JP2018130059A - Food cooling equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To uniformly and stably cool even a soft object to be cooled such as a food without deforming it, and to improve the quality of the object to be cooled.SOLUTION: A food cooling apparatus 1 comprises a tunnel portion 2, a liquefied gas supply portion 5 for supplying a liquefied gas into the tunnel portion 2, and a stirring fan device 10 for stirring the low temperature gas in a cooling space 24. A baffle plate 13 is provided below a stirring fan device 10, a partition wall 25 for partitioning a cooling space 24 into an upper part and a lower part is provided below the baffle plate 13, a plurality of communication pipes 26 for communicating the upper and lower space parts are formed in the partition wall so that liquefied gas having hit the baffle plate 13 passes around the baffle plate 13 to flow from the upper space 24a to the lower space 24b, and the liquefied gas supply portion 5 supplies the liquefied gas so that the liquefied gas flows from the upper space 24a to the lower space 24b through the communication pipe 26 while maintaining a pressurized state of the upper space 24a.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a food cooling apparatus that is optimal for cooling an object to be cooled, such as soft food.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a food cooling device is known in which cold air (cooling source) obtained by compressing a refrigerant with a compressor inside a refrigeration cooling tunnel is injected into the refrigeration cooling tunnel by downflow. In such a system, since the compressor cooling source is at a temperature of about −40 ° C. to −50 ° C., it is not possible to obtain cold air sufficiently low to cool the object to be cooled. Therefore, the cooling capacity is adjusted by increasing the amount of cold air jetted (air volume) and applying the cold air to the object to be cooled while stirring with the stirring fan provided inside the tunnel.

  A cooling device using a liquefied gas such as liquefied nitrogen as a cooling source is also well known (for example, Patent Document 1). Such an apparatus includes a tunnel portion having a carry-in port and a carry-out port at both ends, a belt conveyor that conveys an object to be frozen in the tunnel portion, a low-temperature liquefied gas supply mechanism that supplies a low-temperature liquefied gas into the tunnel portion, A gas flow meandering control mechanism is provided in the tunnel portion, which causes the gas in the tunnel portion to meander in the longitudinal direction.

JP 09-154553 A

  Since the cooling device that compresses the refrigerant with the compressor has a large air volume and a strong wind, foods with soft surfaces such as ice cream and pudding are easily deformed by the wind pressure. As a result, it is difficult to perform the cooling process because the food is deformed when cooled with strong wind.

  The food refrigeration apparatus described in Patent Document 1 uses a liquefied gas, so that the cooling temperature can be lowered, but the gas meander adjustment mechanism is configured to stir the gas inside the tunnel with a stirring fan. Therefore, there is a drawback that the air volume and direction are unstable. When cooling soft food, if the air flow and direction are unstable, each food cannot be cooled evenly and stably, resulting in roughening of the shape of the surface of the food to be cooled, resulting in a decrease in food quality. There was a problem of inviting.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a food cooling device that can cool evenly and stably without being deformed even if it is an object to be cooled such as soft food, and can improve the quality of the object to be cooled. And

  The food cooling device according to the present invention has a carry-in port and a discharge port at both ends, and cools the object to be cooled in a tunnel part through which the object to be cooled passes and a cooling space provided in the tunnel part. In the food cooling apparatus comprising a liquefied gas supply unit for supplying the liquefied gas and a stirring means for stirring the low-temperature gas generated from the liquefied gas supplied into the cooling space, below the stirring means, A baffle plate is provided to block the stirred low-temperature gas from flowing in a downward direction. A partition wall is provided below the baffle plate to divide the cooling space into upper and lower portions, and the low-temperature gas hitting the baffle plate is A plurality of communication passages communicating with the upper and lower space portions are formed in the partition wall so as to flow from the upper space to the lower space through the periphery of the baffle plate, and the liquefied gas supply unit is in a pressurized state of the upper space While maintaining the upper space As flow cold gas to the lower space through the Luo communication path, and supplying the liquefied gas.

