JPH05153945A - Thawer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate setting or take-out of an object to be defrosted by attaching many defrosting devices for keeping the object to be defrosted and for defrosting it between a pair of radiating fin plates and attaching a device for shifting partition plates under the defrosting units. CONSTITUTION:Between a pair of radiating fin plates 3 and 4, plural defrosting devices for defrosting a frozen object (E) while nipping and keeping it are arranged and the frozen object to be defrosted is prevented from dropping by block parts 31 of partition plates 30. After defrosting, the vacant space parts 32 are shifted by a partition plate-shifter (D) to a position directly under the object to be defrosted and the defrosted object is allowed to drop downward.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thawing device used for thawing an object to be thawed such as frozen foods, and more particularly to a large thawing device suitable for mass thawing in a factory or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a large amount of frozen foods such as frozen shrimp are thawed in a factory, the items to be thawed are left to stand in a multi-stage shelf in a room temperature room or a refrigerator to be naturally thawed. The method was generally adopted.

However, such a natural thawing method has a drawback that the processing efficiency is low because it takes a long time for thawing.

Therefore, with a large microwave oven, an electron thawing method in which electrons are radiated to the water content of the object to be thawed while cooling the inside of the chamber to about -10 ° C. for thawing, and a far infrared heater heat using a heater heat source is used. Various thawing methods such as thawing method, warm air tunnel thawing method and batch type thawing method, electrostatic thawing method, sprinkling thawing method using water temperature, agitating and thawing method in water, etc. have been proposed, and a device therefor has been developed. There is.

However, since all of them use electric heat and water, the device has to be large and complicated, resulting in high cost. Moreover, the ones related to water use are
Due to the problem of wastewater treatment of wastewater, wastewater treatment equipment is also required,
The size and complexity became more and more and the cost became higher.

The present invention has been made in view of the above technical background, and an object thereof is to provide a decompressing device capable of efficiently decompressing with a simple structure.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is shown in reference to the reference numerals in the drawings, and the fin portions (3b) and (4b) are arranged facing each other in a vertical state. The defroster (2) is provided for holding the object to be defrosted (E) in contact with the object to be defrosted object accommodation space (5) between the pair of finned heat radiation plates (3) and (4). At the same time, a plurality of the thawing devices (2) are arranged in parallel in the horizontal plane at intervals with each other, and below the thawing devices (2), a closing part (31) and a void part (32) having a predetermined width are provided. ) And a sawtooth shaped partition plate (30) are arranged horizontally, and the partition plate (3
By moving the (0) in the horizontal direction, the blocking part (3
1) or the space (32) for storing the object to be defrosted (5)
A defrosting device is characterized in that a partition plate moving device (D) that can be selectively positioned immediately below is provided.

[0008]

The thawing is performed by storing the thawing target (E) in the thawing target storage space (5) between the pair of finned radiator plates (3) and (4). The cooling action of the heat sinks (3) and (4) accelerates the thawing, and the thawing is performed in a short time.

During thawing, the closing part (31) of the partition plate (30) is positioned immediately below the thawing object accommodation space (5) to prevent the thawing object (E) from falling.

After thawing, the partition plate moving device (D) is used to move the partition plate (30) so that the space (32) of the partition plate is located immediately below the space (5) for storing the object to be defrosted. Drop it out of the equipment.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIGS. 4 to 7, (A) is a defrosting unit for accommodating an object to be defrosted such as frozen foods, and (B) is a fan unit for promoting defrosting.

The decompression unit (A), as shown in FIG.
The fan unit (B) is provided with a box-shaped unit main body (1) that is open on both sides in the air blowing direction, and the unit main body (1) is separated from the fan unit (B) in a direction orthogonal to the air blowing direction. Parallel and top and bottom 3
It comprises a plurality of decompressors (2) arranged in steps.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, each defroster (2) is composed of a pair of front and rear heat sinks (3) and (4) with long and short fins, which are opposed to each other in a vertical state. In this embodiment, as fin heat sinks (3) and (4), as shown in FIG. 10, fin portions (3b) and (4b) having a high protruding height are formed on base portions (3a) and (4a), and Department (3b) (4b)
The extruded profile of aluminum (including its alloy) is used in which the middle part in the height direction of is connected by reinforcing walls (3c) (4c). The finned radiator plates (3) and (4) are shown in FIG.
As shown in Figure 4, the bases (3a) (4
The object to be defrosted (E) is kept in contact with the space (5) for accommodation of the object to be defrosted between a) so as to promote the thawing by the heat radiation effect. For this reason, each finned radiator plate (3) ( 4) is arranged so that the fin portions (3b) and (4b) face outward respectively.

