Refrigeration device

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a refrigeration device that freezes an object brought into contact with a cooling liquid and makes it possible to effectively stir the cooling liquid, improve an object freezing speed and an object freezing processing amount, and achieve a reduction in the size of the device. [Solution] A refrigeration device (1) comprises: a cooling tank (3) in which a cooling liquid (L) is retained; a storage unit (6) in which an object to be cooled is stored; and an up-down drive mechanism (7) that drives the storage unit (6) in the up-down direction. A lower part of the storage unit (6) includes a stirring unit (23) including a plurality of opening / closing flaps (32). When the storage unit (6) is lowered, the opening / closing flaps (32) are brought into a closed state by water pressure from the lower side, and the cooling water (L) below the opening / closing flaps (32) is pushed down toward a bottom surface part (3A) of the cooling tank (3). Thus, flows of the cooling water (L) moving upward inside the cooling tank (3) from the bottom surface part (3A) side and flowing into an opening part (25) on the upper side of the storage unit (6) is generated, so that the cooling liquid (L) is effectively stirred.

Description

Refrigeration equipment

[0001] The present invention relates to an improvement in a liquid freezing type freezing apparatus for quickly freezing objects to be cooled, such as food.

[0002] Known refrigeration systems for rapidly freezing food or other objects include air-cooled systems (air freezing systems) that cool the objects by blowing cold air into a cooling chamber in which the objects are placed, and liquid freezing systems that immerse the objects in a low-temperature liquid. While air-cooled systems have traditionally been the norm, liquid freezing systems, which can achieve higher quality freezing more quickly, have recently been attracting attention. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes an invention in which the cooling efficiency of a liquid freezing system is improved by moving the objects up and down in the cooling liquid.

[0003] Patent No. 6668563

[0004] In a liquid freezing type refrigeration system (freezer), agitation of the coolant (brine liquid) is important to promote heat exchange between the heat exchanger (e.g., cooling pipe) and the coolant, and between the coolant and the object to be cooled. For this reason, conventional refrigeration systems are equipped with an agitator, and the coolant is agitated using the agitator.

[0005] 10 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of agitation of a coolant in a conventional refrigeration system. As shown in the figure, a refrigeration system 100 includes a cooling tank 101 in which a coolant (brine liquid) L is stored, a coil-shaped cooling pipe 102 that serves as a heat exchanger disposed in the cooling tank 101, a storage shelf 103 that stores an object to be cooled, and an agitator 104. The storage shelf 103 has a structure that allows cooling water to flow therein, and is also capable of being moved up and down by a drive mechanism (not shown).

[0006] Agitator 104 has a rotating shaft 104A and an agitating blade 104B fixed to the rotating shaft 104A, and generates a flow of cooling liquid by means of agitating blade 104B rotating together with rotating shaft 104, and is disposed to the side of cooling pipe 102. When agitator 104 operates, a flow of cooling liquid is generated toward cooling pipe 102 and shelf 103 for storing cooled material by agitating blade 104B rotating together with rotating shaft 104, as shown by the arrows in the figure, and the cooling liquid is agitated.

[0007] However, agitating the cooling liquid using such a conventional agitator has the following problems. First, because the agitator 104 agitates the liquid using the agitating blades 104B at a predetermined location, it is not possible to agitate the liquid uniformly throughout the cooling tank 3, resulting in large variations in the flow rate of the cooling liquid. As a result, high heat exchange efficiency cannot be achieved. This slows down the freezing rate of the cooled material (e.g., frozen food) and also reduces the freezing throughput (kg / h). This is particularly noticeable when a large amount of cooled material is stored in the cooling material storage shelf 103 with no gaps between them.

[0008] Furthermore, in order to sufficiently increase the flow rate of the cooling liquid, a large, high-power agitator must be used, which requires a large space to accommodate the agitator inside the cooling tank, which increases the size of the cooling tank, which in turn increases the amount of cooling liquid required and the size of the refrigeration system.

[0009] The present invention has been made in light of these problems, and aims to provide a refrigeration device that freezes objects by bringing them into contact with a cooling liquid, which can effectively agitate the cooling liquid, improve the freezing speed and freezing throughput of the objects, and enable the device to be made smaller.

[0010] The present invention is a refrigeration device that freezes an object to be cooled by bringing it into contact with a cooling liquid, characterized in that it comprises a cooling tank in which the cooling liquid is stored, a storage section that is placed within the cooling tank and is capable of storing the object to be cooled and through which the cooling liquid can flow, a drive mechanism that can drive the storage section in an up and down direction, and an opening / closing member that is provided at the bottom of the storage section and is in a closed state when the storage section is lowered to prohibit the flow of cooling liquid, but is in an open state when the storage section is raised to allow the flow of cooling liquid.

