JP4595972B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator or a storage having an air passage that guides cold air generated by a cooler to a partitioned storage room.

A conventional refrigerator includes a plurality of storage rooms such as a refrigeration room, a freezing room, a vegetable room, and a switching room. For example, in the switching room, cold air generated by a cooler has a single air duct (duct) by operating a fan. Blown through. Further, when the temperature in the switching chamber detected by the switching chamber sensor provided in the switching chamber is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, the switching chamber damper that controls the amount of cold air flowing toward the switching chamber is closed, and the switching chamber sensor When the detected temperature is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, the switching chamber can switch the temperature zone by opening the switching chamber damper. Some switch room heaters are provided to switch the temperature of the switch room to the high temperature side.
JP 2006-258322 A

  However, in the conventional refrigerator, the cold air is provided in a specific part of the wall, such as the back side of the switching room or the ceiling, and the cold air is blown into the switching room from the cold air outlet. On the other hand, the center of the switching room and the front (front) side of the switching room are far away from the cold air outlet, so that the cold air is relatively difficult to reach compared to the back side and the ceiling. This structure has a structure in which unevenness of temperature is likely to occur in each of the areas, and it is difficult to cool foods at a uniform temperature.

  Therefore, even if so-called slow freezing is performed in order to supercool the food and the like, it is difficult to cool the food to a uniform temperature due to temperature unevenness, and the supercooling cannot be succeeded. In addition, when an indirect cooling structure is used to perform slow refrigeration, since the cold air outlet is not provided in the container, the temperature cannot be switched to a refrigeration temperature zone near -18 ° C, and refrigeration such as quick freezing can be performed. The method could not be implemented.

  Moreover, although the refrigerator in patent document 1 can control the temperature in a switching chamber finely by control of a switching chamber heater and a switching chamber damper, since both a heater and a damper are used, power consumption is large. There was a problem of getting on.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to perform both direct cooling and indirect cooling of the storage chamber. It is another object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator or a storage provided with a storage room that can be switched to quick freezing, normal freezing, and supercooled freezing. Moreover, it aims at implementing supercooling freezing efficiently. It is another object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator or a storage with low power consumption that is not used, such as a heater. It is another object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator and a storage that can perform supercooled refrigeration with high refrigeration quality with a small amount of drip when thawing by switching between indirect cooling and direct cooling. It is another object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator that can be used as a high humidity vegetable storage room by switching between indirect cooling and direct cooling.

The present invention includes a refrigerator having a plurality of partitioned storage chambers and blowing cool air generated by a cooler to the storage chamber, wherein at least one of the storage chambers has undergone a supercooled state. the cold air from the cooler to the supercooled state by releasing the supercooled state performs frozen after being released a storage room supercooling freezing can be performed the supercooling freezing can be performed storage compartment after undergoing The cool air flow path to be blown is composed of two air paths, a direct cooling air path and an indirect cooling air path.

  The present invention includes a refrigerator having a plurality of partitioned storage chambers and blowing cool air generated by a cooler to the storage chamber, the refrigerator being connected to at least one of the storage chambers, and the cooler A cooling air passage that opens to a position where the cold air from the storage chamber directly contacts the food in the storage chamber, and at least one of the storage chambers, and the cold air from the cooler is the food in the storage chamber Open at least both the cooling air passage for indirect cooling that opens to a position where it is not directly exposed to cold air, or a position where the food is indirectly exposed to cold air, and the cooling air passage for direct cooling and the cooling air passage for indirect cooling. And an air volume adjusting means that can be switched between one open and both closed, and a storage chamber that can perform supercooling freezing that can freeze the storage chamber through a supercooled state by switching the two cooling air passages. What A.

  According to the present invention, since at least one storage room is provided with both a direct cooling air passage and an indirect cooling air passage, and these air passages can be switched, it is possible to switch between quick freezing, normal freezing, and supercooling freezing. Refrigerator and storage equipped with a simple storage room can be provided.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the temperature distribution nonuniformity in the compartmented storage room in a refrigerator can be made small, and the refrigerator and storage in which high quality food preservation is possible can be provided.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, temperature distribution nonuniformity, such as a foodstuff preserve | saved in the storage chamber which is a storage chamber in a refrigerator, can be made small, and the refrigerator and storage which can preserve | save high-quality foodstuffs can be provided.

  According to the present invention, since the supercooling refrigeration function is adopted as the high quality refrigeration function instead of the conventional quick refrigeration function, high quality refrigeration with less energy than the conventional one, that is, energy saving refrigeration is realized as a global environment countermeasure. It has the effect of being able to.

  In addition, the refrigerator of the present invention adopts a temperature-controlled cooling structure in which cold air is introduced into a space for supercooling and the cooling temperature can be changed into a plurality of temperatures. Control has the effect of realizing supercooled freezing of food such as meat.

  According to the present invention, since the infrared sensor is used as the temperature detecting means, the surface temperature of the food can be measured, and the temperature closer to the food (for example, the surface temperature of the food) can be detected. The success rate of cooling and freezing is increased, and frozen storage (supercooled frozen storage) with good food quality can be provided.

  According to the present invention, since the supercooled freezing function frozen through the supercooled state is provided, it is possible to perform freezing with high quality in which the size and shape of ice crystals formed during freezing hardly destroy the original structure of food. In addition, since the ice crystals are small, even if the ice crystals are broken, a state close to the original state can be obtained, and when thawed, the food quality such as the taste, texture and storage state of the food can be said to be good. In addition, since it has a supercooled freezing function that is frozen through a supercooled state, the ice nuclei are small and fine, and the ice nuclei are substantially uniform over the entire object to be frozen, such as food. Compared to the case, the food quality is good.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator showing Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the refrigerator showing the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the refrigerator body 1 is provided with a double-folded refrigerator compartment 2 at the top. Below the refrigerator compartment 2, an ice making room 3 and a switching room 4 are arranged on the left and right. A freezer compartment 6 is provided at the bottom of the refrigerator body 1, and a vegetable compartment 5 is provided above the freezer compartment 6. This vegetable room 5 is provided above the freezing room 6 below the ice making room 3 and the switching room 4 arranged on the left and right. (This vegetable room 5 is provided above the freezing room 6 below the ice making room 3 and the switching room 4 arranged on the left and right.)

  Of course, the arrangement of the respective chambers is not limited to the present embodiment, and the ice making chamber 3 and the switching chamber 4 are arranged in parallel on the left and right below the refrigerating chamber 2 provided in the upper stage. A freezing room 6 is provided below the arranged ice making room 3 and switching room 4 and above the vegetable room 5 provided in the lower stage, so-called ice making room 3 and switching room arranged in parallel on the left and right. The mid freezer type which arrange | positions the freezer compartment 6 between 4 and the vegetable compartment may be sufficient.

  The front side opening of the refrigerating room 2 is provided with a double door type refrigerating room door 7 that can be freely opened and closed. The refrigerating room door 7 includes a refrigerating room door left 7A and a refrigerating room door right 7B. The Kannon type door is composed of these two. Of course, a single-piece rotary door may be used instead of the Kannon door. The ice making room 3, the switching room 4, the vegetable room 5, and the freezing room 6, which are storage rooms, include a drawer type ice making room door 8 and a switching room 4 that can freely open and close the opening of the ice making room 3. A drawer-type switching chamber door 9 that can freely open and close the opening, a drawer-type vegetable room door 10 that can freely open and close the opening of the vegetable room 5, and an opening of the freezing room 6 Are provided with drawer-type freezer compartment doors 11 that can be freely opened and closed. In addition, an operation switch for setting the temperature in the storage room and a display panel 60 for displaying temperature information such as the internal temperature and the set temperature are provided on either of the left and right doors of the refrigerator compartment 2 as a storage room. The operation information of the operation switch, the display information of the liquid crystal display unit, the temperature information in the storage chamber, and the like are controlled by the control device 30 such as a microcomputer provided on the upper rear surface of the refrigerator main body (rear side of the refrigerator compartment).

  A compressor 12 is arranged in a machine room 1A provided at the lowermost back of the refrigerator body 1. The refrigerator main body 1 includes a refrigeration cycle, and the compressor 12 is a component that constitutes the refrigeration cycle, and has a function of compressing a refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle. The refrigerant compressed by the compressor 12 is condensed in a condenser (not shown). The condensed refrigerant is decompressed in a capillary tube (not shown) or an expansion valve, which is a decompression device. The cooler 13 is one component that constitutes the refrigeration cycle of the refrigerator. The decompressed refrigerant is evaporated in the cooler 13, and the gas around the cooler 13 is cooled by the endothermic action during the evaporation. The cool air circulation fan 14 blows the cool air cooled around the cooler 13 to each room (the refrigerator room 2, the ice making room 3, the switching room 4, the vegetable room 5, and the freezer room 6) of the refrigerator main body 1. Is. The switching chamber damper 15 which is an air volume adjusting means is for adjusting the amount of cool air blown into the switching chamber 4 by the cool air circulation fan 14 and controlling the temperature in the switching chamber 4 to a predetermined temperature. . The cool air cooled by the cooler 13 is blown into the switching chamber 4 through the switching chamber cooling double air passage 16. The switching chamber cooling double air passage 16 is arranged downstream of the switching chamber damper 15.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part around the switching room of the refrigerator showing the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a switching chamber case 17 is disposed in the switching chamber 4. Further, one baffle 15A of the switching chamber damper 15 which is an air volume adjusting means is configured to adjust the amount of cool air to the switching chamber 4 by opening / closing adjustment (opening / closing angle adjustment) and to configure the double air passage 16 for switching chamber cooling. The air path can be switched. Here, the switching chamber cooling double air passage 16 of the present invention is composed of two cooling air passages, a direct cooling air passage 16A and an indirect cooling air passage 16B. (In FIG. 3, the switching chamber cooling double air passage 16 includes two cooling air passages (direct cooling air passage 16A and direct cooling air passage 16A) from the cooler chamber connecting air passage 16C connected to the cooler chamber via the air volume adjusting means 15. The structure is branched to the indirect cooling air passage 16B), and the air flow adjusting means 15 switches between the two cooling air passages and adjusts the air flow.) The direct cooling air passage 16A directly blows cool air to the switching chamber 4. It is a wind path to do. The indirect cooling air passage 16 </ b> B is provided in the switching room ceiling heat insulating material 18 disposed in the ceiling portion of the switching chamber 4, and is an air passage for passing cool air, but is switched to the ceiling portion of the switching chamber 4. Since the air outlet for blowing out the cold air is not provided in the chamber 4, the inside of the switching chamber 4 is indirectly cooled from the ceiling surface by the cold air passing through the air passage 16B.

  The direct cooling air passage 16 </ b> A is provided with a rear outlet 4 </ b> A on the back surface in the switching chamber 4, and cool air is directly blown into the switching chamber 4 from the rear outlet 4 </ b> A. At this time, when the switching chamber case 17 which is a storage chamber case is installed in the switching chamber 4, the back wall of the switching chamber case 17 at a position facing the back outlet 4A is an opening or a notch. The cold air blown out from the back outlet 4A is blown into the switching chamber case 17 through the opening or notch of the back wall, and directly cools the food in the switching chamber case 17 . Of course, the switching chamber case 17 is not provided, and even if it is of a type that stores food directly in the switching chamber 4, cold air can be directly blown into the switching chamber 4 from the rear outlet 4A. Can be cooled directly.

  In FIG. 3, the indirect cooling air passage 16 </ b> B is not provided with a cold air outlet to the switching chamber 4, but the cold air that has passed through the indirect cooling air passage 16 </ b> B is provided on the lower surface or the side surface of the switching chamber 4. Returned to the cooler chamber from the switching chamber return air path. At this time, the indirect cooling air passage 16 </ b> B may be provided with a blow-out port that blows out the cold air into the switching chamber 4 if it is a small amount or cold air having a low cooling rate. If the switching chamber 4 has a small amount of cooling or a slow cooling rate that is about the same cooling level as indirect cooling, the air outlet 16B for indirect cooling is provided in the switching chamber 4 or in the switching chamber case 17. It may be provided and cooled. Further, if the cooling is slow enough that the cold air naturally falls, it can be regarded as indirect cooling. The switching chamber 4 is provided with a switching chamber thermistor 19 that is a switching chamber temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature in the switching chamber 4, and the switching chamber temperature detection means 19 detects the temperature in the switching chamber 4. Control is performed by a control device (such as a microcomputer) 30 so that the temperature becomes a predetermined temperature.