The finned radiator plates (3) and (4) of each of the decompressors (2) are attached to the unit body (1) as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, struts (in a direction orthogonal to the blowing direction of the fan unit (1)) on both sides in the width direction of the unit main body (1) (the blowing direction of the fan unit (1)) ( 6) Two upper and lower support bars (8a) and (8b) are attached in a straddle state to (7), and the lower surface of the upper frame piece (9), the upper surface of the lower frame piece (10) and the upper and lower support bars are attached. L-shaped locking pieces (11) are attached to the upper and lower surfaces of (8a) and (8b) at predetermined intervals. The short fin heat sink (4) is connected to the upper frame piece (9) and the upper support bar (8a), between the upper and lower support bars (8a) and (8b), and to the lower support bar (8b). The upper and lower support bars (8a) are locked to the rear surface of each L-shaped locking piece (11) at both ends in the width direction over the upper and lower three steps between the lower frame piece (10) and are prevented from moving forward. (8b) and the lower frame piece (10). On the other hand, a long fin heat sink (3)
Is a vertical fin (8a) (8b) and the bottom support bars (8a) and (8b) at the intermediate position of the adjacent short fin heat sinks (4) with both ends in the width direction protruding laterally from both ends in the width direction of the unit body (1). It is placed on the frame piece (10).

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, fitting pieces (12) having a U-shaped cross section are attached to the upper and lower four corners of the elongated heat radiating plate (3) in a hugging state. ing. The lower corner of the upper long heat sink (3) and the upper corner of the middle long heat sink (3) are connected by a common fitting piece (12). The lower corner portion of the plate (3) and the upper corner portion of the lower elongated heat dissipation plate are also connected by the common fitting piece (12). The fitting pieces (12) at the respective stages are fixed to four upper and lower horizontal slide rods (13) that extend through the fitting pieces in the front-rear direction of the unit body (1).
Both ends of these slide rods (13) in the longitudinal direction are inclined notches (14a) having an L-shaped fixed angle (14) attached to the front and rear columns (6) and (7) of the unit body (1). Is slidably inserted in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, when the slide bar (13) slides back and forth, the long heat sinks (3) in the upper, lower, middle, and lower rows move simultaneously in the front-back direction through the fitting pieces (12). The short heat dissipation plate (4) in a fixed state can be separated and approached.

The front and rear slides of the slide bar (13) are
The heat dissipation plate moving device (C) includes a frame-shaped handle (15) for moving the heat dissipation plate. That is, as shown in FIG.
In front of the fixed angle (14) on the front surface of the unit body (1), a vertical connecting piece (16) is arranged oppositely, and the front end of each slide rod (13) corresponds to this vertical connecting piece (16). The stopper (17) for retaining is fixed to the tip of the slide rod (13) by being inserted into the notch (16a). Further, between the fixed angle (14) and the vertical connecting piece (16), elliptical eccentric cams (18) are arranged one on each side in the width direction of the unit body (1), two in total. ..
On the other hand, a front protruding vertical shaft piece (19) is fixed to the front column (6) of the unit body (1), and the tip L-shaped bent portion of the frame-shaped handle (15) is fixed to these shaft pieces (19). (15a) and (15a) are pivotally supported, and the tips of the L-shaped bent portions (15a) and (15a) are fixed to the eccentric positions of the elliptical eccentric cam (18). Therefore, when the frame-shaped handle (15) is rotated in the vertical direction, the L-shaped bent portions (15a) (15a
) Rotates, and the cam (18) rotates between the fixed angle (14) and the vertical connecting piece (16). In addition, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, between the adjacent long and short heat sinks (3) and (4) of the adjacent defrosters (2) and (2), and between the long row heat sinks (3) in the front row and the front columns ( A coil spring (20) in a compressed state is interposed between the long heat radiating plate (3) and the short heat radiating plate (4) at the rear, and a constant biasing force is applied to the long heat radiating plate (3) in the approaching direction. There is. However, since the long heat dissipation plate (3) is interlocked with the vertical connection piece (16) via the fitting piece (12) and the slide rod (13), the coil spring (2
Due to the repulsive force, 0) applies a biasing force to the vertical connecting piece (16) in the direction of approaching the fixed angle (14). Therefore, when the elliptical cam (18) rotates and its major axis is oriented in the horizontal direction, the vertical connecting piece (16) resists the repulsive force of the spring (20) to the maximum as shown by the solid line in FIG. The long heat radiating plate (3) that is pushed out to the forward position and connected to the vertical connecting piece moves forward, and the long and short heat radiating plates (3) and (4) of each defroster (2) are separated from each other by the maximum distance. There is. On the contrary, when the elliptical cam (18) is rotated until its major axis is oriented in the vertical direction, the vertical connecting piece (16) is fixed with the minor axis length of the cam (18) as shown by the chain line in FIG. As a result of being pulled back by the coil spring (20) to the maximum retracted position facing the angle (14), the long heat sink (3) moves to the maximum approach position with respect to the short heat sink (4), and the maximum approach position and maximum The long heat dissipation plate (3) can be moved back and forth following the rotation of the elliptical eccentric cam (18) between the separated position.