[0011] The opening / closing member may include a plurality of opening / closing flaps that can be opened and closed by rotating around a rotation axis that extends horizontally in a substantially horizontal direction.

[0012] It is desirable that the opening and closing member includes a plurality of opening and closing flaps, which are arranged in parallel so as to partially overlap one another in the closed state.

[0013] It is desirable that the cooling tank has a bottom portion and side portions, and the storage portion has a wall portion that closes the side portion of the storage portion and an opening portion provided on the upper side of the wall portion through which the cooling liquid can flow, and that as the storage portion moves up and down, the cooling liquid pushed toward the bottom portion by the opening / closing member that is in a closed state when the storage portion is lowered rises from the bottom portion along the side portion, flows into the storage portion through the opening portion, passes through the opening / closing member that is in an open state when the storage portion is raised, and generates a flow of cooling liquid that flows from the inside of the storage portion to the outside.

[0014] It is desirable that a heat exchanger for cooling be disposed so as to surround the periphery of the storage section.

[0015] According to the present invention, a liquid freezing type refrigeration system (e.g., refrigeration system 1) includes a drive mechanism (e.g., vertical drive mechanism 7) that drives a storage section (e.g., storage unit 6) vertically and an opening / closing member (e.g., agitation unit 23) disposed at the bottom of the storage section. When the storage section is lowered, the closed opening / closing member pushes the cooling liquid downward, and the pushed cooling liquid hits the bottom of the cooling tank (e.g., cooling tank 3), creating an upward flow. This effectively and uniformly agitates the cooling liquid in the cooling tank (e.g., cooling tank 3), reducing unevenness in the flow rate of the cooling liquid within the cooling tank and improving the heat exchange efficiency between the cooling liquid and the cooled material. This improves the freezing rate and throughput of the cooled material in the refrigeration system. Furthermore, because the only agitation component is the opening / closing member disposed at the bottom of the storage section, no space is required for an agitator, allowing the volume of the cooling tank to be reduced. This reduces the amount of cooling liquid required and allows for a more compact refrigeration system.

[0016] If the opening / closing member is provided with an opening / closing flap (e.g., opening / closing flap 32) that rotates around a rotation axis (e.g., rotation axis 33) that extends parallel to the horizontal direction, the opening / closing flap can be rotated toward the closed state (closed position) by the water pressure of the coolant acting from below the opening / closing member when the storage unit is lowered, and the opening / closing flap can be rotated toward the closed state (closed position) by the water pressure of the coolant acting from above the opening / closing member when the storage unit is raised. Therefore, the opening / closing flap can perform appropriate opening and closing operations using only the power for driving the storage unit without requiring any other power, and can effectively agitate the coolant.

[0017] If multiple opening and closing flaps are arranged in parallel so that they partially overlap each other when closed, no gaps will form between adjacent opening and closing flaps in the closed state (closed position), which appropriately prohibits the flow of coolant and properly prevents the opening and closing flaps from rotating excessively beyond the closed position due to water pressure from below.

[0018] If the cooling tank has a bottom portion (e.g., bottom portion 3A) and a side portion (e.g., side portion 3B), and the storage portion has a wall portion (e.g., wall portion 22C, side wall portion 24) and an opening portion (e.g., opening portion 25), and the cooling liquid pushed by the opening / closing member in the closed state rises from the bottom portion of the cooling tank along the side portion, flows in from the opening portion of the storage portion, and passes through the opening / closing member in the open state to generate a flow of cooling liquid flowing out, extremely effective stirring can be performed throughout the entire cooling tank.

[0019] By providing a heat exchanger (e.g., cooling pipe 4) arranged so as to surround the periphery of the storage section, the cooling liquid pushed by the opening / closing member can be made to circulate around the heat exchanger, thereby improving the heat exchange efficiency between the cooling liquid and the heat exchanger.

[0020] FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigeration device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the refrigeration device, showing a state in which a storage unit is immersed in a cooling liquid. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the storage unit. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the loading tray. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the agitation unit. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the agitation unit, showing a state in which the opening / closing flap is in a closed position. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the agitation unit, showing a state in which the opening / closing flap is in an open position. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining the agitation of a cooling liquid in the present invention, showing the flow of the cooling liquid when the storage unit is descending. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining the agitation of a cooling liquid, showing the flow of the cooling liquid when the storage unit is ascending. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining the agitation of a cooling liquid in the prior art.

