JP5186260B2 - Thermal insulation device and distribution car - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat retaining device including a heat storage and a refrigerator, and to a distribution car including the heat retaining device.

  In order to provide meals in facilities such as hospitals, geriatric health facilities, hotels, schools, etc., a distribution car is used (see, for example, Patent Document 1). As such a distribution car, cooked food (food ingredients) A so-called cook chill system is proposed in which food is stored refrigerated at about 3 ° C. and heated to 75 ° C., which is a safe temperature, during serving before meals. .

  By the way, the food served by the distribution vehicle includes not only heated food but also food refrigerated at a low temperature. Therefore, there is also a barge equipped with a warm storage (also serving as a reheating storage) and a refrigerator (see Patent Document 1). On the other hand, when a large amount of food must be delivered within a short period of time, such as in the above hospitals, a large amount of food is arranged on the tray prior to the distribution, and then transferred to the storage box and refrigerator in the distribution car. Since the work takes time, it is a problem in the kitchen business operation. In addition, there is also a problem that the storage space is not effectively used in the state where the distribution vehicle is not used such as at night.

  Therefore, the heat storage used as a storage cabinet at the time of serving is used as a refrigerator at night, and the food is transferred from the previous day to the heat storage functioning as a refrigerator beforehand. It has been proposed to make effective use of the storage space of the distribution vehicle by shortening and using the distribution vehicle as a large refrigerator.

  FIG. 5 illustrates a case in which a warm storage used as a warm storage can be used as a refrigerator in a conventional garage equipped with a warm storage and a refrigerator. As shown in FIG. 5, the distribution vehicle 100 includes a first heat insulation box 110 and a second heat insulation box 120 that are thermally insulated. A plurality of outlets 111 for sending warm air or cold air into the first heat insulating chamber 110 are provided on at least one side wall of the first heat insulating chamber 110. In addition, a duct 112 is connected to the outside of the side wall of the first heat insulating chamber 110 where the air outlet 111 is provided. The duct 112 is further connected to a heater 113 for heating and a refrigerator evaporator (evaporator) 114 for cooling. And a blower 115 is provided. That is, the 1st heat storage 110 is comprised so that it can be switched and used for either a warm storage or a refrigerator as needed.

  Similarly, a plurality of outlets 121 for sending cold air into the second heat insulation chamber 120 are provided on at least one side wall of the second heat insulation chamber 120. In addition, a duct 122 is connected to the outside of the side wall where the air outlet 121 of the second heat insulating chamber 120 is provided, and a cooling refrigerator evaporator 124 and a fan 125 are provided in the duct 122. That is, the 2nd heat storage 120 is comprised so that it can be used only as a refrigerator.

Usually, at the time of reheating by the cook chill method, the internal temperature of the first heat insulating chamber 110 functioning as a reheating chamber reaches 120 to 130 ° C. Moreover, the internal temperature of the 2nd heat retention box 120 which functions as a refrigerator is about 3-10 degreeC. Since the evaporator 114 is provided in the duct 112 in the conventional distribution vehicle 100 equipped with a warm storage and a refrigerator, heat from the heater 113 is directly applied to the evaporator 114 during reheating, and thus an evaporator having excellent heat resistance. Is required. In order to increase the heat resistance of the evaporator, a material that is more expensive than a normal evaporator is required, such as plating the surface or making it stainless steel with excellent heat resistance. In addition, it is conceivable that the refrigerant in the evaporator is drawn out to a vacuum during heating, but the switching operation between heating and cooling is complicated, which may cause malfunction or failure. Further, when the first heat insulating chamber 110 is used as a refrigerator, the heater 113 having a large heat capacity is also cooled, which has a problem that cooling efficiency is low and power consumption is increased.
JP 2001-194051 A

