Continuous rapid cooling device

Abstract

To provide a continuous quick cooling device having no risk of unexpected operational failure of door.SOLUTION: A continuous quick cooling device with a cooling chamber has an opening part on the front of a cooling chamber body with one side on an inlet side and the other side on an outlet side, and has a door movable in a direction facing the opening part. The cooling chamber comprises movable means of opening and closing the door, and a plurality of guide means connected to the upper right and left sides of the door and capable of expanding and contracting. The plurality of guide means can expand and contract by the same amount of expansion and contraction with synchronization means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a continuous rapid cooling device in which an object to be cooled is transported by a transport means in a cooling chamber and rapidly cooled by a cooling means. Here, cooling includes freezing. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a continuous rapid cooling device has been known which has an inlet on one side of a cooling cabinet and an outlet on the opposite side, a conveying device (conveyor) installed between the inlet and the outlet, and which uses a cooling device installed inside the cooling cabinet to cool objects to be cooled, such as food, placed on the conveying means.

[0003] The interior of the cooling chamber of the continuous rapid cooling device is periodically cleaned for sanitation management. To facilitate this cleaning, a continuous rapid cooling device is known in which an opening is formed in the front of the cooling chamber and a door is provided to open and close the opening (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3504834 [Patent Document 2] Publication No. 3084166 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The continuous rapid cooling device according to Patent Document 1 mentioned above is a continuous rapid cooling device which has an inlet on one side of a cooling cabinet and an outlet on the opposite side, with a conveying means installed between the inlet and the outlet, and which cools objects to be cooled such as food placed on the conveying means by the cooling means installed inside the cooling cabinet, and which has an opening formed on the front of the cooling cabinet with a gull-wing door that can open and close the opening.

[0006] Although the gull-wing door can open widely, it requires a large space to open. Therefore, it has a drawback that the installation space of the continuous rapid cooling device is large. In addition, when the gull-wing door is opened, the gull-wing door is located above the worker's head, which reduces the workability during cleaning and causes safety concerns.

[0007] The continuous rapid cooling device according to Patent Document 2 mentioned above is a continuous rapid cooling device having an inlet on one side of a cooling cabinet and an outlet on the opposite side, with a conveying device installed between the inlet and the outlet, and cooling objects such as food placed on the conveying means by the cooling device installed inside the cooling cabinet, with openings formed on the front and rear of the cooling cabinet and a door that can be moved in the direction opposite the opening.

[0008] The continuous rapid cooling device according to the above-mentioned Patent Document 2 can reduce the space required to open the door compared to the gull-wing door. Also, unlike the gull-wing door, the door is not placed above the worker's head, and the workability and safety during cleaning can be improved.

[0009] However, in the continuous rapid cooling device of Patent Document 2, if the protrusion amounts of the slide rails connected to the left and right sides of the door differ slightly when moving the door, there is a risk that the slide rails will come into contact with the guide frame (causing jamming), causing the door to stop moving midway through its operation.

[0010] When manually moving the door by gripping the handle, it is sometimes possible to avoid the door getting stuck midway by adjusting the imbalance in the left and right protrusions of the door. However, when opening and closing the door automatically, such flexibility is not possible, and there is a high possibility that the door will get stuck midway.

[0011] Furthermore, in the continuous rapid cooling device according to Patent Document 2, when the door is closed, the parallelism between the seat surface exposed in front of the opening and the door surface is low, which results in an excessive workload when sealing and locking the door.

[0012] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the invention is to provide a continuous rapid cooling device which is free from unexpected door malfunctions, is suitable for automatic opening and closing, and reduces the workload when sealing and locking the device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] The present invention relates to a continuous rapid cooling device having a cooling chamber having an opening on the front surface of a cooling chamber body with one side surface being an entrance side and the other side surface being an exit side, and a door that can be moved in a direction facing the opening, The cooling box includes a movable means for opening and closing the door, and a plurality of extendable guide means connected to the upper left and right sides of the door. and a synchronizing means, the guide means having a slide shaft portion and a slide guide portion, the slide guide portion being fixed to the top plate of the cooling chamber body, slidably holding the slide shaft portion and holding the synchronizing means, the slide shaft portion and the synchronizing means being engaged with each other, said plurality of guide means The slide shaft portion teeth, The above The means for solving the problem is a continuous rapid cooling device characterized in that the devices are capable of expanding and contracting by the same amount by a synchronization means. Effect of the Invention

