JPH11132643A - Electric freezing refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent degrading in foods being preserved due to a temperature rise during the opening or closing of a door or as caused by overloading of foods in an electric freezing refrigerator or others. SOLUTION: A rise in temperature within a room as caused when opening or opening or closing a freezing chamber door 2a and a refrigerating chamber door 3a is restricted by a liquid nitrogen filled into gas cylinders 11a-11c. The concentration of a nitrogen gas in the room is raised to prevent aging of vegetables and fruits as caused by the breathing thereof. Gas cylinders 11a-11c are filled with an ethylene gas to promote the ripening of unripened vegetables and fruits.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a home electric refrigerator-freezer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional electric refrigerator-freezers for home use include a refrigerator, a freezer compartment, a vegetable compartment, and the like. Because the temperature inside the room is higher than the temperature before opening and closing the door,
This temperature rise is detected by a temperature sensor installed in each cooling room, and cold air for lowering the room temperature is immediately sent into each cooling room. When the temperature drops to the temperature before the door is opened and closed after a lapse of time, the inflow of cool air is stopped, and the inflow of cool air is controlled so as to be constant at a predetermined temperature.

[0003]

The temperature inside the refrigerator due to the opening and closing of the door, the temperature inside the refrigerator due to the food stored in the refrigerator, or the insufficient cooling capacity of the electric refrigerator-freezer due to the excessive amount of food. The rise in the temperature in the refrigerator, for example, has been a cause of deterioration of the stored food. In addition, when the put food is rapidly cooled by low-temperature cold air, the stored food is excessively cooled, which is a factor of deteriorating the stored food.

[0004] In addition, vegetables and fruits grow by breathing, and thus gradually age, and the taste deteriorates, but this cannot be prevented. further,
The immature vegetables and fruits may deteriorate before maturation due to the gradual rate of maturation by respiration, and the period of good taste is short.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to suppress food deterioration due to a rise in the temperature in a refrigerator.

Another object of the present invention is to slow down the progress of aging of vegetables and fruits and to promote the ripening of immature vegetables and fruits.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cooling room such as a freezing room, a refrigerator room, a vegetable room, etc., and a storage means for storing at least one kind of gas in a dischargeable manner. A connection unit that connects the storage unit and the cooling chamber by piping, and a control unit that is disposed in a path of the connection unit and controls outflow of the gas from the storage unit to the cooling chamber, The supply of the gas to the cooling chamber is enabled.

[0008] According to this configuration, the predetermined gas is supplied from the storage means to the cooling chamber such as the freezing compartment, the refrigerator compartment, the vegetable compartment, etc., in accordance with an instruction from the control means.

Further, in the present invention, the gas is nitrogen, and the storage means is a liquid nitrogen storage device capable of replenishing liquid nitrogen or a cassette type liquid nitrogen storage cylinder.

[0010] According to this configuration, low-temperature nitrogen can be replenished with liquid nitrogen in accordance with an instruction from the control means, from a liquid nitrogen storage device or a cassette-type liquid nitrogen storage cylinder through the connection means and into a freezing room or a refrigerator room. Is supplied to a cooling room such as a vegetable room.

Further, in the present invention, the gas is cold air generated at a temperature lower than a freezing room temperature generated by the electric refrigerator, and the storage means is a cold air tank capable of storing the cold air.

According to this configuration, the cool air having a temperature lower than the temperature in the freezer compartment obtained in the normal operation is stored in the cool air tank, and the cool air is stored in the cool air tank as required by an instruction from the control means. Freezer through connecting means,
It is supplied to a cooling room such as a refrigerator room or a vegetable room.

Further, the present invention includes a pre-cooling chamber for pre-cooling foods and the like, and the cooling chamber includes the pre-cooling chamber.

According to this configuration, low-temperature nitrogen or
Cold air lower than the temperature in the freezer compartment obtained by normal operation is stored in a liquid nitrogen storage device capable of replenishing liquid nitrogen, a cassette type liquid nitrogen storage cylinder, or the cold air in accordance with an instruction from the control means. The cold air tank is supplied to the pre-cooling chamber through the connecting means.

