JPH0684862B2 - Freezing device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary freezing device that continuously cools an object to be frozen such as food from the entire surface and rapidly cools or freezes it.

[Prior art]

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a conventional freezing device (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-60166), and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a lower belt conveyor, which has a structure in which an endless steel belt 1c is wound between a drive pulley 1a and a tension pulley 1b. 2 is a brine tank arranged below the upper belt surface of the steel belt 1c, 2a is lower cold brine supplied in the brine tank 2, 3 is an upper belt conveyor arranged above the lower belt conveyor 1. The upper belt conveyor 3 has a structure in which an endless flexible seat belt 3c is wound between a drive pulley 3a and a tension pulley 3b. 3d is the above flexible seat belt
By 3c, a cold brine storage formed at the lower upper part thereof, 4 is an upper cold brine supplied to the cold brine storage 3d, and 5 is supplied between the steel belt 1c and the flexible seat belt 3c. The frozen object 6 is a heat insulating tunnel, and the steel belt 1c and the flexible seat belt 3c form a freezing zone 7 for allowing the frozen object 5 to linearly pass therethrough. Next, the operation will be described. When the lower belt conveyor 1 and the upper belt conveyor 3 are driven to rotate synchronously, when the frozen object 5 is supplied from the starting end side between the steel belt 1c and the flexible seat belt 3c, this frozen object is 5 is sandwiched between the steel belt 1c and the flexible seat belt 3c and conveyed linearly. By the flexible seat belt 3c, the lower surface of which is contact-cooled, and which has already been cooled by the upper cold brine 4 and has been deformed by conforming to the shape of the frozen object 5 and encapsulating the upper side of the frozen object 5. The surface side of the frozen object 5 is contact-cooled. Then, the frozen material 5 passes through the freezing zone 7 and is sent out from the end of conveyance by the steel belt 1c and the flexible seat belt 3c.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

Since the conventional freezing device is configured as described above, the object to be frozen 5 can only be moved linearly by the belt conveyors 1 and 3.
In the case of a small amount of processing where the freezing zone 7 can not be carried and the freezing zone 7 is short, the space of the drive pulley 3a and the tension pulley 3b becomes relatively larger than that of the freezing zone 7, and the installation space can be made small for the processing amount. In addition, there is a problem in that the work 5 to be frozen and put in and out must be carried out at two separate locations. The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and while the object to be frozen is rotatably transferred, the object to be frozen can be efficiently and continuously frozen from all surfaces, and moreover, the entire apparatus can be made compact. An object of the present invention is to obtain a freezing device which can be easily checked and replaced, and the maintenance can be improved.

[Means for solving problems]

The freezing device according to the present invention has an annular shape in which the frozen object is wrapped in the upper surface of a hollow cooling rotator on which the object to be frozen is rotatably driven and which is rotatably driven in synchronization with the cooling rotator. A flexible sheet formed of a tube is arranged in contact with each other, and a cold brine passage provided on a rotation drive shaft of the cooling rotator, a hollow portion of the cooling rotator, and the inside of the flexible sheet are interconnected to each other, and a cold brine circulation path is connected. And a plurality of bearing housings divided in the axial direction are detachably connected coaxially to each other to form a bearing for the rotary drive shaft.

[Work]

In the freezing device according to the present invention, when the cooling rotary body and the flexible sheet are synchronously rotated, and the frozen brine is supplied to the cold brine circulation path, when the frozen object is placed on the cooling rotary body, The flexible sheet is deformed in conformity to the shape of the frozen object, and by wrapping the frozen object between the flexible sheet and the cooling rotary body, the frozen object has the lower surface of the cooling rotary body, In addition, the side surface and the upper surface are simultaneously contact-cooled by the flexible sheet. Therefore, the object to be frozen can be efficiently cooled from the entire surface, and by performing the cooling process in the rotary transfer process, the freezing device can be made compact and the installation space can be small. Further, since the bearing portion for supporting the rotation drive shaft of the cooling rotator is composed of a plurality of bearing housings that are dividedly formed and detachably connected, those bearing housings are sequentially connected from the lowest stage. It is possible to easily inspect and replace the rotary seal portion and the like of the rotary drive shaft by releasing and moving downward in the order of releasing the connection, or by removing.

