JP5334892B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator capable of storing food with high quality.

  In recent years, the number of households that bulk purchase food, diversify food, make food, stock food, etc. is increasing, and there is a demand for large capacity as a need for household refrigerators. On the other hand, demands for the preservation state of foods are increasing due to increasing consumer awareness of the deliciousness, safety and preservation quality of foods. As a method for preserving food with high quality, a method of performing dehydration before storage is known. By removing water in the food to some extent, when the food is frozen, cell damage caused by ice crystals can be suppressed, and the food can be maintained in high quality. Further, by dehydrating excess water corresponding to the drip, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of drip during freezing or refrigeration.

  Conventionally, patent document 1 is mentioned as a store | warehouse | chamber provided with the drying means which can perform such a dehydration process. Patent Document 1 promotes vaporization of moisture on the surface of the food by reducing the pressure in the gas space in contact with the food in the freezing process, thereby reducing the moisture of the food.

JP 2009-39000 A (summary)

  However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, since the entire case where food is placed is sealed and decompressed, it becomes a dedicated room for placing only the food to be dried. Therefore, foods that are not desired to be dried or foods that are not suitable for decompression cannot be stored together. For this reason, although a large capacity is desired, a dead space where other foods cannot be stored is created, which is inconvenient.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems as described above, and performs a dehydration process of food without decompression, and a refrigerator capable of maintaining high quality food stored in the refrigerator. The purpose is to obtain.

The refrigerator according to the present invention has a door that can be opened and closed, a switching chamber capable of storing food in a frozen state, a cooling means for generating low-temperature air that is air below the freezing temperature of the food and cools the switching chamber, and switching comprising a high frequency irradiation means for irradiating a high frequency to the food put into the chamber, a blower means for blowing cold air to the switching chamber, and a controller for normal operation for frozen food switching chamber by driving the blower means When the control device is switched from the normal operation to the dehydration processing operation in which the food in the switching chamber is dehydrated, the control device drives the high-frequency irradiation means and increases the rotation speed of the air blowing means as compared with the normal operation time.

  According to the present invention, by blowing air while irradiating the food with high frequency, the food can be dehydrated by removing moisture uniformly from the whole food, and the food can be maintained in high quality.

It is a front view of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a sectional side view of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a sectional side view of the switching chamber part which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a control-system schematic diagram of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation control of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a sectional side view of the switching chamber part which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a control-system schematic diagram of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation control of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a sectional side view of the switching chamber part which concerns on Embodiment 1, 2 of this invention (the 1). It is a sectional side view of the switching chamber part which concerns on Embodiment 1, 2 of this invention (the 2).

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a front view of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
The refrigerator body 1 includes a refrigerating room 100, a switching room 200, an ice making room 300, a freezing room 400, a vegetable room 500, and the like. The refrigerator compartment 100 is disposed at the top of the refrigerator body 1. The switching chamber 200 is disposed below the refrigeration chamber 100 and switches from the freezing temperature zone (−18 ° C.) to each temperature zone such as refrigeration, vegetables, chilled, and soft freezing (about −5, −7, −9 ° C.). It is a possible room. The ice making chamber 300 is arranged in parallel with the switching chamber 200. The freezing room 400 is disposed below the switching room 200 and the ice making room 300. The vegetable compartment 500 is arranged at the lowermost part of the refrigerator body 1. The refrigerating room 100 is opened and closed by an openable / closable door 101, and the switching room 200, the ice making room 300, the freezing room 400, and the vegetable room 500 are opened and closed by drawer type doors 201, 301, 401, and 501 respectively. Further, on the surface of the door 101 in front of the refrigerating room 100, an operation panel 1a including an operation switch for adjusting the temperature and setting of each room and a liquid crystal display unit for displaying the temperature of each room and the like is provided. ing. In addition, the operation panel 1a may be installed in the refrigerator, for example, the side surface of the refrigerator compartment. Each of the storage chambers 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 is provided with a temperature sensor 16 (see FIGS. 3 and 4 to be described later) configured by, for example, a thermistor for detecting the temperature in each storage chamber. .

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of the refrigerator of FIG.
A storage case 402 is installed in the freezer compartment 400 and can store food. A storage case 202 is also installed in the switching chamber 200 and can store food. Similarly, the vegetable compartment 500 is provided with a storage case 502, which can store food. The number of cases may be one, but two or more cases may be used in the case where the organization and the like are improved from the capacity of the entire refrigerator.

