JPS5930076B2 - Thawing machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a thawing machine for thawing frozen foods such as fresh foods to a natural state almost immediately before freezing.

Conventionally, when thawing frozen foods such as fresh foods, natural thawing methods and forced thawing methods have been used, but both methods have drawbacks such as reduced freshness and altered taste.

In other words, in the natural thawing method, the thawed product is soaked in water, but this loses the extract, and the method of leaving it in the air causes temperature differences in the thawed product over time, resulting in a decrease in quality. , and if you put it in an electric refrigerator,
The drawback was that it took a long time to defrost, resulting in the surface becoming dry.

On the other hand, as a forced thawing method, a method using a microwave oven is used, but thawed materials of different thicknesses, such as the tail of a fish, cannot be thawed evenly and the quality often deteriorates. Although it can be thawed by applying water pressure, such as in the pressure thawing method, it has the disadvantage that it has a negative effect on the cells, resulting in a decline in commercial value.

In view of these conventional deficiencies, the present invention maintains the inside of the machine at a constant cool temperature and constant high humidity, and supplies stored thawed products with steam latent heat, thereby making it possible to return them to their natural state almost immediately before freezing. The purpose of this project is to provide a defrosting machine that can

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the inner wall surface of the thawing machine 10 is covered with a heat insulating material 2, and a cooling tank 3 is further provided on the entire surface thereof.

The front opening is configured to be closed with a door 4 filled with a heat insulating material 2.

Further, since cooling water is circulated in the cooling tank 3 so as to maintain the surface temperature at 0°C, the inside of the machine can be kept at a constant cool temperature around 0°C.

That is, since there is no surface inside the machine that is below 0°C, the moisture content in the air inside the machine is not fixed by phenomena such as frost, and the sensible heat that flows through the walls and enters the machine is removed by the cooling tank 8. Ru.

Therefore, it is possible to create a state of constant cool temperature and constant high humidity.

For this purpose, a compression refrigerator 5 and a water pump 6 for circulating water in the cooling tank 3 are arranged below the thawing machine 1.

Freon 12 is sealed in the refrigerant of the compression refrigerator 5, and the compressor 5a sends this refrigerant to the condenser 5b.

The condenser 5b cools and liquefies the high-temperature refrigerant gas that has been sent in, and sends it to the evaporator 5c, where the refrigerant evaporates and cools the circulating water.

Furthermore, a tray 8 filled with water 1 is provided at the bottom of the machine, and an electric heater 9 is placed horizontally in this tray.

When power is applied to the electric heater 9 for a predetermined time by the timer 10, the water in the dish 8 is heated and eventually steam is generated.
This water vapor convects inside the machine via the blower 11 and duct 12, and at this time comes into contact with frozen objects 15 inside the machine.

At this time, the water vapor imparts latent heat to the frozen objects is and is on the shelf 13.13, and the water vapor liquefies and flows down to the exposed IUIC below.
Discharged via the sump drain.

Alternatively, the water may be allowed to flow back into the dish 8.

If the temperature inside the machine exceeds a predetermined temperature, the temperature sensor 16 installed at the top of the machine will detect it, and the relay switch 1γ will automatically operate to turn off the power to the electric heater 9. It is configured as follows.

Since this embodiment has the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, frozen items 15, 15 are stored in shelves 13, 13, door 4 is closed, and electric heater 9 is turned on in a sealed state. Water vapor can be generated to thaw the food.

That is, the thawing machine 1 always maintains a constant cool temperature around 0°C due to the effect of the heat insulating material 2 filled all over the inner wall of the cabinet and the cooling tank 3.
Since the humidity is maintained at a high level, it is possible to prevent the effects of sensible heat, intrusion heat, etc., and to stop the relative humidity of the cabin air from decreasing.

As shown in FIG. 3, for example, when air at point A at a temperature of 20° C. at a relative humidity of 80° C. is cooled, the temperature and water content decrease as shown in A-+B→C.

At this time, point B and point 0 are the dew points at the respective temperatures.

Now, if we raise the temperature of the air at point 0 using latent heat so that it can maintain point D, the water content will also increase, so the dew point will still be maintained, and the relative humidity at this time will show 100%.

Relative humidity is the ratio of the amount of water vapor actually contained in a fixed volume of air to the maximum amount of water vapor that the air can contain at that temperature (saturated water vapor amount), expressed as a percentage. It is something.

Also, unlike heat of fusion and heat of vaporization, latent heat does not exhibit the effect of increasing temperature, but is simply heat used to change the state of a substance.

From the above, when defrosting the frozen goods 15.15 stored in the defrosting machine 1 maintained at around 0°C and 100% relative humidity, the timer 10 is adjusted to generate the steam latent heat generated by the electric heater 9. If the interior of the machine is maintained at around 5° C. by convection, the whole surface of the frozen object 15 will be brought into contact with the circulating air, and thawing will occur at a uniform rate.

In particular, when thawing fresh food, for example, at 10°C, the food will be damaged, so it is always preferable to keep the temperature below atmospheric temperature, and the temperature sensor 16 is designed to operate to maintain the temperature at least around 5°C.

Note that after thawing, the temperature is maintained at around 1°C, and the dew point is maintained at this time as well, so that fresh foods and the like can be stored in the best condition without drying out.

As explained in the above embodiments, this invention makes it possible to return frozen foods, etc. to almost their natural state immediately before freezing, thereby preventing the freshness from dropping to the bottom, and therefore without causing changes in taste. This is an extremely industrially valuable invention that allows defrosting.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view of a thawing machine showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in the same embodiment, and Fig. 3 is an explanatory graph regarding thawing of frozen items. . Code explanation, 1... Thawing machine, 2... Insulation material, 3... Cooling tank, 4... Door, 5...
...Compression refrigerator, 5a...Compressor, 5b
...Condenser, 5C...Evaporator, 6...
...Water pump, 1...Water, 8...
・Dish, 9...Electric heater, 10...Timer, 11...Blower, 12...Duct,
13...shelf, 14...K receiving, 15...
...Frozen food, 16...Temperature sensing part, 17...
...Relay switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A cooling tank is installed on the wall of the aircraft interior to maintain a constant cool temperature and constant high humidity.A dish is provided below.Water is stored in this dish and heated to generate steam. A thawing machine that thaws frozen food while maintaining it at a constant temperature and high humidity.