JPS61152271A - Thawing/cold storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the titled apparatus capable of carrying out the thawing the refrigeration of a frozen food with single apparatus, by placing plural compressors in parallel, and connecting plural valves, expansion valves and evaporators thereto in parallel through condensers and liquid receivers. CONSTITUTION:A condenser 11 and a liquid receiver 13 are connected in parallel to the high-pressure side of each compressor 12 of a freezer 1, and each heat- exchanger 14 or cooler 16 is connected in parallel to the low-pressure side thereof. When both valves 4, 4 are opened, both compressors 12 of the freezer 1 are operated to cool the circulation air of the thawing apparatus 2, i.e. to cool and refrigerate the thawing and refrigeration chamber 30 and the cooling and freezing of the freezing chamber 3. When the valve 4 of the thawing apparatus is closed, the compressor 12 is operated according to the thermal load to effect the cooling and freezing in the freezing chamber and the thawing in the thawing and refrigeration chamber 30 by the thawing apparatus.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thawing/refrigerating device, and more specifically, a single device that can perform thawing and cooling in parallel and operate multiple fresh food storage chambers. The present invention relates to a thawing/cooling device that enables simultaneous refrigeration/freezing (hereinafter referred to as cold storage), and allows the processing and storage of frozen foods to be carried out freely.

[Prior Art] Generally, in stores that handle frozen foods such as meat and fish, after thawing the frozen foods, -a
The procedure is to refrigerate, then slice and pack and display in store cases. In this case, conventionally, a thawing machine and a freezer for refrigeration and freezing were installed separately, and each process was carried out using a dedicated thawing machine. This was done indoors or in a cold room.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, in the conventional system, it is necessary to install a thawing machine and a refrigerator separately, which not only increases the equipment size and costs but also reduces the cost of frozen products. It has been difficult to control the amount of food processed and the processing method depending on the type of food, such as changes due to sales time or seasonal products.

Therefore, there is a need for the development of a system that processes frozen products in conjunction with thawing and cold storage after thawing.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and as a means for solving the above-mentioned technical problems, a plurality of compressors are arranged in parallel, and these compressors are equipped with a condenser and a liquid receiver. A plurality of on-off valves, expansion valves, and evaporators are each connected in parallel through a container, and each evaporator is bundled and piped to the compressor to form a refrigeration cycle, and at least one of the evaporators is connected in parallel. is installed in the tower of the gas-liquid contact type thawing machine that supplies circulating air to the thawing chamber, and an evaporator is installed in the refrigeration and/or freezing room, and the above-mentioned on-off valves immediately before each evaporator are set as appropriate. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thawing/cooling device characterized in that it is formed so as to be able to be opened and closed.

[Effect] The above technical means works as follows.

By appropriately opening and closing the on-off valves in front of each evaporator, frozen foods can be selectively thawed and/or kept cold with a single device, allowing for changes in the amount of frozen foods to be processed and processing methods using food scales. This makes it easy to control in response to fluctuations in

[Example] Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a piping diagram showing a first embodiment of the thawing/cooling device of the present invention. At the same time, a plurality of heat exchangers (14) and coolers (1
Refrigerator a(1) having an evaporator such as 6), etc., and this refrigerator (
1), a gas-liquid contact type thawing machine (2) in which the heat exchanger (14) constituting the above-mentioned heat exchanger (14) is provided in the tower body (22), and the above-mentioned cooler (16).
) and a refrigerating compartment (3), which is arranged in front of each evaporator such as the heat exchanger (14), cooler (16), etc., as appropriate. It is designed so that it can be

The refrigerator (1) has a condenser (11) and a receiver (13) on the high pressure side of each compressor (12), and each heat exchanger (14) or cooler (16) on the low pressure side. In addition to connecting in parallel, each heat exchanger (14) and cooler (16)
) respectively, an on-off valve (4) and an expansion valve (5).
The low-pressure side pipes of each heat exchanger (14) and cooler (16) are tied together with a joint (6), and the compressor (12) is connected to the compressor (12) via a liquid separator (7).
) is connected to the low pressure side of the

