to be processed, and in the case of maintaining freshness, an appropriate current value is obtained. The object to be processed may be sandwiched between two electrode plates and the voltage between them may be variable.

The means for increasing the current value and the means for varying the current value by adjusting the voltage in the case of a constant voltage will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 4, an electric field unit device 50 according to the present invention has a casing C.
Is a back plate 51, left and right side plates 52, 52, an opening / closing front plate 53,
And a bottom plate 80. A conductive electrode plate 54 is attached to the bottom plate 80. The casing C is freely stored in the refrigerator R, and is formed of ABS resin, a vinyl chloride plate, or the like so as to be electrically insulated from the inner wall of the refrigerator R. A rechargeable battery 55 is attached to the inside of the back plate 51, and the battery 55 is attached to the bottom plate 80 via a transformer 60 as shown in FIG. 5 and inside the left and right side plates 52, 52. It is connected to the electrode plates 56, 56 that are foldably attached to. The electrode plate 56 is a guide plate 57, 57 fixed to the inner wall of the side plate.
Is pivotally attached to and is attached to the upper side of the food item f.
A variable resistor 61 is provided between the electrode plate 54 and the transformer, and the current value passed through the food product f is made variable by adjusting the resistance. When the food product f is sandwiched between the electrode plates 54 and 56 in this manner, a current easily flows, and the current value can be adjusted in a wide range according to the food product f and whether the battery is thawed or kept fresh even when the battery has a low voltage. As shown in FIG. 6, the upper lid 62 provided above the food f at a distance can also serve as a ground plate provided via the air. When the upper lid 62 is grounded, the current value flowing in the food f is reduced. , Becomes larger than the case without the upper lid 62 at all. Further, instead of the upper lid 62, a flexible ground plate 63 is provided, and if the ground plate 63 is brought into contact with the food f along the upper surface of the food f, the transformer 7
Even if the voltage generated by 0 is a constant low voltage, the flowing current value can be increased. The flexible ground plate 63 may be made by sandwiching an aluminum foil 64 in a plastic film as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 8, the electric field unit device 40 is
With side plates 41, 41 and a bottom plate 42 made of an insulating plate,
Photocatalyst layers 43, 43, 44 are formed on the inner walls of the side plate 41, the bottom plate 42, and the upper surface of the electrode plate 54. Titanium oxide particles are attached to the photocatalyst layers 43, 43 in the form of paint. The effect of the photocatalyst and the electric field increases the freshness-keeping effect of the food f. A negative ion generator 45 is provided in the electric field unit device 40, and a high voltage is applied to the negative ion generator 45 from a transformer 44 as an electric field generator that generates an electric field. Negative ions are generated by corona discharge. When negative ions are added to the food f by the negative ion generator 45, thawing is promoted and the freshness-keeping effect is significantly increased. The negative ion generator 45 can be attached to the thawing chamber shown in FIG.

[0019]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above,
It is possible to thaw food at low temperature in a short time without dripping, and to increase the current value even at low voltage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a small defroster according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an electric field unit device of the present invention housed in a small thawing cabinet.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an aluminum box housed in the electric field unit device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an electric field unit device showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a wiring diagram of the electric field unit device of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electric field unit device showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a structural diagram of the flexible electrode plate shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electric field unit device showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Casing 4 ... Heat exchange device 11, 12, 40, 50 ... Electric field unit device 13 ... Electric field generator 29 ... fan 30 ... Heater 54, 56 ... Electrode plate 61 ... Variable resistance

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electric field unit device which is unitized in a low temperature food storage device for storing food at a low temperature, such as an existing refrigerator or a thawing store, and which is mounted so as to be freely stored and taken out, and in which an electric field is applied. Is an electric field unit device having a fan for blowing air on frozen food. 2. An electric field unit device for applying an electric field, which is unitized in a low-temperature food storage device for storing food at a low temperature, such as an existing refrigerator, a thawing cabinet, etc. Is an electric field unit device characterized in that a current guide member is provided so as to face an electrode member in order to facilitate the flow of an electric current flowing through food.