JP3284999B2 - Food freezing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for freezing food without losing its commercial value.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to freeze food, cooling air is blown from above onto food carried by a conveyor.

[0003] The food is fish fillet (fillet opened in three pieces,
In the case of shellfish such as other fillets and scallops, or soft ones such as cream croquettes and hamburgers, if the conveyor is a net conveyor, the net will be marked on the lower surface of the food and the appearance will not be good. Losing value.

[0004] In order to prevent traces of the conveyor from sticking to the food, a belt-shaped conveyor made of a steel strip is used as the conveyor, and the food is frozen by blowing cooling air from above.

However, since the conveyor is a steel belt conveyor, the cooling air from above is not blown to the lower surface of the food on the conveyor, and the food is cooled and frozen only from the upper side. portion is not sufficiently cooled, it is frozen unevenness as shown in FIG. 12 (b).

[0006] In particular, when the fillet is a fish fillet, the food is placed on a conveyor so that the skin is on the top and frozen. However, the freezing and swelling of the body is larger than that of the skin. As shown in FIG. 11 (b) , the edge of the body warps upward.

[0007] This warping gives the consumer a bad feeling and impairs the value of the product. In addition, although there is actually no problem in terms of freshness, it gives a feeling of deterioration in freshness. Is severe, and its presence has a great effect on wholesale prices.

[0008]

The object of the present invention is to sufficiently reduce the freezing time to the middle deep portion, and when the food is fish fillet, the rim of the body does not warp when frozen, and the frozen food is almost in its original form. It is possible to provide an apparatus for cooling and freezing food which can be easily cleaned and kept in a sanitary manner.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein a food placed on a conveyor is provided in a cooling room having a cooler and a metal plate conveyor having good thermal conductivity. A slit-shaped air outlet for forced cooling by blowing cooling air from the cooler from above.
And a lower air blower for forced cooling by directly blowing cooling air to the lower surface of the running section below the upper running section of the conveyor in the initial cooling zone, and providing initial cooling. In the zone, both upper and lower surfaces of the food are pre-frozen.

[0010] Further, the apparatus according to claim 2 comprises a cooler and a heat source.
A slit for forcedly cooling the food placed on the conveyor, by blowing cooling air from the cooler from above, into a cooling chamber provided with a metal sheet conveyor having good conductivity.
Air flow straightening unit having parallel air outlets parallel to the conveyor , and blowing cooling air directly below the upper running part of the conveyor in the initial cooling zone and the final cooling zone and onto the lower surface of the running part The lower side air blowing device for forced cooling is provided respectively, and the upper and lower surfaces of the food are pre-frozen in the initial cooling zone and also in the final cooling zone.
The food is frozen by a lower air blowing device .

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG .
This will be described with reference to a specific example shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a cooling chamber, and there is a conveyor 2 in the cooling chamber that carries the food F through the inlet 1a and carries out the food F through the outlet 1b. This conveyor is an endless belt conveyor made of a metal plate having a good thermal conductivity such as a stainless steel plate.
a and the driven wheel 3b, and is rotated by the rotation of the drive wheel.

[0012] Above the conveyor 2, there is an air blowing rectifying body 5 has a number of slit-shaped outlet holes 4 aligned in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor is that you had a cooler 6 is provided thereabove,
Cooling air at a minus temperature from the cooler outlet 7a is blown onto the food F on the conveyor from the blowout hole 4 of the straightener 5 so that the food is forcibly cooled from the upper side to freeze the food. The cooled air is drawn into the cooler 6 from its inlet 7b.

The present invention is further improved to such a cooling / freezing apparatus. In the first embodiment, the food F conveyed by the conveyor 2 is cooled in the initial cooling zone A from above which is blown out from the straightening body outlet. Not only the air but also the cooling air blown directly to the lower surface of the upper traveling portion of the conveyor by the lower air blowing device 8A is forcibly cooled to freeze both upper and lower surfaces at the same time, and after passing through the initial cooling zone. The food is further cooled and frozen from the upper side by the cooling air from the straightening body outlet, and in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. Not only the cooling air but also the upper and lower surfaces are simultaneously cooled and frozen by the lower air blowing device 8B.