As shown in FIG. 2, the thawing machine (2) has a cylindrical tower body
22) Gas-liquid contactor (24) sequentially from the top to the bottom
, having a heat exchanger (14) and a water tank (26),
It is equipped with a water sprinkling pipe (28) for sprinkling water (8) supplied from the water tank (26) from above the gas-liquid contactor (24), and has an inlet slightly above the water tank (26). (2
1), and an air inlet (23) is opened at the upper end of the tower body (22) to form a gas-liquid contact structure. (23) is communicated with the thawing/cooling room (30) through a circulation duct (10) having a circulation fan (9). In this case, the gas-liquid contactor (24) is composed of a plurality of perforated plates, and the water tank (26) and the water sprinkler pipe (28) are connected by a circulation vibrator (25), and the circulation pipe The water in the water tank (26) is pumped by the pump (27) installed in the
8) is injected toward the gas-liquid contactor (24). Furthermore, in the water tank (26), this water tank (
A heater (29) is provided to provide the water (8) in 26) as a thawing medium. Therefore, □The circulating air (40) supplied to the thawing machine (2) is supplied to the gas-liquid contactor (
In step 24), the medium is turned into a thawing medium with a temperature of 2° C. to 30° C. and a humidity of about 90% or higher, or is sent to a thawing/cooling room (30), and It is designed to be used for thawing frozen products in the thawing/cooling chamber (30). Furthermore, by stopping this thawing operation and opening the on-off valve (4) immediately before the heat exchanger (14), refrigerant is supplied from the refrigerator (1) to the heat exchanger (14). Then, the circulating air (40) is cooled, and this cooled circulating air (40) is sent to the thawing/cooling room (30).
) is used to keep thawed products cold.

In this case, the heat exchanger (14) also has the function of keeping the temperature of the air constant during thawing. In addition, although the above embodiment describes the case where the heat exchanger (14) installed in the thawing machine (2) is located between the gas-liquid contactor (24) and the water tank (26), this position is not necessarily required. However, as shown in Fig. 7, a heat exchanger (
14) may be installed internally, and by placing the heat exchanger (14) inside the water tank (26) in this way, the water tank (26)
The water (8) inside can be used not only as a thawing medium but also as a cooling and cold storage medium.

In addition, the above-mentioned thawing/cooling room (30) is shown in Figures 3 to 5.
As shown in the figure, it is formed into a box shape with a periphery made of a heat insulating material, and an entrance with a door (31) is provided on the side as appropriate, and a perforated plate (31) is provided on the side of the room. 32
) is provided vertically, and an air flow path (33) communicating with the circulation duct (10) is formed between the perforated plate (32) and the side wall. The thawing/cooling room (3
When thawing frozen products in step 0), shelves for storing frozen products are provided in multiple stages, and a box-shaped cart (34) having openings on at least both sides is connected to the perforated plate (32). After closing the door (31), high temperature and high humidity circulating air (40) is supplied from the thawing machine (2) through the circulation duct (10).
) is used to thaw frozen products. In this case, there are two thawing/cooling rooms (30) (30a).
, (301+), each room (30
a>, an on-off valve (35) disposed on the supply side of the circulation duct (10) connected to (30b);
By appropriately opening and closing the on-off valve (36) provided on the discharge side, each chamber (30a), (30b
) can be thawed and kept cold separately. In addition, each chamber (30a), (30b) is connected to a thawing machine (2), respectively.
It is also possible to selectively perform defrosting and cold storage in (30b).

In the thawing/cooling device of the present invention configured as above J: sea urchin, the heat exchanger (14) installed in the thawing machine (2)
By opening both on-off valves (4) located just before the cooler (16) installed in the refrigerator compartment (3), both compressors (12) of the refrigerator (1) will start operating. Defrosting machine (
2) cooling of the circulating air (40), i.e. thawing/cooling room (
30) and the cooling/cold storage effect in the refrigerator compartment (3).
Freezing can be performed at the same time, and a thawing machine (2)
When the on-off valve (4) is closed, the compressor (12)
operates according to the heat load, so the cooling/freezing action in the refrigerator compartment (3) can be performed as needed, and the defrosting action by the defrosting machine (2) can be performed in the defrosting/cold storage compartment (30). be exposed. In this case, even if one compressor (12) should fail, the other compressor (12) will operate normally, so loss of frozen products can be prevented.