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems of the conventional example, and includes at least two heat insulations, and at least one of the heat insulations can be used by switching between the heat storage and the refrigerator. A heat retaining device and a heat retaining device capable of increasing the cooling efficiency when using a heat retaining cabinet as a refrigerator without requiring an evaporator immediately put into heat resistance in a trolley equipped with the device and the heat retaining device. The purpose is to provide a equipped car.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 includes two or more heat storages, and can be used by switching at least one first heat storage to either the heat storage or the refrigerator, There is a heat retention device that uses at least one second heat storage other than the first heat storage as a refrigerator, and the first heat storage and the second heat storage are surrounded by a heat insulating material and thermally insulated. The interior of the first warmer is connected to the interior of the second warmer by a first duct having an openable / closable valve, and the second warmer is cooled for supplying cold air to the interior. An apparatus is connected, and the cooling device includes a refrigerator evaporator and a fan for supplying cold air, and a second duct for guiding the cold air to the second heat insulation, and is formed on a side wall of the second heat insulation. Due to the opening, the inside of the second heat insulation chamber and the second duct Is connected to the inside of the second duct, whereby the cool air introduced into the second duct is supplied into the second heat insulation chamber, and a heating device for supplying warm air to the first heat insulation chamber is connected to the first heat insulation chamber. The heating device includes a heater and a fan for supplying warm air, and a third duct for guiding the warm air to the first heat insulation, wherein the third duct is communicated with the first duct, A shielding wall is provided between the third duct and the heater, so that the cold air introduced into the third duct is shielded so as not to directly hit the heater, Through the opening formed in the side wall, the inside of the first heat insulating chamber communicates with the inside of the third duct, and the warm air or the cold air introduced into the third duct passes through the opening to the first heat insulating chamber. It is characterized by being supplied in .

The invention according to claim 2 is the heat insulating device of claim 1, wherein the first duct is characterized in that it is connected to the second duct.

The invention according to claim 3, in thermal insulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the first duct is provided in parallel with the second duct, the second duct and communicating in the vicinity of the refrigerator evaporator It is characterized by being.

The invention according to claim 4 is the heat retaining device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the first duct and the inside of the first heat retaining chamber are communicated with a side wall of the first heat retaining chamber. A first opening, a third duct communicating with the heating device and the first heat insulation, and a second opening communicating with the inside of the first heat insulation are formed. The third duct and the third duct are provided in parallel and are shielded so as not to communicate with the other .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the heat retaining device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, a temperature sensor provided in each of the first heat retaining chamber and the second heat retaining chamber, and the temperature sensor. Based on the detected temperature, the temperature control device further includes a temperature control device that controls on / off of the heater and the refrigerator evaporator and the air volume of the fan, and the temperature control device has a timer function and a valve opening / closing control function. The first heat storage is used as a refrigerator at the time of serving, and is used as a refrigerator at night. The valve is closed at a preset time and the heating device is operated .

  The invention according to claim 6 is a distribution vehicle, and is characterized in that the heat retaining device according to claims 1 to 5 is mounted on a moving device.