  A control device 2 is disposed on the upper back of the refrigerator body 1. In addition, a cooler 3, a compressor 4, and a blower fan 5 are arranged at the lower back of the refrigerator body 1. The cool air (low temperature air) cooled by the cooler 3 of the cooling means composed of the cooler 3 and the compressor 4 is cooled by the blower fan 5 provided in the air passage 6, the refrigerating room 100, the switching room 200, The ice making room 300, the freezing room 400, and the vegetable room 500 are blown to cool each storage room. The cold air that has cooled each storage room 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 is returned to the cooler 3, cooled again, and supplied to each storage room 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 by the blower fan 5. The Although not shown in detail, the refrigerating room 100 is connected with a refrigerating room return air passage, and the cold air that has been cooled in the refrigerating room 100 is transferred from the refrigerating room return air passage through the air passage 6. A circulation air passage returning to the refrigerator compartment 100 is formed. Similarly, the vegetable room 500 has a return air passage for the vegetable room, and cool air that has been cooled in the vegetable room 500 is transferred from the return air path for the refrigeration room to the vegetable room 500 via the air path 6. A circulating air passage is formed. A damper 7 (see FIG. 4 described later) that can be opened and closed is provided in the air passage 6.

  The control device 2 detects the temperature of each storage chamber by the temperature sensor 16 installed in each storage chamber, and the opening degree of the damper 7 installed in the air passage 6 and the compressor so that the temperature becomes a preset temperature. 4 and the air flow rate of the blower fan 5 are adjusted.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the switching chamber 200 portion according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the same parts as those in FIG.
On the back surface of the switching chamber 200, there are opened a blow-out port 10 through which cool air from the cooler 3 is blown out into the switching chamber 200 and a return port 11 through which cool air after cooling the inside of the switching chamber 200 is returned. A fine lattice plate (high frequency leakage prevention plate) 12 made of a metal punching metal or the like is disposed at the blowout port 10 and the return port 11. The cold air that has been carried from the blower fan 5 through the air passage 6 flows into and out of the switching chamber 200 via the micro lattice plate 12.

  The fine grid plate 12 propagates high-frequency radiation radiated from an antenna 13 connected to a high-frequency power feeding device 14 to be described later to the back surface on which devices such as the compressor 4 and the cooler 3 are arranged and to other storage rooms. The shield is made of a metal punching metal having a plurality of opening holes.

  A storage box 15 that houses the high-frequency power feeding device 14 is disposed below the switching chamber 200, and a storage case 202 in which food can be placed is disposed on the storage box 15. In the switching chamber 200, a temperature sensor 16 for detecting the air temperature in the warehouse (hereinafter referred to as the interior temperature) is disposed.

  The high-frequency power supply device 14 is a device that supplies high-frequency power using a semiconductor element or a magnetron. The high-frequency power supply device 14 is accommodated in the storage box 15 and disposed in the switching chamber 200. The high frequency power supply device 14 is for performing dehydration processing of food, and performs dehydration processing of food by applying high frequency energy to moisture in the food. By attaching an amplifier or isolator to the high-frequency power supply device 14, it is possible to increase the high-frequency output or prevent the device from self-heating due to reflected waves.

  The high frequency generated in the high frequency power feeding device 14 is transmitted to the antenna 13 via a power transmission means such as a coaxial cable or a waveguide, and is radiated from the antenna 13 into the switching chamber 200. The antenna 13 is composed of a metal dipole antenna in which the length of the radiating portion is set to ½ of the wavelength. By installing the radiation surface toward the storage case 201, it becomes possible to radiate high frequency to the stored food. Note that the shape example of the antenna 13 is merely an example, and the antenna 13 is appropriately selected depending on the radiated output, directivity, and installation dimensions. The antenna 13 is connected to an antenna drive device 13a (see FIG. 4 to be described later) constituted by a motor and a power transmission device, and the direction of high-frequency radiation radiated from the antenna 13 is changed under the control of the antenna drive device 13a. It is possible to make it. With this configuration, it is possible to radiate a high frequency uniformly in the storage case 201 or to radiate a part of it. A high frequency irradiation means is constituted by the high frequency power supply device 14 and the antenna 13 that radiates a high frequency from the high frequency power supply device 14.