  According to the food cooling apparatus having such a configuration, the baffle plate blocks the flow of the liquefied gas directly downward, so that the liquefied gas stirred by the stirring means does not flow directly toward the object to be cooled below. . In addition, since the liquefied gas that has passed around the baffle plate flows from the upper space to the lower space via a plurality of communication passages, it is possible to evenly blow out (down flow) at each position, and to cover soft food, etc. Even a cooling object can be uniformly and stably cooled without being deformed.

  Further, in the food cooling apparatus having the above-described configuration, the stirring means includes a stirring fan, the means for controlling the supply amount of the liquefied gas to the cooling space so that the temperature of the cooling space becomes a set temperature, and the communication device. It is desirable to further comprise a control device having means for rotating the agitating fan at a rotation speed corresponding to the set air pressure or the set air volume of the low temperature gas blown out from the passage.

  According to the food cooling apparatus having such a configuration, the temperature of the low-temperature gas sprayed on the object to be cooled can be set to a set temperature suitable for the object to be cooled, and further, the low-temperature gas can be set with a wind pressure, an air volume, etc. suitable for the object to be cooled. Can be sprayed onto the object to be cooled.

  Moreover, in the food cooling apparatus having the above-described configuration, it is preferable that the communication path is composed of a plurality of communication pipes inserted through the partition wall in the vertical direction, and the baffle plate covers the communication pipe from above. .

  According to the food cooling apparatus having such a configuration, since the baffle plate covers the communication pipe from above, it is possible to prevent the stirred liquefied gas from flowing into each communication pipe.

  Further, in the food cooling apparatus having the above configuration, the baffle plate includes a flat portion and a peripheral wall portion extending downward from the periphery of the flat portion, and an upper end of the communication pipe is a lower end of the peripheral wall portion of the baffle plate It is desirable to be located above or at the same height as the lower end of the peripheral wall portion of the baffle plate.

  According to the food cooling apparatus having such a configuration, the liquefied gas that has passed through the baffle plate slightly rises and flows above the communication pipe, and the communication pipe near the periphery of the baffle plate or the center of the baffle plate The liquefied gas having an equal air volume can be allowed to flow into any of the communication pipes located in the section.

  In the food cooling apparatus having the above-described configuration, it is preferable that a gas circulation path for returning the liquefied gas in the lower space to the upper space is formed inside the tunnel portion.

  According to the food cooling apparatus having such a configuration, the liquefied gas in the lower space that has cooled the object to be cooled can be returned to the upper space through the gas circulation path, so that the gas can be effectively used. Yes, you can expect energy saving effect.

  According to the present invention, even an object to be cooled such as soft food can be uniformly and stably cooled without being deformed. As a result, it is possible to manufacture a cooled product that is cooled by downflowing all of the traveling direction of the wind flow in the tunnel using the liquefied gas.

It is a perspective view showing the whole food cooling device outline concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a section front view of the food cooling device concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a section side view of the food cooling device concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of a tunnel part. It is sectional drawing which shows the outline of a tunnel part. However, only the inner side surface is shown for the side wall portion, and only the lower surface is shown for the top wall portion. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional plan view taken along line XX of the tunnel portion shown in FIG. 5. It is a perspective view which shows the flow of cold air.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the food cooling device 1 according to this embodiment includes a tunnel unit 2, a transport unit 3, and a liquefied gas supply unit 5.

  The tunnel portion 2 includes left and right side wall portions 20 and a top wall portion 21 that connects the upper portions of the side wall portions 20, and the side wall portions 20 and the top wall portion 21 are constituted by heat insulating walls. A tunnel-like cooling space 24 having a carry-in port 22 and a carry-out port 23 at both ends is formed in the tunnel part 2. Walls 22a and 23a that are slidable in the vertical direction are provided on the end surfaces of the side wall 20 and the top wall 21, respectively. By adjusting the positions of these walls 22a and 23a, the wall 22a and the top wall 21 are transported. The opening area of the outlet 23 can be adjusted.