[0014] Thus embodiments of the lower-side air discharge apparatus of the present invention is as follows. <Embodiment 1> As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , lower air blowing devices 8A and 8B
Are of the same structure, and the upper left and right upper suction ports 9 penetrate through the support portion 5a (upper and lower partitioning portions of the cooling chamber) of the rectifying body 5 and are located below the vertical suction duct 10 opening above the support portion. Blow-out header 11 that crosses below the upper traveling section 2a of the conveyor
And an air blowing hole 12 is provided above the header.

As a result, a part of the cooling air from the cooler enters the vertical duct 10 and blows out from the upper air outlet 12 of the header 11 to blow the cooling air to the lower surface of the upper traveling portion of the conveyor, thereby causing the cooling air to blow. The upper running part of the food F is forcibly cooled, whereby the lower surface of the food F is cooled in the initial cooling zone or the initial cooling zone A and the final cooling zone B,
Be frozen.

[0016] Thus the apparatus of this embodiment, the initial cooling zone or initial cooling zone and at the end cooling zone food top and bottom surfaces simultaneously by the cooling air from the cooling air and the lower part of the headers from the air outlet holes of the flow regulator It is forcibly cooled and frozen.

After cooling and freezing in the initial cooling zone,
In the apparatus of FIG. 1, the food is cooled and frozen from the upper side only with the cooling air from the air blowing holes 4 of the straightener, and in the apparatus of FIG. Between the zone and the final zone, the air is cooled and frozen from the upper surface side only by the cooling air from the air blowing holes 4 of the rectifier.

When the production amount is large or the required freezing time is long, the length of the conveyor belt is increased and the lower side is placed at an appropriate position between the initial cooling zone A and the final cooling zone B. What is necessary is just to add an air blowing device.

[0019] <Embodiment 2> lower-side air blowing unit 8A of this embodiment, 8B is 5
7 , a suction duct 14 parallel to the conveyor is provided on one side of the conveyor, and an appropriate number of blower headers 15 are provided from the duct below the upper running portion so as to cross the conveyor, and the blower 16 is provided with a suction duct. And the cooling air in the cooling chamber sucked by the blower is blown from the upper outlet hole 17 of the blowing header 15 to the lower surface of the upper traveling portion of the conveyor, so that the food F on the conveyor is also cooled in the initial cooling zone A or the final cooling zone B. It is forcibly cooled not only from the upper side but also from the lower side to freeze it.

[0020] <Embodiment 3> lower-side air blowing unit 8A of this embodiment, 8B Figure 8
As shown in FIG. 10 , a cross flow fan 18 is used. That is, a cross-flow fan 18 is provided in a cylindrical housing 19 having a width about the width of the conveyor, and the fan 18 is rotated by a motor 20 provided at one end of the housing. By providing the cross flow fan 18 blown upward from the air outlet 22 in the upper portion of the housing below the upper running portion so as to cross the conveyor, the cooling air from the upper outlet hole 22 in the housing can be cooled by the lower surface of the upper running portion of the conveyor. , The food F on the conveyor is forcibly cooled not only from the upper side but also from the lower side in the initial cooling zone A or the final cooling zone B, and is frozen.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 9, when the blowing direction of the air blowing holes 22 is directed obliquely forward by 45 degrees upward, the flow of the cool air along the lower surface of the conveyor becomes longer, and the double-sided cooling effect is further enhanced.

In the above embodiment, a part of the air from the coolers 6, 6 is blown out toward the inlet 1a and the outlet 1b of the cooling chamber, and the humidity and the temperature are adjusted from the inlet 1a and the outlet 1b. The intrusion of unconditioned air into the cooling chamber can be prevented as much as possible, so that the load on the cooler can be prevented from increasing, and the frost on the cooler can be minimized.

The reason that the upper and lower surfaces are cooled in the initial cooling zone and the final cooling zone is to minimize the number of lower air blowing devices. This is because it is important that food cooling and freezing processing plants are sanitary, and after processing it is necessary to clean and clean the conveyor, cooler and lower air blower each time. When the number of air blowing devices is large, cleaning and cleaning are troublesome.However, in the device of the present invention, cleaning and cleaning of the lower air blowing device for the initial cooling zone and the final cooling zone can be completed, so that labor and time can be saved. Can be kept hygienic.

[0024]

According to the present invention described above, cooling of food,
During freezing, in the initial cooling zone for a certain period of time at the beginning, the food is forcibly cooled in the upper part and the lower part simultaneously, so that the initial freezing time can be reduced.