In addition, in the above embodiment, a case was explained in which the evaporator is one cooler (16) in addition to the thawing machine, but it does not necessarily have to be one; for example, as shown in FIG. In addition to the evaporator, a plurality of coolers (16) (two shown in the drawing) are arranged in parallel, and each cooler (16) is placed in the refrigerator compartment (3) or freezer compartment (3a). It is also possible to install it so that it can be used to keep frozen products cold, such as when they are refrigerated or frozen. Similarly, it is also possible to install a plurality of the thawing/cooling chambers (30), and each thawing machine (2) is similarly provided with a heat exchanger (14), thereby making the thawing/cooling action more efficient. I can do it. Note that the other parts of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment, so the same parts are given the same reference numerals and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the thawing/cooling device of the present invention described above, a plurality of evaporators constituting a refrigerator are provided, and these evaporators are arranged in parallel with each other, and , at least one of the evaporators is installed in a gas-liquid contact thawing machine that supplies circulating air to the thawing chamber, the other evaporator is installed in the refrigeration and/or freezing chamber, and an on-off valve is provided immediately before each of the evaporators. Since it is formed so that it can be opened and closed as appropriate, the following effects can be obtained.

1) A single device can perform thawing, freezing, cooling, etc., at the same time. Therefore, while thawing frozen products in the thawing chamber, purchased quantities can be frozen and stored, or thawed foods can be stored cold. be able to.

2) By operating and stopping each evaporator with an on-off valve, the type of thawing, refrigeration, and freezing processing can be freely selected, so wasteful operation of the thawing machine can be eliminated.

3) When thawing a large amount of frozen products, the thawing machine can be operated at full capacity, and when thawing a small amount or not thawing, the necessary refrigeration/freezing operation can be performed, resulting in energy savings.

4) It is possible to facilitate control in response to fluctuations in the processing amount of frozen foods and the like and fluctuations in the processing methods used for foods, and it is also possible to reduce costs.

5) Even if a part of the compressor that makes up the refrigerator breaks down, the other compressors will operate normally, so at least the frozen products in the thawing/cooling room or the refrigerator/freezing room can be kept cold. , it is possible to prevent loss of frozen products and to improve safety.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a piping diagram showing the structure of the first embodiment of the thawing/cooling device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the thawing machine of the invention, and Fig. 3 is a schematic plan cross section showing the thawing state by the thawing machine. Figures 4 and 5 are the TV-IV of Figure 3, respectively.
A sectional view and a V-■ sectional view, FIG. 6 is a piping diagram showing the structure of a second embodiment of the thawing/cooling device of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the thawing machine of the present invention. It is. Code explanation (1)...Refrigerating machine

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A plurality of compressors are arranged in parallel, and a plurality of on-off valves are connected to these compressors via a condenser and a liquid receiver.
An expansion valve and an evaporator are each connected in parallel, and each evaporator is bundled and piped to the compressor to form a refrigeration cycle, and at least one of the evaporators is connected to supply circulating air to the thawing chamber. A gas-liquid contact type thawing machine is installed in the tower, and another evaporator is installed in the refrigeration and/or freezing room, and the above-mentioned opening/closing valves immediately before each evaporator are opened and closed as appropriate. A thawing/cooling device characterized in that it is configured to selectively thaw and/or keep cold. (2) The thawing/cooling device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of evaporators are provided in addition to the evaporator for the thawing machine, and each evaporator has a cooling function corresponding to a refrigerator compartment or a freezing compartment. (3) The thawing machine has a gas-liquid contactor, an evaporator, and a water tank in order from above to below the cylindrical column, and sprinkles water supplied from the water tank from above the gas-liquid contactor. The thawing/cooling device according to claim 1, further comprising a water sprinkler pipe, an inlet opening slightly above the water tank, and an air supply opening opening at the upper end of the tower body. (4) The thawing machine has a water tank in which a gas-liquid contactor is installed in the upper part of the cylindrical column body and an evaporator in the lower part, and the water supplied from the water tank is supplied from above the gas-liquid contactor. The thawing/cooling system according to claim 1, further comprising a sprinkler pipe for sprinkling water, an inlet opening slightly above the water tank, and an air inlet opening at the upper end of the tower body. Device.