  With the configuration as described above, in the switching chamber 200, the food placed in the storage case 201 is blown by the air from the blower fan 5, and the high frequency generated by the high frequency power feeding device 14 is irradiated. As a result, low-temperature and low-humidity air is sent to the food surface by the blower fan 5, and moisture is taken away from the food surface. In addition, moisture in food moves to the food surface because it absorbs high frequency energy and excites molecular motion. Therefore, by performing ventilation and high frequency irradiation simultaneously, as a result, the whole food can be deprived of moisture uniformly, and the food can be dehydrated. Moreover, although energy is given to the water | moisture content of a foodstuff with a high frequency, food temperature does not rise to the temperature which changes in quality by blowing low temperature air. As the high frequency generated by the high frequency power supply device 14, it is necessary to efficiently absorb the high frequency into moisture in the food, and for example, the vicinity of 915 MHz or 2450 MHz is preferable.

  In addition, water has a larger micro loss factor than that of ice, and is easy to absorb microwaves. Therefore, when the high frequency is microwaves, when the food having a temperature below the freezing temperature and the food having a temperature higher than the freezing temperature are stored in the switching chamber 200, only the food having a temperature higher than the freezing temperature absorbs the high frequency. Therefore, when the atmospheric temperature in the switching chamber 200 is equal to or lower than the freezing temperature of the food, the food stored in advance and frozen does not absorb the high frequency, and only the newly introduced food absorbs the high frequency. For this reason, dehydration can be performed without affecting other foods.

  In addition, by controlling the antenna driving device 13a that adjusts the direction of the antenna 13, it is possible to radiate a high frequency to a part as described above, and thus it is possible to select an area for performing dehydration processing. . Therefore, even if the atmospheric temperature in the switching chamber 200 is higher than the freezing point, or even in the case of the supercooling state where the freezing is not performed even if the freezing point is lower than the freezing point, dehydration is performed without affecting other foods. Only foods you want to do can be dehydrated. As the area selection method, for example, an area selection button is provided on the operation panel 1a so that the user can arbitrarily select it.

  In addition, a moisture content detection device 17 is provided in the switching chamber 200, and the moisture content of the food placed in the storage case 201 can be detected. Thereby, it is possible to detect that the food reaches a desired moisture content, and it is possible to prevent the food from deteriorating due to dehydration, such as excessive dehydration. A conventionally known device can be adopted as the moisture content detection device 17, for example, a device that detects the moisture content by a non-contact method using near infrared rays or the like. The non-contact method calculates the amount of change in infrared rays within a preset time by an infrared detecting means for detecting the amount of infrared rays generated from food, and calculates the moisture content of the food based on the calculation result. . Further, as the moisture content detection device 17, a weight sensor may be disposed at the lower part of the storage case 201, and the change in the moisture content may be calculated from the change in the weight of the food.

  In the vicinity of the door 201, a door opening / closing detection switch 18 for detecting opening / closing of the door 201 is provided. The door opening / closing detection switch 18 is constituted by, for example, a micro switch, and is used to turn on / off a circuit that supplies power to the high-frequency power feeding device 14. That is, when the door 201 is closed, the door open / close detection switch 18 is closed and the power supply circuit is conducted, and when the door 201 is open, the door open / close detection switch 18 is opened and the power supply circuit is cut off. As a result, immediately after the door 201 is opened, the energization of the high-frequency power supply device 14 is immediately released, and high-frequency leakage outside the switching chamber 200 is prevented.

  Conductive packing (hereinafter, referred to as conductive packing 19) is disposed at the contact portion between the opening end face of the switching chamber 200 and the door 201 over the entire periphery of the opening end face of the switching chamber 200. The conductive packing 19 may be provided in either the switching chamber 200 or the door 201. The conductive packing 19 has an effect of sealing the switching chamber 200 and the door 201 both spatially and electrically, and prevents both cold air leakage and high frequency leakage.

  The conductive packing 19 is provided with conductivity by kneading metal into an elastic rubber member or painting the packing surface with metal. Note that the higher the conductivity, the higher the effect of preventing high-frequency leakage. In addition, the inner surface of the switching chamber 200 is configured to be conductive in order to easily reflect high frequencies. For this reason, it is preferable that the inner surface of the switching chamber 200 is made of stainless steel, aluminum, a steel plate, or the like. Conductivity can also be imparted by performing metal deposition on the surface of the resin.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a control system of the refrigerator in the first embodiment of the present invention.
The control device 2 is composed of a microcomputer, and includes a CPU, a RAM for storing various data, and a ROM (none of which is shown) for storing a program for performing operation control, etc. Control the whole refrigerator according to.