When the frame-shaped handle (15) is in the upper position, the elliptical cam (18) is vertical, and when the handle (15) is in the lower position, the elliptic cam (18) is horizontal. The frame-shaped handle (15) and the cam (18) are fixed to each other.

The support bars (8a) (8b) and the lower frame piece (10)
As shown in FIG. 8, an inwardly projecting locking edge (21) is provided along the lower edge of the partition plate (30) shown in FIG. 2 at this locking edge (21). Are placed below the three decompressors (2) in the upper, middle, and lower stages, respectively. The partition plate (30) has a serrate shape in which the closed portions (31) and the void portions (32) are alternately arranged in the lengthwise direction of the rectangular frame member. The partition plate (30) has its closed portion (31) positioned directly below the defrosting object accommodation space (5) between the heat radiating plates when the defrosting object (E) is thawed due to its selective movement. Prevents the thawed product (E) from dropping unintentionally and plays a role in dropping the thawed product downward by locating the void (32) immediately below the storage space (5) for the thawed product after thawing. Is. For this reason, the closing part (31) is provided corresponding to the interval between the respective defrosters (2) located above, and the width of the closing part (31) is such that the long and short heat radiating plates of the respective defrosters (2). (3) It is set to be almost equal to the maximum separation distance of (4).

As described above, the closing part (3) of the partition plate (30) is
The partition plate (30) is moved by the partition plate moving device (D) to selectively position the (1) and the void (32) directly below the thawed material accommodation space (5). That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the front upper frame piece (22) of the unit body (1)
On the front intermediate frame piece (23), two shaft rods (24) penetrating them vertically are attached rotatably around their own axes. Further, a circular eccentric cam (25) is formed in the longitudinal middle portion of the shaft rod (24) at a corresponding height position of each partition plate (30) such that the circular eccentric cam (25) is penetrated by the shaft rod (24) in the thickness direction. Two pieces are fixed on each of the upper and lower three steps. Moreover, the circular eccentric cams (25) at the respective stages are respectively provided with the corresponding partition plates (3
(0) is rotatably fitted in the space (32) in the front row, and the fixed position of the shaft (24) to the circular eccentric cam (25) is displaced from the center position of the cam (25). Therefore, the rotation of the shaft rod (24) causes the cam (25) to rotate within a circle having a radius up to the tip of the circular cam centering on the fixed position with the shaft rod (24). ing. Then, with the rotation of the cam (25), the partition plates (30) are collectively moved in the front-rear direction.

Furthermore, a partition plate moving handle (26) for rotating the circular eccentric cam (25), and consequently for moving the partition plate (30), is attached to the shaft rod (24). This partition plate moving handle (26) has two shaft rods (24) (24).
Two connecting rods (26a) (26a) protruding forward that are fixed to the
) And the grips (26b) passed to the tips of these connecting rods
Consisting of a gripping part (26b) and a connecting part (26a) (26a)
And form a link mechanism. The link mechanism allows the partition plate moving handle (26) to rotate in a horizontal plane. And handles (26)
As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the partition plate (30) is in the maximum retracted position when it is in the upper position in plan view, and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the partition plate is located when the closing portion (31) is located immediately below the defrosted object storage space (5) and the handle (26) is rotated to the lower position in plan view as shown in FIG. (30) is at the maximum forward position, and as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the void (32) is located directly below the defrosted object accommodation space (5). Therefore, by the turning operation of the partition plate moving handle (26), the partition plate (30) is freely moved between the maximum retracted position and the maximum advanced position, and the closing part (31) or the void part (32). Can be selectively positioned immediately below the space (5) for storing the object to be defrosted.

