JP2006172311A - Article cooling supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an easily handleable cooling device capable of quickly cooling an article to be cooled without spending any cooling medium cost. <P>SOLUTION: This cooling device is provided with an air compressor 1 compressing air, a heat radiation device 2 discharging heat of the air compressed by the air compressor 1, an expansion device 3 expanding the air cooled by the radiation device 2, and a heat-insulation storage casing body 4 to which the air decompressed and cooled by the expansion device 3 is discharged and the article G to be cooled is stored. In this way, air is compressed in the air compressor 1, and heat is dissipated from the compressed air by the heat radiator 2. The dissipated air is decompressed by the expansion device 3. Consequently, the air is adiabatically expanded and lowers its temperature. The low-temperature air is discharged into the storage casing body 4 for cooling down the article G to be cooled. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an article cooling apparatus that cools can goods and the like sold from a vending machine with reduced-pressure air.

  Traditionally, vending machines and refrigerated showcases have a product storage that stores a large amount of products. When cooling products, the entire product storage is cooled by a cooling device, and all products are sold before they are sold. The structure was cooled to a predetermined temperature.

  However, such a cooling method is disadvantageous in terms of energy saving because not only the products just before sale but also all other products are cooled.

In order to solve such problems, a vending machine described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-231666 has been proposed. This vending machine has a structure in which a sale item is received by a receiving cup, nitrogen gas is injected toward this item, and the sale item is rapidly cooled.
JP 2000-231666 A

  However, this vending machine requires a special container for storing liquid nitrogen, and the maintenance cost for replenishing liquid nitrogen is expensive, and safety is required due to the nature of the gas. Handling was also cumbersome.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device that can rapidly cool an article to be cooled, eliminates the cost of a cooling medium, and is easy to handle.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a cooling device according to a first aspect of the present invention, an air compression device that compresses air, a heat dissipation device that releases heat of air compressed by the air compression device, and a heat dissipation device. It has a structure having an expansion device that expands the air, and a heat-insulated storage housing that discharges air cooled under reduced pressure by the expansion device and stores the article to be cooled.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, air is compressed by the air compression device, and the compressed air is radiated by the heat dissipation device. The radiated air is decompressed by the expansion device. Thereby, air adiabatically expands and temperature falls. And this low temperature air is discharge | released to a storage housing | casing, and a to-be-cooled article is cooled.

  A storage container for storing the radiated air may be provided between the heat dissipation device and the expansion device, and cooling air may be supplied from the storage container.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the article cooling apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the storage case, and an on-off valve that regulates or releases the air flow to the storage case And a control means for controlling the on-off valve based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

  According to invention of Claim 3, the temperature in a storage housing can always be monitored with a temperature sensor, and the inside of a storage housing can be always maintained at the temperature for articles to be cooled.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the article cooling apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the storage housing is used as a product cooling chamber for receiving the product carried out from the product storage / unloading device of the vending machine. ing.

  According to the invention of claim 4, since the product sold by the vending machine can be cooled in the storage housing (product cooling room), it is necessary to cool the product stored in the product storage / unloading device to an appropriate sales temperature. There is no.

  According to the present invention, the article to be cooled can be rapidly cooled by the reduced-pressure air, so that the cost of the cooling medium is not required and the handling is simple.

  1 and 2 show a first embodiment of a cooling device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an air circuit diagram of the cooling device, and FIG. 2 is a change diagram of pressure P-heat quantity h related to air.

  The cooling device according to the present embodiment is configured as shown in FIG. That is, it has the air compressor 1, the heat radiating device 2, the expansion device 3, the housing 4 and the electromagnetic valves SV1, SV2, SV3, SV4.

  The air compressor 1 is a compressor for compressing air, and as shown in FIG. 2, a compressor capable of compressing 0.1 MPa (atmospheric pressure) to 0.8 MPa, which is about eight times, is used.

  The heat radiating device 2 is a device that cools the high-temperature and high-pressure air generated by the air compressor 1. The heat radiating device 2 has a blower 2a, and exchanges heat with high-temperature and high-pressure air passing through the heat radiating device 2 and air forcedly blown from the blower 2a, and forcibly releases heat from the high-temperature and high-pressure air.