According to the invention which concerns on Claim 1, while stopping a heating apparatus and operating only a cooling device, the 1st heat retention box can be used as a refrigerator by opening the valve of a 1st duct. Conversely, by stopping the cooling device, operating only the heating device, and opening the valve of the first duct, the second heat insulating box can be used as a warm storage box (also serving as a reheating box). Moreover, the valve | bulb of a 1st duct is closed and a heating apparatus and a cooling device are operated, respectively, A 1st heat storage can be used as a warm storage, and a 2nd heat storage can be used as a refrigerator. In that case, since the evaporator of the cooling device does not exist in the flow path of the warm air supplied from the heating device, it is not necessary to use an evaporator having excellent heat resistance. Further, since there is no heater having a large heat capacity in the flow path of the cold air supplied from the cooling device, the cooling efficiency can be increased and the power consumption can be reduced. Note that when thermal insulation cabinet there are only two, a first thermal insulation cabinet which either are connected to the heating equipment, of course, the other is a second thermal insulation cabinet cooling equipment is connected. Moreover, since the 1st duct is connected to the 3rd duct which connects a heating apparatus and a 1st heat insulation, a part of warm air supplied toward a 1st heat insulation from a heating apparatus is used for a 1st duct. Then, it can be supplied to the second heat storage. As a result, the second heat storage can be used as a heat storage without complicating the structure.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, since the 1st duct is connected to the 2nd duct which connects a cooling device and a 2nd heat insulation, it is the cold air supplied toward a 2nd heat insulation from a cooling device. A part is supplied to a 1st heat storage via a 1st duct. Therefore, the first heat storage can be switched to either the heat storage or the refrigerator without complicating the duct structure of the heat storage device.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the first duct is provided in parallel with the second duct that communicates the cooling device and the second heat insulation, and communicates with the second duct in the vicinity of the cooling device, The air volume of the cool air supplied from the cooling device to the first heat insulation through the first duct and the air volume of the cold air supplied to the second heat insulation through the second duct can be made substantially equal, The second heat storage can be cooled evenly and in substantially the same time.

According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, when using a 1st heat retention box as a refrigerator, all the cold wind supplied through a 1st duct from a cooling device is blown out in a 1st heat retention box, and is heated. Almost no flow to the device side. Therefore, the amount of heat lost by the heating device or the like can be reduced, the cooling efficiency can be increased, and the power consumption can be reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, if the temperature control device has a timer function and a valve opening / closing control function, the valve is closed at a preset time (for example, midnight or early morning), and the heating device is operated. Thus, food cooked at an appropriate temperature can be served in a timely manner.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 6, since the heat-retaining apparatus of Claims 1 thru | or 5 is mounted in a moving apparatus and comprises the distribution vehicle, food is made into the heat-reservation box which is functioning as a refrigerator from the previous day beforehand. In addition to reducing the time required for transferring food before serving, and using the serving vehicle as a large refrigerator, the storage space of the serving vehicle can be effectively used.

  A heat retaining device and a garage equipped with the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a layout vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment. The distribution vehicle 1 basically includes a moving device (cart) 2 and a heat retaining device 3 mounted on the moving device 2. The mobile device 2 may be a self-propelled type or a hand-held type. In addition, in the case of a self-propelled mobile device, in addition to the type that autonomously moves along a preset route while recognizing its own position on the map, the type that moves while being guided by a guidance device embedded in the floor in advance May be a type that moves along a guide rail, or a type that is operated by a person in charge of the arrangement.

  In the case where the moving device 2 is of a type that moves autonomously, the moving device 2 has a traveling device 23 including a driving wheel 21 driven by a motor and a steering wheel 22 driven by a servo mechanism, and a route set in advance. The travel control device 24 is configured to control the travel device 23 so as to travel along. The travel control device 24 includes an arithmetic processing device 25 composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like, a non-volatile large-capacity storage device 26 such as a hard disk, an imaging device 27 that captures an image of the surroundings of the distribution vehicle 1, and an obstacle sensor 28. Etc. The storage device 26 stores, as map information, map information from a preset route, for example, from a kitchen to a room to be served. Based on the image data obtained by processing the image picked up by the image pickup device 27 and the distance to the obstacle obtained by the obstacle sensor 28, the arithmetic processing device 25 is used for the surrounding walls and obstacles of the layout vehicle 1. Peripheral information such as objects is acquired, the obtained peripheral information is compared with map information, the position of the distribution vehicle 1 on the map is determined, and the self position is recognized.

  The heat retaining device 3 is provided on the first heat retaining chamber 31 and the second heat retaining chamber 41 side, the heating device 32 provided on the first heat retaining chamber 31 side, and the second heat retaining chamber 41 side. The cooling device 42 is used. The first heat storage 31 and the second heat storage 41 are surrounded by a heat insulating material or the like so as to be less susceptible to the influence of the other heat, and are thermally insulated. At the time of serving, the first heat storage 31 is used as a heat storage (in the case of the cook chill system, it also serves as a reheating storage), and the second heat storage 41 is used as a refrigerator.