Incidentally, (40) shown in FIG. 4 is a mobile water tank for accommodating the thawed product which has fallen after the end of the thawing.

The fan unit (B) is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 12, the unit has a plurality of fans (50) arranged in parallel. This fan unit (B) is forced to blow air toward the finned radiator plates (3) and (4) in the defrosting unit (A) by the operation of each fan (30), thereby allowing the radiator plate to cool. To promote thawing. A plurality (two in the illustrated embodiment) of the defrosting units (A) and (A) are arranged in series with respect to the blowing direction (indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2) of the fan (50) of the fan unit (B). Connected together, one fan unit (B) for multiple defrosting units (A)
The structure is such that (A) can be operated at the same time to perform efficient thawing. Further, if the blown air directly contacts the object to be thawed (E) sandwiched between the heat radiating plates (3) and (4), the flavor and the like will be deteriorated. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to prevent this, the fan unit (B). Vertical baffle plates (51) are provided on the front surface of the device at intervals corresponding to the installation positions of the objects to be defrosted (D).

Reference numeral (60) shown in FIG. 4 is a caster attached to the lower surfaces of the thawing unit (A), the fan unit (B) and the water tank (40).

Next, a method of using the decompression device according to the illustrated embodiment will be described.

First, the heat radiating plate moving handle (15) is rotated downward to push the vertical connecting piece (16) forward by the action of the elliptical eccentric cam (18). Along with this, the horizontal slide bar (13) slides forward, and the long heat dissipation plate (3) of each defroster (2) held in the fitting piece (12) also moves forward and is short. A space (5) for accommodating the thawed material is formed between the long and short heat sinks (3) and (4) so as to be separated from the heat sink (4). At this time, the partition plate moving handle (15) is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), the partition plate (30) is placed in the maximum retracted position with the partition plate (30) located at the upper side in plan view, and the closed portion (31) of the partition plate (31) is stored in the defrosting object storage space (5) of each defroster (2). Keep it just below.

Next, after the defrosting target (E) is stored in the defrosting target accommodation space (5), the heat radiating plate moving handle (1)
5) Rotate upward. Then, the elliptical eccentric cam (1
By the action of 8) and the repulsive force of the spring (20) between the long and short heat dissipation plates (3) and (4), the vertical connecting piece (16) retracts,
The slide bar (13) slides backward, and the long heat dissipation plate (3) moves in a direction of approaching the short heat dissipation plate (4).
The long heat sink (3) moves and stops until the distance from the short heat sink (4) reaches the thickness of the object to be defrosted (E), but the long heat sink (3) is Since the object to be defrosted (E) is urged toward the short heat dissipation plate (4) by the repulsive force, the object to be defrosted (E) is held in a sandwiched state between the long and short heat dissipation plates (3) and (4).

As shown in FIG. 4, the defrosting units (A) and (A) in which the object to be defrosted (E) is held between the long and short heat radiating plates (3) and (4) of the respective defrosters (2) are held as shown in FIG. The fan units (B) are arranged in series in the blowing direction.

Next, the fan (50) in the fan unit (B) is actuated to forcibly blow air toward the defrosting units (A) and (A), and the finned heat radiating plates (3) and (4) provide cooling action. Promote thawing. At this time, since the baffle plate (51) is provided at the position corresponding to the object to be thawed of the fan unit (B), air is blown while avoiding the baffle plate (51), and the object to be thawed (E) is blown. Direct contact of blown air with the air is avoided, and deterioration of the flavor of the thawed product is prevented.

Further, as the thawing progresses, the object to be thawed (E)
However, since the long heat dissipation plate (3) is constantly biased by the repulsive force of the spring, the long heat dissipation plate (3) may be thinned as the object to be thawed (E) becomes thinner. 3) approaches the short heat sink (4), so that the object to be defrosted (E) always comes into contact with the long and short heat sinks (3) and (4) with a proper pressing force applied, and Effective thawing takes place.

