JPH0358267B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a thawing chamber for thawing 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 thawing chamber of the prior art, the water that drips from the evaporator and eliminator is directly collected by the water storage tank, but during thawing, the rotation of the blower fan is extremely fast. Due to the air current state, a considerable amount of water is drawn by the fan and drips from the water storage tank, and this water falls outside the water storage tank and is discharged, which increases water consumption and is uneconomical. It was hot.

Furthermore, since the humid cold air generation room, the machine room, and the water storage tank are all located above the storage section, the storage section is located at the bottom.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention forms a storage section for frozen foods in a refrigerator defined by a heat insulating box, and a storage section above the storage section. A humid cold air generation chamber is provided in the upper part of the refrigerator, and the humid cold air generation chamber includes an evaporator of the refrigeration system, an eliminator facing the air inlet surface of the evaporator with a gap therebetween, and an air outlet surface of the evaporator. a cold air circulation blower facing the evaporator, a water sprinkler for sprinkling water on the air inlet surface of the evaporator between the evaporator and the eliminator, and a water collection provided facing below the evaporator, the eliminator, the blower, and the water sprinkler. and storing external tap water supplied from the water supply pipe and water collected by the water collector and guided by the return pipe in a lower part of the chamber below the storage, and a pump device. This thawing warehouse includes a water storage tank that communicates with the water sprinkler via a feed pipe interposed therein, and a machine room.

(E) Effect The present invention sprinkles water in the water storage tank 17 from the water sprinkler 13 to the evaporator 11 during thawing operation, and
By rotating the
The frozen food is thawed. On this occasion,
Evaporator 11, eliminator 12, and blower 14
The water dripping from the drain falls into the water collector 16 and returns to the return pipe 1.
9 to the water storage tank 17.

(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 insulating box 2 with an open front, and the insulating box 2 forms a storage section 3 for frozen food inside the chamber. In the storage section 3, trays 6 on which frozen foods are placed are arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction, supported by slide rails 5 attached to shelf supports 4, and the front opening of the storage section 3 is an insulating door 7 that can be opened and closed. It is obstructed.

In addition, a humid cold air generation chamber 8 is formed in the upper part of the chamber above the storage section 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. In addition, in the lower part of the chamber below the storage section 3, a lid 17A is provided that is removable and has an opening on the upper surface, leaving an opening in a part.
A water storage tank 17 is provided which is closed by a water storage tank 17. 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.
This drain pipe 25 is normally closed by a pipe opening/closing mechanism 26, and the other end passes through the machine room 24 from a drain port 27 formed in the bottom wall of the insulation box 2, and is connected to the machine room. It is connected to a drainage pipe 28 that passes through the bottom wall of 24.

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 installed 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. →
Cold storage operation is performed automatically and sequentially.

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 section 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. In addition, the water that has bounced back from the evaporator 11 is further prevented from scattering backward by the eliminator 12, and the water that falls from the eliminator 12 is collected in the water collector 16, and furthermore, the water that falls from the blower 14 is also prevented from scattering backward. The water is collected in a water collector 16. The water that has fallen into the water collector 16 in this way 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.
After performing a water circulation operation for a predetermined period of time, in which the water is sprayed from the spray nozzle 13A of the water sprinkler 13 to the evaporator 11, and the water that falls from the evaporator 11 is collected into the water storage tank 17 through the return pipe 19, the water is stored. Drain all the water from tank 17. This cleans drips and oil that are generated during thawing operation and remains on the water circulation circuit such as the evaporator 11, water sprinkler 13, return pipe 19, pump device 22, and feed pipe 13, and cleans these water circulation circuit components. to be maintained.

When such a cleaning operation is completed, a tightening operation is subsequently started. During this tightening operation, the temperature inside the refrigerator is 0℃.
By controlling the operation of the refrigeration equipment and operating the blower 14 so that the temperature is maintained at a slightly lower temperature, for example, -3°C, an ice film is formed on the surface of the food 32 to reduce the outflow of drips, and the temperature is thawed. This is done in order to eliminate the temperature non-uniformity between the surface temperature and center temperature of the food 32 that has been heated. In other words, by thawing operation performed at a temperature above 0°C, an ice film is formed on the surface of the completely thawed food, thereby preventing a large amount of drippings from flowing out, and furthermore, leaving unthawed food in the center of the food. If a portion exists, the center portion will be thawed due to heat transfer from the thawing 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. This cold storage operation is performed at a temperature slightly lower than 0°C and slightly higher than the tightening operation described above, for example -1°C.
The operation of the refrigeration system is controlled so that the temperature inside the refrigerator is maintained at a constant temperature, and the rotational speed of the blower 14 is reduced to slow down the speed of circulating cold air. 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 provides for surplus water that is sprinkled from a sprinkler and falls from an evaporator, water that falls from an eliminator that prevents water that has bounced back from the evaporator from scattering, and water that falls from a blower. A water collector collects water,
Furthermore, since the water collected by the water collector is returned to the water storage tank provided in the lower part of the refrigerator, which is not in a high-speed airflow state, the amount of water consumed is reduced, resulting in an economically excellent effect.

In addition, since the water storage tank can be placed in the lower part of the chamber below the storage area, even in the unlikely event that a large amount of water flows from the water storage tank that stores a large amount of water, frozen foods placed in the storage area will be protected from this water. can do.

Furthermore, by separating the humid cold air generation chamber from the water storage tank and machine room and locating the storage section in the middle, the storage section can be located in an easily accessible position.

[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. be. 2... Insulation box, 3... Storage section, 11 ... Evaporator, 11A... Air inlet surface, 11B... Air outlet surface, 12... Eliminator, 13... Water sprinkler, 1
4... 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.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A storage section for frozen food is formed in a refrigerator defined by a heat insulating box, a humid cold air generation chamber is provided in the upper part of the chamber above the storage section, and the humid cold air generation chamber is connected to a freezing system evaporator. , an eliminator facing the air inlet surface of the evaporator with a gap therebetween, a cold air circulation blower facing the air outlet surface of the evaporator, and an air inlet surface of the evaporator between the evaporator and the eliminator. External tap water is provided with a water sprinkler that sprinkles water, and a water collector provided oppositely below the evaporator, eliminator, blower, and water sprinkler, and is supplied from a water supply pipe to the lower part of the chamber below the storage. and a water storage tank that stores the water collected by the water collector and guided by the return pipe and communicates with the water sprinkler via a feed pipe in which a pump device is interposed, and a machine room. A thawing cabinet that is characterized by: