JPH0419832B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] a. Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a thawing device for frozen foods, and in particular to a novel improvement for thawing a large number of small pieces of frozen foods simultaneously and evenly in a short period of time. It is.

b. Prior Art Various configurations have been adopted and proposed for this type of defrosting device that has been used in the past, but representative configurations are shown in Figures 4 and 5. As shown.

That is, in FIGS. 4 and 5, the reference numeral 1
The case shown in 1 has a heat insulating structure as a whole and is approximately box-shaped. On the external upper surface of this case 1, a compressor 3, a condenser 4, and a fan motor 5 for forming a condensing unit 2 are mounted. It is set aside.

An evaporator 6 connected to the condensing unit 2 is provided at the upper part of the box 1, and a heating section 7 consisting of an electric heater or the like is provided at the lower end of the evaporator 6. A blower section 8 consisting of a fan is provided in the case 1 at one side of the evaporator 6 (on the left side in the embodiment).

A shielding plate 9 and a pair of shelf support members 10 are provided at a lower position of the heating section 7.
A guide opening 11 and a suction opening 12 are formed between the upper end of 0 and the lower end of this shielding plate 9, and each shelf support member 10 also has the aforementioned guide opening 11.
As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 5, the suction openings 12 are arranged in a horizontally elongated manner at required intervals.

A plurality of shelves 14 are provided between each of the shelf support members 10 via L-shaped support fittings 13,
A large number of frozen foods 15 are placed on each of these shelves 14.

Further, a door 16 is provided on the front side of the case 1 so as to be openable and closable, and frozen foods 15 are taken in and out of each shelf 14.

The conventional decompressing device is configured as described above, and its operation will be explained below.

In the state shown in FIG. 4, when the heating section 7 is operated and the blowing section 8 is also operated, the warm air obtained by the blowing section 8 is directed to the guide openings as shown by arrows A, C, E, and G. After being guided from the section 11 and exchanging heat with the frozen food 15 on each shelf 14, the arrow B,
Suction openings 12 as indicated by D, F and H
The air then returns to the blower section 8 and is circulated again.

c Problems to be solved by the invention In the conventional configuration as described above, the hot air sent from the blower has a tendency to rise higher than the cold air, so the temperature of the hot air at the nearby position indicated by arrow A is different from that of the hot air. Comparing the hot air temperature at the nearby position indicated by arrow G, the temperature at the position indicated by arrow A is extremely high, whereas the temperature at the position indicated by arrow G is much lower than that. The temperature of the shelves decreases from the top to the bottom. Therefore, the thawing time on the upper shelf is very short, but the thawing time on the lower shelf is very long, and the overall thawing time is also long. In addition, the conventional thawing device described above is configured to switch to the cooling storage state after thawing the frozen food, but since the frozen food on the upper shelf is thawed faster, the frozen food on the lower shelf is When the food is thawed, the moisture content of the frozen food on the upper shelf is taken away and the surface of the food becomes burnt, which significantly reduces its value as a product.

The purpose of the present invention is to promptly solve the above problems, and in particular, by supplying warm air at a substantially uniform temperature to all frozen foods on the shelves, the thawing time of all frozen foods can be shortened. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thawing device that can be almost constant.

d. Means for Solving the Problems The frozen food thawing apparatus according to the present invention includes a case having a substantially box-like shape as a whole and having a door that can be opened and closed, a heating section provided at an upper position in the case, and a a ventilation section for supplying heat from the heating section downward;
The structure includes a guide duct having at least an upper air outlet and a lower air outlet for guiding air from the air blower.

e Effect In the frozen food thawing apparatus according to the present invention, the hot air sent from the blowing section is simultaneously supplied to each shelf from the upper outlet and the lower outlet of the guide duct, so that the hot air supplied to each shelf is The temperature of the food is circulated almost uniformly, and there is no shot cycle unlike in conventional configurations, and almost uniform heat exchange with the entire frozen food is performed.

f Embodiment Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the frozen food thawing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Note that parts that are the same as or equivalent to the conventional configuration will be described with the same reference numerals.

The case designated by reference numeral 1 in FIGS. 1 to 3 is a case that has a heat-insulating structure as a whole and is almost box-shaped, and a compressor for forming a condensing unit 2 is mounted on the external upper surface of the case 1. 3. A condenser 4 and a fan motor 5 are mounted.

An evaporator 6 connected to the condensing unit 2 is provided at the upper part of the box 1, and a heating section 7 consisting of an electric heater or the like is provided at the lower end of the evaporator 6. A blower section 8 consisting of a fan is provided in the case 1 at one side of the evaporator 6 (on the right side in the embodiment).

A pair of ducts 10a and 10b which integrally have a shielding plate 9 on the upper part and function as a shelf support are provided at a lower position of the heating section 7, and one of the ducts 10a and 10b is As shown in FIG. 2, the duct 10a has a plurality of oblong guide openings 11 formed at required intervals, and the other duct 10b has a plurality of oblong suction openings 11 as shown in FIG. The portions 12 are formed at required intervals.

A plurality of shelves 14 are provided between the ducts 10a and 10b via L-shaped receiving fittings 13, and a large number of frozen foods 15 are placed on each of these shelves 14. The holder 13 provided between the shelf 14 and each duct 10a and 10b is as follows:
Although it is shown in a simplified manner in FIG. 1, it is actually configured as shown in FIG. 3, with each duct 10
This receiving metal fitting 13 is fixedly attached to the side end portions a and 10b where the openings 11 and 12 are not formed, and a shelf 14 is placed on this receiving metal fitting 13. Ducts 10a and 10b
A room is formed between them.