  The cool air cooled by the cooler 13 is blown into the respective storage chambers through the cool air flow path by the cool air circulation fan 14. The cool air cooled by the cooler 13 passes through the cool air air passage 16C via the cool air circulation fan 14, and the opening / closing angle of one baffle 15A provided in the switching chamber damper 15 is controlled to a predetermined angle. By switching the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B provided in parallel, or by controlling the opening / closing angle of the baffle 15A for the flow rate of each air passage, Cool air with a flow rate and a predetermined flow rate is blown. At this time, when the opening / closing angle of the baffle 15A is zero (substantially horizontal: ± 20 degrees, preferably ± 10 degrees), it is substantially fully closed (both the direct cooling air passage and the indirect cooling air passage are both closed). Since both the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B are closed, no cold air is blown into both the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B. The cooling by the cold air passing through the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B is not performed.

  When the opening / closing angle of the baffle 15A is approximately 90 degrees (substantially vertical: 70 degrees to 110 degrees, preferably 80 degrees to 100 degrees), the baffle 15A is substantially fully open, and the direct cooling air path 16A and the indirect cooling air path 16B Since both are opened, cold air is sent to both the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B, and the air reaches the set temperature quickly because it is cooled by both indirect cooling and direct cooling. At this time, the flow passage areas of the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B may be substantially equal, but the frequency of use of the direct cooling and the indirect cooling, the size of the storage room for cooling, the cooling set temperature, It may be varied depending on the purpose of use, such as the presence or absence of cooling and freezing. (In FIG. 3, the flow area of the direct cooling air passage 16A is made larger than the flow passage area of the indirect cooling air passage 16B so that a large amount of cold air flows directly through the cooling air passage 16A when the baffle is fully opened. The direct cooling air passage 16A preferably has a baffle that is fully open when the flow passage area of the direct cooling air passage 16A is set to be twice or more than the flow passage area of the indirect cooling air passage 16B. (Sometimes it becomes easy for the cool air to flow directly into the cooling air passage 16A, and the effect of direct cooling is easily obtained.)

  When the opening / closing angle of the baffle 15A is about 45 degrees (20 degrees to 70 degrees, preferably 35 degrees to 55 degrees), which is an intermediate angle, the baffle 15A is in a single open state (one open state). Although it is substantially closed, the indirect cooling air passage 16B is opened, so that cool air is blown into the indirect cooling air passage 16B, and the switching chamber 4 is cooled from the ceiling surface by the cold air passing through the indirect cooling air passage 16B. Indirect cooling is performed. Here, the example in which the indirect cooling air passage 16B is provided on the ceiling surface of the switching chamber 4 has been described, but it may not be a separate ceiling surface, and may be a side surface other than the ceiling surface, as long as the cooling is equivalent to the indirect cooling. You may provide in a wall and a bottom wall (partition wall of the switching chamber bottom face). Similarly, the outlet 4A of the direct cooling air passage 16A may be provided on the ceiling wall, the side wall, or the bottom wall.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the opening / closing pattern of the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B is (1) substantially fully closed, (2) substantially fully open, and (3) direct cooling for one baffle. Although it has been described that the three patterns of the air passage 16A substantially closed and the indirect cooling air passage 16B can be switched, (1) substantially fully closed, (2) substantially fully open, and (3) direct cooling air passage 16A and indirect. Any one of the cooling air passages 16B may be open and the other may be closed, and the same effect can be obtained. In addition, the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B may be individually controlled to be opened and closed by using a twin damper or a triple damper having two or more baffles. Since the amount of cool air for direct cooling and the amount of cool air for indirect cooling can be individually controlled, fine control of the cool air amount can be performed, and switching between direct cooling and indirect cooling can be performed independently independently, so fine temperature control and The set temperature can be changed finely.

  FIG. 4 is a control flowchart during normal freezing of the switching chamber damper 15 of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In step S1, it is determined whether or not the operating condition of the compressor 12 is satisfied. Satisfying the operating condition of the compressor 12 means that, for example, a freezer compartment temperature detecting means (not shown) for detecting the temperature of the freezer compartment 6 is provided, and the temperature detected by the freezer compartment temperature detecting means is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature. It is. That is, step S1 is a compressor operating condition determining step, for example, a step of determining whether or not the temperature detected by the freezer temperature detecting means which is a temperature detecting means is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature. If it is determined in step S1 that the temperature detected by the freezer temperature detection means is lower than the predetermined temperature (NO), the process returns to step S1. If it is determined in step S1 that the temperature detected by the freezer temperature detection means is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature (YES), the process proceeds to step S2.

Step S2 is a step of determining whether or not the temperature detected by the switching chamber thermistor 19 serving as switching chamber temperature detection means is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature T ₀ ° C. If it is determined in step S2 that the temperature detected by the switching chamber thermistor 19 is lower than the predetermined temperature T ₀ ° C (NO), the process returns to step S2. If it is determined in step S2 that the temperature detected by the switching chamber thermistor 19 is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature T ₀ ° C (YES), the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, the switching chamber damper 15 is opened from the fully closed state (approximately 0 degrees) to the predetermined angle θ ₀ degrees (approximately 90 degrees (approximately vertical: 70 degrees to 110 degrees) and substantially fully opened), and the process proceeds to step S4. Proceed with Step S4 is a step of determining whether the switching compartment damper 15 is opened for a predetermined time t ₀ or more. If switching compartment damper 15 is determined not to be opened for a predetermined time t ₀ or more in step S4, the flow returns to step S4. If switching compartment damper 15 is determined to have opened for a predetermined time t ₀ or more in step S4, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the switching chamber damper 15 is opened at a predetermined angle θ ₁ degree (an intermediate angle of approximately 45 degrees (20 degrees to 70 degrees) and in a single-open state), and then the process proceeds to step S6.

Step S6 determines the detected temperature of the switching compartment thermistor 19 whether less than ₁ degree predetermined temperature T. If it is determined in step S6 that the temperature detected by the switching chamber thermistor 19 is greater than the predetermined temperature T ₁ degree (NO), the process proceeds to step S8. Step S8 is a step of determining whether the switching compartment damper 15 is opened for a predetermined time t ₁ or more. If switching compartment damper 15 is determined not to be opened for a predetermined time t ₁ or more (NO) at step S8, the flow returns to step S6. If switching compartment damper 15 is determined to have opened for a predetermined Jikan _{t 1} or more (YES) In step S8, the process proceeds to Step S9. In step S9, the switching chamber damper 15 is opened at a predetermined angle θ ₀ degrees (substantially fully open state, substantially vertical), and the process returns to step S6. When the switching chamber thermistor 19 determines in step S6 that the temperature is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature T ₁ degrees (YES), the switching chamber damper 15 is closed (substantially 0 degrees, substantially horizontal).

Here, a predetermined angle theta ₀ ° eg about 90 °, the cold air into the switching chamber 4 is blown to direct cooling air passage 16A to be indirectly cooling air passage 16B. Therefore, the inside of the switching chamber 4 is cooled early by the amount of direct inflow of cold air. The predetermined angle θ ₁ degree is approximately 45 degrees, for example, and the cooling air passage 16A can be substantially closed by the baffle 15A. Therefore, most of the cool air to the switching chamber 4 is blown to the indirect cooling air passage 16B. Therefore, the inside of the switching chamber 4 is gradually cooled from the ceiling side (or the side or bottom side) of the switching chamber 4. Since it is slowly cooled, the temperature distribution in the switching chamber 4 becomes substantially uniform due to natural convection, and tenon and supercooled refrigeration can be performed in a supercooled state. The reason for switching the opening degree of the switching chamber damper 15 at the predetermined time t ₀ is to make the temperature distribution in the switching chamber 4 substantially uniform without impairing the cooling speed of the switching chamber 4. . When the opening time of the switching chamber damper 15 becomes equal to or longer than the predetermined time t _{1 due to} the opening / closing of the switching chamber door 9 or the like, the opening degree θ ₀ of the switching chamber damper 15 (approximately 90 degrees and approximately fully opened) is returned. As a result, the cooling time is not excessively delayed and the storage quality of the food is not impaired.

  Thus, according to the refrigerator according to the first embodiment, since the temperature distribution in the switching chamber 4 can be made substantially uniform without impairing the cooling speed, supercooled storage and supercooled refrigeration can be performed. In addition, if the display panel 60 shown in FIG. 1 includes a selection switch and a selection button for selecting a cooling mode, the switching room damper 15 is provided when a mode such as rapid cooling (rapid cooling or quick freezing) is selected. If opened at about 90 degrees (substantially fully open), the switching chamber 4 can be cooled in a short time, and rapid cooling (rapid cooling, quick freezing) becomes possible.

  In the present invention, since the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B are provided, supercooling freezing and quick freezing can be performed in addition to normal freezing. First, water will be described as an example of freezing after passing through a supercooled state and a supercooled state. The supercooled state means that when water is cooled, it is in a state of 100% water even if it falls below 0 ° C. which is the freezing point. Water that has entered a supercooled state can also be frozen into ice, but this requires some kind of stimulation. This stimulus may be temperature or physical. In this way, freezing can be started with either a thermal stimulus or a physical stimulus, but the time from the supercooled state to the start of freezing is in units of a few seconds. Is something. However, the proportion of ice that freezes instantaneously at the start of freezing is a few percent of the total, and in the case of water, it becomes a sherbet. It is necessary to further cool until it becomes 100% ice, and it takes a cooling time, but the case of freezing through the supercooled state is called supercooled freezing (supercooled freezing).

Next, another big difference between normal freezing and supercooling freezing is the state at the start of freezing.
Here, what kind of phenomenon is occurring at the start of freezing will be described using water in a plastic bottle as an example. In the case of normal freezing, when freezing starts, it begins to freeze from the water near the surface of the PET bottle, it becomes like a thin ice on the surface part, then the ice spreads toward the inside, finally the whole freezes To do. Ice growth occurs mainly around ice nuclei in which water molecules form clusters of a certain size or more, and ice nucleation occurs at the start of freezing. Therefore, in the case of normal freezing, most ice nuclei are formed on the surface, and it can be said that ice is growing from there to the part that is in the water state, but ice nuclei are formed in a certain direction As a result, large needle-like ice crystals are formed.

  On the other hand, in the case of supercooled freezing, the entire plastic bottle including the inside of the plastic bottle (the central part of the water) is cooled almost uniformly without being frozen, and it is supercooled by thermal stimulation or physical stimulation. When the state is released, freezing starts and ice nuclei are formed almost uniformly throughout the entire PET bottle. And since ice grows in every part of the PET bottle both inside and on the surface, there is no such thing as ice growing in a certain direction unlike normal freezing, so fine, almost uniform, small granular ice crystals can be obtained. . Therefore, the difference between normal freezing and freezing after completion of freezing is that due to the difference in the cooling process, in the case of normal freezing, large acicular ice crystals from the surface to the inside are formed, while supercooling freezing is performed. In this case, small granular ice crystals are formed almost uniformly on the surface and inside. Due to the difference in the frozen state, the food frozen through the supercooled state does not impair the storage quality of the food.

  Here, subcooled freezing (supercooled freezing) will be described in more detail. The refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention maintains a stable temperature environment necessary for stably realizing supercooling, and the temperature, wind speed, air volume, timing, etc. Control mechanism for adjusting cold air, structure for cases for storing food, etc., device or control mechanism for determining completion of supercooling necessary to reliably realize supercooling cancellation, and required for supercooling cancellation A device for providing stimulation or a control mechanism. It also has a cooling and storage function for maintaining high-quality freezing after the release of supercooling.