[0014] According to the present invention, in a continuous rapid cooling device equipped with a cooling cabinet having an opening on the front side of the cooling cabinet body, with one side being the entrance side and the other side being the exit side, and having a door that can be moved in the direction opposite the opening, the cooling cabinet is equipped with a movable means for opening and closing the door, and a plurality of expandable guide means connected to the upper left and right sides of the door, respectively, and the plurality of guide means are capable of expanding and contracting by the same amount relative to each other through a synchronization means, thereby eliminating any discrepancy in the amount of movement between the plurality of guide means, and the door moves accurately without any left-right discrepancy in the opening and closing direction, and therefore the door will not get stuck mid-operation.

[0015] In addition, since the door moves accurately in the opening and closing direction without any left-right misalignment, it can be made suitable for an automatic opening and closing mechanism.

[0016] In addition, because the door moves precisely in the opening and closing direction without any misalignment to the left or right, the degree of airtightness is improved when the door is closed, and the locking operation after sealing is easy and reliable, reducing the workload. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing the front, right side, and plan of a continuous rapid cooling device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Diagram 2] 1A is a plan view showing a synchronous shaft in a continuous rapid cooling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a plan view showing the continuous rapid cooling apparatus without the cover and case. [Diagram 3] 1A is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between a synchronizing means and a guide means in a continuous rapid cooling device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between a pinion gear and rack teeth in the synchronizing means. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a left side view of the continuous rapid cooling apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention with the door in an open state. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a left side view of the continuous rapid cooling apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention with the door in a closed state. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] A continuous rapid cooling apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention has an opening on the front surface of a cooling chamber body, with one side surface being an inlet side and the other side surface being an outlet side, and has a door that can move in a direction facing the opening. The cooling box includes a movable means for opening and closing the door, and a plurality of extendable guide means connected to the upper left and right sides of the door. and a synchronizing means, the guide means having a slide shaft portion and a slide guide portion, the slide guide portion being fixed to the top plate of the cooling chamber body, slidably holding the slide shaft portion and holding the synchronizing means, the slide shaft portion and the synchronizing means being engaged with each other, said plurality of guide means The slide shaft portion teeth, The above The synchronization means allows the two to be expanded or contracted by the same amount (first configuration).

[0019] According to the above-mentioned first configuration, in a continuous rapid cooling device equipped with a cooling cabinet having an opening on the front side of the cooling cabinet body, with one side being the entrance side and the other side being the exit side, and a door that can move in the direction opposite to the opening, the cooling cabinet is equipped with a movable means for opening and closing the door, and a plurality of expandable guide means connected to the upper left and right sides of the door, respectively, and the plurality of guide means are capable of expanding and contracting by the same amount relative to each other due to a synchronization means, so there is no difference in the amount of movement between the plurality of guide means, and the door moves accurately without any left-right misalignment in the opening and closing direction, and the door does not get stuck in the middle of operation.

[0020] In the above first configuration, the synchronization means can be formed by engagement between rack teeth provided on the multiple guide means and pinion gears provided at both ends of a synchronization shaft perpendicular to the multiple guide means (second configuration).

[0021] According to the above-mentioned second configuration, the rack teeth provided on the multiple guide means engage (mesh) with the pinion gears fixed to both ends of the synchronous shaft, so that the pinion gears at both ends rotate in the same phase according to the amount of rotation of the synchronous shaft, thereby enabling the multiple guide means to move by the same amount, and the door moves accurately without any left-right deviation in the opening and closing direction, so that the door does not get stuck mid-operation.

[0022] In the above first or second configuration, the movable means can be a linear actuator having an actuating rod, and the actuating rod can be configured to push and retract the door in the movement direction (third configuration).

