JPS60271A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a device for rapidly cooling food.

Conventional structure and problems Conventional refrigerators are generally divided into a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment, and air cooled by a cooler (simply referred to as cold air) is sent to the freezer compartment and refrigerator compartment, and each compartment is divided into optimal conditions. The temperature is maintained at a certain temperature (this is referred to as conventional example 1). However, since this method cools food by convective heat transfer in the air, the heat conduction is poorer than direct cooling by solid heat conduction, and it takes a lot of time to cool the food, making it difficult to cool the food quickly. It was difficult. In addition, increasing the amount of cold air flowing in or lowering the temperature of the cold air may cause frost to form on the food or cause the freezer or refrigerator compartment to deviate from the specified temperature setting, causing food other than those that should be rapidly cooled to cool down. The drawback was that it had a negative effect on food.

On the other hand, a device that uses a heat pipe filled with fluorocarbon and brings one side of the heat pipe into contact with the cooling gradient device of the refrigeration unit and the other side into contact with the food is considered to cool the food rapidly and to a limited extent. (This is referred to as conventional example 2). However, since the temperature of the cooler of a refrigerator is usually much lower than the temperature of the freezer or refrigerator compartment, the surface of the heat pipe that is in contact with the food is cooled to near the temperature of the cooler. For this reason, it has not been possible to eliminate the disadvantages of food being cooled below the optimum temperature, frost forming on the food and heat pipes, and furthermore, the specified temperature of the freezer or refrigerator compartment being unable to be maintained. Of course, it is well known that if another fluorocarbon is used to avoid frost formation in this case, it will no longer have the function of rapidly cooling food, which is the original purpose.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator that has the function of rapidly cooling food, does not cool food below the specified temperature of the freezer or refrigerator compartment, and does not cause frost formation.

The structure of the invention has a means for cooling a part of the closed container in which at least two types of working fluids that dissolve and mix with each other are sealed inside, and the other part is brought into contact with the food to rapidly cool the food. It's a refrigerator. Specifically, a part of the airtight container is cooled by being brought into contact with the cooler of the refrigerator or by being made to protrude into the cooler chamber, and the other part is made to protrude into the freezing chamber, or
Alternatively, it is a refrigerator that protrudes into the refrigerating room or has an independent chamber and protrudes into the refrigerating room to cool the space in which food is stored, or to cool the food rapidly by coming into direct contact with the food.

Description of examples The basic principle of the present invention will be explained by way of examples.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a container containing two types of mixed fluids. 4 is a heating section, and 5 is a cooling section. The mixed fluid is composed of at least two components with different boiling points, a higher boiling point substance and a lower boiling point substance, which dissolve and mix with each other. It consists of The mixed fluid is placed in a container 1 under an appropriate composition and pressure determined by the operating temperature and the saturated vapor pressure of the mixed fluid.
It is enclosed within the secret life. heating section 4 by some heating source
When the temperature of the cooling section 5 is increased, steam is generated from the liquid surface of the liquid phase section 2 and the vapor pressure inside the container 1 increases. No condensation occurs in the cooling section 5 of section 3.

Therefore, at this time, no heat is transferred from the heating section 4 to the cooling section 6. When the temperature difference between the heating section 4 and the cooling section 5 exceeds a certain temperature difference Δt°C due to further heating, the vapor pressure inside the container 1 further increases and becomes higher than the condensation pressure determined by the cooling section 6. Condensation occurs in the phase section 3 in the cooling section 5. Therefore,
At this time, heat begins to be transferred from the heating section to the cooling section. This is a feature of the present invention. In other words, when the temperature difference between the cooling part and the heating part is within a certain temperature difference Δt°C, heat transfer does not occur, and only when the temperature reaches 71°C or higher does heat transfer occur, and a large amount of heat is transferred. I can do it. It is well known that the force l and the heat sound i cause condensation to become a liquid and return to the cooling section. Further, the operating temperature and condensing pressure can be selected depending on the composition, boiling point, viscosity, and other properties of the mixed liquid, and the structure and type of the container and inside of the container.

Specifically, a wick or the like may be installed inside the container 1, so that the composition of the mixed liquid is separated, and the liquid is retained in the cooling part 6 of the container 1. Liquids having different compositions may be present in one heating section and one cooling section.

- As an example, an experiment was conducted using a mixed fluid of fluorocarbon and an organic solvent in a container with an inner diameter of 1 cm and a length of 25 cm. By setting the temperature on the horizontal axis and the amount of heat transfer on the vertical axis and examining the relationship, the results shown in FIG. 2 were obtained, and the desired performance was obtained. In FIG. 2, conventional example 2 using the same fluorocarbon is shown with a broken line.