First, supercooled freezing is divided into the following five states depending on the food temperature.
(1) Unfrozen state The food temperature is above the freezing point of the food.
(2) Supercooled state The food temperature is below the freezing point of the food and is not frozen. As the food temperature continues to decrease, it can be seen that it is in a supercooled state.
(3) Supercooling release When the food temperature returns from the temperature below the freezing point to the freezing point.
(4) Freezing start to freezing completion state: A state in which the food reaches the freezing point and undergoes a phase change (if it is water, it changes from liquid water to solid ice) and changes at a constant temperature.
(5) Freezing completed / frozen storage state: Food is frozen through the process of (4).

  Here, freezing points of main foods will be described. -1.7 ° C for beef / pork, -1.3 ° C for tuna, -1.7 ° C for potato, -1.2 ° C for strawberries, -2.0 for apples. ° C. (Reference: General food industry, page 922 (1975))

  In the state of (1)-(2), the conditions necessary for supercooling rushing (making the food at a temperature below the freezing point in an unfrozen state) and deepening the supercooling (when in the supercooled state) (Reducing the temperature to reach) conditions, (3) for releasing the supercooled state and starting freezing, (4) and (5) for maintaining the goodness of the supercooled frozen food There is. When (1) to (3) are controlled to obtain a sufficiently deep supercooling degree (temperature difference between the freezing point of the food and the temperature reached by supercooling), the effect is lost by (4) and (5). There is nothing. However, when in the supercooled state, the door is opened for a long time when food is taken in or out, or when the set temperature is set to the freezing point temperature or higher and the temperature in the supercooled chamber becomes, for example, 0 ° C or higher, and the supercooled state is released. Will restart from state (1) again.

Next, the steps (1) to (3) will be described.
First, a description will be given based on the examination results when beef having a thickness of 15 mm and 150 g is added as food. The supercooling conditions in the supercooling chamber (same as the supercooling space) of the refrigerator of the present invention will be described. The points to be noted when setting the supercooling conditions are the difference between the cooling rate and the minimum point of the core temperature of the food to be cooled (the temperature reached in the supercooled state) and the freezing point. If the cooling rate is too fast, the whole food is cooled in a non-uniform state, so that a frozen part (a large difference between the surface temperature of the food and the core temperature) and an unfrozen part are formed. Since ice crystals grow around ice nuclei, if a portion of the food freezes, it grows while taking in moisture from the unfrozen portion. As a result, large acicular ice crystals are formed. Needle-shaped ice crystals or large ice crystals generated between cells cause water outflow and cell destruction in the cells and cause drip outflow when the food is thawed.

  As a result, the original flavor of the food is reduced, nutrients such as free amino acids are reduced, and the texture is deteriorated. On the other hand, if the cooling rate is too slow, there is no problem in maintaining the supercooled state, but the unfrozen state becomes longer, which causes a problem that food quality deteriorates due to bacterial propagation, oxidation promotion, and the like. In other words, it is cooled so that the difference between the surface temperature and the core temperature becomes small until the freezing point, and when the temperature reaches the freezing point or lower (supercooled state), the cooling rate is increased and the core temperature reaches the lowest point. The supercooling is released so that the unfrozen state does not become longer. In this way, the temperature control and the cooling air adjustment are performed continuously or stepwise until the food is released from the supercooling to the supercooling state below the freezing point and completely frozen until the freezing point is reached. In order to solve such a problem, there is a method of adding an antibacterial function to the supercooling space. Examples of the antibacterial function include a method using ultraviolet rays and ozone. However, there is also a problem that it is costly to add an antibacterial function.

  First, the cooling rate will be described for the supercooling entry condition. The food is cooled from the surface, and the center of the food is cooled by heat conduction according to the type and thickness of the food. That is, the central cooling rate is determined after the cooling rate of the food surface is determined. In addition, when controlling the temperature change of food in a home refrigerator, it is common to detect the surface temperature of the food. When the food is supercooled, the temperature of the food center and the temperature of the food surface decrease with a similar tendency. The beef is 15mm thick and 150g, and the air temperature around the food reaches the temperature set in about 30 minutes, for example, -5, -7, -10 ° C, but the food surface temperature reaches the freezing point. Delays about 120 minutes, 80 minutes, 60 minutes or less. The food center temperature has little difference in food surface temperature difference, and each temperature difference is about 0.5 to 3.0 degrees.

  However, the higher the air set temperature, the smaller the temperature difference between the surface and the center, and the lower the set temperature, the smaller the degree of supercooling, that is, the energy during freezing. The cooling rate is calculated in the range where the food surface temperature is from 3 ° C to 0 ° C. The cooling rate in this temperature zone is a temperature zone that correlates with the possibility of cooling entry. When the set temperature around the food is -5 ° C, the cooling rate of the food surface is about 3.5 ° C / h, and the set temperature is -7 ° C. Then, the cooling rate of the food surface is about 5 ° C./h, and when the supercooling at the set temperature of −10 ° C. is shallow, the cooling rate is about 10 ° C./h. From this result, when there is a distance between the food surface and the center as a condition for entering into supercooling, the food surface cooling rate is 10 ° C./h or less, preferably 5 ° C./h or less. It is shown.

  At this time, there is also a difference in the temperature difference between the food surface and the center. At the set temperature of -5 ° C, the temperature difference between the food surface and the food center is about 1 degree (K) (the cooling rate at the food center is about 3.5 ° C / h). The temperature difference at the center is about 2 degrees (K) (the cooling rate at the center of food is about 5 ° C./h). On the other hand, at the set temperature of -10 ° C. where the supercooling was shallow, the temperature difference between the food surface and the food center was about 3 degrees (K) (the food center cooling rate was about 10 ° C./h). From this result, it is shown that the temperature difference between the food surface and the center is 3 degrees (K) or less, preferably 2 degrees (K) or less, as a condition for entering into supercooling. When the distance between the surface and the center of the food is small, that is, when the heat capacity of the food is small, for example, when the set temperature is lower than −10 ° C., for example, −15 ° C. Food is obtained.

From the above, the cooling rate of the food surface is considered to be a condition that the temperature difference between the food surface and the center is a cooling rate of 3K or less. At this time, it is considered that the following phenomenon is avoided. B) When the temperature difference between the food surface and the center becomes large, the density of moisture contained in the food changes, and convection of moisture contained in the food occurs due to the density difference. For this reason, the association rate of water molecules increases, and the growth of nuclei is promoted, so that the supercooling is easily released. B) If the food surface freezes first, the food surface forms a stable environment with the temperature of the freezing point being constant. Therefore, the food is stably held at the freezing point, and all the cooling heat conducted from the food surface is used as latent heat, and freezing proceeds.

  For this reason, when the surface of food freezes, the whole food will not be supercooled. On the other hand, the air temperature around the food varies depending on the type and thickness of the food in order to keep the food unfrozen below the freezing point, but generally the air temperature around the food is -10 ° C or higher. Then, it is obvious that the upper limit of the air temperature around the food is below the freezing point of the food to be supercooled. For example, in the case of beef or pork, it is −1.7 ° C. or less. Is −2 ° C. The cooling rate at which the temperature difference is suppressed to 3 degrees (K) or less is preferably about 3.5 ° C./h to about 10 ° C./h, particularly about 5 ° C./h or less. However, when the thickness is 10 mm or less, such as a thin sliced meat, the temperature is reduced to 300 ° C./h or less, and supercooling is entered, and a mass of about 40 to 50 mm needs about 2-3 ° C./h. In any food, the temperature difference between the food surface and the food center may be suppressed to about 3 degrees. However, in the case of a homogeneous super-coolable food that is easily gelled and moisture is easily held at a certain position like yogurt, it is supercooled at about 3.5 ° C./h to about 10 ° C./h. Even at a temperature difference of 5 to 10 degrees, it is supercooled.

  For the temperature unevenness around the food as one of the obstruction factors when entering the supercooling and maintaining the supercooled state, it is preferable to suppress the unevenness of the cooling rate, that is, to reduce the cooling rate around the food. In addition, in order for the refrigerator to control the air temperature to a certain temperature, avoid fluctuations in the air temperature around the food due to the effects of various equipment operations, such as turning on / off the compressor, turning on / off the internal fan, and opening / closing the damper. I can't. Due to the air temperature fluctuation, the temperature fluctuation inside the food becomes large. For this reason, the convection of the water | moisture content inside a foodstuff is accelerated | stimulated, ie, the association probability of a water molecule becomes high, and it becomes easy to cancel | release supercooling. In order to avoid this and enter the supercooling, the temperature fluctuation range until the temperature exceeds the freezing point of the food (for example, −1.7 ° C.), that is, the supercooled state, is within about 6 degrees (K) in the experiment. Met. Regardless of the size and type of food, the surface of the food should not be stimulated to release supercooling. For this reason, it is desirable that the air temperature fluctuation around the food is within 6K as described above.

  However, it is possible to create a supercooled state even if the degree of supercooling is somewhat shallower or the probability of occurrence of supercooling is low. For example, in the vicinity of the outlet, the temperature fluctuation is larger than 6K, for example, 15K. It is possible to rush into supercooling even in a difficult environment, and deepen the supercooling with foods that are easy to supercool. In order to enter a supercooled state and deepen the supercooling, it is not always necessary to cool at the same temperature. When the food is cooled at a certain temperature, the food is cooled, the food surface temperature is lowered, the temperature difference from the air temperature around the food is reduced, and the food surface temperature is almost stabilized at the air temperature around the food. For this reason, in order to deepen supercooling, it is preferable to cool while keeping the temperature difference between the food surface and the air temperature around the food at a certain level or more.

  For this purpose, the air temperature around the food may be lowered according to the food surface or the center temperature. In the process of deepening the supercooling in the home refrigerator, a predetermined time (a time until the food center temperature reaches −1 ° C. until the food center temperature reaches −1 ° C., which has been studied in advance in an experiment, for example, every 2 hours) Alternatively, the set temperature may be lowered by 1 ° C. every time (every time the food temperature decreases by 1 ° C., which has been studied in advance; for example, 0.5 hour). By doing so, the food can be cooled while maintaining the temperature difference between the food surface and the air temperature around the food, so that the supercooling can be deepened. Conversely, if the air temperature is very uneven or the air temperature fluctuates greatly, the temperature distribution on the food surface will increase, or the heat transfer coefficient on the food surface will increase, and crystallization will occur from where it is easy to cool the surface. At the beginning, the supercooling is released.

  It is known that if ice crystals formed inside when meat or fish are frozen are large, the cells are destroyed and the amount of drip after thawing increases. Therefore, when comparing the amount of drip of supercooled frozen and normal frozen beef tuna and tuna, there is a tendency to be suppressed to less than half that of normal frozen frozen one. Potatoes and other potatoes have traditionally been considered unfit for freezing. When making curry, etc., it is a common practice in ordinary households to store it frozen and reheat after the next day, but at that time only potatoes can be removed or crushed It was said that freezing was the common sense for freezing curry deliciously. When this freezes and thaws potatoes, it becomes scary and the texture becomes worse.

  However, if the curry is frozen by supercooled freezing, the texture of the potato is almost the same as that before freezing even after thawing, and it does not become a scaly or sticky texture. Starch, the main ingredient of potatoes, is composed of amylose and amylopectin. However, conventional freezing destroys these three-dimensional structures by the growth of ice crystals. Because there is no thawing potato, it becomes scary. On the other hand, since the ice crystals produced by supercooled freezing are very fine, the three-dimensional structure of starch is hardly deformed during freezing, and the original three-dimensional structure can be maintained even after thawing.