Further, the present invention includes a detecting means for detecting opening and closing of a door of the cooling chamber, and automatically injects the gas into the cooling chamber when the door is opened.

According to this configuration, when the door of a cooling room such as a freezing room, a refrigerator room, a vegetable room or the like is opened, it is detected by the detecting means and the control means gives an instruction. The cool air having a temperature lower than the temperature of the freezer compartment is supplied from a liquid nitrogen storage device or a cassette type liquid nitrogen storage cylinder capable of replenishing liquid nitrogen or a cold air tank storing the cool air through a connection means, and the cooling air is cooled. When the cooling air is supplied to the cooling chamber and the door of the cooling chamber is closed, the supply of cold air or nitrogen gas is stopped.

Further, the present invention includes a detecting means for detecting opening / closing of a door of the cooling chamber, and automatically injects the gas into the cooling chamber when the door is closed.

According to this configuration, when the door of a cooling room such as a freezing room, a refrigerator room, a vegetable room or the like is closed, the detection is detected by the detection means and the control means gives an instruction, and the temperature is obtained by low-temperature nitrogen or normal operation. The cool air having a temperature lower than the temperature of the freezer compartment is supplied from a liquid nitrogen storage device or a cassette type liquid nitrogen storage cylinder capable of replenishing liquid nitrogen or a cold air tank storing the cool air through a connection means, and the cooling air is cooled. Supplied to the room.

Further, the present invention is provided with a manual control means by which a user of the electric refrigerator can arbitrarily inject the gas into the cooling chamber.

According to this configuration, the liquid nitrogen storage device or the liquid nitrogen storage device capable of replenishing the liquid nitrogen with the low-temperature nitrogen or the cool air lower than the temperature in the freezing room obtained by the normal operation can be arbitrarily instructed by the user. The liquid is supplied from a cassette type liquid nitrogen storage cylinder or a cold air tank storing the cold air to a cooling room such as a freezing room, a refrigerator room, a vegetable room, and a pre-cooling room through connection means.

In the present invention, the gas is ethylene gas, and the storage means is a cassette type ethylene gas cylinder.

According to this configuration, ethylene gas is supplied from the cassette type ethylene gas cylinder to the cooling room such as the freezing room, the refrigerator room, the vegetable room, etc., through the connecting unit, in accordance with an instruction from the control unit.

Further, the present invention comprises a ripening chamber for ripening food or the like by supplying ethylene gas, wherein the cooling chamber comprises:
The aging room is included.

According to this configuration, ethylene gas is supplied from the cassette type ethylene gas cylinder to the aging chamber through the connection means in accordance with an instruction from the control means.

Further, the present invention comprises a temperature control means for controlling the temperature in the aging chamber.

According to this structure, the aging chamber is supplied with ethylene gas while the room temperature is controlled by the temperature control means.

Further, according to the present invention, the detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of the gas or the liquid condensing the gas in the storage means, and issuing a warning when the remaining amount of the gas or the liquid is low. Warning means.

According to this configuration, when the remaining amount of the gas or liquid in the liquid nitrogen storage device, the liquid nitrogen storage cylinder, the cold air tank, and the ethylene gas cylinder becomes small, the detection means detects the reduction, and the warning means warns.

[0029]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1A is a front view showing the electric refrigerator-freezer of the first embodiment, and FIG.
Is a side view, and (c) is a rear view. In these figures, an electric refrigerator-freezer main body 1 is provided with a freezing room 2, a refrigerator room 3, and a vegetable room 4 (hereinafter, these rooms are collectively referred to simply as a cooling room 20). 3,
A freezer compartment door 2a and a refrigerator compartment door 3a are provided. The vegetable room 4 is of a drawer type, and food can be taken in and out by pulling out the vegetable room door 4a.