Further, a guide duct 17 is provided between the duct 10a and the side wall of the case 1 in a state substantially parallel to the duct 10a. A second guide member 17b is formed to be shorter than the first guide member 17a, and a substantially central portion of the first guide member 17a is fixed to the duct 10a by a partition wall 17c. Therefore, in the guide duct 17, an upper passage 18 and a lower passage 19 are formed by the partition wall 17c, a lower air outlet 20 is formed at the lower end of the first guide member 17a, and a second guide member 17b
An upper air outlet 21 is formed at the lower end of.

Further, a door 16 is provided on the front side of the case 1 so as to be openable and closable, and frozen foods 15 are taken in and out of each shelf 14.

The decompression device according to the present invention is constructed as described above, and its operation will be explained below.

In the state shown in FIG. 1, when the heating section 7 is operated and the blowing section 8 is operated, the hot air obtained by the blowing section 8 is guided as shown by arrows A and G. The hot air guided to the upper passage 18 of the duct 17 passes through the upper outlet 21, makes a U-turn by the partition wall 17c, bends upward, and is shown by arrows K, L, M, and N from arrow J. The frozen food 15 on each shelf 14 is supplied through the guide opening 11 so that the frozen food 15 is heated, and heat exchange is performed.

The warm air that has completed heat exchange with each frozen food 15 is directed to each suction opening 1 as shown by arrows R, S, T, and U.
2, the air is sucked into the air blower 8 again as shown by the arrow V, and the circulation operation continues in the same manner as described above.

In addition, the warm air guided to the lower passage 19 makes a U-turn at the bottom wall of the case 1, and flows through the lower air outlet 20.
from the guide opening 1 as shown by arrows E, F and F'
1 to the frozen foods 15 on each shelf 14 for heat exchange.

The warm air that has completed heat exchange with each frozen food 15 is sucked upward as shown by arrows O, P, and Q, and is circulated again by the air blower 8.

When the above-mentioned hot air circulation operation continues for a predetermined period of time, the frozen foods 15 on each shelf 14 are supplied with warm air of approximately the same temperature from the upper air outlet 21 and the lower air outlet 20. , resulting in nearly uniform thawing.

This detection of the completion of defrosting is performed by setting the time using a timer.
Alternatively, this can be done by adjusting the suction temperature of the air blower 8, and after thawing is completed, the condensing unit 2 starts operating, so that the food can be cooled and preserved as a chilled food.

In this embodiment, two rows of guide ducts are provided to supply air to the upper room and the lower room from the two air outlets, but this is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. The same effect can be obtained even when two or more passages and air outlets are formed by a duct to create a multi-tiered room with two or more rooms.

g. Effects of the Invention Since the frozen food thawing device according to the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration and operation, it is possible to store the food by using the hot air coming out of each outlet by utilizing the rising property of the hot air. The temperature in each room becomes almost the same,
Defrosting of frozen foods on all shelves can also be made to be approximately the same. Therefore, it is possible to avoid uneven thawing, drying of excess moisture in the food, burnt food, etc., and it is possible to always keep the thawed refrigerated food in the specified state even if the end of thawing is detected by the time setting with a timer or the suction temperature to the ventilation section. Obtainable.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 3 show a frozen food thawing device according to the present invention, with Figure 1 being a front view with the door removed to reveal the inside of the refrigerator, and Figure 2 being the same as Figure 1 with the door attached. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part indicated by the round dotted line in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a front view of the conventional device with the door removed to reveal the inside of the refrigerator, and FIG.
It is a right sectional view of the state in which the door is attached in the figure. 1 is the case, 2 is the condensing unit, 6
is an evaporator, 7 is a heating section, 8 is a blower section, 10a, 1
0b is a duct, 11 is a guide opening, 12 is a suction opening, 14 is a shelf, 16 is a door, 15 is frozen food,
17 is a guide duct, 18 is an upper passage, 19 is a lower passage, 20 is a lower outlet, and 21 is an upper outlet.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A case 1 having a substantially box-like shape as a whole and having a door 16 that can be opened and closed, a heating section 7 provided at an upper position inside the case 1, and a case 1 that directs the heat of the heating section 7 downward. A guide duct 17 having at least an upper air outlet 21 and a lower air outlet 20 for guiding the air from the air blower 8 is provided. Exit 2
A thawing device for frozen food, characterized in that the frozen food is supplied to the frozen food stored in the case 1 through the 1 and the lower outlet 20. 2. Claim 1, wherein the upper air outlet 21 and the lower air outlet 20 are formed at the lower ends of an upper passage 18 and a lower passage 19 that are separately formed in the guide duct 17. Defrosting device for frozen food as described. 3 Inside the case 1, the guide duct 17
A plurality of guide openings 1 are provided substantially parallel to each other.
1 and a suction opening 12 are arranged, and the air from the air blower 8 passes through each of the openings 11 and 12 and returns to the air blower 8.
3. A thawing device for frozen food according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the device is configured to circulate the frozen food. 4. The frozen food thawing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of shelves 14 are arranged inside the ducts 10a and 10b. 5. The thawing of frozen food according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that an evaporator 6 connected to a condensing unit 2 is provided in the case 1. Device. 6. The frozen food thawing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the case 1 has a heat insulating structure.