  Therefore, it is considered that the texture of thawing potatoes does not deteriorate after supercooled freezing. Such a principle may also apply to other foods that have been considered unsuitable for freezing, so using supercooled freezing allows foods that were previously considered unsuitable for freezing to be frozen. Is also suggested. Thus, it has been found that when foods are frozen through a cooled state, fine ice crystals are formed, so that the original food structure such as cells and proteins can be maintained without change. Therefore, there is a possibility that the quality will not be extremely deteriorated as in the conventional freezing even if the freeze-thaw is repeated, for example, the frozen-thawed food is frozen again. The above describes the merits of utilization in ordinary households, but it can be said that supercooled refrigeration can be used effectively in food processing. The result is that the fineness of ice crystals produced by supercooled freezing is superior to that of -60 ° C, and it can be said that it can be replaced with a commercial freezer in terms of realizing high-quality freezing. In addition, there is an advantage in that energy saving is high because it is not necessary to create cryogenic cold air using a large amount of energy for business use.

  In the above examination, the wind speed at which the cold air around the food flows is assumed to be about 0.5 m / s. The cooling rate of food is determined by the temperature difference between the food surface and the air temperature around the food and the convective heat transfer coefficient. This is because the smaller the convective heat transfer coefficient, the smaller the temperature difference between the food surface and the center, and the quicker supercooling. In addition, although the cooling rate is prescribed | regulated by the time-dependent change of food surface temperature, an infrared sensor and a thermopile are mentioned as a temperature detection means of food surface temperature in an actual product. In this method, the surface temperature of food is detected in a non-contact manner by receiving radiant heat from infrared rays emitted from the surface of the food. As a result, the temperature and area of the food are inferred from the thermopile detection temperature when the food is put into the switching room of the refrigerator, and the heat capacity of the input food is inferred from the subsequent change in the thermopile detection temperature. In addition, the control time in each process can be extended or shortened according to the input food.

Supercooling is originally an unstable state, and is canceled by applying some kind of stimulus. Generally, it is said that it is released by vibration. For example, when a sealed container is filled with water without any gaps, it will not be released even if the container is violently shaken. Even if the door is opened / closed fully open / closed several tens of times, the supercooling will not be released. However, when only about 1/2 of water is put into the sealed container, it is canceled at once. From this, it is considered that a space in which the liquid flows freely is necessary to release the supercooling by vibration. In the case of food such as meat, fish, fruit, etc., each cell and the cell are filled with moisture without any gaps, and thus correspond to a sealed container filled with water without any gaps. In fact, in the switching room containing the supercooled meat, the supercooling is not canceled even if the door is opened and closed repeatedly. In addition, the percentage of the whole food that forms ice nuclei when the supercooling is released depends on the degree of supercooling. For example, when the degree of supercooling is 4 degrees (K), it is clear from the following formula of freezing rate that ice nuclei are formed at 5 percent of the water content of the whole food.
Freezing rate (%) = (Cp * rV * ΔT) / L * rV * 100
Cp; Specific heat (kJ / kgK)
r; Density (kg / m3)
V: Volume (m3)
L: Latent heat (kJ / kg)
ΔT: Temperature difference (K)

  If the degree of supercooling is 4 degrees, the ice crystal shape is minute. After the supercooling is released, when the food temperature returns from the temperature below the freezing point to the freezing point (the temperature difference at this time is the degree of supercooling) until the freezing starts in the next process until the freezing is completed, It reaches the freezing point and causes a phase change (if it is water, it changes from liquid water to solid ice), and it is in a state of transition at a constant temperature. After that, freezing is completed and frozen at the set temperature. Save state. As long as supercooling occurs, the subsequent freezing speed will not affect the ice crystal shape, and if the ice nuclei are distributed throughout the food, fine ice nuclei are formed during supercooling. Become. As described above, it is possible to determine the percentage of the total amount of water in the food when ice nuclei are formed by the freezing rate when the supercooling is released. According to the experimental data, it is frozen when the supercooling degree is 0.8 degrees. The rate was about 1 percent and the ice crystals were large needles. When the degree of supercooling increases to 2.6 degrees, the ice crystals become quite small, but the freezing rate is about 3 percent. When the degree of supercooling increases to 4.1 degrees, the ice crystals are so small that they cannot be discerned by the naked eye. The freezing rate is about 5 percent. In this way, ice nuclei generated at the time of release of supercooling are only a few percent of the total water content of the food, but the ice nuclei are uniformly formed throughout the food, which affects the ice crystal state during subsequent frozen storage. The In addition, since the energy stored in the supercooled state is used as the energy for generating ice nuclei, the greater the degree of supercooling and the greater the amount of energy stored, the greater the number of ice nuclei that are generated when the supercooling is released. Therefore, it is considered that the ice crystal diameter is reduced accordingly, and the effect of food damage due to ice crystals is considered to be reduced.

  In order to put the food stored in the refrigerator into a supercooled state as described above, it is necessary to cool the food with a certain range of cooling capacity. This means that even if the cooling capacity for cooling the food is too weak or too strong, the supercooling state does not occur or the supercooling state is released immediately. If the cooling capacity is weak, the stored food tends to enter the supercooled state, but the cooling capacity around the food is weak = the temperature is high, and the food temperature reaching point in the supercooled state is also high, so the supercooling Does not deepen (= lower temperature) but cancels overcooling. In general, the greater the depth of supercooling, the greater the energy, and the fine crystals in the food are produced, resulting in high-quality refrigeration. Therefore, the cooling capacity is required to deepen (deepen) the supercooling. It is not established only by weakness. The depth of supercooling is 3K (for example, when the food reaches a temperature of -4 ° C in a supercooled state (after reaching the minimum temperature), the temperature is instantaneously increased to the freezing point of -1 ° C) If it becomes above, since the big difference will be generated also in the drip outflow amount at the time of meat thawing | decompression, it is necessary to drive into the supercooling depth beyond it. (The greater the depth of supercooling (the difference between the freezing point and the lowest temperature reached) is 3K or more, the smaller the amount of drip outflow when thawing meat, the better the frozen quality.)

  On the other hand, if the cooling capacity is strong, it can be frozen as soon as it reaches the freezing temperature of the food, or even if it enters the supercooled state, it leads to a phenomenon that the strong cooling capacity is immediately released as a stimulus. Therefore, a deep supercooling degree cannot be obtained. Therefore, it is a necessary condition to cool food with a certain range of cooling capacity. As described above, when the cooling capacity is weak (= when the room temperature is high), when the food is put into the refrigerator, the room temperature changes at about −3 to −4 ° C., and the food is cooled at this temperature. However, as long as the room temperature is between -3 and -4 ° C, the food temperature will naturally not be lower than that, so deep supercooling cannot be obtained, so the room temperature will be lowered little by little. Release when the temperature reaches about -3 ° C. In this way, when the cooling capacity is weak (= the temperature is high), although it enters the supercooling, it does not enter deeply, so the user rarely feels a significant difference as a food. If the cooling capacity is strong (= room temperature is low), freezing starts when the freezing temperature is reached without entering the supercooling state.

  However, if the air temperature is set to −10 ° C. or higher, the room temperature can only be lowered to the level of about −7 to −8 ° C., but it is sufficiently achievable at this temperature to obtain a supercooling depth of 3K or higher. Become. Moreover, when lowering the set temperature, it is possible to drive deeper supercooling deeper by lowering the temperature from around the freezing temperature (about −1 ° C.) of the food. Also, when reducing the temperature, it is better to gradually reduce the temperature so as not to give a strong stimulus to the food. For example, even if a case where the supercooling is canceled when the set temperature is decreased by 2 degrees occurs, the stimulation due to the temperature gradient is alleviated when the temperature is decreased by 1 degree.

  Subsequently, as already described, another supercooling requirement is air temperature distribution (unevenness) near the supercooled food. This is because if the food is not installed in a certain range of air temperature distribution (unevenness), the supercooling does not start or the supercooling is released immediately. This is because freezing or supercooling release occurs from a low temperature part in the temperature unevenness of the food, and as a result, the freezing or supercooling release is performed so that the influence reaches the high temperature food part and follows it. It is. Therefore, it becomes a necessary condition to cool with a certain range of temperature distribution (unevenness). Specifically, the smaller the air temperature unevenness, the better. However, since various factors such as the actual machine variation of the refrigerator and the size and shape of the stored food occur, the temperature unevenness is preferably about 2K or less. If the experimental results regarding the temperature unevenness and the depth of supercooling are summarized statistically regardless of the room temperature, it can be seen that the occurrence probability of supercooling increases when the temperature unevenness is 2K or less. By multiplying this condition by the above temperature setting, the probability of occurrence of supercooling can be very close to 100%.

  In order to adjust the cooling strength, the temperature is kept constant by ON / OFF of a compressor mounted on the refrigerator and a damper that is adjusted by a temperature sensor installed in each room. Therefore, in each room of the refrigerator, there is always a time (cold air ON / OFF) that is not considered to be a time during which cold air is supplied. Therefore, in order to adjust to the set room temperature, cold air having a temperature lower than the room temperature must be supplied. However, in order to realize supercooling, the food needs to be supercooled at the above-described temperature. In such a case, we want to keep cooling at a constant temperature of -15 ° C or higher, preferably -10 ° C or higher, which is a necessary condition for air temperature near foods. It is difficult to realize, and the cold air temperature around the supercooled food is controlled. There are two main means for realizing it. The first is means for bringing the cool air temperature for cooling the room closer to the optimum supercooling temperature. When cooling a room that can be set to a freezing temperature zone in a normal refrigerator, the cold air temperature reaches a level of about −25 ° C. at the cold air supply port (air outlet). This temperature is a value far from the optimum supercooling temperature, and it becomes an effective means to control the temperature of the source stream of this cold air supply. As for the means, first, means for raising the cold air temperature by lowering the refrigerating capacity of the compressor can be mentioned.

  However, since the original cooling capacity other than supercooling must be secured, the refrigeration capacity is not reduced by reducing the drive speed of the compressor by inverter control etc., rather than reducing the capacity of the compressor itself. To increase the cool air supply temperature. When the compressor is actually reduced at the 10 rps level, the blowing temperature is expected to rise by about 3 to 5K. Further, even in the rotation speed of the blower fan in the refrigerator that supplies the cold air, it is possible to control the supply cold air temperature by changing the rotation speed. When the rotational speed of the fan is actually lowered, the cool air speed is reduced and convective heat transfer is suppressed, so that the cool air temperature is also lowered. Therefore, conversely, by increasing the rotational speed of the fan, heat exchange is promoted and the cold air supply temperature rises. When the internal fan actually rises by 300 to 400 rpm, the cold air temperature is expected to rise by about 2 to 3K. In addition, it is possible to increase the cold air temperature by installing a heat insulation heater around the cold air supply outlet.

  The second means is not to raise the cold air supply temperature, but to raise the cold air temperature before the cold air hits the food so that the cold air having a low temperature is not directly applied to the vicinity of the food as much as possible. In order to realize this, it is possible to increase the distance that the cold air reaches the food from the cold air supply port. For example, it is possible by providing a cold air rectifying guide around the cold air supply port or by providing an obstacle between the outlet and the food installation position. As a result, the cold air temperature reaching the periphery of the food can be raised by heat exchange in the middle. In addition, the cooling speed of the cold air can be reduced, so that the food can be slowly cooled without giving a strong stimulus. As an example in which an obstacle is installed between the outlet and the food installation position, a configuration in which a lid shape is added above the food storage case is possible. With the lid, the distance from the cold air outlet on the back side of the refrigerator to the opening of the case provided on the door side can be taken more than half the length of the case. If the airflow analysis in this case is performed, it is possible to increase the cold air temperature near the food by adding the lid shape, and further to decrease the wind speed. In addition, a damper that controls the supply of cold air between a blower fan that circulates cold air in the refrigerator and the outlet serves as a cool air supply shutter that adjusts the angle to reduce the amount of cold air. The damper can be not only fully closed and fully opened, but also can be adjusted to an angle in the middle to reduce the amount of cold air and to suppress the wind speed blowing on the food. The wind speed of the cool air outlet is adjusted to 1.0-1.2 m / s by adjusting the damper opening, the case is provided with a lid, and the cool air is supplied into the case from the door side so that the wind speed in the case is 0.1. The supercooled state is maintained at ˜0.5 m / s. Although the first means and the second means may be performed individually, the temperature in the vicinity of the food can be set to a temperature convenient for supercooling.