The equipment room 5 on the side of the vegetable room 4 houses a compressor (not shown) and the like, and a liquid nitrogen storage device 6 filled with liquid nitrogen is disposed above the equipment room 5.
A liquid nitrogen filling unit 10 for filling the liquid nitrogen storage device 6 with liquid nitrogen is fixed at the front of the liquid nitrogen storage device 6, and a low-temperature nitrogen gas discharged from the liquid nitrogen storage device 6 is required at the rear. It is fixed to a connection section 9 for connecting to a control section 8 for controlling the rejection. The control unit 8 opens and closes valves and the like (not shown), and the low-temperature nitrogen gas is sent to a predetermined cooling chamber 20 through the piping unit 7.

According to this configuration, a low-temperature nitrogen gas can be supplied to each cooling chamber 20. By providing a detection device (not shown) for detecting the opening and closing of the door (2a, 3a, 4a) of each cooling chamber 20, the door (2a, 3a, 4a) is provided.
When the door is opened, the low-temperature nitrogen gas is automatically sent to the cooling chamber 20 with the door (2a, 3a, 4a) opened, and when the door (2a, 3a, 4a) is closed, the nitrogen gas is sent. Is stopped, it is possible to suppress a rise in temperature in the cooling chamber 20.

When the door is closed, a temperature sensor (not shown) detects the temperature in the cooling chamber 20 which has been raised by opening and closing the door or by the food contained therein.
By sending out low-temperature nitrogen gas and stopping the sending at a predetermined temperature, it is possible to rapidly lower the temperature in the cooling chamber.

Further, when food is excessively filled in each cooling chamber 20 and exceeds the cooling capacity of the compressor of the electric refrigerator-freezer, it is detected by a sensor (not shown) that the cooling capacity is exceeded. It is possible to maintain the predetermined temperature by automatically sending the nitrogen gas and stopping the supply at the predetermined temperature.

By installing a manual switch capable of arbitrarily sending out nitrogen gas, it is possible to send out low-temperature nitrogen gas at a time desired by the user to lower the temperature in the cooling chamber 20. It becomes possible.

[0035] Vegetables and fruits grow by respiration, and after maturation, they age and taste worse. By keeping the cooling room 20 (especially the vegetable room 4) in a sealed state and sending out nitrogen gas to keep the oxygen concentration in the cooling room 20 always low, it is possible to suppress the respiration of vegetables and fruits, It is possible to slow down the aging process.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2A is a front view showing the electric refrigerator-freezer of the second embodiment, FIG. 2B is a side view thereof, and FIG. 2C is a rear view thereof. In these drawings, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the second embodiment, the liquid nitrogen storage device 6 and the liquid nitrogen filling device 10 in the first embodiment are cassette gas cylinders 11a, 11b and 11c filled with liquid nitrogen. The user only needs to replace the gas cylinders 11a to 11c when the remaining amount of liquid nitrogen is exhausted, and the workability is good. Further, it is possible to expect exactly the same effects as in the first embodiment.

Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3A is a front view showing the electric refrigerator-freezer of the third embodiment, FIG. 3B is a side view thereof, and FIG. 3C is a rear view thereof. In these drawings, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the third embodiment, the liquid nitrogen storage device 6 and the liquid nitrogen filling device 10 in the first embodiment store cold air that can be generated by the electric refrigerator 1 and that is lower than room temperature in the freezing room 2. The storage tank 12 is used. During normal operation, the electric refrigerator-freezer 1 stores cold air in the storage tank 12 while cooling each cooling chamber 20, and can send low-temperature cold air to each cooling chamber 20 as needed.

According to this configuration, since cold air having a higher temperature than liquid nitrogen is used, efficiency such as a longer time required for the temperature drop is reduced as compared with the first embodiment, and air is used. Therefore, it is not possible to prevent aging of vegetables and fruits, but it is possible to suppress a rise in the temperature inside the cooling chamber 20 and to lower the temperature inside the cooling chamber 20 whose temperature has risen relatively quickly. Further, the user does not need to replenish the liquid nitrogen, so that the complexity in use can be reduced as compared with the first and second embodiments.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4A is a front view showing the electric refrigerator-freezer of the third embodiment, FIG. 4B is a side view thereof, and FIG. 4C is a rear view thereof. In these drawings, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The fourth embodiment uses the same cassette type gas cylinder 11 as the second embodiment, and the inside of the gas cylinder 11 is filled with liquid nitrogen. Further, a pre-cooling room 2b for freezing is provided in the freezing room 2, and a pre-cooling room 3b for cooling is installed in the refrigerating room 3, so that low-temperature nitrogen gas can be sent to the pre-cooling rooms 2b and 3b.