  In the lower part of the tunnel portion 2, the conveying means 3 is arranged along the longitudinal direction from the carry-in port 22 to the carry-out port 23. In the present embodiment, the intermittent conveyance type conveyance means 3 is adopted, but the continuous conveyance type conveyance means 3 may be adopted according to the object to be cooled. By driving the transport means 3, the food 6 as an object to be cooled placed on the upper surface of the transport means 3 is transported through the tunnel portion 2 from the carry-in port 22 to the carry-out port 23.

  The ceiling wall portion 21 of the tunnel portion 2 is provided with a stirring fan device 10 (stirring means) that stirs the liquefied gas supplied into the cooling space. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the stirring fan device 10 includes a motor 11, a stirring fan 12, and the like. The motor 11 is fixed to the upper surface of the top wall portion 21, and the tip end side of the rotation shaft 11a of the motor 11 passes through the top wall portion 21 and faces the cooling space 24 in the tunnel portion 2, and the rotation shaft 11a. The stirring fan 12 is provided in the lower part of this.

  As shown in FIG. 5, inner walls 27 and 28 are provided inside the side wall portion 20 and the top wall portion 21, and a predetermined interval is secured between the inner surface 20 a of the side wall portion 20 and the inner wall 27. In addition, a predetermined interval is secured between the lower surface 21 a of the top wall 21 and the inner wall 28. As described above, the gas circulation path 29 is formed inside the side wall 20 and the top wall 21 by securing a predetermined distance between the inner wall 27 and the inner wall 27, 28 inside the side wall 20 and the top wall 21. Has been.

  A baffle plate 13 is provided below the stirring fan 12. The baffle plate 13 is provided to block the gas in the tunnel portion 2 from flowing downward. The baffle plate 13 is made of a non-breathable plate material such as synthetic resin or metal. The baffle plate 13 has a rectangular shape in plan view, and includes a horizontal plane portion 13a and a peripheral wall portion 13b extending downward from the periphery of the plane portion 13a.

  As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, brackets 14 are protruded laterally at the four corners of the baffle plate 13, and each bracket 14 is supported and fixed to a support piece (not shown) provided on the inner wall 27. Yes. In this way, by installing the baffle plate 13, the gas flow passage 16 is formed between the baffle plate 13 and the inner wall 27. By providing the gas flow passage 16 around the baffle plate 13, the low temperature gas directed downward by the stirring fan 12 hits the baffle plate 13, flows along the upper surface of the baffle plate 13, and gas flows from the end of the baffle plate 13. It enters the path 16 and flows downward.

  A partition wall 25 is provided below the baffle plate 13 at a predetermined interval from the baffle plate 13. By the partition wall 25, the cooling space 24 in the tunnel portion 2 is divided into an upper space 24a and a lower space 24b. A communication pipe 26 is inserted into the partition wall 25 at a predetermined interval as a communication path that connects the upper space 24a and the lower space 24b. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, 42 communication pipes 26 of 7 × 6 (seven along the conveyance direction A and six along the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction) are illustrated. However, the number of the communication pipes 26 and the opening cross-sectional shape are not particularly limited.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the upper end 26 a of each communication pipe 26 is located above the lower end of the baffle plate 13 (the lower end 13 c of the peripheral wall portion 13 b) or the same height as the lower end of the baffle plate 13. It is desirable that The upper portions of all the communication pipes 26 are covered with the baffle plate 13.

  In the lower part of the inner wall 27, a large number of vent holes 27 a that connect the lower space 24 b and the gas circulation path 29 are formed. The vent hole 27a circulates the low temperature gas in the lower space 24b in the tunnel portion 21 back to the upper space 24a via the gas circulation path 29.

  The liquefied gas supply unit 5 includes a gas supply pipe 51 that supplies liquefied gas from a supply source 50 in which low-temperature liquefied gas such as liquefied nitrogen and liquefied carbon dioxide gas is stored, a control valve 52 that adjusts the supply amount, and a low temperature A spray nozzle 53 that injects liquefied gas into the tunnel portion 2, a temperature sensor 54 that measures the temperature in the tunnel portion 2, and a control device 55 that controls the opening and closing of the control valve 52 based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 54; It has.

