JP-2026075107-A - Refrigeration equipment

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a refrigeration apparatus that can effectively agitate the coolant, thereby improving the freezing rate and freezing capacity of the object to be cooled, and also enabling miniaturization of the apparatus, in a refrigeration apparatus that freezes an object by bringing it into contact with a coolant. [Solution] The refrigeration device 1 includes a cooling tank 3 in which coolant L is stored, a storage unit 6 in which the object to be cooled is stored, and a vertical drive mechanism 7 for driving the storage unit 6 up and down. A stirring unit 23 equipped with a plurality of open/close flaps 32 is provided at the bottom of the storage unit 6. When the storage unit 6 is lowered, the open/close flaps 32 are closed by water pressure from below, pushing the coolant L below the open/close flaps 32 downward toward the bottom surface 3A of the cooling tank 3. This creates a flow of coolant L that rises from the bottom surface 3A side within the cooling tank 3 and flows into the upper open section 25 of the storage unit 6, effectively stirring the coolant L. [Selection Diagram] Figure 8

Inventors

• 荻野 龍哉
• 田中 丈
• 木村 悠
• リー コリオン

Assignees

• 株式会社ゼロカラ

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20260220

Claims (5)

1. In a refrigeration system that freezes an object to be cooled by bringing it into contact with a cooling liquid, A cooling tank in which the coolant is stored, A storage section is provided within the cooling tank, capable of housing the object to be cooled, and through which the cooling liquid can circulate in the vertical direction. The aforementioned storage section includes a drive means capable of moving up and down, A refrigeration device comprising an opening/closing member provided at the bottom of the storage compartment, which closes when the storage compartment is lowered, prohibiting the flow of coolant, and opens when the storage compartment is raised, allowing the flow of coolant.
2. The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opening/closing member comprises an opening/closing flap that can be opened and closed by rotation around a rotation axis extending substantially horizontally.
3. The opening and closing member comprises a plurality of opening and closing flaps, The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of opening and closing flaps are arranged in parallel such that a portion of them overlaps when closed.
4. The cooling tank comprises a bottom portion and side portions, The storage compartment comprises a wall portion that closes the side of the storage compartment and an opening portion provided above the wall portion through which coolant can flow in. The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the up-and-down movement of the storage section causes the coolant pushed out toward the bottom surface by the opening/closing member, which is in a closed state when the storage section is lowered, to rise from the bottom surface along the side surface, flow into the storage section through the opening, and flow out from the storage section after passing through the opening/closing member, which is in an open state when the storage section is raised.
5. The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a heat exchanger arranged to surround the aforementioned storage compartment.

Description

This invention relates to an improvement on a liquid freezing system for rapidly freezing food and other items to be cooled. For rapidly freezing food and other items, two types of refrigeration systems are known: air-cooled systems (air freezing methods) that cool by blowing cold air into a cooling chamber where the items are placed, and liquid freezing systems that cool by immersing the items in a low-temperature liquid. While air-cooled systems have traditionally been the primary method of refrigeration, in recent years, liquid freezing systems, which can achieve faster and higher-quality freezing, have been gaining attention. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes an invention for a liquid freezing system that improves cooling efficiency by causing the items to be cooled to move up and down within the cooling liquid. Patent No. 6668563 This is a front view showing a refrigeration device according to an embodiment of the present invention.This is a front view of the refrigeration system, showing the storage unit immersed in the coolant.This is also a perspective view showing a storage unit.This is also a perspective view showing the mounting tray.This is a plan view showing the stirring unit.This is a cross-sectional view of the stirring unit, showing the opening and closing flaps in the closed position.This is a cross-sectional view of the stirring unit, showing the opening/closing flap in the open position.This is a schematic diagram illustrating the stirring of the coolant in the present invention, showing the flow of the coolant as the storage unit descends.This is a schematic diagram illustrating the agitation of the coolant, showing the flow of the coolant as the storage unit rises.This is a schematic diagram illustrating the stirring of the coolant in conventional technology. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings. Figures 1 and 2 show a refrigeration device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figures, the refrigeration device 1 comprises a base 2 which is a base for supporting various components of the refrigeration device 1, a cooling tank 3 provided within the base 2, cooling pipes 4 arranged within the cooling tank 3, a refrigerant supply unit 5 which supplies refrigerant (primary refrigerant) to the cooling pipes 4, a storage unit 6 capable of storing objects to be cooled, an up-and-down drive mechanism 7 which drives the storage unit 6 up and down, a lifting mechanism 8 which drives the up-and-down drive mechanism 7 up and down, and a control device (control panel) 9 which controls the operation of each part of the refrigeration device 1. Figure 1 shows the storage unit 6 in a waiting position above the cooling tank 3, while Figure 2 shows the storage unit 6 lowered into the cooling tank 3 and immersed in the coolant L. Furthermore, in Figures 1 and 2, only the portion of the base 2 corresponding to the cooling tank 3 is shown in a partial cross-sectional view. The cooling tank 3 is a tank for cooling objects to be cooled (objects to be frozen), such as food, and has a bottom surface 3A and four side surfaces 3B (in this embodiment, four flat sides: front, back, left, and right). The roughly rectangular space enclosed by the bottom surface 3A and the side surfaces 3B forms the storage section 3C where the cooling liquid L is stored. On the other hand, the upper part of the cooling tank 3 has an opening 3D for loading and unloading the storage unit 6. As shown in Figure 2, when the storage unit 6 is loaded into the cooling tank 6, the opening 3D is closed by the lid 11, which descends along with the storage unit 6. This ensures that the storage section 3C of the cooling tank 3 is kept cool. In this embodiment, the coolant (brine solution) is a low-temperature (e.g., around -35°C) aqueous alcohol solution (e.g., an aqueous ethanol solution), with an appropriately adjusted mixing ratio of water and alcohol. Note that the coolant in this invention can be any liquid that does not freeze at the temperature required to cool the object to be cooled, and is not limited to an aqueous alcohol solution. The cooling pipe 4 is a heat exchanger for cooling the coolant L in the cooling tank 3, and consists of a pipeline through which the refrigerant flows. In this embodiment, the cooling pipe 4 is composed of pipelines arranged in a coil shape (cylindrical overall), and the housing unit 6 is positioned within the space in the central part of the coil shape. The cooling pipe 4 is positioned approximately in the center of the cooling tank 3. In Figures 1 and 2, the cooling pipe 4 is schematically illustrated in a simplified form, and the pipes forming the coil shape are depicted as closely overlapping. However, in reality, a gap may be provided between the upper and lower pipes for the coolant L to flow through. The refrigerant supply unit 5 is configured to introduce refrigerant into the cooling pipe 4 and inclu