[0025] Thus frozen food in the end cooling zone can reduce the total time required for freezing by to be forcibly cool the top and bottom at the same time, yet which is sufficiently frozen as shown in FIG. 12 (a) Can be food.

In particular, when the fillet is a fish fillet, the fillet is forcibly cooled at the time of cooling and freezing, in the initial cooling zone for a certain period of time at the beginning, at the same time, the upper part on the skin side and the lower part on the body side. Therefore, even if the fillet expands due to freezing, the rim portion on the body side where the surface layer is frozen and hardened does not warp upward, and the fillet is pre-frozen and rigid.

[0027] Thus, the pre-freezing of the initial cooling zone
The is fillet is cooled only from the upper side in following the cooling zone, also be also cooled from further downward end cooling zone, never warped portions of the edge as shown in FIG. 11 (a), the original shape It is possible to provide a frozen filet fillet which is hardly impaired and whose commercial value is not impaired.

Further, since the lower air blowing device may be provided only in the initial cooling zone or only in the initial cooling zone and the final cooling zone, the number of the lower air blowing devices can be reduced as much as possible. Cleaning and cleaning of the lower air blowing device after processing can be reduced, and the device can be held in a sanitary manner. Further, the cooling air blown from the lower side blower to the lower part of the conveyor uses the cooling air from the cooler provided in the cooling chamber, so that there is no need to provide a separate cooler for the lower blower, and the conventional air blower is used. There is also an advantage that the used cooler can be used as it is.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional front view showing a food freezing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing a food freezing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an example of Embodiment 1 of the lower-side air blowing device.
FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG . 3;

FIG. 5 shows an example of a second embodiment of the lower-side air blowing device.
FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG . 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG . 5;

FIG. 8 shows an example of Embodiment 3 of the lower-side air blowing device.
FIG.

FIG. 9 is a side view taken along the line IX-IX of FIG . 8;

FIG. 10 shows another example of the lower-side air blowing device according to the third embodiment.
The figure which shows the air blowing direction of FIG.

FIG. 11 (a) Progress of freezing of fillet by the apparatus of the present invention
FIG. (b) The figure which shows the freezing progress state of a fillet by the conventional apparatus.

FIG. 12 (a) Food (croquette) using the apparatus of the present invention
The figure which shows a frozen state. (b) Shows the frozen state of food (croquette) by conventional equipment
Figure.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cooling room 2 Conveyor 3a Drive wheel 3b Follower wheel 4 Slit-shaped blowout hole 5 Air blowout rectifier 6 Cooler 7a Cooler blowout outlet 7b Cooler inlet 8A, 8B Lower air blowout device 9 Suction port 10 Vertical duct 11 Blowout header Reference Signs List 12 air outlet 13 blower 14 suction duct 15 blower header 16 blower 17 upper outlet 18 cross flow fan 19 fan housing 20 motor 21 inlet 22 upper outlet A initial cooling zone B final cooling zone F food

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-259366 (JP, A) JP-A-8-219617 (JP, A) JP-A-8-5213 (JP, A) JP-A 8- 226737 (JP, A) Hira 5-40782 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25D 13/06

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A food placed on a conveyor is placed in a cooling room provided with a cooler and a metal plate conveyor having good thermal conductivity .
A slit-shaped air outlet for forced cooling by blowing cooling air from the cooler from above is parallel to the conveyor.
Provide an air blow straightening body having , and under the upper running part of the conveyor in the initial cooling zone, on the lower surface of the running part
A food freezing device provided with a lower side air blowing device for directly cooling air to forcibly cool and pre-freeze both upper and lower surfaces of the food in an initial cooling zone. 2. A food placed on a conveyor is placed in a cooling room provided with a cooler and a metal plate conveyor having good thermal conductivity .
A slit-shaped air outlet for forced cooling by blowing cooling air from the cooler from above is parallel to the conveyor.
Providing an air blowing straightener having , and under the upper traveling portion of the conveyor in the initial cooling zone and the final cooling zone,
Provided the lower side air blowing unit for forcibly cooling by blowing directly cooling air to the lower surface of the traveling portion, respectively, when allowed to pre-freeze the upper and lower surfaces of the food product in an initial cooling zone together
Even in the final cooling zone, the food is frozen by the lower air blowing device
A food freezing device that can be tied .