JPH0347183Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (a) Industrial application field The present invention relates to a thawing chamber that thaws frozen foods using forcedly circulated humid cold air. (b) Prior art Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-205763 discloses a method in which a partition plate is disposed inside a refrigerator defined by a heat insulating box to partition the inside of the refrigerator into an upper section and a lower section. , the upper section includes a plate-fin type evaporator, two eliminators placed at appropriate intervals on both sides of the evaporator, a blower fan placed behind the air outlet surface of the evaporator, and an evaporator. It is equipped with a water storage tank with an open upper surface located directly below the evaporator and both eliminators, and a water sprinkling pipe that sprinkles water from the water storage tank toward the air inlet surface of the evaporator. A thawing chamber is disclosed which is provided with a storage section for placing frozen foods. (c) Problems to be solved by the invention In the defrosting chamber of the prior art, the water storage tank directly collects the water dripping from the evaporator and eliminator, so the water storage tank is extremely large and has to be stacked.
The problem was that the water that passed through the sprinkler pipes could not be collected into the water storage tank. (d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention forms a storage chamber for frozen foods in a refrigerator defined by a heat-insulating box, and a storage chamber is formed above the storage chamber. In the upper part of the refrigerator, there is an evaporator for the refrigeration system, an eliminator facing the air inlet surface of the evaporator at a distance, a cold air circulation blower facing the air outlet surface of the evaporator, and the evaporator and eliminator. A low sloping water sprinkler is installed on the water inflow side to sprinkle water on the air inlet surface of the evaporator, and a water collector is installed facing below the evaporator, eliminator, blower, and water sprinkler. and a water storage tank located in the lower part of the storage chamber below the storage chamber, which communicates with the water sprinkler via a feed pipe in which a pump device is interposed, and which collects water that has fallen into the water collector via a return pipe after watering. This is a thawing warehouse in which a draining O-ring is fitted to the outer circumferential surface of the inclined lower end of the water sprinkler facing above the water collector. (E) Effect According to the present invention, the evaporator 11 and the eliminator 1
2 and the blower 14 fall into the water collector 16, and the water flowing through the water sprinkler 13 is stopped by the draining O-ring 33, and the O-ring 3
3 to the water collector 13. The water collected in the water collector 13 is led to the water storage tank 17 through a return pipe 19. (f) Examples Examples of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes a thawing chamber whose main body is constituted by an insulated box 2 with an open front, and a storage chamber 3 for frozen food is formed inside the chamber defined by the insulated box 2. In the storage chamber 3, a plurality of trays 6 on which frozen foods are placed are arranged vertically while being supported by slide rails 5 attached to shelf supports 4, and the front opening of the storage chamber 3 is an insulating door 7 that can be opened and closed. It is obstructed. Further, a humid cold air generation chamber 8 is formed in the upper part of the storage chamber above the storage chamber 3. The cold air generation chamber 8 includes a plate fin type evaporator 11 equipped with a heating heater 9 and a defrosting heater 10, and an eliminator 12 facing the air inlet surface 11A of the evaporator 11 with a gap therebetween.
, a water sprinkler 13 disposed between the evaporator 11 and the eliminator 12 and having a spray nozzle 13A that sprays water toward the air inlet surface 11A of the evaporator 11 ; The front side of the generation chamber 8 is closed by a service door 15 which can be opened and closed. Thus, a water collector 16 is disposed facing below and close to the evaporator 11, eliminator 12, water sprinkler 13, and blower 14 arranged in the humid cold air generation chamber 8. Further, a water storage tank 17 is disposed in the lower part of the chamber below the storage chamber 3, and the upper opening is closed by a removable lid 17A, leaving a part of the opening. The other end of the water supply pipe 18 whose one end is connected to the external water supply system and the other end of the return pipe 19 whose one end is connected to the water collector 16 face the opening of the water storage tank 17. As a result, the water storage tank 17 Water supply solenoid valve 21 controlled by a water level detection device 20 disposed inside
When the valve is opened, water supplied from the water supply pipe 18 and water collected from the water collector 16 through the return pipe 19 are stored. Further, the bottom of the water storage tank 17 and the water sprinkler 13 are connected by a feed pipe 23 with a pump device 22 interposed therebetween. This pump device 22 is arranged in a machine room 24 defined below the insulation box 2, and a feed pipe 23 is connected to the outlet side of the pump device 22.
