JPH0640853B2 - Food heater - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a food heater that heats food or the like by bringing the food or the like into contact with a heat transfer section heated by a heater or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows a typical example of a heat transfer section of a food heater according to the related art. The heat of the heater 14 is applied to the heat transfer member 15 and the protective layer 16
Through food. In the prior art, the protective layer 16 is formed by coating the heat transfer member 15 with a thick film of a fluoropolymer material by, for example, baking treatment.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The main purpose of coating the heat transfer member 15 with the protective layer 16 is to prevent food from sticking to the food heater. In the conventional technique, the protective layer 16 is made of, for example, a fluorine-based polymer material, so that food is less likely to burn as compared with the case where the protective layer 16 is not coated, and the heat resistance of the protective layer is almost satisfactory. there were. However, since the fluorine-based polymer material has a very small thermal conductivity as compared with, for example, stainless steel forming the heat transfer member 15, in the conventional technique, the protective layer 16 serves as a heat resistor and the heat of the heater 14 is efficiently generated. The power loss of the heater was large because it was not transmitted to food. In addition, even if the protective layer 16 is made of, for example, a fluorine-based polymer material by the conventional technique, food may be burned, and the thing stuck to the protective layer 16 with a spatula or the like is removed. There is also a problem that the layer 16 may be scratched and peeled off from the heat transfer agent 15, which deteriorates the food heater.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention is a food heater in which at least a food or the like in the heat transfer section is in contact with and heats the food or the like with a diamond thin film or a diamond-like thin film.

Diamond has a thermal conductivity of 1.3 for I type diamond.
~ 2.1cal / cm ・ sec ・ ℃, and with Type II diamond 4.4cal
/ cm · sec · ° C, which is 30 to 90 times higher than that of stainless steel, the largest among all substances. Also, diamond is the hardest of all materials, and chemically stable,
Furthermore, the physical properties do not change at least within the operating temperature range of the food heater. The diamond-like thin film also has properties very close to those of diamond. Therefore, the diamond thin film or the diamond-like thin film is ideal as a protective layer for a food heater.

Many reports have been made on such a diamond thin film or a method for synthesizing a diamond-like thin film.

(For example, References) (1) Namba Yoshikoshi: Study on low pressure synthesis of diamond thin film,
Applied Mechanical Engineering, July 1984 (2) Seiichiro Matsumoto: Low Pressure Synthesis of Diamonds, Contemporary Chemistry, September 1984 (3) Nobuo Setaka: Low Pressure Synthesis of Diamonds, Japan Industrial Technology Association, Technical Document No. 138 , 59/6/20 Further, the diamond-like thin film can be synthesized by the PI-CVD method developed in our laboratory.

(For example, References) (1) Kurokawa et al .: Formation and evaluation of high hardness carbon film by plasma injection CVD method, Proc. Alternatively, the use of the diamond-like thin film as the protective layer of the food heater has the following effects.

As mentioned above, diamond has the highest thermal conductivity of any substance, so by configuring the protective layer of the food heater with a diamond thin film or a diamond-like thin film, the heat of the heater is quickly transferred to the food. The power loss of the heater can be made extremely small. Further, since diamond is the hardest of all substances, if a diamond thin film or a diamond-like thin film is used as a protective layer of a food heater, no scratch will occur. Also, at least within the operating temperature range of the food heater, diamond thin film,
Alternatively, since the characteristics of the diamond-like thin film do not deteriorate, the performance of the food heater does not deteriorate during use.

Example FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a food heater according to the invention. The heat of the heater 1 is transferred to food through the heat transfer member 2 and the protective layer 3. The protective layer 3 of the food heater according to the present invention is composed of a diamond thin film or a diamond-like thin film as described above. These thin films can be coated on the heat transfer member 2 by an ionization vapor deposition method, an ion beam deposition method, a plasma CVD method or the like in addition to the PI-CVD method as described in the above-mentioned reference. Especially PI-C
The coating method using the VD method enables mass production without heating the member to be coated at a higher film formation rate than other coating methods, and the PI-CVD apparatus has a simple structure. Since it is excellent and easy to industrialize, it is suitable as a means for coating the heat transfer member of the food heater of the present invention with the diamond thin film or the diamond-like thin film. FIG. 2 shows an example of coating the heat transfer member with, for example, a diamond-like thin film by the PI-CVD method. The heat transfer member 10 covering the diamond-like thin film is installed in the holder 11,
The plasma tube 4 and the vacuum vessel 12 are 0.01 with the vacuum pump 13.
After evacuation to about Pa, methane gas and argon gas 6 are introduced into the plasma tube to set a predetermined pressure. This mixed gas of methane and argon is, for example, 13.56MHz
Of the high frequency power source 8 and the coil 9 wound around the outer periphery of the plasma tube to generate plasma, and the plasma is jetted to the substrate by the pressure difference between the vacuum container 12 and the plasma tube 4,
By forming an electric field with the DC power supply 5 so that the heat transfer section 10 has a low potential with respect to the mesh electrode 7, ions in the plasma are accelerated and collide with the heat transfer member 10 to form a film. For example, a mixed gas of 15 Pa of methane gas and 5 Pa of argon gas is turned into plasma with high-frequency power of 1 KW, and DC voltage is 1 KV.
The applied film is a diamond-like thin film containing SP ³ electron trajectories, and the film forming rate can be 5000 Å / min.

(References) Kurokawa et al .: Formation and evaluation of high hardness carbon film by plasma injection CVD method, Proc. Of the Seiki Society Spring Conference, 1985, No.422 As described above, protection of the food heater of the present invention A layer is formed.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the food heater of the present invention coated with a diamond thin film, or a diamond-like thin film on the surface which heats the food or the like in contact with at least the food or the like in the heat transfer section has a very high power loss of the heater. Since it is small, the same heating performance can be obtained with less power consumption as compared with the food heater according to the conventional technique, and it has a longer life and is more durable than the food heater according to the conventional technique.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of a food heater in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a principle diagram of an embodiment in which a heat transfer member of the food heater is coated with a diamond-like thin film by a PI-CVD method.
FIG. 3 is a principle diagram of a typical example of a conventional food heater. 1 ... Heater, 2 ... Heat transfer member, 3 ... Protective layer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A food heater in which a diamond thin film or a diamond-like thin film is coated on at least a surface of a heat transfer portion that comes into contact with food or the like and heats food or the like.