The principle and example of the heat transfer device itself have been described above in detail. Next, a refrigerator to which the above device is applied will be explained.

FIG. 3 is an embodiment showing the principle of a refrigerator using the present invention. The cooling section 5 of the container 1 mentioned above is in contact with the cooler 7 of the refrigerator, and the heating section 4 is in contact with the food 6 in the freezer compartment.

As a result, the food 6 and the cooler 7 are in thermal contact via the container 1, and the food 6 is cooled by the container 1 rather than by cold air. Now, when food 6 at room temperature is put into the freezer, the temperature is much higher than the temperature of the cooling booklet, so heat is transferred from food 6 to cooler 7 by container 1 based on the operating principle described above. The food 6 is cooled down. In this way food 6
When the container 1 is cooled down to the specified temperature of the freezer compartment, the temperature difference with the cooler 7 becomes smaller and becomes within the above-mentioned 41°C.
No heat transfer occurs.

Figure 4 shows the experimental results of this situation, with food temperature plotted on the vertical axis and time plotted on the horizontal axis.

FIG. 4 shows conventional examples of cooling using only cold air (conventional example 1) and cooling using only 70 carbon in the container 1 (conventional example 1).
Conventional example 2) is also shown. According to this, conventional example 1
Compared to this, the food 6 is cooled rapidly, and unlike the conventional example 2, the food 6 is not cooled below the specified temperature of the freezer compartment. Therefore, the food 6 and the container 1 in the freezer are not frosted.

In addition, only the foods that need to be cooled quickly are cooled in a limited manner, and the prescribed temperatures in the freezer and refrigerator compartments are optimally maintained without adversely affecting other foods.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the size and shape of the container 1 and the location where it is installed are not particularly limited. The heating part of the container 1 may protrude into the freezing compartment, into the refrigerating compartment, or by providing an independent chamber. Of course, depending on the specified temperature of the place where the heating part is projected, Δt℃
The combination and composition of the mixed fluids can be selected to select the temperature difference and heat transfer amount. On the other hand, the cooling part of the container 1 is a cooler 7.
Although we have explained the case where it is in contact with the cooler, it is not necessary to provide heat transfer, and it is sufficient to just protrude into the cooler chamber. In this case, installation would be easy, but additional fins would be needed to improve heat transfer. Further, the cooling section of the container 1 may be installed in the freezing room, and the heating section may be installed in the refrigerator room. Further, in FIG. 3, the container 1 is illustrated as a single tube, but it does not need to be a single tube, and may be in the form of a flat plate or a large number of tubes arranged in parallel.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the invention. Note that elements common to those in FIG. 3 are given the same numbers. The container 1 is shaped like a flat plate and surrounds the food 6 to be cooled, and a quick-freezing room is provided which is independent of the freezer and refrigerator compartments. This increases the contact area between the food 6 and the container 1, which is effective in shortening the cooling time.

Above, we have explained the case where fluorocarbon and organic solvent are used as a mixed fluid, but alcohols, glycols, etc. may also be used, and 70 carbons and alcohols with different boiling points may also be used, and among them, at least It may be composed of two or more types, and any fluid may be used as long as it does not solidify within the operating temperature range and dissolves and mixes with each other.

In addition, although we have explained the case where the refrigerator operates normally, when rapidly cooling food, it is necessary to change the temperature of the cooler 7 and set it separately from maintaining the freezer compartment and refrigerator compartment at the specified temperature. It's okay. In this case, d2, even if the temperature of the cooler 7 is set lower than normal, the operation of the container 1 will not change in principle, and the cooling time of the food will be further shortened, and the temperature of the cooler 7 will be the same after cooling is finished. Even if the container 1 is returned to the original position, the operation of the container 1 remains unchanged in principle.

Effects of the Invention As shown in Figure 4, in order to maintain the temperature when the food reaches the specified temperature without being cooled to near the temperature of the cooler, food is There is no frost formation on the transmission device, and it has the effect of rapidly cooling food.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the transmission device used in the present invention, Figure 2 is a diagram showing the principle of the transmission device used in the present invention.
Figure 3 shows the operating characteristics of the transmission device used in the present invention.
The figure is a schematic configuration diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the principle of the present invention.
The figure shows the operating characteristics of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention. 1... Container, 2... Liquid phase part of mixed fluid, 3
・Gas phase part of mixed fluid, 4... Heating part, 5...
... Cooling section, 6 ... Food, 7 ... Cooler, 8 ... Freezer room, 9 ... Refrigerator room, 10 ...
···refrigerator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 4.+i indicates that a sealed container containing at least two types of fluids that dissolve and mix with each other has a means for cooling a part of the container, and the other part is placed in a space in which an object to be cooled is placed. Refrigerator.