[0023] According to the third configuration, the door does not get stuck midway through operation due to the action and effect of the first or second configuration, and the door can be moved in the direction facing the opening, thereby reducing the installation space for the continuous rapid cooling device and ensuring good operability during cleaning. EXAMPLES

[0024] Hereinafter, a continuous rapid cooling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated. In order to make the description easier to understand, the structures are shown in a simplified or schematic manner in the drawings referred to below, and some of the components are omitted. Furthermore, the dimensional ratios of the components shown in each drawing do not necessarily represent the actual dimensional ratios.

[0025] In the following figures, for convenience of explanation, the arrow U indicates the upward direction of the continuous rapid cooling device, the arrow D indicates the downward direction, the arrow F indicates the forward direction, the arrow B indicates the backward direction, the arrow R indicates the rightward direction, and the arrow L indicates the leftward direction.

[0026] The continuous rapid cooling device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes one cooling chamber 10, a transport device 5, and a control unit (not shown).

[0027] As shown in Figures 1 and 2(b), the cooling cabinet 10 comprises a cooling cabinet main body 10A, a door 11, a movable means 2 for opening and closing the door 11, two guide means 3, 3 connected to the upper left and right sides of the door 11, respectively, and a synchronization means 4 for synchronizing the two guide means 3, 3 with each other.

[0028] The cooling cabinet body 10A has an outer wall portion made of a heat-insulating wall. The cooling cabinet body 10A has a top surface portion, a bottom surface portion, a front surface portion, a rear surface portion, an entrance side surface portion 14A, and an exit side surface portion 14B, which form an internal space 16. The front surface portion has an opening portion 12 that leads to the outside.

[0029] As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the cooling cabinet 10 is equipped with a cold air circulation chamber 100, a cooling treatment chamber 101, a partition wall 102 separating these (the cold air circulation chamber and the cooling treatment chamber), a transport device installation section 103, a cold air supply section 104, a partition section for the loading side reserve room (not shown), a partition section for the unloading side reserve room (not shown), a heat exchanger 105, and a blower 106 in the internal space 16 of the cooling cabinet main body 10A, and is equipped with a power panel and a cooling device on the outside, although not shown.

[0030] Further, the carry-in side preliminary chamber partition, the carry-out side preliminary chamber partition, the carry-in side side portion 14A, and the carry-out side side portion 14B are provided with communication openings 17 communicating with each other, and the transport device installation portion 103 for installing the transport device 5 (conveyor) is secured. In the continuous rapid cooling apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, the transport device 5 is installed in the transport device installation portion.

[0031] The cold air sent from the cooling treatment chamber 101 to the cold air circulation chamber 100 by the blower 106 is cooled by the heat exchanger 105, sent from the cold air circulation chamber 101 into the cold air supply section 100, and sent from the cold air supply section 104 to the upper and lower surfaces of the object to be cooled on the transport device 5. This cools the object to be cooled, and the cold air after cooling the object to be cooled is sucked again from the cold air suction port of the blower 106, and circulates between the cold air circulation chamber and the cold air treatment chamber.

[0032] As shown in Figures 1 and 4, the door 11 has a closing portion 11A for closing the opening 12, an extension portion 11B extending upward from the closing portion 11A, and an upper frame portion 11C extending left-right above the extension portion 11B and connected to the extension portion 11B. 2, the upper frame portion 11C has a guide means connection surface 11D that is horizontal to the opening 12, and an upper surface 11E. A movable means connection portion 13 is provided at the center position in the left-right direction on the upper surface 11E of the upper frame portion 11C. The movable means connection portion 13 is for connecting the door 11 and the movable means 2.

[0033] The movable means 2 is an electric linear actuator, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4. The linear actuator has a drive source 23 (motor), a drive conversion mechanism 24 that converts a rotational drive force from the drive source 23 into a linear drive force, and an actuator rod 20 that can move linearly by the drive conversion mechanism 24. The actuator rod 20 has a cylinder 21 and a rod 22 that slides relative to the cylinder 21.