  The expansion device 3 is a device that depressurizes high-pressure air generated by the heat dissipation device 2. As the expansion device 3, for example, a scroll type expander is used, which takes in high-pressure air from a narrow suction port and decompresses the high-pressure air through a gradually expanding expansion space.

  The housing 4 is a heat insulating box that houses the article G to be cooled. Three storage enclosures 4 are connected in parallel to the expansion device 3 so that the decompressed air fed from the expansion device 3 is jetted into the enclosure. A drain pipe 4b having a check valve 4a is installed on the bottom wall of each storage casing 4, and the condensed water generated in each storage casing 4 is drained to the outside through the drain pipe 4b. Each storage case 4 is provided with a temperature sensor 4c, which constantly detects the temperature in the case.

  Each solenoid valve SV1, SV2, SV3, SV4 regulates or cancels the air flow. The electromagnetic valve SV1 is installed in a pipe line between the air compressor 1 and the heat radiating device 2, and restricts or cancels the inflow of air from the air compressor 1 to the heat radiating device 2. Each solenoid valve SV2, SV3, SV4 is installed in a pipe line between the expansion device 3 and each storage housing 4 to restrict or release the inflow of air from the expansion device 3 to each storage housing 4.

  In the cooling device configured as described above, the air compressor 1 and the solenoid valves SV1 to SV4 are controlled by the controller 5. This control device 5 has a microcomputer-structured CPU and memory, and controls each device 1, SV1 to SV4 based on the detected temperature of each temperature sensor 4c.

  That is, when any one of the storage casings 4 is higher than the installation temperature (for example, 5 ° C.) based on the detected temperature of each temperature sensor 4c, the electromagnetic valve SV1 is opened, The electromagnetic valves SV2, SV3, SV4 corresponding to the housing 4 are opened and the air compressor 1 is further driven.

  As the air compressor 1 is driven, the air (0.1 MPa) sucked into the air compressor 1 changes as shown in FIG. That is, this intake air is compressed by the air compressor 1 (0.8 MPa) and becomes high-temperature and high-pressure air (an arrow from point A to point B in FIG. 2). This high-temperature and high-pressure air is radiated by the heat radiating device 2 (arrow from point B to point C in FIG. 2). The radiated air is depressurized by the expansion device 3 (0.1 MPa), and accordingly, the air is adiabatically expanded and the temperature is lowered (an arrow from the point C to the point D in FIG. 2). And this low temperature air is discharge | released to the storage housing | casing 4, and the temperature in the storage housing | casing 4 is reduced. On the other hand, when the inside temperature of the casing becomes lower than the set temperature due to this cooling operation, the air compressor 1 is stopped and the solenoid valves SV1 to SV4 are closed.

  When the article to be cooled G is accommodated in the storage casing 4, the control device 5 opens the solenoid valve SV1 and the solenoid valves SV2, SV3, SV4 corresponding to the storage casing 4 for storing articles. The opening operation is performed, and the compressor 1 is driven. Thus, the cooling air is directly jetted toward the article to be cooled G, and the article to be cooled G is cooled by the jet cold air.

  According to the present embodiment, when the article to be cooled G is accommodated in the storage housing 4, the article to be cooled G can be rapidly cooled. Further, since air is used as a cooling medium, the cost of the cooling medium is not required, and it is excellent in safety and easy to handle.

  FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the cooling device according to the present invention. The cooling device according to the present embodiment is obtained by adding a storage container 6 and an electromagnetic valve SV5 to the first embodiment. Note that the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The storage container 6 is made of a pressure-resistant metal and is installed in a pipe line between the heat dissipation device 2 and the expansion device 3 so as to store air radiated by the heat dissipation device 2. The electromagnetic valve SV5 opens and closes based on the temperature detected by each temperature sensor 4c, and holds each housing 4 at the installation temperature.