【Example】

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a freezing device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view thereof, FIG. 3 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway plan view of the freezing device. Is a partial plan view of the rotary drive shaft of the freezing device, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. In the figure, 10 is a freezer stand, 11 is a horizontal frame-shaped upper floor material that divides the inside of the stand 10 into upper and lower device storage chambers, 12 is the lower floor material of the stand 10, and 13 is the lower floor. Flooring 12
A brine tank installed above, 14 is a brine outlet of the brine tank 13, 16 is a pump whose suction side is connected to the brine outlet 14 through a brine suction pipe 15, 17 is a motor for driving the pump 16, and 18 is A brine discharge pipe whose one end is connected to the discharge side of the pump 16, 19 is a brine cooler whose suction side is connected to the other end of the brine discharge pipe 18, and 20 is connected to the discharge side of the brine cooler 19. Cold brine supply pipe. In this embodiment, each of the brine tank 13, the brine suction pipe 15, the pump 16, the motor 17, the brine discharge pipe 18, the brine cooler 19 and the cold brine supply pipe 20 constitutes a cold brine supply means 21. . Reference numeral 22 denotes a cooling rotator, 23 denotes a rotating brine tank of the cooling rotator 22, and in this embodiment, it is a flat tank having an open upper surface. 226 is a cold brine inlet provided on the inner diameter end side bottom plate of the rotating brine tank 23, 227 is a cold brine provided on the inner diameter end side bottom plate of the rotating brine tank 23 at an axisymmetric position of the cold brine inlet 226. Outlet, 24 is the above rotary brine tank 23
It is a cooling rotary plate in which the open end of the upper surface of is sealed. Therefore, the cooling rotary plate 24 and the rotary brine tank 23 integrally form the cooling rotary body 22 in a hollow ring shape. Reference numeral 25 is a hollow rotary drive shaft of the cooling rotary plate 24, 25a is an outward flange-shaped protruding rotary portion integrally formed on the upper end side of the rotary drive shaft 25, and 26 is formed on the lower outer periphery of the rotary drive shaft 25. An annular cold brine inlet passage 27 is a cold brine passage provided on the rotary drive shaft 25. The cold brine passage 27 is connected to the cold brine introducing passage 26 and is provided with a vertical supply passage 27a along the axial direction, and the protruding rotating portion 2
A horizontal supply passage 27b which is provided in 5a and connects the vertical supply passage 27a to the cooling rotor 22 through the cold brine inlet 226, and the cold brine outlet 227 on the opposite side of the horizontal supply passage 27b. The horizontal circulation passage 27c is connected to the inside of the cooling rotator 22 through the above. Reference numeral 28 denotes a bearing that is attached to the upper floor material 11 and rotatably supports the rotary drive shaft 25. In this embodiment, an upper bearing housing 29, a middle bearing housing 30, and a lower bearing that are axially divided and formed. It consists of a housing 31. The bearing housings 29 to 31 are coaxially removably connected to each other by means such as bolt tightening so as to be assembled successively, and the upper bearing housing 29 is attached to the upper floor material 11. 32 is a seal member that seals between the lower surface of the protruding rotating portion 25a of the rotary drive shaft 25 and the upper bearing housing 29, 33 is a seal member that seals between the middle bearing housing 30 and the rotary drive shaft 25, 34 Is a seal member that seals between the middle bearing housing 30 and the lower bearing housing 31, 35 is a seal member that seals between the lower bearing housing 31 and the rotary drive shaft 25, and 36 is a lower end surface of the rotary drive shaft 25. The sprocket 36 is a sprocket of a rotary drive system that is detachably tightened and fixed by means such as bolt tightening. The sprocket 36 is rotatably driven by a rotary drive means (not shown).
Reference numeral 37 denotes a cold brine inlet provided in the middle bearing housing 30. The cold brine inlet 37 is connected to the cold brine supply pipe 20 and communicates with the cold brine inlet passage 26. Reference numeral 38 denotes a guide roller which is annularly arranged on the upper floor material 2 at regular intervals to rotatably support the lower portion on the peripheral edge side of the cooling rotator 22, and 39 is circumferentially fixed at the center of the cooling rotary plate 24. 40a is a circular upper mounting plate that is integrally attached to the upper end of the supporting member 39, and 40b is a circular lower portion that is integrally attached to the lower end of the supporting member 39. The mounting plate 41 is a flexible sheet placed in contact with the cooling rotary plate 24 of the cooling rotary body 22. This flexible sheet 41 consists of an annular tube,
The upper inner peripheral edge is connected to the upper mounting plate 40a, and the lower inner peripheral edge is connected to the lower mounting plate 40b in a liquid-tight state by a pressing member. Here, the cooling rotator 22 is
The inner diameter end side of the bottom plate of the rotary brine tank 23 is the rotary drive shaft 25.
The lower mounting plate 40b is connected to the upper end surface of the rotary drive shaft 25 on the protruding rotating portion 25a. Reference numeral 42 denotes an annular roller mounting frame which is attached to the outer peripheral edge of the flexible sheet 41 and is flexible and deformable, 43 denotes a plurality of inner and outer rollers provided at a constant interval on the roller mounting frame 42, and 44 denotes the mount 10 , An annular guide rail that is sandwiched between the inner and outer rollers 43 and rotatably supports the rollers 43, 45 is a lifter that lifts and holds the guide rail 44 at a predetermined position, and 46 is the guide rail. An article entrance / exit consisting of an opening space formed between the cooling rotary plate 24 and the flexible sheet 41 at the lifting portion of 44, 47