[0034] The movable means 2 is disposed on the top plate 15 of the outer wall of the cooling cabinet main body 10A, at a position in the center of the width of the door 11 in the direction in which the transport device advances and retreats (i.e., the left-right direction), with the direction in which the operating rod 20 is perpendicular to the direction in which the transport device advances in a plan view (i.e., the left-right direction) (i.e., the front-rear direction) being its longitudinal direction. A tip 22A of a rod 22 of the operating rod 20 is connected by a pivot 13A to the movable means connection part 13 provided on the upper frame part 11C of the door 11. A drive source 23 is mounted on the top plate 15 via a stand 24.

[0035] 1 and 2, each of the guide means 3, 3 has a long slide guide portion 30, a slide shaft portion 31 that can slide along the slide guide portion 30, and a cover 32 that covers these (the slide guide portion 30 and the slide shaft portion 31). When the slide shaft portion 31 slides along the slide guide portion 30, the overall length of the guide means 3, 3 increases or decreases as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0036] The two guide means 3, 3 are arranged on the top plate 15 of the outer wall of the cooling box body 10A, parallel to each other in a plan view, and are arranged such that the direction perpendicular to the transport device advancement / retraction direction (i.e., left / right direction) in a plan view (i.e., front / rear direction) is the longitudinal direction, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. That is, the two guide means 3, 3 and the operating rod 20 of the movable means 2 are arranged in parallel.

[0037] As shown in Figures 3(a) and (b), the slide shaft portion 31 of the guide means 3 comprises a slide shaft main body 31A, a slide shaft base 31B attached to the bottom surface of the slide shaft main body 31A and wider than the slide shaft main body 31A, and a rack portion 33 provided on the upper part of the slide shaft main body 31A.

[0038] As shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b), the slide guide section 30 of the guide means 3 has a slide guide main body 30A that slidably holds the slide shaft section 31, and left and right support frames 30B, 30B that extend upward from the slide guide main body 30A so as not to interfere with the slide shaft section 31. Bearing sections 30C, 30C are provided on the support frames 30B, 30B. As shown in Figures 2(b) and 3(a), the slide guide section 30 is fixed to the top plate 15 by a slide guide fixing section 30F.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 2(b), the tip of the slide shaft portion 31 is connected to the guide means connection surface 11D of the upper frame portion 11C of the door 11 by using a fixing metal fitting 31C.

[0040] 3(a) and 3(b), the synchronizing means 4 is composed of a synchronizing shaft 40 and the rack portion 33 of the slide shaft portion 31. The rack portion 33 has rack teeth arranged in a row in the longitudinal direction.

[0041] 2(a), the synchronous shaft 40 is provided with pinion gears 41, 41 at both ends of a shaft body 40A. These pinion gears 41, 41 have the same shape and are arranged symmetrically.

[0042] As shown in Figure 2(b), the synchronous shaft 40 is positioned so that it is perpendicular to the two guide means 3, 3 in a planar view, the pinion gears 41, 41 mesh with the rack teeth of the rack portions 33, 33 in the slide guide portions 30, 30, and are supported by the left and right bearing portions 30C, 30C.

[0043] Furthermore, the shaft main body 40A is perpendicular to the operating rod 20 of the movable means 2 when viewed in a plan view, but by making their heights from the top plate of the cooling cabinet main body 10A different, the shaft main body 40A and the operating rod 20 do not interfere with each other. The pinion gears 41 , 41 are covered by the case 34 .

[0044] With the above configuration, when a signal to open the door 11 is input, the control unit (not shown) instructs the linear actuator, which is the movable means 2, to operate the drive source 23 and slide the rod 22 forward relative to the cylinder 21, thereby extending the operating lever 20 and moving the door 11 forward (in the direction facing the opening 12) (see Figure 4).

[0045] As the door 11 moves, the left and right slide shaft parts 31 slide relative to the slide guide parts 30 and move forward. More specifically, as shown in Fig. 3(a), the slide shaft base 31B of the slide shaft parts 31 slides relative to the slide guide parts 30, and the slide shaft parts 31 move forward. The rack part 33 is included in the slide shaft parts 31 and moves forward (see Fig. 4).

[0046] At this time, since the pinion gears 41, 41 on the coaxial shaft 40 held by the bearing portion 30C are engaged with the rack portions 33, 33, the amount of movement of the left and right slide shaft portions 31 is the same (in other words, the left and right guide means 3, 3 extend by the same amount), and the left and right protrusion amounts of the door 11 connected to the slide shaft portion 31 are the same.