  The control device 2 is connected to a temperature sensor 16, a compressor 4, a blower fan 5, a damper 7, and an operation panel 1a installed in each storage room. The control device 2 is further connected to a high frequency power supply device 14, an antenna drive device 13 a that adjusts the direction of the antenna 13 of the high frequency power supply device 14, a moisture content detection device 17, and a door open / close detection switch 18.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of operation control of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
When the dehydration button provided on the operation panel 1a is turned on (S101), the control device 2 detects the moisture content of the food with the moisture content detection device 17, and acquires the initial moisture content W0 (S102). When it is detected by the door opening / closing detection switch 18 that the door 201 is not opened (no in S103), the control device 2 turns on the output of the high-frequency power feeding device 14 and performs high-frequency irradiation on the food in the switching chamber 200 ( S104). At the same time, the control device 2 increases the rotational speed W of the blower fan 5 above w0 during normal operation (S105).

  Then, the moisture content is detected again (S106), and it is determined whether the moisture content W has reached the target moisture content Wx (S107). If the target moisture content Wx has not been reached, the process returns to step S103 (no in S107) and the dehydration process is continued. When the target moisture content Wx is reached (Yes in S107), the output of the high-frequency power feeding device 14 is turned off (S108), the rotational speed W of the blower fan 5 is returned to w0 during normal operation (S109), and the dehydration process is performed. finish. When the door 201 is opened during the dehydration process (Yes in S103), the output of the high-frequency power feeding device 14 is immediately turned off (S110), and when the door 201 is closed, the dehydration process is continued.

  The determination of the completion of the dehydration process is not limited to only the moisture content detection result, and may be determined based on the passage of a predetermined time set in advance.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, by blowing air while irradiating the food with high frequency, the food can be dehydrated efficiently by removing moisture uniformly from the whole food, and the food is of high quality. Can be maintained.

  In addition, an antenna driving device 13a for adjusting the direction of the antenna 13 is provided, and the antenna driving device 13a is controlled so that the direction of high-frequency radiation radiated from the antenna 13 can be changed. Thereby, it is possible to radiate a high frequency uniformly in the storage case 201 or to radiate a part of it.

  In addition, it is possible to select an area in which food to reduce moisture content is placed in the switching chamber 200 by radiating a high frequency to a part and selectively switching the radiation direction using the operation panel 1a or the like. Can be provided. Therefore, even if foods that are not desired to be dried are stored in the switching chamber 200 together, dehydration can be performed targeting the foods that are desired to be dried, and a user-friendly refrigerator can be obtained. In addition, since it is possible to store foods that are not desired to be dried together in the switching chamber 200, it is not necessary to use a dedicated room for dehydration, and the space in the switching chamber 200 can be used efficiently. .

  In addition, since the micro lattice plate 12 as a high frequency leakage prevention plate is provided at the inlet for the air to flow into the switching chamber 200 and the outlet for the outlet, the high frequency radiated from the antenna 13 Propagation to the rear surface where the device such as the cooler 3 is arranged or to another storage room can be blocked.

  Further, when the door opening / closing detection switch 18 detects that the door 201 is opened, the high frequency irradiation is stopped, so that the high frequency can be prevented from leaking outside the switching chamber 200.

  Further, the moisture content detection device 17 provided in the switching chamber 200 checks the moisture content of the food, and the high frequency irradiation is stopped when the predetermined moisture content is reached, so that the food is dehydrated to a desired dehydrated state. be able to. Therefore, the moisture content of the food can be reduced by several percent to the extent that the taste is not affected, and high-quality food preservation can be achieved.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a switching chamber 200 portion according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Moreover, FIG. 7 is a control system schematic diagram of the refrigerator in Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 6 and 7, the same reference numerals are given to the same portions as those in the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
In the switching chamber 200, there is provided a position detection means 20 that can detect the position of newly introduced food. The position detection means 20 is installed in the vicinity of the ceiling surface of the switching chamber 200 that is not easily affected by cold air. The position detection means 20 is a surface temperature measuring device such as an infrared sensor, for example, which detects the surface temperature of the food stored in the switching chamber 200 and detects the position of the newly introduced food from the change in temperature. is there.

