JPS6363835B2 - - Google Patents

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 its 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 and refrigerator compartments to maintain each compartment at an optimal specified temperature (Conventional Example 1). however,
This method uses convective heat transfer in the air to cool the food, which results in poorer heat conduction compared to direct cooling through solid heat conduction, and it takes more time to cool the food.
It was difficult to cool down rapidly. 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, there is a device that uses a heat pipe filled with fluorocarbon and brings one side of the heat pipe into contact with a refrigerator cooler and the other side into contact with the food to cool the food rapidly and in a limited manner (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. Therefore, it is impossible to eliminate the disadvantages of food being cooled below the optimum temperature, frost forming on food and heat pipes, and the inability to maintain the specified temperature in the freezer and refrigerator compartments. Ta. Of course, using other fluorocarbons in this case,
It is well known that if attempts are made to avoid frost formation, the original purpose of cooling food rapidly will no longer be achieved.

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

Structure of the Invention A closed container having at least two types of working fluids that dissolve and mix with each other sealed therein has a means for cooling a part of the container, and the other part is brought into contact with food to rapidly cool the food. It's a refrigerator. Specifically, a part of the airtight container is cooled by avoiding 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 compartment or into the refrigerator compartment. A refrigerator is a refrigerator that has an independent chamber and projects into it 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 EMBODIMENTS The basic principle of the present invention will be explained by way of embodiments.
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 types of components with different boiling points, a higher boiling point substance and a lower boiling point substance, which are dissolved and mixed with each other.
A liquid phase section 2 and a gas phase section 3 are configured within the chamber. The mixed fluid is enclosed in the container 1 under an appropriate composition and pressure determined by the operating temperature and the saturated vapor pressure of the mixed fluid. When the temperature of the heating section 4 is increased by some heating source, steam is generated from the liquid surface of the liquid phase section 2 and the vapor pressure inside the container 1 increases, but the condensation pressure is determined by the temperature of the cooling section 5. When the temperature is lower than , condensation of the gas phase section 3 in the cooling section 5 does not occur. Therefore, at this time, no heat is transferred from the heating section 4 to the cooling section 5. When the temperature difference between the heating section 4 and the cooling section 5 exceeds a certain temperature Δt℃ due to further heating,
The vapor pressure in the container 1 further increases and becomes higher than the condensation pressure determined by the cooling section 5, and the vapor pressure in the gas phase section 3 increases.
Condensation occurs in the cooling section 5. Therefore, at this time, heat transfer from the heating section to the cooling section begins. This is a feature of the present invention. That is, when the temperature difference between the cooling part and the heating part is within a certain temperature difference Δt°C, no heat transfer occurs, and only when the temperature difference exceeds Δt°C, heat transfer occurs, and a large amount of heat can be transferred. It is well known that condensation occurs in the heating section, becomes a liquid, and returns 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, or a structure may be created such that the composition of the mixed liquid is separated and the liquid remains in the cooling section 5 of the container 1. Liquids having different compositions may be present in the heating section and the cooling section.

As an example, an experiment was conducted using a mixed fluid of fluorocarbon and organic solvent in a container with an inner diameter of 1 cm and a length of 25 cm. When the relationship was determined by setting the temperature on the horizontal axis and the amount of heat transfer on the vertical axis, 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 described.

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 container 1 rather than cold air. If we put the food 6 at room temperature into the freezer compartment, the temperature is much higher than the temperature of the cooler 7, so based on the above-mentioned operating principle, the food 6 is transferred from the food 6 to the cooler 7 by the container 1.
The heat is transferred to the food 6 and the food 6 is cooled. When the food 6 is cooled to the specified temperature of the freezer compartment in this way, the temperature difference with the cooler 7 becomes small and becomes within the above-mentioned Δt°C, so that no heat is transferred by the container 1.

Figure 4 shows the experimental results of this situation, with food temperature on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis. FIG. 4 also shows cooling using only cold air (Conventional Example 1) and cooling using only fluorocarbon in the container 1 (Conventional Example 2) as conventional examples.
According to this, the food 6 is rapidly cooled compared to the first conventional example, and unlike the second conventional example, 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 compartment will not be 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, the combination and composition of the mixed fluids may be selected so as to select the temperature difference of Δt° C. and the amount of heat transfer in accordance with the specified temperature of the location where the heating portion is projected. On the other hand, the cooling part of the container 1 is a cooler 7.
Although the explanation has been made for the case in which the cooling member is in contact with the cooler chamber, this is a means for improving heat transfer and does not necessarily have to have this structure, and may just protrude into the cooler chamber. In this case, installation is easy, but fins will be required 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. Although the container 1 is illustrated as a single tube in FIG. 3, 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. 5 shows another embodiment of the invention. Furthermore, the third
Elements common to those in the figures are given the same numbers. The container 1 is shaped like a flat plate and is designed to surround the food 6 to be cooled, and is provided with a quick-freezing compartment independent of the freezing compartment and the refrigerator compartment. This increases the contact area between the food 6 and the container 1, which is effective in shortening the cooling time.

The case where a fluorocarbon and an organic solvent are used as a mixed fluid has been described above, but alcohols, glycols, etc. may also be used, and fluorocarbons or alcohols with different boiling points may be used, and at least two of them may be used. It may be composed of more than one type, and any fluid may be used as long as it does not solidify within the operating temperature range and can dissolve and mix with each other.

In addition, we have explained the case when the refrigerator is operated normally, but when cooling food rapidly, apart from maintaining the freezer compartment and refrigerator compartment at the specified temperature,
The temperature of the cooler 7 may be changed and set. In this case, even if the temperature of the cooler 7 is set lower than normal, the operation of the container 1 will not change in principle, the cooling time of the food will be further shortened, and the temperature of the cooler 7 will be the same as normal after cooling. 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 specified temperature without being cooled to near the temperature of the cooler, food is cooled more than necessary, and food and heat transfer devices are used. There is no frost formation,
Moreover, it has the effect of rapidly cooling food.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the transmission device used in the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the operating characteristics of the transmission device used in the invention, and Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the principle of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the operating characteristics of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the 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 part, 6... Food, 7... Cooler, 8... Freezing room,
9... Refrigerator room, 10... Refrigerator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A food product that is equipped with a closed container containing at least two mixed fluids with different boiling points that dissolve and mix with each other, the cooling section at one end of the closed container is in contact with a cooling means, and the heating section at the other end is to be cooled. 1. A refrigerator, characterized in that the refrigerator is arranged in a space where the cooling section and the heating section are placed, and heat is transferred between the cooling section and the heating section at a temperature difference greater than a certain value.