JP4999381B2 - Continuous cooling system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a continuous cooling device that supercools an object such as fresh food such as vegetables, seafood, and fruits to its freezing point or lower so as not to freeze while being conveyed.

  Conventionally, frozen storage is performed in order to maintain the freshness of fresh foods such as vegetables, seafood and fruits. The frozen storage is performed by rapidly freezing the object to be frozen from normal temperature to −35 ° C. to −45 ° C. in the freezer compartment. However, such a method has a problem that when the object to be frozen is thawed, a drip is generated, and the object to be frozen becomes watery.

  Thus, attempts have been made to store the object in an unfrozen state in an ice temperature range of 0 ° C. to −5 ° C. For example, Patent Document 1 uses a plurality of negative electrostatic generators with high output resistance to induce high-voltage negative electrostatics in a refrigerator, and provides a negative electrostatic band with a voltage between 1V and 4999V. It is described that food is stored for a long period of time while keeping its freshness in an unfrozen state in an ice temperature range of 0 ° C. to −3 ° C. in the refrigerator.

  In Patent Document 2, a part or all of a low temperature chamber is an electric field processing chamber, and a high voltage electrode, a flat plate counter electrode disposed opposite to the high pressure electrode, and a high voltage power source are disposed in the processing chamber. A refrigerator is described in which the electric field treatment is performed from the time until the electric field treatment chamber is cooled to 0 ° C. or lower so as not to freeze in the temperature range of 0 ° C. to −5 ° C. Similarly, Patent Documents 3 and 4 describe that by cooling to 0 ° C. or less in an electrostatic field atmosphere, the temperature is lowered to a supercooling temperature zone without freezing.

JP-A-9-61044 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-138055 Utility Model Registration No. 3101162 JP 2005-156042 A

  In the technologies described in Patent Documents 1 to 4, an electrode is arranged on a wall surface in a refrigerator that is a closed space to form an electric field in the refrigerator, and an object is accommodated in the refrigerator for electric field treatment. It cools so that it may not freeze. For this reason, when a large amount of objects are cooled, it is necessary to put in and out the objects manually by the worker each time, and a large amount of objects cannot be processed continuously.

  Usually, when a large amount of objects are continuously cooled, the object is passed through a cooling device while being conveyed by a belt conveyor. However, as described in Patent Documents 1 to 4, It is difficult to apply the technique for subjecting a non-moving object to an electric field as it is to a moving object such as a belt conveyor.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a continuous cooling device that supercools an object to a temperature below the freezing point so that the object is not frozen while being conveyed by a conveyor.

  The continuous cooling device of the present invention is an endless device that hangs between a cooling unit that cools an object to a freezing point or less and a pair of rollers formed of an insulator, and conveys the mounted object in the cooling unit. An annular body having an endless annular body formed of a conductor and a high voltage supply roller that is applied with a high voltage and rotates around in contact with the endless annular body.

  According to the present invention, a high voltage is applied to the endless annular body via the high voltage supply roller that rotates in contact with the endless annular body, and is applied to the object conveyed by the endless annular body. As a result, the composition molecules of the object on the endless annular body are activated, so even if it is cooled below the freezing point while being transported in the cooling section, it does not freeze, and it is subcooled below that freezing point. Is done.

  Here, it is desirable that the endless annular body is supported by an insulator between the pair of rollers. The endless annular body on which the object is placed is supported by an insulator between the pair of rollers, so that a large number of objects are placed on the endless annular body, or a heavy object is placed. Even if it is a case, it becomes possible to convey a target object, maintaining the insulation state and attitude | position of an endless annular body.

  The endless annular body can be formed in a belt shape or a net shape. A belt-shaped object can secure a large contact area with the object, so that a high voltage can be efficiently applied to the object. Moreover, if it is a net-like thing, the continuous cooling device of this invention is realizable at low cost.

(1) A cooling unit that cools an object to a temperature below the freezing point and an endless annular body that is hung between a pair of rollers formed of an insulator and conveys the mounted object in the cooling unit, By having an endless annular body formed of a conductor and a high voltage supply roller that is applied with a high voltage and rotates in contact with the endless annular body, it is cooled to below the freezing point while being conveyed in the cooling section. However, it is possible to supercool to below the freezing point so as not to freeze while conveying objects such as fresh foods such as vegetables, seafood and fruits.