  The temperature of the cooling space 24 in the tunnel portion 2 is measured by the temperature sensor 54, and the control valve 52 is opened and closed by the control device 55 in accordance with the measured temperature, so that the temperature of the cooling space 24 in the tunnel portion 2 is set in advance. Thus, the liquefied gas is supplied into the tunnel portion 2. In addition, the set temperature can be arbitrarily set by the control device 55 to a temperature suitable for cooling the food 6.

  In the control device 55, in addition to setting the temperature in the cooling space 24, the wind pressure (or air volume) of the low-temperature gas blown out from the communication pipe 26 toward the food 6 can be set. Specifically, the control device 55 rotates the stirring fan 12 at a rotation speed corresponding to the set wind pressure (or air volume).

  Next, the case where the food cooling device 1 having the above configuration is used will be described.

  First, manufacture of the foodstuff using this food cooling device 1 is performed as follows. After the food 6 to be cooled is placed on a container 31 such as a container or a cup provided in the transport means 3 in the vicinity of the carry-in port 22, the transport unit 3 is driven to move the food 6 from the carry-in port 22 to the tunnel portion 2. And intermittently transport in the transport direction (arrow A direction). The container 31 is set at a predetermined interval so that each food 6 is located below the communication pipe 26.

  Here, in the liquefied gas supply unit 5, the liquefied gas supplied from the supply source is jetted from above through the spray nozzle 53 into the cooling space 24 in the tunnel unit 2 through the gas supply pipe 51 and the control valve 52.

  The liquefied gas injected into the tunnel part 2 by the spray nozzle 53 flows downward by the stirring fan 12 while being vaporized to become a cold source gas (hereinafter also referred to as “low temperature gas”). Since the baffle plate 13 is provided in the upper space 24a, the low-temperature gas hitting the baffle plate 13 is prevented from flowing to the baffle plate 13 and does not flow directly downward. The low-temperature gas hits the baffle plate 13 from above and is horizontal. The flow direction changes in the direction. The low temperature gas flows along the upper surface of the baffle plate 13, flows into the gas flow path 16 from the edge of the baffle plate 13, and flows downward.

  The low temperature gas that has passed through the gas flow passage 16 flows in any direction. When the upper end 26 a of each communication pipe 26 is located at the same height as the lower end 13 c of the baffle plate 13 or above the lower end 13 c of the baffle plate 13, the cold air in an arbitrary direction is opened at the upper end of each communication pipe 26. To the communication pipe 26 in an even wind force (wind pressure) state. Further, the low temperature gas in each communication pipe 26 is ejected downward so that the ejection directions of all the communication pipes 26 are uniform.

  Here, the liquefied gas supply unit 5 supplies the liquefied gas so as to maintain the set temperature in the cooling space 24 while maintaining the pressurized state of the upper space 24 a by controlling the opening and closing of the control valve 52. To do. That is, in a state where the upper space 24a is a pressure space, the liquefied gas is supplied to the upper space 24a so that a low-temperature gas having a temperature suitable for cooling the food 6 flows from the upper space 24a to the lower space 24b through the communication pipe 26. Supply in. Thus, by making the upper space 24a in a pressurized state, the air pressure, the air volume, etc. of the low temperature gas blown out from the communication pipe 26 can be made uniform. Further, by controlling the rotational speed of the stirring fan 12 by the control device 55, the wind pressure (or air volume) of the low temperature gas blown out from the communication pipe 26 toward the food 6 is set air pressure (or air volume) suitable for the food 6. It becomes. Thus, in the food cooling device 1 according to the present embodiment, the wind pressure, the air volume, etc. of the low temperature gas blown out from the communication pipe 26 become uniform, and the wind pressure, the air volume, etc. can be set. It is possible to reliably avoid the occurrence of problems such as the wind pressure, the air volume, etc. of the low temperature gas blown out from the pipe 26 become high and the shape of the food is destroyed.