A drain pipe 25 is branched from the drain pipe 25. This drain pipe 25 is normally closed by a pipe opening/closing mechanism 26, and the other end is drained from a drain port 27 formed in the bottom wall of the insulation box 2, passing through the machine room 24, and passing through the bottom wall of the machine room 24. It is connected to the pipe 28. By the way, the water sprinkler 13 has a pipe portion 13B that is sloped low toward the water inflow side, and a water drainer O is provided on the outer periphery of the pipe portion 13B at a lower end of the slope that faces upward and does not come off from the water collector 16. A ring 33 is fitted. Note that an electric compressor 29 , a condenser 30 , and a condenser cooling blower 31 , which together with the evaporator 11 constitute a refrigeration system, are arranged in the machine room 24 . Next, the operation of the thawing warehouse will be explained. This operation consists of four different operation modes, and each mode is thawing operation, tightening operation, cold storage operation, and cleaning operation, and by pressing the thawing button, you can select the cleaning operation → thawing operation → washing operation → tightening operation. →
Automatically performs cold storage operation in sequence. First, in the cleaning operation, the water supply solenoid valve 21 opens to supply water from the water supply pipe 18 to the water storage tank 17, and when a predetermined amount of water is supplied, the water level detection device 20 detects this and closes the water supply solenoid valve 21 to stop water supply. At the same time, the pump device 22 is activated, and the water in the water storage tank 17 is force-fed to the water sprinkler 13 through the feed pipe 23, and is sprayed from the injection nozzle 13A toward the air inlet surface 11A of the evaporator 11 . This water falls into a water collector 16 located below the evaporator 11 and is collected into a water storage tank 17 through a return pipe 19. When the predetermined watering time has elapsed, the pump device 22 stops to end the watering operation, and at the same time, the drain pipe 25 is opened by the pipe opening/closing mechanism 26, and the water in the water storage tank 17 passes through the drain pipe 25 and drains into the drain pipe. All water is drained from 28. This drainage operation is temporally controlled, and after a predetermined period of time, the drain pipe 25 closes and the drainage operation ends. In the subsequent thawing operation, first the water supply solenoid valve 21 is opened and the water is discharged from the water supply pipe 18 to the water storage tank 17.
When a predetermined amount of water is supplied, the water supply solenoid valve 21 closes to stop the water supply. At the same time, the pump device 22 is activated, and the water in the water storage tank 17 is force-fed to the water sprinkler 13 through the feed pipe 23, and is sprayed from the injection nozzle 13A toward the air inlet surface 11A of the evaporator 11 . On the other hand, the operation of the refrigeration system that starts operation based on the completion of the cleaning operation is controlled so that the temperature inside the refrigerator is maintained at, for example, 5°C, and the heating heater 9 and the defrosting heater 10 are frozen at the beginning of the thawing operation. In order to quickly raise the temperature inside the refrigerator, which decreases due to the influence of food, to the set temperature, it is turned on and off at a temperature slightly lower than the set temperature inside the refrigerator. As a result, the cold air that has undergone heat exchange in the evaporator 11 becomes humid as it contains fine particles of water sprinkled on the evaporator 11 , and the air becomes humid.
The constant-temperature, high-humidity cold air that passes through the evaporator 11 in a high-speed airflow during the operation is circulated to the storage chamber 3 as shown by the white arrow A in FIG. 1, and thaws the frozen food 32. By the way, the water sprinkled on the evaporator 11 during the thawing operation is not entirely contained in the cold air and circulated, but is transferred from the evaporator 11 to the water collector 16 as surplus water.
fall to Further, the water that has bounced back from the evaporator 11 is prevented from further scattering backward by the eliminator 12, the water that falls from the eliminator 12 is collected in the water collector 16, and the water that falls from the blower 14 is also collected. The water collected in the container 16 and further transmitted through the pipe portion 13B of the sprinkler 13 is prevented from moving by the draining O-ring 33, as shown by the arrow in FIG. Falling at 16. In this way, water that has fallen into the water collector 16 is returned to the water storage tank 17 through the return pipe 19 and is reused. The thawing time varies depending on the type and amount of the frozen food 32, but is performed for a preset time based on empirical data. The pipe 25 is opened, all the water in the water storage tank 17 is drained, and the thawing operation is completed. When the thawing operation is completed, the cleaning operation is started again. This cleaning operation is carried out in exactly the same manner as the above-mentioned cleaning operation performed prior to the thawing operation, and the clean water supplied to the water storage tank 17 is passed through the feed pipe 23 by the pump device 22 to the water sprinkler 1.