  Here, the “warm storage” refers to a food storage having a function capable of maintaining the internal temperature in a certain range, and the “thermal storage” refers to the internal temperature that is higher than room temperature (for example, 20 ° C.). The thing maintained in a high temperature range is said, and "refrigerator" shall mean the thing which maintains the internal temperature in a temperature range lower than room temperature. In addition, the “reheating chamber” refers to a chamber that can be heated to a high temperature of 120 to 130 ° C.

  The heating device 32 includes a heater 33 and a fan 34 for supplying warm air toward the first heat insulation chamber 31, a third duct 35 for guiding the generated warm air to the first heat insulation chamber 31, and the like. . A shielding wall 36 is provided between the third duct 35 and the heater 33, and is shielded so that cold air introduced into the third duct 35 does not directly hit the heater 33 as will be described later. A plurality of openings 31b are formed in the side wall 31a on the opposite side of the side wall facing the second heat storage 41 among the side walls of the first heat storage 31, and the inside of the first heat storage 31 is formed by the openings 31b. And the inside of the third duct 35 communicates with each other. The hot air or the cold air introduced into the third duct 35 is supplied into the first heat insulation box 31 through the opening 31b. Thereby, the food stored in the first heat storage 31 is heated or cooled.

  The cooling device 42 includes a refrigerator evaporator 43 and a fan 44 for supplying cold air toward the second heat insulation box 41, a second duct 45 for guiding the generated cold air to the second heat insulation room 41, and the like. . A plurality of openings 41b are formed in the side wall 41a opposite to the side wall facing the first heat insulation chamber 31 among the side walls of the second heat insulation chamber 41, and the inside of the second heat insulation chamber 41 is formed by the openings 41b. And the inside of the second duct 45 communicates with each other. The cold air introduced into the second duct 45 is supplied into the second heat insulation box 41 through the opening 41b. Thereby, the food stored in the second heat storage 41 is cooled. In addition, the shielding wall 46 is provided between the 2nd duct 45 and the evaporator 43 so that the temperature and flow volume of the cold wind supplied into the 2nd heat insulation box 41 from each opening 41b may become uniform.

  Temperature sensors 51 and 52 are provided in the first heat storage 31 and the second heat storage 41, respectively. The temperature control device 50 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. Based on the temperatures detected by the temperature sensors 51 and 52, the heater 33 and the refrigerator are turned on / off, and the airflow of the fans 34 and 44 is adjusted. The temperature in the 1st heat storage 31 and the 2nd heat storage 41 is heated to predetermined temperature, it cools, or it keeps in a predetermined temperature range.

  As the fans 34 and 44, for example, a sirocco fan, a cross flow fan, a propeller fan, or the like can be used. As the heater 33, for example, a sheathed heater, a panel heater, a PTC heater, or the like can be used.

  For example, in the upper part of the 1st heat storage 31 and the 2nd heat storage 41, the upper part of the 2nd duct 45 and the 3rd duct 35, ie, the 1st heat storage 31 and the 2nd heat storage 41, respectively, is an original heat storage. And the 1st duct 11 is connected to the downstream of the flow of the warm air and cold air when using as a refrigerator, and is connected. A valve 12 that can be opened and closed is provided at the center of the first duct 11. When the first heat storage 31 is used as a heat storage and the second heat storage 41 is used as a refrigerator, the valve 12 is closed. On the other hand, when using the 1st heat storage 31 as a refrigerator, the valve 12 is opened. For example, a ball valve or a butterfly valve can be used as the valve 12.