  A food 6 to be cooled is placed on the conveying means 3 and intermittently fed. For example, the conveying means 3 is operated intermittently. For example, the conveying means 3 is set to stop for 5 seconds and move for 1 second (set to 6 seconds), and is 6 seconds × 7 (the number of communication pipes 26 in the conveying direction A). It can be made to pass in 42 seconds. The low temperature gas ejected downward from all the communication pipes 26 is evenly and evenly applied to the food 6 to exchange heat, thereby cooling the food 6 to a predetermined temperature. As described above, since the wind flow in the tunnel is downflowed in all the traveling directions in the cooling tunnel using the liquefied gas (low temperature gas), the food 6 can be cooled uniformly and efficiently.

  A part of the low-temperature gas that has been cooled reaches the food 6 in the tunnel portion 2 and the upper surface of the transport means 3, and then enters the gas circulation path 29 through the vent hole 27a and flows upward. The raised low-temperature gas returns to the upper side of the stirring fan 12 and is sent downward by the stirring fan 12 to perform the above-described circulation motion. This circulation motion enables effective utilization of the liquefied gas and increases the utilization efficiency of the liquefied gas, so that an energy saving effect can be expected.

  As described above, the food on the transport means 3 is frozen by being heat-exchanged with the gas and being cooled in the tunnel portion 2. In the present specification, freezing means either freezing the whole food or freezing part of the surface of the food. The frozen food 6 is further moved along with the driving of the conveying means 3 and is carried out from the carry-out port 23. The unloaded food is transported to the next process such as a sorting process or a weighing process.

  While the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Various modifications can be made to the above-described embodiment within the same and equivalent scope as the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Food cooling device 2 Tunnel part 3 Conveying means 5 Liquefied gas supply part 6 Object to be cooled (food)
10 Stirring fan device (stirring means)
12 stirring fan 13 baffle plate 13a plane part 13b peripheral wall part 16 gas flow path 20 side wall part 21 top wall part 22 carry-in port 23 carry-out port 24 cooling space 24a upper space 24b lower space 25 partition wall 26 communication pipe (communication path)
26a Upper end 26b Lower end 27, 28 Inner wall 27a Vent hole 29 Gas circulation path 55 Controller X Conveying direction

Claims (5)

A tunnel portion provided with a carry-in port and a discharge port at both ends, through which the object to be cooled passes,
A liquefied gas supply unit for supplying a liquefied gas for cooling an object to be cooled to a cooling space provided in the tunnel unit;
In the food cooling apparatus comprising a stirring means for stirring the low temperature gas generated from the liquefied gas supplied into the cooling space,
Below the stirring means, a baffle plate is provided to block the stirred low-temperature gas from flowing downward.
Below the baffle plate is provided a partition wall that partitions the cooling space into upper and lower parts,
A plurality of communication passages communicating with the upper and lower space portions are formed in the partition wall so that the low-temperature gas that hits the baffle plate flows from the upper space to the lower space through the periphery of the baffle plate,
The liquefied gas supply unit supplies the liquefied gas so that the low temperature gas flows from the upper space to the lower space through the communication path while maintaining the pressurized state of the upper space. The stirring means includes a stirring fan,
Means for controlling the supply amount of the liquefied gas to the cooling space so that the temperature of the cooling space becomes a set temperature, and the stirring fan at a rotational speed corresponding to the set air pressure or the set air volume of the low temperature gas blown out from the communication passage. The food cooling device according to claim 1, further comprising a control device having a rotating means.   3. The food according to claim 1, wherein the communication path includes a plurality of communication pipes inserted vertically in the partition wall, and the baffle plate covers the communication pipe from above. Cooling system.   The baffle plate includes a flat portion and a peripheral wall portion extending downward from the periphery of the flat portion, and the upper end of the communication pipe is above the lower end of the peripheral wall portion of the baffle plate or the lower end of the peripheral wall portion of the baffle plate The food cooling device according to claim 3, wherein the food cooling device is located at the same height as the food cooling device.   The food cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a circulation path for returning the low-temperature gas in the lower space to the upper space is formed inside the tunnel portion.

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