According to this configuration, food that needs to be frozen or refrigerated is first put into the pre-cooling chambers 2b and 3b, and low-temperature nitrogen gas is sent out to each of the pre-cooling chambers 2b and 3b to rapidly cool the food. The temperature sensor (not shown) detects a decrease in the temperature of the food and each of the pre-cooling chambers 2b, 3b, and the delivery is stopped, and the cooling chamber 20 is replaced by the user. With this function, it is possible to prevent a rise in the temperature in each cooling chamber 20 due to food, and to prevent deterioration due to excessive cooling of other food when rapidly cooling the put food.

Further, it is not always necessary to use the cassette type cylinder 11, and the liquid nitrogen storage device 6 as shown in the first embodiment or the cold air tank 12 as shown in the third embodiment is used.
The same effect can be expected by using.

The piping section 7 is connected only to each of the pre-cooling chambers 2b and 3b, but is also connected to each cooling chamber 20. The control section 8 switches to each of the necessary cooling chambers 20 to supply a low-temperature gas. Can be transmitted, the effects of the first to third embodiments can be expected at the same time.

Next, a fifth embodiment will be described. In FIG. 2, the cassette type gas cylinders 11a to 11a
At least one of 1c is filled with ethylene gas,
The control unit 8 can send ethylene gas to the vegetable room 4 or the refrigerator room 3.

As described above, immature vegetables and fruits are matured by breathing. However, in order to eat them at a good time, they need to be left until they are matured. Ethylene is a kind of plant maturation hormone and is generally known to have the effect of promoting the maturation of vegetables and fruits. Therefore, by sending ethylene to the vegetable compartment 4 or the refrigerator compartment 3, it is possible to promote the ripening of vegetables and fruits placed in the vegetable compartment 4 or the refrigerator compartment 3 and to improve the taste quickly.

Next, a sixth embodiment will be described. In the above-described fifth embodiment, the vegetable room 4 or the refrigerator room 3
Although ethylene is sent to the refrigeration compartment 3 in FIG. 2 above, an aging room 3c for accelerating aging is arranged in the above-mentioned refrigerator compartment 3 so that ethylene can be sent only to the aging room 3c. By doing so, only the food in the aging room 3c can be aged, so that adverse effects on other foods can be prevented.

Further, in the fifth and sixth embodiments, when immature vegetables and fruits are put into the cooling room 20 or the aging room 3c, ethylene gas is sent out, and the mature vegetables and fruits or It is desirable that the user can set it arbitrarily so that nitrogen gas can be sent out when another food is placed. In this case, the aging room can also be used as a pre-cooling room.

Further, a dedicated temperature control mechanism (not shown) is provided in the ripening chamber 3c so that the temperature in the ripening chamber 3c can be set independently of the other cooling chambers 20.
Optimal ripening of vegetables and fruits put in can be performed.

Further, in the first to sixth embodiments, a detection mechanism for detecting the remaining amount of the stored liquid nitrogen, cold air or ethylene gas, a message display and an alarm sound when the remaining amount is low, By providing a warning mechanism that turns on the LED, etc., it is possible to notify the user of the necessity of refilling liquid nitrogen, replacing gas cylinders, and storing cold air, thus preventing problems such as running out of nitrogen gas. Becomes possible.

[0052]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress a rise in the temperature of the cooling chamber, slow down the progress of aging of vegetables and fruits, and promote the ripening of vegetables and fruits.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the rise in temperature when the door of the cooling chamber is opened and closed, to suppress the rise in temperature due to the inserted food, to suppress the rise in temperature due to overfilling of food, and to promote the aging of vegetables and fruits. It becomes possible to slow down.