  The means for improving the temperature unevenness is a means for suppressing temperature unevenness and hunting by reducing the number of ON / OFF times of the cold air supply. As described above, the controller 16 reduces the number of rotations of the compressor 10 and supplies a higher cool air temperature, thereby increasing the time required to reach the set temperature and reducing the number of ON / OFF times. Unevenness and hunting can be improved. Thus, the means for reducing the number of ON / OFF times = the cooling capacity is reduced, so this is also an effective means for reducing the amount of cool air by adjusting the damper angle as described above. Furthermore, the cold air temperature and the wind speed can be adjusted by the shape of the air guide at the air outlet and the shape of the obstacle between the cold air outlet and the food.

  Next, the case of quick freezing will be described. In the case of quick freezing, the state after freezing at the start of freezing is the same as in the case of normal freezing in that it is frozen (rapidly) by applying cold air to the surface. In the case of quick freezing (freezing), compared with normal freezing, cold air at a low temperature is applied rapidly to the surface of food, etc., and the temperature of the surface is drastically lowered, but it begins to freeze from the surface in the same way as normal freezing. . However, the difference from normal freezing is that cold air with a low temperature is rapidly applied to the surface of food, etc., so the cooling rate to the inside becomes faster, and it becomes easier to form ice nuclei inside than normal freezing. However, the ice crystals are not as large as in normal freezing, and the quality of food is not impaired as in normal freezing, but the ice nuclei are large and not nearly uniform compared to supercooled freezing that is frozen through a supercooled state. Quality is inferior.

  When considering food freezing, the size and shape of ice crystals after freezing has a significant effect on the quality of food when thawed. Since foods are almost always composed of cells, proteins, carbohydrates, etc., once their structure is destroyed by ice crystals, they often cannot be completely restored. Therefore, it can be said that freezing with good quality is achieved if the size and shape of the ice crystals formed when freezing does not destroy the original structure of the food. The smaller the ice crystals, the more the ice crystals are destroyed. Since it is possible to obtain a state close to the original state, it can be said that when thawed, the food quality such as the taste, texture and storage state of the food is good. Therefore, in the case of supercooled refrigeration frozen through a supercooled state, the ice nuclei are small and fine, and the ice nuclei are substantially uniform over the entire object to be frozen, such as food. It is considered suitable because the food quality is better than the case.

  Next, the merit and novelty of freezing food by supercooled freezing will be described. The greatest merit of freezing food with supercooled freezing is that it can be frozen with good quality. As described above, in the case of supercooled freezing (supercooled freezing) that has been frozen through a supercooled state, it is sufficiently cooled within the predetermined temperature difference from the surface to the inside of the food in the process of becoming supercooled. Therefore, ice nuclei are formed almost uniformly throughout the food and grow into small granular ice crystals. In addition, the larger the temperature difference between the freezing point and the lowest temperature reached in a supercooled state without freezing, the greater the number of ice nuclei formed at the start of freezing. The ratio of ice that becomes ice crystals and freezes instantaneously when the supercooling is released increases, and a good frozen quality can be obtained. Therefore, if supercooling occurs sufficiently (the lower the temperature reached in the supercooled state), it becomes possible to maintain a state closer to that before freezing after thawing after freezing. Quality is good.

  When considering the cooling of food and the size and shape of ice crystals, it is necessary to consider the transit time in the temperature zone of -1 ° C to -5 ° C, which is the maximum ice crystal formation zone. In normal freezing and quick freezing, ice crystals become smaller if they pass through the maximum ice crystal formation zone in a short time. However, in the case of supercooling freezing, if the state of supercooling without freezing is maintained, the temperature range (-1 ° C to--C) including this maximum ice crystal formation zone (-1 ° C to -5 ° C) is included. Even if it takes a long time to pass through (around 10 ° C.), it does not impair the frozen quality of the food.

  In the case of supercooled freezing, the supercooled state that does not freeze is maintained in the temperature zone (around -1 ° C to -10 ° C) including the maximum ice crystal formation zone (-1 ° C to -5 ° C). The time (the time for staying in a supercooled and unfrozen state) is longer (longer passage time) than normal freezing and quick freezing. However, in the supercooled state, the ice crystals after freezing are obtained even if the passing time of this temperature zone (-1 ° C to -10 ° C) including the maximum ice crystal formation zone (-1 ° C to -5 ° C) is long. However, it is possible to make fine ice crystals substantially uniformly. Among the refrigeration using the temperature zone in the vicinity including the maximum ice crystal temperature zone, the concept of the supercooled refrigeration of the present invention is completely new in that many small ice crystals are formed to achieve high quality refrigeration. This is a freezing method. Further, in the supercooled refrigeration of the present invention, when the supercooled state is released, freezing starts and completely freezes through a phase change state in which the temperature does not change. Even if it takes a long time to pass through the maximum ice crystal formation zone in the process of freezing (even if it stays in the maximum ice crystal formation zone for a long time), the ice crystals do not enlarge and the ice crystals are fine and the whole food In this respect, it can be said that this is a novel refrigeration method.

  Even if it takes a long time for the freezing process after that, it will not affect the ice crystal state, so there will be no problem, but it will freeze quickly when the freezing state is released and the freezing process is started. Then, since the possibility that the ice crystals are enlarged is further reduced, good food quality can be obtained. In addition, food quality degradation factors other than those related to ice crystals (for example, recent breeding) can be avoided, so that freezing with higher quality can be performed.

  As mentioned above, although the merit at the time of releasing the supercooling and freezing the food that has entered the supercooled state has been described so far, it is not always necessary to freeze the food that has entered the supercooled state. The merit of supercooled storage that maintains the supercooled state without freezing is that the ice crystal is completely frozen, even though it is stored at a temperature below the freezing temperature, that is, normally frozen at a temperature that freezes. Since it is not in a state, it can be mentioned that the food structure is hardly affected by ice crystals while being stored at a low temperature. Although storage at a lower temperature is effective for preserving freshness in that various chemical changes in food can be suppressed, the present invention (supercooled storage and supercooled) has the advantages of both low temperature storage and unfrozen storage. This can be achieved with (freezing). Moreover, since it is in a supercooled state and not frozen, it is not necessary to thaw the food. However, the supercooled state is an unfrozen state, and the moisture in food is unfrozen, which means that the moisture may be used for bacterial growth and various chemical changes. If supercooled freezing is performed after the supercooled state as in the invention, it is considered that the food quality can be maintained in a good state. Therefore, storage in a supercooled state (supercooled storage) may be inferior in food quality (care needs to be taken) than frozen (supercooled frozen), but short-term storage (eg 1 If it is about ~ 3 weeks), there is no problem.

  Next, operations of the display panel 60 and the control device 30 will be described. The switching chamber 4, which is a cooling chamber that can realize the stored food in a supercooled state, is refrigerated (about 3 ° C), chilled (about 0 ° C), soft frozen (about -5, -7, -9 ° C), It is possible to switch to a plurality of temperature zones such as refrigeration (about −17 ° C. or less), and these temperatures are controlled by a control device 30 composed of a microcomputer or the like provided at the upper part of the rear surface of the refrigerator main body. By switching the blower or the like, the switching setting is performed to the set temperature. An example of the display panel 60 provided on the door surface is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a liquid crystal display panel representing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a display panel 60 has a room selection switch 60a for selecting any one of a refrigerated room, a vegetable room, a freezer room, and a switching room, temperature adjustment for the selected room (storage room), or temperature control for selecting quick freezing. A quick cooling switch 60b, a supercooling freezing (instant freezing) switch 60c for selecting supercooling freezing (instant freezing), and an ice making changeover switch 60d for selecting the ice making mode from normal, transparent, rapid, and stop are provided. (Here, supercooled refrigeration freezes instantly and is also referred to as instantaneous freezing in the present invention.) In addition, the display panel 60 includes rooms in various temperature zones (refrigerated room, freezer room, switching room, vegetable room, supercooled room). For example, the set temperature and the current temperature may be displayed. When the surface temperature of the food temperature is measured with a non-contact infrared sensor or thermopile, when the measured food surface temperature or food temperature is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 60, the supercooled state or the food surface temperature is displayed. This is convenient for users of the refrigerator because it is not necessary to grasp the passage of time or to check how much food has been cooled by opening the door.

  Here, when it is desired to perform quick freezing, the temperature adjustment / quick cooling switch 60b is kept pressed for a predetermined time (3 seconds) to enter the quick freezing mode and quick freezing is performed. When supercooled refrigeration (instantaneous freezing) is to be performed, the supercooling refrigeration (instantaneous freezing) switch 60c is pressed to enter the supercooling mode, and supercooling cooling or supercooling refrigeration is performed. The refrigerator of the present invention has an ice tray cleaning mode. When the ice making switch 60d is continuously pressed for a predetermined time (about 5 seconds), the ice tray cleaning mode is entered and the ice tray is cleaned. The temperature of the selected room (storage room) is adjusted by the temperature adjustment / quenching switch 60b. In this embodiment, the temperature is displayed in three levels of strong, medium and weak. In this temperature display, the set temperature may be directly displayed on the display panel 60.

  Furthermore, when the set temperature of the cooling chamber is set to the supercooled state, the case where the supercooled state is released, and the case where the set temperature is released and stored frozen, the set value is switched stepwise or continuously. This setting switching can be automatically switched to each preset temperature based on a time interval by a preset timer. However, it is also possible to manually switch the temperature to be set by providing a switch or the like on the liquid crystal panel 60 installed on the door of the refrigerator compartment 2. The temperature of the cooling chamber (for example, the switching chamber 4) from the supercooled state to the frozen storage is set to the set value by detecting the set temperature of the thermistor 19 and its room temperature, or detecting the temperature of the food surface. It is controlled by cool air adjusting means such as a damper. Of course, the infrared sensor 22 for measuring the food temperature may be used in place of the thermistor 19 for measuring the room temperature to control the compressor 12 and the damper 15.

  As described above, if the food is supercooled by the cold air introduced into the cooling chamber by setting the temperature of the freezing chamber or the cooling chamber at the first temperature setting with respect to the supercooling state, the temperature difference is next set in advance. The stored food is released from the supercooling state at a temperature difference lower than the first temperature, and when it is determined that the supercooling state is released from the food surface temperature state, The cool air is adjusted according to the third temperature set by the changeover switch. In this way, the first set temperature, the second set temperature, and the third set temperature are sequentially changed at intervals of time or by measuring the temperature of the food, so that the software stored in the microcomputer is simple. By adjusting the cool air with the structure, it is possible to perform frozen storage that can achieve high-quality food freezing with low energy without performing quick freezing or at extremely low temperatures such as −60 ° C. When setting the time interval, the time interval stored in advance may be used, or the time may be set by the liquid crystal panel 60 on the door surface. Thereby, a quick process is attained according to foodstuffs. Moreover, deepening of the degree of supercooling can be obtained by measuring the temperature of the food and determining the release.

  When the food to be stored is brought into a supercooled state, the temperature of the freezing chamber or the cooling chamber for storing the food is set at the temperature set as the setting means at the first temperature stored in the microcomputer. The amount of the cool air introduced into the cooling chamber set in the above is adjusted to enter a supercooling state, and this supercooling state is continued. Next, the supercooling state of the food is supplied by supplying cold air at a temperature lower than the first temperature so that the supercooling state of the food is released after the time set as the time necessary for the supercooling has elapsed. The state is released, and the released food is stored frozen at a third temperature set by a temperature setting device provided on the door surface. Assuming that the first temperature setting is stored in advance, the third temperature to be set can be easily switched manually, and can be set independently of each other. However, when setting the first temperature, a temperature setting device may be provided on the door surface of the refrigerator or the side surface of the cooling chamber so that it can be changed according to the type of food.