3, sprinkle water from the spray nozzle 13A of the sprinkler 13 to the evaporator 11, and collect the water falling from the evaporator 11 into the water storage tank 17 through the feed pipe 19 for a predetermined period of time. Drain all the water in tank 17. At this time, the water in the water sprinkler 13 is drained from the feed pipe 23 through the drain pipe 25 to the outside from the drain pipe 28 without remaining due to the inclination of the pipe portion 13B. This cleans drips and oil that are generated during thawing operation and remain attached to the water circulation circuit such as the evaporator 11 , water sprinkler 13, return pipe 19, pump device 22, and feed pipe 23,
Keep these water circulation circuit components clean. When such a cleaning operation is completed, a tightening operation is subsequently started. In this tightening operation, an ice film is formed on the surface of the food 32 by controlling the operation of the refrigeration equipment so that the temperature inside the refrigerator is maintained at, for example, -3°C, which is slightly lower than 0°C, and by operating the blower 14. This is done in order to reduce the outflow of drips and to eliminate temperature non-uniformity between the surface temperature and center temperature of the thawed food 32. In other words, by thawing operation carried out in a temperature range of 0°C or higher, an ice film is formed on the surface of the completely thawed food, thereby preventing a large amount of drips from flowing out, and moreover, it prevents the dripping from occurring in the center of the food. If there is an unfrozen portion, the central portion will be thawed due to heat transfer from the thawed portion that is at a temperature of 0° C. or higher, and the surface temperature and center temperature will gradually balance out. This tightening operation is also performed for a preset time. When the above-mentioned tightening operation is completed, the cold storage operation is subsequently started. In this cold storage operation, the operation of the refrigeration system is controlled so that the temperature inside the refrigerator is maintained at a temperature slightly lower than 0°C and slightly higher than the tightening operation, for example, -1°C, and the rotational speed of the blower 14 is lowered to speed up the circulating cold air. This is done at a later date. By the way, this internal temperature setting (-1℃) is the temperature (freezing point) at which loads of meat and fish, which are often handled as frozen foods, freeze, i.e., the freezing point of meat is -1.7℃, and the freezing point of fish is -1.7℃. The feature is that the temperature is set at a temperature slightly higher than -1.3°C, so-called freezing temperature. As a result, the thawed food is preserved at high freshness for a long period of time by such cold storage operation until it is cooked as required. (g) Effects of the invention As described above, the present invention has the following effects: excess water that is sprinkled from the sprinkler and falls from the evaporator, water that bounces off the evaporator and falls from the eliminator that prevents water from scattering, and water that falls from the blower. While the water collector collects the water, the water that travels through the sprinkler is prevented from moving by the draining O-ring, and the O-ring further falls into the water collector and is collected, and the water collected by these water collectors is Since the water is reliably returned to the water storage tank through the return pipe and recirculated, the amount of water consumed is reduced, resulting in excellent economical effects. Furthermore, since the falling water is guided to the water storage tank via the water collector, the water storage tank can be made smaller. Furthermore, since the pipe portion of the sprinkler is sloped low toward the water inflow side, it is possible to eliminate residual water in the sprinkler, prevent the proliferation of germs, and maintain the sprinkler in a sanitary manner.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the thawing chamber of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view thereof, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in Fig. 2. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 4. 2... Insulation box, 3... Storage room, 11 ... Evaporator, 11A... Air inlet surface, 11B... Air outlet surface, 12... Eliminator, 13 ... Water sprinkler, 1
3A...Injection nozzle, 13B...Pipe section, 14...
Air blower, 16... water collector, 17... water storage tank,
18... Water supply pipe, 19... Return pipe, 22... Pump device, 23... Feed pipe, 32... Frozen food, 3
3...O-ring for draining water.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A storage chamber for frozen food is formed in a refrigerator defined by a heat insulating box, and an evaporator for a freezing system is provided in the upper part of the storage chamber above the storage chamber, and there is a gap between the air inlet surface of the evaporator and the air inlet surface of the evaporator. An eliminator facing each other, a cold air circulation blower facing the air outlet surface of the evaporator, and a water sprinkler that sprinkles water on the air inlet surface of the evaporator and slopes low on the water inlet side between the evaporator and the eliminator. A water collector is disposed facing below the evaporator, eliminator, blower, and water sprinkler, and the water collector is connected to the lower part of the storage chamber below the storage chamber through a feed pipe in which a pump device is interposed. A water storage tank that communicates with the water collector and collects the water that has fallen into the water collector via a return pipe after watering is provided, and a water drain is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the inclined lower end of the water sprinkler facing above the water collector. A thawing chamber characterized by a fitted O-ring.