  At the time of serving, by closing the valve 12 and operating the heating device 32 and the cooling device 42 as described above, the first heat storage 31 can be used as a heat storage and the second heat storage 41 can be used as a refrigerator. it can. In this case, since the evaporator of the cooling device does not exist in the flow path of the hot air supplied from the heating device 32, it is not necessary to use an evaporator having excellent heat resistance. On the other hand, at night or the like, the first heat storage 31 can be used as a refrigerator by opening the valve 12, stopping the heating device 32, and operating only the cooling device 42. At that time, the cold air generated by the cooling device 42 is introduced into the second duct 45 and flows into the second heat insulating chamber 41 from the opening 41b, and a part is further introduced into the third duct 35 via the first duct 11. Then, it flows into the inside of the first heat storage 31 from the opening 31b. As a result, the temperature of the food stored in the first heat storage 31 and the second heat storage 41 is maintained at a predetermined temperature (low temperature) and refrigerated. In this case, since there is no heater having a large heat capacity in the flow path of the cold air supplied from the cooling device 42, that is, the heater 33 is shielded by the shielding wall 36, the amount of heat taken away by the heater 33 is very large. The cooling efficiency can be increased and the power consumption by the cooling device 42 can be reduced. In addition, depending on the content of the food to be served, all may require reheating. In that case, at the time of serving, the cooling device 42 is stopped, only the heating device 32 is operated, and the valve of the first duct is opened, so that the second heat insulating box 31 serves as a warm box (also serves as a reheating box). ) Can be used.

  In addition, in this embodiment, although the case where each provided the 1st heat storage 31 connected to the heating apparatus 32 and the 2nd heat storage 41 connected to the cooling device 42 is illustrated, this invention is It is not limited to this, either one may be one and the other may be two or more, or each may be two or more.

  FIG. 2 shows a modified example of the heat retaining device according to the present embodiment and a layout vehicle equipped with the same. In the configuration example shown in FIG. 1, the case where the first duct 11 communicates with the upper part of the second duct 45 is shown. However, in the modification shown in FIG. 2, a part 11 a of the first duct 11 is connected to the cooling device 42. It is provided in parallel with the second duct 45 that communicates with the second heat insulating chamber 41, and communicates with the second duct 45 in the vicinity of the cooling device 42. Other structures are the same as those of the configuration example shown in FIG.

  According to such a configuration, the amount of cool air supplied from the cooling device 42 to the first heat insulation box 31 via the first duct 11 and the amount of cold air supplied to the second heat insulation box 41 via the second duct 45. Can be made substantially equal, and the first heat insulating chamber 31 and the second heat insulating chamber 41 can be cooled uniformly and in substantially the same time.

  FIG. 3 shows another modified example of the heat retaining device according to the present embodiment and a layout vehicle including the heat retaining device. FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the first opening 31b and the second opening 31c, the first duct 11 and the third duct 35 formed in the side wall 31a of the first heat insulation 31 in this modification. 3 and FIG. 4, an arrow indicated by a broken line indicates a flow of hot air supplied from the heating device 32 when the first heat insulating chamber 31 is used as a warm storage. Moreover, the arrow shown as a continuous line shows the flow of the cold wind supplied through the 1st duct 11 from the cooling device 42, when using the 1st heat storage 31 as a refrigerator.

  In the modification shown in FIG.3 and FIG.4, the 1st opening 31b which connects the 1st duct 11 and the inside of the 1st heat storage 31 to the side wall 31a of the 1st heat storage 31, the heating apparatus 32, and the 1st heat insulation A second opening 31 c that communicates the third duct 35 that communicates with the storage 31 and the inside of the first heat retaining chamber 31 is formed. Moreover, in the back surface of the side wall 31a of the 1st heat storage 31, the part 11b of the 1st duct 11 and the 3rd duct 35 are provided in parallel, and are shielded so that it may not communicate with the other, respectively. The number and position of the first opening 31b and the second opening 31c are not particularly limited.