  The temperature setting state and the temperature state detected on the food surface can be displayed on the liquid crystal panel 60, and the set temperature can be changed while viewing the display. For the setting of the third temperature, considering long-term storage for several months or more, use a knife etc. with a deep temperate region of -30 ° C to -60 ° C or fine ice crystals of -5 ° C to -15 ° C. It is also possible to adopt a structure that can be switched to a weak refrigeration temperature range that can be separated by a person, or an intermediate frozen storage temperature range. When the temperature is set, on / off control such as the rotation speed of the compressor 12 and opening / closing of the damper 15 is performed by the control device 30 so that the temperature detected by the sensor is switched to the set temperature range. As described above, since the first set temperature and the third set temperature can be set independently of each other, the time required to continue the necessary supercooling state according to the storage period and the use state, or according to the time and the type of food to be stored. Since the set temperature can be changed according to the depth of supercooling, flexible frozen storage is possible.

  Also, when setting the temperature of the cooling chamber for indirect cooling, the room temperature was measured with a sensor provided in the cooling chamber or estimated from the elapsed time of the room temperature of the wall to be cooled, and the food was set as an overcooled state It can be determined whether the first temperature is reached. It is possible to release the supercooling by lowering the temperature of the cold air indirectly cooled to a temperature lower than the first temperature at which the food stored in the cooling chamber is brought into a supercooled state to lower the wall surface temperature. Alternatively, the supercooling may be canceled by increasing the rotational speed of the blower fan in the sealed cooling chamber to increase the wind speed around the food to increase the heat transfer coefficient of the food surface. The more the temperature distribution on the surface of the food becomes uneven, the easier the supercooling is released. Open the cooling chamber released by the supercooling state release means for releasing the supercooled state of the food, and store the food in the frozen state with the cold air introduced directly into the room, or set the temperature of the wall surface with indirect cooling. The food in the room may be stored frozen by lowering or maintaining it. In this way, it can be frozen and stored with low energy with a simple structure.

  FIG. 6 is another control example of the refrigerator switching chamber damper according to the first embodiment, and is a control flowchart when supercooling refrigeration is performed. The structure of the refrigerator is the same as that of the refrigerator shown in FIGS. Here, the supercooled refrigeration will be described. Supercooled refrigeration is a refrigeration mode that realizes a supercooled state. The supercooled state refers to a state that is not 100% frozen although it is below the freezing point of the substance such as food. Here, the freezing point refers to the temperature at which the substance begins to freeze. That is, the supercooled state refers to a state where food or the like is normally at a temperature at which it should begin freezing but is not frozen at all. For example, the freezing point of water is 0 ° C., and this freezing point varies depending on the substance, and tends to be lower than 0 ° C. in foods with a high salt concentration and high sugar content.

Here, a control method for realizing the supercooled state will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the supercooling mode start step S11, the supercooling mode starts. The main means of starting the supercooling mode is to provide a display panel (buttons, etc.) and switches (not shown) on the refrigerator door, etc., and by operating these devices (buttons, switches, etc.) by the user Starts. After the supercooling mode is started in step S11, the operation proceeds to the compressor operation state confirmation step S12 for determining whether or not the compressor 12 is in operation. If it determines with the compressor 12 being stopped in step S12 (NO), it will return to step S11. If it determines with the compressor 12 being driving | operation in step S12 (YES), it will progress to switching room damper open | release 1st step S13. In the switching chamber damper opening first step S13, the switching chamber damper 15 is opened by a predetermined angle θ ₁₀ degrees.

Step S14 is a switching chamber temperature determination first step in which it is determined whether or not the switching chamber thermistor 19 as the switching chamber temperature detecting means is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature T ₁₀ degrees. If detected temperature of the switching compartment thermistor 19 is determined to be greater than ₁₀ degrees predetermined temperature _T (NO) in step S14, also returns to step S13. If it is determined in step S14 that the temperature detected by the switching chamber thermistor 19 is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature T ₁₀ degrees (YES), the process proceeds to the switching chamber damper opening second step S15. In step S15, the switching chamber damper 15 opens by a predetermined angle θ ₁₁ degrees. Step S16 is a switch compartment temperature determining second step determines the detected temperature is whether or not a predetermined temperature T ₁₁ degrees or less switching compartment thermistor 19. If it is determined in step S16 that the temperature detected by the switching chamber thermistor 19 is greater than the predetermined temperature T ₁₁ degrees (NO), the process returns to step S15. If it is determined in step S16 that the temperature detected by the switching chamber thermistor 19 is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature T ₁₁ degrees (YES), the process proceeds to step S17. In the switching chamber damper opening third step S17, the switching chamber damper 15 is opened by a predetermined angle θ ₁₀ degrees, and the process proceeds to step S18. Step S18 is a supercooling mode end step, and the supercooling mode ends.

Here, the predetermined angle θ ₁₀ degrees is, for example, approximately 90 degrees (substantially vertical: 70 degrees to 110 degrees, preferably 80 degrees to 100 degrees), and the cool air to the switching chamber 4 is also indirectly directed to the cooling air passage 16A. The air is also blown to the cooling air passage 16B. Accordingly, the switching chamber 4 is cooled relatively early by the amount of direct inflow of cold air. The predetermined temperature T ₁₀ degrees is a freezing point of food, and is about −1 ° C., which is mainly a freezing point of meat. Of course, it is not limited to this value. After reaching the predetermined temperature T ₁₀ ° C in step S14, the process proceeds to the switching chamber damper opening second step S15, and the switching chamber damper 15 is opened at the predetermined angle θ ₁₁ degrees. The predetermined angle θ ₁₁ degrees is, for example, approximately 45 degrees (20 degrees to 70 degrees, preferably 35 degrees to 55 degrees), and is an angle at which the baffle 15A substantially blocks the direct cooling air passage 16A. Therefore, while the baffle 15A is open approximately 45 degrees, the food in the switching chamber 4 is indirectly cooled by the cold air flowing in the indirect cooling air passage 16B and does not blow the direct cooling cold air from the direct cooling air passage. Therefore, it is possible to enter a supercooled state without receiving a strong stimulus by direct cooling. Here, the predetermined temperature T ₁₁ degrees is a determination temperature for shifting from the supercooled state to the frozen state, and is −5 ° C., for example. Depending on the size and shape of the meat, for example, if it is about 100 g of pork ribs, it can be made 100% frozen (freezing after overcooling) if the supercooled state can be maintained at −5 ° C. or lower. A high-quality supercooled refrigeration state can be obtained.

  FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of the vicinity of the switching room of the refrigerator showing the first embodiment of the present invention. The switching chamber case 17 is provided with a switching chamber case lid 20, and the switching chamber ceiling heat insulation 18 is provided with a ceiling outlet 18 </ b> A. The ceiling outlet 18A is an outlet for blowing the cold air from the indirect cooling air passage 16B into the switching chamber 4. However, by providing the switching chamber case lid 20, the food in the switching chamber case 17 is not indirectly exposed to the cold air. It is a cooling method. If the user desires quicker freezing (rapid freezing in a short time), this can be dealt with by removing the switching chamber case cover 20. If the switching chamber case cover 20 is removed so that the switching chamber case cover 20 can be removed, the air path resistance of the cold air from the indirect cooling air path 16B is reduced by the amount corresponding to the switching chamber case cover 20, so that the direct cooling air path 16A and Since more cold air flows into the switching chamber case 17 from a plurality of locations (at least the back surface and the ceiling surface) from the indirect cooling air passage 16B, refrigeration in a relatively early time can be realized. Conversely, when it is desired to perform supercooling (or supercooled freezing), the switching chamber case lid 20 may be attached. In addition, if the place where the switch room case cover 20 is removed even if the switch room case cover 20 is removed, the switch room case cover 20 may be shifted to the back of the switch room case 17. That is, when the switching chamber case 17 is pulled out, the switching chamber case lid 20 is fixed to the ceiling surface or side wall of the switching chamber 4 or the case chamber stopper is provided on the ceiling surface or side wall of the switching chamber 4. As a structure in which the switching chamber case lid 20 remains in the switching chamber 4 when the chamber case 17 is pulled out, only the switching chamber case 17 may be pulled out.

  In FIG. 7, the switching chamber case cover 20 is configured to cover the upper surface opening of the switching chamber case 17, but the switching chamber case cover 20 does not need to cover the entire upper surface opening of the switching chamber case 17, but directly The cooling air blown directly from the rear outlet 4A of the cooling air passage 16A may be provided so as to cover only the rear side of the switching chamber case 17 so that it does not easily enter the switching chamber case 17 from the upper surface opening. . That is, the switching chamber case lid 20 may have a front opening that opens the front side of the refrigerator when the lid 20 is installed in the switching chamber case 17. Further, the outlet 18A of the indirect cooling air passage 16B may be provided at a position where the indirect cooling cold air enters the switching chamber case 17 from the front opening. In the case of indirect cooling, it is desirable that the cold air does not enter the switching chamber case 17, but the cold air entering the switching chamber case 17 is equivalent to the indirect cooling if there is a natural fall, and there is no problem. In the present embodiment, the opening 4A of the direct cooling air passage 16A is opened at a position as close as possible to the air volume adjusting means 15, and the outlet 18A of the indirect cooling air path 16B is as far as possible from the air volume adjusting means 15. It is made to open at the position. By doing in this way, when it passes through the air passage for indirect cooling and it blows off from the blower outlet 18A, a wind speed falls by channel resistance etc., and the wind speed and air volume suitable for indirect cooling are obtained. Further, since the cold air blown directly from the opening 4A of the cooling air passage 16A can be immediately blown into the switching chamber 4 or the switching chamber case 17, the air speed and the air volume suitable for quick freezing are set. Obtainable.

  FIG. 8 is a detailed view of the main part around the damper for the switching room of the refrigerator shown in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The switching chamber damper 15 described so far is a single damper system with a single baffle 15A. Here, however, the switching chamber twin damper 21 is provided in the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B. An example of providing will be described. The switching chamber twin damper 21 includes a direct cooling frame 21A and an indirect cooling frame 21B. The direct cooling frame 21A is connected to the direct cooling air passage 16A, and the indirect cooling frame B is connected to the indirect cooling air passage 16B. The direct cooling frame 21A and the indirect cooling frame 21B are provided with baffles 21C and 21D for opening and closing the frames, respectively. By opening and closing these baffles 21C and 21D, the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling frame are provided. Opening / closing control of the air passage 16B can be performed independently. In the present embodiment, since the switching chamber damper is a twin damper, the number of frames is two, and fine air volume control can be performed. In the case of a single damper, since the opening adjustment control is performed with one baffle, the direct cooling air passage 16A can be closed and the indirect cooling air passage 16B can be opened, but the direct cooling air passage 16A can be opened and indirectly cooled. The air passage 16B could not be closed.

  That is, except for the case where both the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B are closed, the direct cooling air passage 16A is controlled to open and close, but the indirect cooling air passage 16B is always open. there were. In the switching chamber twin damper 21 as in the present embodiment, the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B can be finely controlled independently, so that, for example, normal cooling is not required without supercooling refrigeration. When it is desired to freeze more rapidly, that is, in the quick freezing mode, if the indirect cooling frame 21B is closed, 100% cold air flows directly into the cooling air passage 16A. Can be implemented. On the other hand, the merit of using a single damper is that the manufacturing cost is relatively low due to the small number of frames, and the installation space is relatively small and efficient, so the capacity of the storage room or refrigerator can be increased accordingly. .

  FIG. 9 is a sectional side view of the periphery of the switching chamber of the refrigerator showing the first embodiment. An infrared sensor 22 serving as a switching chamber temperature detecting means is provided on the ceiling surface of the switching chamber 4 and is used to measure the surface temperature of food in the switching chamber 4 (or in the switching chamber case 17). As the installation location, the ceiling 4A of the switching chamber 4 is suitable as a position where the inside of the switching chamber case 17 can be looked over, but it is only necessary to be able to measure the side surface, the bottom surface, or the food surface temperature indirectly. Further, the surface temperature of the food in the switching chamber 4 (or in the switching chamber case 17) may be measured via the switching chamber case lid 20. If the infrared sensor 22 is used as the temperature detection means, the temperature closer to the food (for example, the surface temperature of the food) can be detected as compared with the switching chamber thermistor 19 that detects the air temperature, and therefore the success probability of the supercooling. Can be high. In the case of the switching chamber thermistor 19, only the temperature closest to the switching chamber thermistor 19 can be detected, whereas the infrared sensor 22 has a feature of detecting infrared rays emitted from the surface of a distant substance, so that it is closer to food. Temperature (food surface temperature) can be detected. Since the amount of infrared rays emitted from foods and the like increases as the temperature increases, the temperature can be measured by the amount of infrared rays detected.