Is a cold brine supply pipe that is provided near the center of the cooling rotary plate 24 and connects the lateral passage 27c of the cold brine and the inside of the flexible sheet 41. The cold brine supply pipe 47 is the flexible sheet 41. A bend is formed at an angle of 20 ° to 45 ° from the vicinity of the center of the inside toward the outside of the inside. 48 is an overflow pipe which is arranged in the central portion of the cooling rotary plate 24 and communicates with the hollow portion of the rotary drive shaft 25 and the inside of the flexible sheet 41, and 49 is the overflow pipe provided in the seat mounting plate 40. It is a liquid level adjusting means for supporting the 48, and in this embodiment, it is a handle for moving the overflow pipe 48 up and down by a screw feeding means by a rotating operation. Reference numeral 50 denotes a cold brine outlet provided at the center of the cooling rotary plate 24 and formed between the outer periphery of the lower portion of the overflow pipe 48, and 51 denotes a lower end portion of the rotary drive shaft 25 and its hollow portion and the brine. A cold brine return pipe 51a communicating with the inside of the tank 13 is a cold brine return pipe 51a.
The flange 52 is integrally formed on the upper end of the bearing 28 and is fixed to the lower end of the bearing 28 by bolts or the like, and 52 is a frozen object placed on the cooling rotary plate 24. Next, the operation will be described. When the pump 16 is started, the cold brine in the brine tank 13 is sucked by the brine suction pipe 15, and the cold brine is cooled by the brine cooler 19 through the brine cooler 19 in the brine discharge pipe 18. It is supplied from the cold brine supply pipe 20 into the cold brine introducing path 26 via the cold brine introducing port 37. The cold brine supplied into the cold brine introducing passage 26 is
The cold brine passage 27 is supplied from the cold brine inlet 226 to the inside of the cooling rotor 22 through the vertical supply passage 27a and the horizontal supply passage 27b in sequence, circulates in the cooling rotor 22 and laterally from the cold brine outlet 227. After flowing into the chemical circulation passage 27c, it is supplied from the cold brine supply pipe 47 into the flexible sheet 4. In the flexible sheet 41, a constant set liquid level is maintained by the overflow pipe 48. While maintaining the liquid level, a part of the cold brine in the flexible sheet 41 flows down from the cold brine outlet 50 into the hollow portion of the rotary drive shaft 25, and the cold brine flowing down and the cold brine flowing into the overflow pipe 48. The overflow liquid of brine joins and is returned to the brine tank 13 from the cold brine return pipe 51. In this way, the cold brine from the brine tank 13 circulates in the cooling rotator 22 and the flexible sheet 41, whereby the cooling rotary plate 24 of the cooling rotator 22 is circulated.
And the flexible sheet 41 is cooled. In this state, when the cooling rotator 22 is rotationally driven, the flexible sheet 41 is synchronized with this and the cooling rotator is rotated.
The roller 43 of the flexible sheet 41 is rotated by a frictional force with the roller 24, and at this time, the roller 43 of the flexible sheet 41 rolls on the guide rail 44, so that the peripheral portion of the flexible sheet 41 is also lifted at the lifting portion of the guide rail 44. Therefore, when the frozen object 52 is placed on the cooling rotator 24 from the article inlet / outlet 46, the frozen object 52 is cooled by the cooling rotary plate.
It is rotatably transferred by 24 and is wrapped with the flexible sheet 41 which is in contact with the cooling rotary plate 24, so that the lower surface of the frozen object 52 is the cooling rotary plate 24 and the side surface of the frozen object 52. And the upper surface is the flexible sheet 41
At the same time, they are contact cooled simultaneously. Then, by being rotatably transferred to the article entrance / exit 46, the article entrance / exit 46 is taken out. Further, when the operation of the freezing device is stopped, the residual cold brine in the cooling rotator 22 and the flexible sheet 41 flows back and naturally flows down into the brine tank 13 to be collected. Therefore, the cold brine does not remain in the flexible sheet 41, the cooling rotator 22, the cold brine passage 27, the rotary drive shaft 25, etc., and it is possible to prevent them from freezing. Next, the case of inspecting and replacing the seal member of the rotary drive shaft 25 will be described. First, the cold brine return pipe 51 for the lower end of the rotary drive shaft 25
The fastening fixing of the flange 51a is released, and the cold brine return pipe 51 is lowered. In this case, the cold brine return pipe
Although 51 descends into the brine tank 13, the flange 51a abuts on the upper surface of the brine tank 13 so that the cold brine return pipe 51 is not likely to sink into the brine tank 13. Then, by releasing the tightening fixation of the sprocket 36 to the rotary drive shaft 25,
The sprocket 36 is removed, the hollow portion of the rotary drive shaft 25 can be inspected, and the lower bearing housing of the bearing 28 is
31 becomes removable. Therefore, by disconnecting the lower bearing housing 31 and the middle bearing housing 30 and lowering and removing the lower bearing housing 31, it is possible to inspect and replace the seal members 34 and 35. Then, in the same manner, the connection between the middle bearing housing 30 and the upper bearing housing 29 is released, and the middle bearing housing 30 is lowered and removed, whereby the seal member 33 can be inspected and replaced. In this way, the seal members 33 to 35 can be inspected and replaced by merely lowering the sprocket 36, the lower bearing housing 31, and the middle bearing housing 30 in order. Even if there is little space between the lower end of the and the upper surface of the brine tank 13, it can be easily performed.