When the thawing is completed, the fan (50) is stopped, and then the partition plate moving handle (26) is rotated downward in plan view as shown in FIG. The handle (26)
The rotation of the shaft rod (24) causes the circular eccentric cam (25) connected to the shaft rod (24) to rotate clockwise in plan view, and the partition plate (34) moves forward in conjunction with this. Then, the space (32) of the partition plate (30) is located immediately below the defrosting object accommodation space (5).

In this state, the heat dissipation plate moving handle (15)
By rotating the long heat sink (3) to the short heat sink (4)
When it is moved in a direction away from, the thawed product that has been thawed falls naturally downward and is stored in the water tank (40) arranged below the thaw unit (A). After that, the partition plate moving handle (26) is operated in the partition plate retreating direction to position the closing part (31) of the partition plate (30) immediately below the defrosting object storage space (5), and the next defrosting target The object (E) is stored in the defrosted object storage space (5), and the same operation as described above is performed thereafter.

[0033]

According to the present invention, as described above, the object to be defrosted is held in contact between the pair of finned heat radiating plates of the defroster to perform the thawing. Therefore, the radiating action of the heat radiating plate promotes the thawing. It is possible, and because there are multiple such defrosters,
Thawing can be performed efficiently in a shorter time than conventional natural thawing. By the way, when a block-shaped object to be thawed (plucked shrimp) having a thickness of 6 cm, a length of 25 cm, and a width of 30 cm was thawed using the thaw device of the illustrated example, the thaw could be performed in about 1 hour. On the other hand, the conventional shelf-batch type natural thawing (outside air temperature 25 ° C.) takes 15 hours and the sprinkling type thawing takes 6 to 8 hours, and the thawing apparatus according to the present invention thaws about 6 to 15 times. It was speed.

In addition, since it serves to accelerate the thawing by the action of the heat radiating plate and does not utilize electric heat, water, etc., it can be structurally extremely simple and low in cost. It can be a decompressor with high practical value which is advantageous in manufacturing and production.

Moreover, since the heat radiating plate is vertically arranged, the moisture during thawing and the thawed product after the thawing can be naturally dropped, so that the thawed product can be taken out easily. Can be done. In addition, a partition plate is placed below the thawing device, and this partition plate is moved so that the closed part is located directly below the space for storing the thawing object when setting or thawing the thawing object, and there is a gap after thawing. Since the part can be selectively positioned directly below the space for storing the thawed material, it can be prevented from falling during setting of the thawed material and during thawing, and the thawed material can be recovered immediately after thawing. Therefore, the efficiency of a series of operations in the thawing operation process can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a defroster and a partition plate,
(A) is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing a state during thawing and (B) after thawing.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a moving structure of a partition plate.

FIG. 3 is also a diagram showing a moving structure of the partition plate, in which (a) is a plan view of a main part when the partition plate is at the maximum retracted position, and (b).
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part when it is at a maximum forward position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state before connecting the defrosting unit and the fan unit.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a main part of a moving mechanism that collectively moves one finned radiator plate of each defroster.

FIG. 6 is a partial front view of a thawing unit.

7 is a partial plan view of the defrosting unit of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the thawing unit shown with a finned radiator plate removed.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an essential part of the unit main body, showing a state in which a finned radiator plate is partially attached.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a radiator plate with fins.

FIG. 11 is a front view of a fan unit.

FIG. 12 is a side view of the fan unit with a side plate partially cut away.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A ... Thawing unit D ... Partition plate moving device 2 ... Thawer 3 ... Long fin heat sink 4 ... Short fin heat sink 3b, 4b ... Fin part 30 ... Partition plate 31 ... Closure part 32 ... Void

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of heat sinks with fins (3) arranged so as to face each other in a vertical state with the fins (3b) (4b) facing outward.
The defrosted product (E) is placed in the defrosted product storage space (5) between (4).
A thawing device (2) for thawing while keeping the contacting state, and a plurality of the thawing devices (2) are arranged in parallel in a horizontal plane with a space therebetween, and the thawing device (2) is provided. Below the lower part of the
A saw-like partition plate (30) in which 1) and voids (32) are formed alternately is arranged horizontally, and by moving this partition plate (30) in the horizontal direction,
A defrosting device, characterized in that a partition plate moving device (D) for selectively positioning the blocking part (31) or the void part (32) directly under the defrosting object accommodation space (5) is provided.