  According to the present embodiment, since the air compressor 1 can be driven to store high-pressure air in the storage container 6 in advance, the storage housing 4 can be cooled by the air in the storage container 6, and the storage container 6 The article to be cooled G is directly cooled by the air. Thereby, it is not necessary to drive the air compressor 1 every time the article to be cooled G is cooled, the number of start and stop of the air compressor 1 is reduced, and the air compressor 1 is excellent in extending the life and saving energy. ing. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 4 shows an example in which the cooling device according to the second embodiment is applied to a vending machine. First, the configuration of the vending machine 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the vending machine 10, a product storage chamber 12 is formed above the lower partition plate 11, and a machine chamber 13 is formed below the partition plate 11. Inside the product storage chamber 12, a product storage / conveyance device (serpentine rack) 14, a product cooling chamber 15, and a belt transport device 16 are sequentially installed from the upper side to the lower side.

  The serpentine racks 14 are arranged in three rows on the front and rear, and each rack 14 stores a large number of articles to be cooled (products such as canned beverages) G1, and drops and carries them one by one from the lowest product G1. Yes.

  The product cooling chamber 15 uses the storage housing 4 according to the second embodiment. That is, the product cooling chamber 15 is a storage housing 4 divided into three chambers, and the upper wall and the bottom wall of each storage housing 4 have a plate-like upper door 4d and lower door 4e, respectively. . The upper door 4d and the lower door 4e are slidable in the front-rear direction as viewed in FIG. Here, the upper door 4d and the lower door 4e are controlled by the control device 5 as described below. That is, when the commodity G1 is dropped and carried out from the rack 14, the upper door 4d that is vertically opposed to the rack 14 is controlled to open. Thereby, the falling commodity G1 is stored in the storage housing 4. When the product G1 has been received, the upper door 4d is controlled to close, and the above-described cooling operation of the product G1 is performed. And when the cooling operation of the goods G1 is complete | finished, it controls so that the lower door 4e opens. Thereby, the cooling merchandise G1 falls downward. Thereafter, the lower door 4e is controlled to be closed again. An air passage 4f is formed in the side wall of each storage housing 4, and the reduced pressure air is fed from the expansion device 3 through the air passage 4f.

  The belt conveying device 16 is a device that conveys the product G1 dropped from the product cooling chamber 15 to the product takeout door 17 side. The belt conveyance device 16 is installed below the storage housing 4, and conveys the product G <b> 1 dropped from each storage housing 4 toward a product take-out door 17 installed in front of the product storage chamber 12.

  In the machine room 14, various devices constituting the cooling device of the first embodiment are installed.

  As described above, when the storage case 4 according to the second embodiment is used as the product cooling chamber 15, the sale product G1 can be rapidly cooled by the storage case 4, so the rack 14 side needs to be cooled. However, even if it is cooled, it is sufficient to cool it to a room temperature of about 15 ° C., for example, and a vending machine excellent in energy saving can be provided.

  In addition, although the example which applied the storage housing | casing 4 of the cooling device to the vending machine 10 was demonstrated, if it cools the to-be-cooled goods G, it will not restrict to this, For example, it applies also to a refrigerated showcase etc. Needless to say, you can.

Air circuit diagram of the cooling device according to the first embodiment Change diagram of pressure P-heat quantity h for air Air circuit diagram of cooling device according to second embodiment Partially cutaway side view showing a vending machine with a cooling device

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Air compression apparatus, 2 ... Heat dissipation apparatus, 3 ... Expansion apparatus, 4 ... Storage housing, 5 ... Control apparatus, 6 ... Storage container, 10 ... Vending machine, 15 ... Commodity cooling room, G ... Article to be cooled, G1 ... Product.

Claims (4)

An air compressor for compressing air;
A heat dissipating device that releases heat of the air compressed by the air compressing device;
An expansion device for expanding the air radiated by the heat dissipation device;
An article cooling apparatus, comprising: a heat-insulated housing housing in which air that has been cooled under reduced pressure by the expansion device is discharged and an article to be cooled is housed. The article cooling device according to claim 1, further comprising a storage container that stores air radiated by the heat dissipation device between the heat dissipation device and the expansion device. A temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the housing case; an on-off valve that restricts or releases the flow of air to the housing case; and a control unit that controls the on-off valve based on a temperature detected by the temperature sensor. The article cooling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The article cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the storage casing is used as a product cooling chamber for receiving a product carried out from a product storage / unloading device of a vending machine.

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