  According to such a configuration, when the first heat insulation chamber 31 is used as a refrigerator, all the cold air supplied from the cooling device 42 via the first duct 11 blows out from the first opening 31b into the first heat insulation chamber 31. And hardly flows to the heating device 32 side. Therefore, the amount of heat lost by the heating device 32 can be reduced, the cooling efficiency can be increased, and the power consumption of the cooling device 42 can be reduced.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the trolley car provided with the moving device (cart) as described above, and may be a fixed heat retaining device not provided with the moving device. If the temperature control device 50 has a timer function and a valve 12 opening / closing control function, the valve 12 is closed at a preset time (for example, midnight or early morning), and the heating device 32 is operated, so that an appropriate temperature is obtained. The cooked food can be served in a timely manner.

The figure which shows the structure of the layout vehicle provided with the heat retention apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of the modification in the said embodiment. The figure which shows the other modification in the said embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the duct and opening in the back surface of the side wall of the 1st heat storage in the modification shown in FIG. The figure which shows the structure of the layout vehicle provided with the conventional heat retention apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1 Wheel arrangement 2 Moving device (cart)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Thermal insulation apparatus 11 1st duct 11a, 11b Part of 1st duct 12 Valve 31 1st thermal insulation 31a Side wall 31b 1st opening 31c 2nd opening 32 Heating apparatus 33 Heater 34 Fan 35 3rd duct 36 Shielding wall 41 2nd Insulation chamber 42 Cooling storage 43 Evaporator 44 Fan 45 Second duct 46 Shielding wall

Claims (6)

Two or more heat insulation units are provided, and at least one first heat insulation unit can be used by switching to either a heat storage unit or a refrigerator. At least one second heat insulation unit other than the first heat insulation unit can be used. There is a heat retention device used as a refrigerator,
The first heat storage and the second heat storage are surrounded by a heat insulating material and thermally insulated,
The inside of the first heat storage and the inside of the second heat storage are connected by a first duct having a valve that can be opened and closed,
A cooling device for supplying cold air is connected to the inside of the second heat insulation chamber, and the cooling device guides the cold air to the second heat insulation chamber with a refrigerator evaporator and a fan for supplying the cold air. The second heat insulating chamber is connected to the inside of the second heat insulating chamber by the opening formed in the side wall of the second heat insulating chamber, whereby the cold air introduced into the second duct is Is supplied into the second heat storage,
A heating device for supplying warm air is connected to the inside of the first heat insulation chamber, and the heating device supplies a heater and a fan for supplying warm air to the first heat insulation chamber. A third duct for guiding, wherein the third duct communicates with the first duct, and a shielding wall is provided between the third duct and the heater; The introduced cold air is shielded so as not to directly hit the heater, and the opening formed in the side wall of the first heat insulating chamber allows the inside of the first heat insulating chamber and the inside of the third duct to communicate with each other. The warm air or cold air introduced into the three ducts is supplied into the first heat insulation chamber through the opening . Wherein the first duct is kept apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that connected to the second duct. 2. The heat retaining device according to claim 1, wherein a part of the first duct is provided in parallel with the second duct and communicates with the second duct in the vicinity of the refrigerator evaporator . The side wall of the first heat insulation is provided with a first opening that communicates the first duct and the inside of the first heat insulation, a third duct that communicates the heating device and the first heat insulation, and the first A second opening that communicates with the interior of the heat storage is formed,
4. A part of said 1st duct and said 3rd duct are provided in parallel in the back surface of said side wall, and are shielded so that it may not communicate with the other, respectively. The heat retaining device according to claim 1. On / off of the heater and the refrigerator evaporator, and the air volume of the fan based on the temperature sensors provided in the first and second heat insulation chambers, and the temperatures detected by the temperature sensors, respectively. Further comprising a temperature control device for controlling the temperature control device, the temperature control device has a timer function and a valve opening / closing control function,
Said first insulation box used as a heating cabinet at serving night was used as a refrigerator, closing the valve at a preset time, according to claim 1, wherein the operating the said heating device The heat retention apparatus of any one.   6. A distribution vehicle comprising the heat retaining device according to claim 1 mounted on a moving device.

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