  In FIG. 6, when the food A is newly put into the switching chamber 200, the position detection means 20 detects the position of the food A and changes the high-frequency radiation direction so as to concentrate the high frequency at that position. Thereby, the area where the dehydration process is performed can be automatically selected, and the dehydration process can be performed only on the newly input product without affecting other foods stored in the switching chamber 200.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of operation control of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
When the dehydration button provided on the operation panel 1a is turned on (S201), the control device 2 detects the position of the food by the position detection means 20 (S202), and the acquired position information is irradiated with a high frequency. Thus, the antenna drive device 13a is controlled to adjust the high-frequency radiation direction (S203). When the door opening / closing detection switch 18 detects that the door 201 is not opened (no in S204), the output of the high-frequency power feeding device 14 is turned on, high-frequency irradiation is performed (S205), and time integration is started. At the same time, the rotational speed W of the blower fan 5 is increased from w0 during normal operation (S206). Then, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has passed (S207). If the predetermined time has not passed, the process returns to step S204 (no in S207) and the dehydration process is continued. If the predetermined time has elapsed (Yes in S207), the control device 2 turns off the output of the high-frequency power feeding device 14 (S208), and returns the rotational speed W of the blower fan 5 to w0 during normal operation ( S209), the dehydration process is terminated. When the door 201 is opened during the dehydration process (Yes in S204), the output of the high-frequency power feeding device 14 is immediately turned off (S210). When the door is closed, the dehydration process is continued.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained, and the position of the newly introduced food can be detected by the position detection means 20, Since high-frequency irradiation is performed toward the detection position, an area for performing dehydration processing can be automatically selected. In addition, the dehydration process can be performed only on newly input products without affecting other foods stored in the switching chamber 200.

  In the above description, the first embodiment and the second embodiment have been described as different embodiments, but a refrigerator that can implement both the first embodiment and the second embodiment may be used.

  In addition, an electric guide plate 21 for changing the flow direction of the cold air as shown in FIG. 9 may be provided in the configuration of the first embodiment or the second embodiment. As a result, the amount of cool air blown to the newly input product can be increased, and the dehydration process can be performed more efficiently.

  In the first embodiment or the second embodiment, the high frequency may be an ultrasonic wave. In the case of ultrasonic waves, the movement of moisture is promoted by ultrasonic vibration, and when combined with air blowing, dehydration can be performed efficiently. When ultrasonic waves are used, a structure such as the fine grid plate 12 for preventing high-frequency leakage is not necessary, so that a simple configuration can be achieved.

  Moreover, you may provide the moisture absorption material 22 in the air path 6 or the blowing port 10 further to the structure of the said Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2, as shown in FIG. Thereby, moisture contained in the cool air flowing into the switching chamber 200 can be adsorbed, and cool air with lower humidity can be blown into the switching chamber 200.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator main body, 1a Operation panel, 2 Control apparatus, 3 Cooler, 4 Compressor, 5 Blower fan, 6 Air path, 7 Damper, 10 Outlet, 11 Return port, 12 Micro lattice board, 13 Antenna, 13a For antenna Drive device, 14 High frequency power supply device, 15 Storage box, 16 Temperature sensor, 17 Moisture content detection device, 18 Door open / close detection switch, 19 Conductive packing, 20 Position detection means, 21 Guide plate, 22 Hygroscopic material, 100 Refrigeration chamber, 101 Door, 200 switching room, 201 door, 202 storage case, 300 ice making room, 301 door, 302 storage case, 400 freezing room, 401 door, 402 storage case, 500 vegetable room, 501 door, 502 storage case.

Claims (6)

A switching room with a door that can be opened and closed, and can store food frozen;
Cooling means for generating low-temperature air which is air below the freezing temperature of the food and cools the switching chamber;
A high-frequency irradiation means for irradiating the food put in the switching chamber with a high frequency;
A blowing means for blowing the low-temperature air into the switching chamber;
A control device that performs a normal operation of driving the air blowing means to freeze the food in the switching chamber,
When the control device is switched from the normal operation to a dehydration operation for dehydrating food in the switching chamber, the control device drives the high-frequency irradiation unit and increases the rotational speed of the blower unit than during the normal operation. A refrigerator characterized by letting   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising driving means capable of changing the direction of high-frequency radiation emitted from the high-frequency irradiation means to an arbitrary direction. A position detecting means for detecting the position of a newly introduced food in the switching chamber is provided, and the driving means is controlled so that a high frequency is radiated to the food detected by the position detecting means. Item 3. The refrigerator according to Item 2. The switching chamber has an inflow port for air to flow in and an outflow port for air to flow out, and a metal high-frequency leakage prevention plate having a plurality of opening holes in the inflow port and the outflow port. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the refrigerator is provided.   The door opening / closing detection means for detecting the open / closed state of the door is provided, and when the door is opened, the high-frequency irradiation from the high-frequency irradiation means is stopped. The refrigerator according to item. 2. A water content detection device for detecting the water content of the food put in the switching chamber, wherein the high frequency irradiation from the high frequency irradiation means is stopped when a predetermined water content is reached. The refrigerator as described in any one of Claims 5.

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