【The invention's effect】

As described above, according to the present invention, in the rotational transfer process of the frozen object by the synchronous rotation of the cooling rotator and the flexible sheet, the frozen object is cooled by contact with the cooling rotator and the flexible sheet. It is possible to cool efficiently continuously, and moreover, such a rotary type freezing device is more compact than a conventional linear transfer type freezing device using a belt conveyor, and there is an effect that the installation space is small. Further, since the bearing for supporting the rotary drive shaft of the cooling rotor is composed of a plurality of bearing housings which are formed in a divided manner and are detachably connected, the rotary drive shafts can be removed by sequentially removing the bearing housings. There is an effect that it is possible to easily inspect and replace the rotary seal part and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a freezing device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view thereof, FIG. 3 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the freezing device partially broken away. FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of the rotary drive shaft of the freezing device, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 5, and FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the conventional freezing apparatus, FIG. 9 is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. In the figure, 21 is a cold brine supply means, 22 is a cooling rotator, 27 is a cold brine passage, 28 is a bearing, 29 to 31 are bearing housings, and 52 is a frozen object.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hollow cooling rotator on which a frozen object is placed and driven to rotate, and a contact arranging on the upper surface of the cooling rotator, which encloses the frozen object and synchronizes with the cooling rotator. Flexible sheet formed by an annular tube that is driven to rotate, a cold brine passage provided on the rotation drive shaft of the cooling rotor, the cold brine passage, the hollow portion of the cooling rotor, and the inside of the flexible sheet. And a means for supplying cold brine to the cold brine circulation path, and a plurality of bearing housings which are axially divided and are detachably connected coaxially. And a bearing that supports the rotary drive shaft.