According to the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to suppress a rise in temperature when the door of the cooling chamber is opened and closed, to suppress a rise in temperature due to foods contained therein, and to suppress a rise in temperature due to excessive filling of foods.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to rapidly cool only the food put in the pre-cooling room and prevent excessive cooling of the stored food.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress a rise in temperature in the cooling chamber when the door of the cooling chamber is opened.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to rapidly lower the temperature with respect to the temperature rise in the cooling chamber when opening and closing the door of the cooling chamber.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the user can arbitrarily lower the temperature in the cooling chamber.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to ripen immature vegetables and fruits.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to ripen only the immature vegetables and fruits placed in the ripening room.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to ripen the immature vegetables and fruits placed in the ripening room under optimum temperature conditions independently of the temperature of the other cooling rooms.

According to the eleventh aspect, liquid nitrogen,
When the remaining amount of ethylene gas or the like becomes low, it is possible to prompt the user for replenishment or replacement by displaying a message or alarm.

[0063]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing second, fifth and sixth embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electric refrigerator-freezer main body 2 Freezer room 2b Pre-cooling room 3 Refrigerator room 3b Pre-cooling room 3c Ripening room 4 Vegetable room 6 Liquid nitrogen storage device 7 Piping part 8 Control part 9 Connecting part 10 Liquid nitrogen filling part 11 Gas cylinder 12 Cold air tank

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hisao Yamazato 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Sharp Corporation

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A cooling unit such as a freezer room, a refrigerator room, a vegetable room, etc., a storage unit for storing at least one kind of gas in a dischargeable manner, and a connecting unit for connecting the storage unit and the cooling room by piping. And a control means disposed in the middle of the path of the connection means, for controlling the outflow of the gas from the storage means to the cooling chamber, wherein the gas can be supplied to the cooling chamber. Electric refrigerator-freezer. 2. The liquid nitrogen storage device according to claim 1, wherein the gas is nitrogen, and the storage means is a liquid nitrogen storage device capable of replenishing liquid nitrogen or a cassette type liquid nitrogen storage cylinder. Electric refrigerator-freezer. 3. The cold gas generated by the electric refrigerator-freezer and having a lower temperature than a freezing room temperature, and the storage unit is a cold air tank capable of storing the cold air. 2. The electric refrigerator-freezer according to 1. 4. A pre-cooling chamber for pre-cooling foods and the like, wherein the cooling chamber includes the pre-cooling chamber.
Or the electric refrigerator-freezer according to claim 3. 5. The cooling chamber according to claim 2, further comprising detection means for detecting opening and closing of a door of the cooling chamber, wherein the gas is automatically injected into the cooling chamber when the door is opened. Item 5. An electric refrigerator-freezer according to any one of Items 4. 6. A cooling means for detecting opening and closing of a door of the cooling chamber, wherein the gas is automatically injected into the cooling chamber when the door is closed. Item 6. An electric refrigerator-freezer according to any one of Item 5. 7. The electric refrigerator-freezer according to claim 2, further comprising a manual control means for allowing a user of the electric refrigerator to arbitrarily inject the gas into the cooling chamber. An electric refrigerator-freezer as described. 8. The electric refrigerator-freezer according to claim 1, wherein the gas is ethylene gas, and the storage means is a cassette type ethylene gas cylinder. 9. The electric refrigerator-freezer according to claim 8, further comprising a ripening chamber for ripening foods or the like by supplying ethylene gas, wherein the cooling chamber includes the ripening chamber. 10. The electric refrigerator-freezer according to claim 9, further comprising temperature control means for controlling a temperature in the aging room. 11. A detecting means for detecting a remaining amount of the gas or a liquid obtained by condensing the gas, and a warning means for issuing a warning when the remaining amount of the gas or the liquid is low. The electric refrigerator-freezer according to any one of claims 2 to 10, wherein the refrigerator is provided.