  Here, in order to perform supercooled storage and supercooled freezing, it is desirable that the temperature difference between the surface temperature of food and the like is small and the temperature is substantially uniform, so in this embodiment, in the switching chamber 4 (or The center temperature is experimentally estimated from the surface temperature measured by the type, size, thickness, weight, etc. of the food in the switching chamber case 17), and the temperature difference between the surface temperature and the center temperature is estimated to maintain the supercooled state. I try to judge whether or not. In this embodiment, if the temperature difference between the surface temperature and the center temperature of the food is 5 deg or less, preferably 3 deg or less, the supercooled state can be maintained, and it is confirmed by experiments that the food quality when thawed is good. did it.

  FIG. 10 is another supercooling refrigeration control flowchart of the refrigerator showing the first embodiment for realizing the supercooled state. In the supercooling mode start step S21, the supercooling mode starts. The main means of starting the supercooling mode is to provide a display panel (buttons, etc.) and switches (not shown) on the refrigerator door, etc., and by operating these devices (buttons, switches, etc.) by the user Starts. After the supercooling mode is started in step S21, the process proceeds to the compressor operation state confirmation step S22 for determining whether or not the compressor 12 is in operation. If it determines with the compressor 12 being stopped in step S22 (NO), it will return to step S21. If it determines with the compressor 12 being driving | operation in step S22 (YES), it will progress to switching room temperature determination 1st step S23.

In step S23, it is determined whether or not the switching chamber thermistor 19 is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature T ₂₀ ° C. If it is determined in step S23 that the switching chamber thermistor 19 serving as the temperature detection means is greater than the predetermined temperature T ₂₀ ° C (NO), the process proceeds to the switching chamber damper opening first step S24. In step S24, the switching compartment damper 15 is opened for a predetermined angle theta ₀ °, then returns to step S23. When the switching chamber thermistor 19 determines in step S23 that the temperature is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature T ₂₀ ° C (YES), the process proceeds to the infrared sensor temperature determination first step S25. In step S25, it is determined whether or not the infrared sensor 22 which is a temperature detecting means is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature T ₂₁ ° C. If it is determined in step S25 that the infrared sensor 22 is greater than the predetermined temperature T ₂₁ ° C (NO), the process returns to step S25.

In step S25, when it is determined that the infrared sensor 22 is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature T ₂₁ ° C (YES), the process proceeds to the switching chamber damper opening second step S26. In step S26, the switching chamber damper 15 opens by a predetermined angle θ ₁₁ degrees, and thereafter, in the infrared sensor temperature determination second step S27, it is determined whether or not the infrared sensor 22 is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature T ₂₂ ° C. If the infrared sensor 22 determines in step S27 that the temperature is higher than the predetermined temperature T ₂₂ ° C (NO), the process returns to step S27. When the infrared sensor 22 determines in step S27 that the temperature is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature T ₂₂ ° C (YES), the process proceeds to the switching chamber damper opening second step S28, and in step S28, the switching chamber damper 15 opens θ ₁₀ degrees. After the switching chamber damper 15 is opened at ₁₀ degrees in step S28, the supercooling mode ends in the supercooling mode end step S29.

If the detected temperature of the switching compartment thermistor 19 in step S23 is greater than the predetermined temperature T _20, the switching compartment damper predetermined angle theta ₁₀ degrees open (fully open), but, this switching chamber 4 is opened long time door is intended to determine that there is no normal temperature range Runado, that is, (if switching compartment thermistor 19 is higher than the predetermined temperature T ₂₀₎ when it is determined that the insufficient cooling of the switching chamber 4, the switching chamber The damper 15 is fully opened, and the wind is sent to both the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B. If cooling from the direct cooling air passage 16A is not performed and slow refrigeration is started only by the indirect cooling air passage 16B (slow direct cooling or cooling by indirect cooling with a slow cooling speed), the cooling is not effective. Since there is a possibility that the freshness of the food does not drop because there is a possibility of insufficient cooling due to the determination that it is sufficient, the switching room temperature determination first step S23 is a determination step for preventing such a situation from occurring. It is. When cooling from the direct cooling air passage 16A is performed and the switching chamber 4 is cooled to a predetermined temperature, it is determined in step S25 whether the infrared sensor 22 is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature T ₂₁ ° C. Suruga, predetermined temperature _{T 21} ° C. is, for example, -1 ° C..

In order to start slow freezing when the temperature reaches -1 ° C., the switching chamber damper 15 is opened by θ ₁₁ degrees (half open, approximately 45 degrees). At θ ₁₁ degrees, the indirect cooling air passage 16B is open, but the direct cooling air passage 16A is at an angle that is substantially closed, and almost all of the cool air for the switching chamber 4 flows into the indirect cooling air passage 16B. When the food is cooled by slow refrigeration by indirect cooling and the infrared sensor 22 falls below a predetermined temperature T ₂₂ ° C, the switching chamber damper 15 opens at a predetermined angle θ ₁₀ degrees (fully open), but T ₂₂ ° C is, for example, -5 For example, it takes about 1 hour to pass 150 g of beef leg through a temperature of -1 ° C to -5 ° C if there is no door opening and closing. As described above, θ ₁₀ degrees is the angle through which the air is directly passed to the cooling air passage 16A, so that the switching chamber 4 is cooled at once (rapidly). Due to this thermal shock (temperature shock), the food in the switching chamber 4 (or in the switching chamber case 17) is released from the supercooled state, but ice crystals do not become enlarged unlike normal freezing. Moreover, since the infrared sensor 22 is used, as described above, a temperature closer to food (for example, the surface temperature of food) can be detected, and as a result, the success rate of supercooling freezing is increased, and frozen storage with good food quality ( Supercooled refrigeration) can be provided.

  As described above, the present invention has a plurality of partitioned storage rooms (refrigeration room 2, ice making room 3, switching room 4, vegetable room 5, freezing room 6, etc.), and cool air generated by a cooler is used. In a refrigerator that blows air to a storage room, a cold air path that blows cool air from a cooler for at least one of the storage rooms (for example, the switching room 4, the freezing room 6, and the vegetable room 5) is a direct cooling air path. Since it is composed of two air passages 16A and 16B for indirect cooling, quick freezing and slow freezing can be set according to the use state of the user, and supercooling freezing can also be performed. Quick freezing and slow freezing can be set according to the use state of the user, and supercooled freezing can also be performed. It can also be set in a vegetable room that can maintain high humidity.

  Further, in a refrigerator having a plurality of partitioned storage rooms (refrigeration room 2, ice making room 3, switching room 4, vegetable room 5, freezing room 6 and the like) and blowing cool air generated by a cooler to the storage room The direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage which are connected to at least one storage chamber (for example, the switching chamber 4) of the storage chambers and blow the cool air from the cooler to the storage chamber (for example, the switching chamber 4). Since the two cooling air passages 16B and the air volume adjusting means 15 capable of switching at least both of the two cooling air passages to open, one open, and both close are provided, the user can use quick freezing or slow freezing. Can be set, and supercooled refrigeration can also be performed. Quick freezing and slow freezing can be set according to the use state of the user, and supercooled freezing can also be performed.

  The air volume adjusting means 15 has one inlet and two outlets, and the inlet is connected to the air passage 16C from the cooler chamber in which the cooler is arranged, and one of the two outlets is an indirect cooling wind. Connected to the path 16B, the other of the two outlets is directly connected to the cooling air path 16A. Further, the direct cooling air passage 16A is opened at a position where the cold air directly hits the food in the storage room (for example, the switching room). Further, the indirect cooling air passage 16B is opened at a position where the cold air is not directly applied to the food in the storage room (for example, the switching room) or a position where the cold air is indirectly applied to the food. In addition, since at least one storage chamber is a storage chamber that can perform supercooled freezing that can be frozen through a supercooled state, the success rate of supercooled freezing is increased, and frozen storage (super Cooling and freezing).

In the present invention, at least one storage room can be switched to the switching room 4 or the supercooled freezing room. The storage chamber case 17 installed in at least one storage chamber (for example, the switching chamber 4 and the supercooling chamber 4), and a lid member 20 that covers at least a part of the upper opening of the storage chamber case 17, The opening of the air passage 16B for indirect cooling is opened at a position where the cover member 20 is directly exposed to the cold air so that the food in the storage case 17 is not directly exposed to the cold air.
Alternatively, in the present invention, the storage chamber case 17 installed in at least one storage chamber (for example, the switching chamber 4 or the supercooling chamber 4), and the lid member 20 that covers at least a part of the upper opening of the storage chamber case 17 , And the food in the storage chamber case 17 is placed in the opening of the storage chamber case 17 that is not covered by the lid member 20 that covers at least a part of the upper opening of the storage chamber case 17 with cold air having a slow cooling rate such as a natural fall. The opening of the indirect cooling air passage 16B is arranged at a position where substantially the same cooling as the indirect cooling can be performed.
Therefore, the success rate of supercooled freezing increases, and frozen storage (supercooled freezing) with good food quality can be provided.

  In the present invention, the temperature detecting means 19 for detecting the food temperature in at least one storage chamber (for example, the switching chamber 4 or the supercooling chamber 4) and the air volume adjusting means 15 based on the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 19 are used. Control means 30 for controlling the baffle opening degree of the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling when it is determined that the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 19 is higher than the first predetermined temperature T0 set in advance. Both of the air flow paths 16B are opened, and when the predetermined time t0 or more has elapsed after both the direct cooling air path 16A and the indirect cooling air path 16B are opened, the direct cooling air path 16A is substantially closed and indirectly I'm trying to cool it down.

  In the present invention, the temperature detecting means 22 for detecting the food temperature in at least one storage room (for example, the switching room 4 or the supercooling room 4) and the air volume adjusting means 15 based on the temperature detected by the temperature detecting hand 22 are used. Control means 30 for controlling the baffle opening degree of the air flow, and when the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 22 is determined to be equal to or lower than a second predetermined temperature T21 set in advance, the direct cooling air passage 16A is substantially closed. Indirect cooling is used. Further, when it is determined that the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 22 is equal to or lower than a preset third predetermined temperature T22, the direct cooling air passage 16A is opened to directly cool and cool rapidly. (At this time, the indirect cooling air passage 16B may be either in accordance with the specifications of the air volume adjusting means 15 (one baffle specification or two baffle specifications). In the case of one baffle specification, the indirect cooling air passage is If the baffle is open and has two specifications, the indirect cooling air passage may be either closed or open, i.e. only direct cooling or direct and indirect cooling. Therefore, since the surface temperature of the food is measured by using an infrared sensor as the temperature detecting means 22, a temperature closer to the food (for example, the surface temperature of the food) can be detected, and as a result, it is supercooled. The success rate of freezing is increased, and frozen storage with good food quality (supercooled freezing) can be provided.

  Further, in the present invention, in the refrigerator having a plurality of partitioned storage chambers and blowing cool air generated by the cooler to the storage chamber, the refrigerator is connected to at least one of the storage chambers, Is connected to at least one of the storage chambers, and the cool air from the cooler directly applies the cold air to the food in the storage chamber. Open at least both of the indirect cooling air passage that opens to a position where it is not exposed to food, or a location where food is indirectly exposed to cold air, and the direct cooling air passage and the indirect cooling air passage, one open, both closed The air volume adjusting means that can be switched to any one of the above are provided, and the storage room is configured as a storage room that can perform supercooled freezing that can be frozen through a supercooled state by switching between the two cooling air paths. Therefore, a temperature closer to the food (for example, the surface temperature of the food) can be detected, and the success rate of the supercooled freezing is increased, and frozen storage (supercooled freezing) with good food quality can be provided.