(2) Since the endless annular body is supported by an insulator between a pair of rollers, even a large number of objects or heavy objects can be processed continuously. .

  1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a continuous cooling device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a conveyor device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows details of a portion A of FIG. It is a perspective view.

  In FIG. 1, the continuous cooling device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention reduces the object X such as fresh food such as vegetables, fish shellfish and fruits to a freezing point (the temperature at which water in the object X begins to freeze) or less. A cooling unit 2 that cools, a conveyor device 3 that conveys the object X, a cooling device 4, and a cooling unit 5 that blows air (cold air) cooled by the cooling device 4 onto the conveyor device 3 by a fan 5a. .

  The conveyor device 3 includes a pair of rollers (hereinafter referred to as “resin insulating rollers”) 30a and 30b formed of resin as an insulator, and an endless annular body wound around the resin insulating rollers 30a and 30b. And a resin insulation rail 32 formed of a resin as an insulator that supports the conveyor net 31 between the resin insulation rollers 30a and 30b, and a high voltage of 3000 to 7000V, preferably around 3500V. A high voltage generator 33 and a high voltage supply roller 34 connected to the high voltage generator 33 and rotating around in contact with the conveyor net 31 are configured.

  The resin insulating rollers 30a and 30b are pivotally supported by stainless shafts 35a and 35b, respectively. The stainless shaft 35a is a drive shaft, and the stainless shaft 35b is a driven shaft. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the conveyor net 31 has stainless bars 31a formed of stainless steel as conductors arranged in parallel in the transport direction Y, and is engaged with the adjacent stainless bars 31a at the ends, It is formed in a net shape.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the high voltage supply roller 34 is provided at one end of the conveyor net 31, and as shown in FIG. 3, a high voltage generator is provided via a wiring 36 and a leaf spring terminal 37. A voltage higher than 33 is applied. As shown in FIG. 3, the resin insulation rail 32 contacts the lower surface of the conveyor net 31 to support the conveyor net 31.

  In the continuous cooling device 1 having the above configuration, the inside of the cooling unit 2 is maintained at −5 ° C. to −10 ° C. by the cool air blown from the cooling unit 5 by the fan 5a. The object X conveyed by the conveyor device 3 in the cooling unit 2 is cooled from room temperature to below the freezing point (for example, −2 ° C. to −5 ° C.) by this cold air.

  Here, a high voltage of 3000 to 7000 V is applied to the conveyor net 31 via a high voltage supply roller 34 that rotates around in contact with the conveyor net 31, and this high voltage electric field is all on the conveyor net 31. ing. This high voltage is applied to the object X conveyed in the cooling unit 2 by the conveyor net 31, and the composition molecules of the object X are activated. Therefore, the object X does not freeze even if it is cooled to below the freezing point while being transported in the cooling unit 2, and is supercooled to below the freezing point.

  Moreover, in the continuous cooling device 1 according to the present embodiment, the conveyor net 31 is supported by the resin insulation rails 32 between the pair of resin insulation rollers 30a and 30b. Even if it is, it can convey continuously and can carry out a supercooling process, with the insulation state and attitude | position of the conveyor net | network 31 maintained.

  The continuous cooling device of the present invention is useful as a device that continuously supercools the freezing point or lower of an object such as fresh food such as vegetables, seafood, and fruits.

It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the continuous cooling device in embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of the conveyor apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the detail of the A section of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

X object 1 continuous cooling device 2 cooling unit 3 conveyor device 4 cooling device 5 cooling unit 5a fan 30a, 30b resin insulation roller 31 conveyor net 31a stainless steel bar 32 resin insulation rail 33 high voltage generator 34 high voltage supply roller 35a, 35b Stainless steel shaft 36 Wiring 37 Leaf spring terminal

Claims (2)

A cooling unit for cooling the object to below the freezing point;
An endless annular body that is hung between a pair of rollers formed of an insulator and conveys a placed object in the cooling unit, and an endless annular body formed of a conductor;
A continuous cooling device having a high voltage supply roller to which a high voltage of 3000 to 7000 V is applied and which rotates in contact with the endless annular body. The continuous cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the endless annular body is supported by a rail formed of an insulator between the pair of rollers.

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