[0047] Therefore, when the door 11 is opened, there is no difference in the amount of extension between the guide means 3, 3, and the door 11 moves accurately without any left-right deviation, so that the door 11 does not get stuck midway through its operation.

[0048] In addition, when a signal to close the door 11 is input, the control unit instructs the linear actuator, which is the movable means 2, to retract the operating rod 20 and move the door 11 in the direction opposite the opening 12 (rearward) (see Figure 5).

[0049] The left and right slide shaft parts 31 are moved backward by the movement of the door 11. At this time, since the pinion gears 41, 41 of the coaxial shaft 40 held by the bearing part 30C are engaged with the rack parts 33, 33, the left and right slide shaft parts 31 move by the same amount (in other words, the left and right guide means 3, 3 are contracted by the same contraction amount), and the left and right protrusion amounts of the door 11 connected to the slide shaft part 31 are the same.

[0050] Therefore, when the door 11 is closed, there is no deviation in the amount of contraction between the guide means 3, 3, and the door 11 moves accurately without any deviation to the left or right, so that the door 11 does not get stuck midway through its operation.

[0051] The control unit stops the operation of the door 11 when a door open sensor (not shown) detects that the door 11 is opened, and when a door closed sensor (not shown) detects that the door is closed.

[0052] The continuous rapid cooling apparatus 1 according to the embodiment shown above is configured to have the opening 12 only on the front side, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the apparatus may be configured to have openings 12 on the front and rear sides and a door 11 on each side, or the openings 12 may be arranged in parallel and multiple doors 11 may be arranged in parallel.

[0053] Furthermore, the continuous rapid cooling device 1 in the embodiment shown above is configured to have one cooling cabinet 10, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and by modularizing, it is also possible to configure the device in such a way that the discharge outlet side of one cooling cabinet (cooling module) among the multiple cooling cabinets (cooling modules) is connected to the load inlet side of another cooling cabinet (cooling module).

[0054] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples for carrying out the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and the above-mentioned embodiments can be appropriately modified and carried out without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 1. Continuous rapid cooling device 10 Refrigerator 10A Cooling unit body 11 Door 11A Occlusion 11B Extension section 11C Upper frame part 11D Guide means connection surface 11E Top 12 Opening 13 Movable means connection part 13A Axis 14A Loading side 14B Side of unloading side 15 Tabletop 16 Interior Space 17 Communication opening 2 Mobility means 20 Operating rod 21 Cylinder 22 Rod 22A Tip 3 Guide means 30 Slide guide part 30A Slide guide body 30B Support frame 30C bearing part 30D Slide Plate 30E Slide Plate 30F Slide guide fixing part 31 Slide shaft section 31A Slide shaft body 31B Slide shaft base 31C Fixture 32 Cover 33 Rack section 34 cases 4 Synchronization methods 40 Synchronous shaft 40A Shaft body 41 Pinion gear 5. Conveyor

Claims

1. A continuous rapid cooling device is provided with a cooling chamber having an opening on the front surface of the cooling chamber body, the opening being on one side surface of the cooling chamber body and on the other side surface of the cooling chamber body, the cooling chamber having a door that can be moved in a direction opposite to the opening, The cooling box includes a movable means for opening and closing the door, a plurality of extendable guide means connected to the upper left and right sides of the door, and a synchronization means, The guide means has a slide shaft portion and a slide guide portion, The slide guide portion is fixed to a top plate of the cooling chamber body, and slidably holds the slide shaft portion and holds the synchronizing means; The slide shaft portion and the synchronizing means are engaged with each other, The slide shaft portions of the plurality of guide means are capable of expanding and contracting by the same amount due to the synchronizing means.

2. 2. The continuous rapid cooling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the synchronizing means is constituted by engagement between rack teeth provided on each of the plurality of guide means and pinion gears provided at a plurality of locations on a synchronizing shaft perpendicular to the plurality of guide means.

3. 3. The continuous rapid cooling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movable means is a linear actuator having an actuating rod, and the actuating rod is provided so as to push and retract the door in the moving direction.

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