  According to the present invention, since the at least one storage chamber is provided with both the direct cooling air passage 16A and the indirect cooling air passage 16B, the refrigerator including the storage chamber that can be switched between quick freezing, normal freezing, and supercooling freezing. And storage. Moreover, since indirect cooling and direct cooling can be switched (use differently), the refrigerator and storage which can use a storage room (for example, switching room) as a high humidity vegetable storage room by switching to indirect cooling can be provided.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the temperature distribution nonuniformity in the compartmented storage room in a refrigerator can be made small, and the refrigerator and storage in which high quality food preservation is possible can be provided.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, temperature distribution nonuniformity, such as a foodstuff preserve | saved in the storage chamber which is a storage chamber in a refrigerator, can be made small, and the refrigerator and storage which can preserve | save high-quality foodstuffs can be provided.

  According to the present invention, since the supercooling refrigeration function is adopted as the high quality refrigeration function instead of the conventional quick refrigeration function, high quality refrigeration with less energy than the conventional one, that is, energy saving refrigeration is realized as a global environment countermeasure. It has the effect of being able to.

  In addition, the refrigerator of the present invention adopts a temperature-controlled cooling structure in which cold air is introduced into a space for supercooling and the cooling temperature can be changed into a plurality of temperatures. Control has the effect of realizing supercooled freezing of food such as meat.

  According to the present invention, since the infrared sensor is used as the temperature detecting means, the surface temperature of the food can be measured, and the temperature closer to the food (for example, the surface temperature of the food) can be detected. The success rate of cooling and freezing is increased, and frozen storage with good food quality (supercooled freezing) can be provided.

  According to the present invention, since the supercooled freezing function frozen through the supercooled state is provided, it is possible to perform freezing with high quality in which the size and shape of ice crystals formed during freezing hardly destroy the original structure of food. In addition, since the ice crystals are small, even if the ice crystals are broken, a state close to the original state can be obtained, and when thawed, the food quality such as the taste, texture and storage state of the food can be said to be good. In addition, since it is equipped with supercooled refrigeration that has been frozen through a supercooled state, the ice nuclei are small and fine, and the ice nuclei are substantially uniform over the entire frozen object such as food. Compared to the case, the food quality is better.

  The refrigerator of this invention can obtain the refrigerator which can implement supercooling freezing by changing the specification of a general refrigerator partially. Also, the structure of the refrigerator for home use has been explained mainly, but the idea of the present invention is also applied to a large cryogenic commercial freezer warehouse, for example, after food is stored, the temperature is lowered to a freezing point at a predetermined cooling rate, and the target food On the other hand, cooling is performed to maintain supercooling while gradually lowering the temperature by using an air flow with good distribution at a high freezing temperature, and after a predetermined time, a lower temperature is directly sprayed on the food to quickly freeze and release the supercooling. After that, it is possible to employ a configuration utilizing control of storing at a temperature lower than the temperature at which the supercooled state is obtained, for example, a freezing temperature of about −18 ° C. As a result, significant energy savings can be achieved. In addition, it is effective to enter a supercooled state while transporting food in a low temperature transport vehicle as a refrigerator, maintain the supercooled state, supply cooler air directly to the food and release the supercooling, Can be stored frozen. That is, in the case of meat, fish, etc., since each cell and the cell are filled with moisture without any gap, it corresponds to a container filled with water without any gap, so there is no release of supercooling due to vibration during transportation, and Store normal temperature food, cool it at a temperature that is not too low, and finally freeze it at an extremely low temperature such as -60 ° C as in a commercial freezer. Therefore, energy is not used as a transportation vehicle, and it is also useful for energy saving before and after transportation such as supercooled refrigeration using transportation time, and food with good frozen quality can be delivered to a delivery destination.

  In addition, the food that has been supercooled and frozen in the refrigerator of the present invention has a slow cooling rate when creating a supercooled state, so that ice crystals begin to form at the same time after the temperature has dropped uniformly to the inside of the food. The generated ice crystals do not grow unevenly, the size of the ice crystals formed in the food is reduced, and the food quality can be maintained. Regarding the relationship between the cooling rate and the size of ice crystals inside the food, the size of the ice crystals formed inside the food tends to increase as the cooling rate increases.

  The refrigerator of the present invention blows out food stored by the cold air circulating from the cooler continuously from the freezing temperature zone to 0 ° C. or a temperature range of the freezing temperature, or from the cold air outlet of the freezing room. Frozen air is sucked into the cooler and the food is stored in a freezer that keeps the food in a supercooled state that does not freeze even at temperatures below the freezing point. A temperature setting means for setting the temperature of the chamber to −2 ° C. or lower and −15 ° C. or higher, and a freezer compartment so as to keep the food stored in the cooling chamber in a supercooled state while suppressing the wind speed around the food stored in the cooling chamber And a cool air adjusting means for adjusting the cool air to be taken into the blow-out cooling chamber.

  The refrigerator of the present invention includes a supercooling chamber that keeps food stored by cold air from the cooler in a supercooled state that is not frozen at a set temperature of −15 ° C. or lower below the freezing point, and a supercooled chamber that is blown into the supercooled chamber. The cold air adjusting means for changing the temperature of the cold air circulating in the air, and the food which is stored in the supercooling chamber by the cold air adjusting means and which is in a supercooled state is supplied with cold air having a temperature about 2 to 5 degrees lower than the set temperature. And a supercooling canceling means for canceling the supercooling state, and a high-quality frozen food can be easily obtained.

  The temperature setting means for setting the temperature of the freezing chamber or the cooling chamber according to the present invention is a cooling in a range where the surface temperature of the food decreases from 3 ° C. to 0 ° C. when the normal temperature food stored in the cooling chamber is cooled. Since the speed is in the range of −3.5 ° C./hr to −10 ° C./hr, it is possible to reliably enter the supercooled state.

  Cold air is adjusted to at least one of a cold air outlet that blows out cold air to the cooling room that is the freezing room or the storage room of the present invention, an intake port that introduces cold air into the cooling room, and an air path between the cold air outlet and the cold air inlet. The cooling air adjusting means 15 is provided, and the air speed around the food that becomes supercooled by adjusting the cold air by the cold air adjusting means is suppressed to about 0.1 to 0.5 m / s. Can be maintained.

  The cool air adjusting means 15 and the air passage 16 of the present invention are configured such that the indirect cooling air passage 16B is bent a plurality of times or provided with an air passage length corresponding to the depth of the switching chamber which is the storage chamber and the cooling chamber, or This cold air adjusting means suppresses the wind speed at the cold air outlet of the cold air blown out to the freezing chamber or the cooling chamber by the baffle 15A to about 1.0 to 1.2 m / s. The state can be maintained.

  In the present embodiment, the switching chamber 4 has been described as an example of a storage chamber that can perform supercooling cooling, supercooling freezing, and quick freezing, but other storage chambers such as the freezing chamber 6 and the vegetable chamber 5 are used. However, if the air passage for direct cooling and the air passage for indirect cooling are provided and the air passage can be switched, supercooling freezing and quick freezing can be performed. If it does so, a favorite storage room can be set to a favorite temperature zone and subcooling freezing without choosing a storage room, and a user-friendly refrigerator and storage can be provided for a user.

It is a front view of the refrigerator which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a sectional side view of the refrigerator which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a sectional side view of the switch room periphery of the refrigerator which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a control flowchart figure at the time of normal freezing of the refrigerator which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display panel of a refrigerator in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a control flowchart figure at the time of the supercooling freezing of the refrigerator which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a sectional side view of the switch room periphery of the refrigerator which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a front view around the damper for switching rooms of the refrigerator which shows Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a sectional side view of the switch room periphery of the refrigerator which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a control flowchart figure at the time of the supercooling freezing of the refrigerator which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Refrigerator body, 1A machine room, 2 refrigerator room, 3 ice making room, 4 switching room, 4A back outlet, 5 vegetable room, 6 freezer room, 7 refrigerator room door, 7A refrigerator room door left, 7B refrigerator room door right, 8 Ice making room door, 9 Switching room door, 10 Vegetable room door, 11 Freezing room door, 12 Compressor, 13 Cooler, 14 Cooling air circulation fan, 15 Switching room damper, 15A Baffle, 16 Duplex air for switching room cooling Road, 16A Direct cooling air path, 16B Indirect cooling air path, 17 Switching room case, 18 Switching room ceiling insulation, 18A Ceiling outlet, 19 Switching room thermistor, 20 Switching room case lid, 21 Switching room twin damper, 21A Direct cooling frame, 21B Indirect cooling frame, 22 surface temperature measuring device, 30 control device, 60 display panel.

Claims (10)

In the refrigerator having a plurality of partitioned storage chambers and blowing cool air generated by a cooler to the storage chamber, at least one of the storage chambers has passed the supercooled state after the overcooling state. A cold air path that blows cold air from the cooler to a storage chamber that can perform supercooled refrigeration in which the frozen state is released after the cooled state is released and the supercooled state is released. Is composed of two air passages, a direct cooling air passage and an indirect cooling air passage. In the refrigerator having a plurality of partitioned storage chambers and blowing cool air generated by a cooler to the storage chamber, at least one of the storage chambers has passed the supercooled state after the overcooling state. wherein a storage room supercooling refrigeration releasing the cooled state performs frozen after said supercooled state is released can be performed is connected to the storage room supercooling freezing can be performed, the storage compartment cold air from the cooler Two cooling air passages, a direct cooling air passage and an indirect cooling air passage, and an air volume adjusting means capable of switching at least both of the two cooling air passages to open, one open, and both closed. A refrigerator characterized by that. The air volume adjusting means has one inlet and two outlets, and the inlet is connected to an air passage from a cooler chamber in which the cooler is disposed, and one of the two outlets is the indirect cooling. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the refrigerator is connected to an air passage, and the other of the two outlets is connected to the direct cooling air passage. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the direct cooling air passage is opened at a position where the food in the storage room is directly exposed to cold air. 5. The indirect cooling air passage is opened at a position where the cold air is not directly applied to the food in the storage chamber, or at a position where the cold air is indirectly applied to the food. Refrigerator. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the at least one storage room is a switching room. A storage chamber case installed in the at least one storage chamber; and a lid member that covers at least a part of an upper opening of the storage chamber case. The opening of the indirect cooling air passage directly cools the lid member. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the food in the storage case is not directly exposed to cold air. A temperature detecting means for detecting a food temperature in the at least one storage chamber; and a control means for controlling the air volume adjusting means based on the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means, and the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means. Is determined to be higher than the preset first predetermined temperature, both the direct cooling air passage and the indirect cooling air passage are opened, and the direct cooling air passage and the indirect cooling air passage are The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the direct cooling air passage is substantially closed and indirectly cooled when a predetermined time or more has elapsed after both have been opened. A temperature detecting means for detecting a food temperature in the at least one storage chamber; and a control means for controlling the air volume adjusting means based on the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means, and the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein when the temperature is determined to be equal to or lower than a preset second predetermined temperature, the direct cooling air passage is substantially closed to indirectly cool the air. . In the refrigerator having a plurality of partitioned storage chambers and blowing cool air generated by a cooler to the storage chamber, the refrigerator is connected to at least one of the storage chambers, and the cool air from the cooler is A direct cooling air passage that opens to a position that directly contacts food in the storage chamber, and at least one of the storage chambers is connected, and the cool air from the cooler directly cools the food in the storage chamber. Open at least both of the indirect cooling air passage that opens to a position where the air does not hit, or a location where the food is indirectly exposed to cold air, and the direct cooling air passage and the indirect cooling air passage, and one open. An air volume adjusting means that can be switched to either of the two closed states, and switching the two cooling air passages to release the supercooling state after the storage chamber has gone through the supercooling state, so that the supercooling state is After being released Refrigerator, characterized in that the storage compartment supercooling freezing performing freezing storage can be performed.

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