[0021] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figures 1 and 2 show a refrigeration system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figures, the refrigeration system 1 includes a base 2 that serves as a platform for supporting various components of the refrigeration system 1, a cooling tank 3 provided within the base 2, cooling pipes 4 arranged within the cooling tank 3, a refrigerant supply unit 5 that supplies a refrigerant (primary refrigerant) to the cooling pipes 4, a storage unit 6 capable of storing objects to be cooled, a vertical drive mechanism 7 that drives the storage unit 6 in the vertical direction, an elevation mechanism 8 that drives the vertical drive mechanism 7 to raise and lower, and a control device (control panel) 9 that controls the operation of each part of the refrigeration system 1.

[0022] 1 shows the storage unit 6 waiting above the cooling tank 3, and Fig. 2 shows the storage unit 6 lowered into the cooling tank 3 and immersed in the cooling liquid L. In Figs. 1 and 2, only the cooling tank 3 portion of the base 2 is shown in partial cross section.

[0023] The cooling tank 3 is a tank for cooling food or other objects to be cooled (objects to be frozen), and has a bottom 3A and four side surfaces 3B (four flat sides on the front, back, left, and right sides in this embodiment). The approximately rectangular parallelepiped space surrounded by the bottom 3A and the side surfaces 3B serves as a reservoir 3C in which the cooling liquid L is stored.

[0024] Meanwhile, the top of the cooling tank 3 is an opening 3D for loading and unloading the storage unit 6. As shown in Figure 2, when the storage unit 6 is loaded into the cooling tank 3, the opening 3D is closed by the lid 11 that descends along with the storage unit 6. This keeps the water in the storage section 3C of the cooling tank 3 cold.

[0025] In this embodiment, the coolant (brine liquid) is an aqueous alcohol solution (e.g., an aqueous ethanol solution) at a low temperature (e.g., about −35° C.) with an appropriately adjusted mixture ratio of water and alcohol. Note that the coolant in the present invention is not limited to an aqueous alcohol solution, and may be any liquid that does not freeze at the temperature required to cool the object to be cooled.

[0026] The cooling pipe 4 is a heat exchanger for cooling the cooling liquid L in the cooling tank 3, and is made up of a pipe through which a refrigerant flows. In this embodiment, the cooling pipe 4 is made up of a pipe arranged in a coil shape (cylindrical shape as a whole), and the storage unit 6 is arranged in the space in the center of the coil shape. The cooling pipe 4 is arranged approximately in the center of the cooling tank 3.

[0027] In addition, in Figures 1 and 2, the cooling pipe 4 is illustrated in a simplified schematic form, and the pipes forming the coil shape are shown as being closely overlapped, but in reality, a gap may be provided between the upper and lower pipes through which the coolant L can flow.

[0028] The refrigerant supply unit 5 includes refrigerant pipes (a refrigerant gas pipe 5A and a refrigerant liquid pipe 5B) and various valves (such as solenoid valves not shown) as components for introducing the refrigerant into the cooling pipes 4.

[0029] The storage unit 6 is a storage shelf in which objects to be cooled are stored, and includes a frame 21 that forms an outer frame, a plurality of loading trays 22 arranged within the frame 21, and a stirring unit 23 arranged at the lower end of the frame 21. The storage unit 6 is arranged approximately in the center of the cooling tank 3 so that it is spaced approximately equidistant from the four side surfaces 3B of the cooling tank 3. A more detailed configuration of the storage unit 6 will be described later with reference to FIG. 3.

[0030] The vertical drive mechanism 7 includes a housing 12, a drive means (e.g., an electromagnetic motor, not shown) disposed within the housing 12, and a support arm 13 linked to the drive means. The support arm 13 supports the frame 21 of the storage unit 6 from above. As a result, the drive means causes the support arm 13 to move up and down (extend and retract), thereby moving the storage unit 6 up and down. The stroke and speed of the vertical movement of the storage unit 6 are appropriately controlled by the control device 9.

[0031] Note that Figure 1 shows a state in which the support arm 13 does not extend from the housing 12 and the storage unit 6 is on the upper side of the vertical movement, and Figure 2 shows a state in which the support arm 13 extends downward from the housing 12 and the storage unit 6 is on the lower side of the vertical movement.

[0032] In this way, the storage unit 6 is driven to move up and down in the cooling tank 3 (cooling liquid L) by the vertical drive mechanism 7, and during the freezing process of the objects to be cooled, it repeats up and down movement at a stroke and speed appropriately controlled by the control device 9. Therefore, the objects to be cooled held in the storage unit 6 are not simply immersed in the cooling liquid, but are also moved up and down in the cooling liquid, which increases the fluidity of the cooling liquid around the objects to be cooled, thereby accelerating the cooling rate of the objects to be cooled.

[0033] The lifting mechanism 8 includes a vertically long housing 14 attached to the base 2, a lifting drive mechanism (for example, a power cylinder, not shown) provided within the housing 14, and a support arm 15 linked to the lifting drive mechanism. The support arm 15 is connected to the housing 12 of the vertical drive mechanism 7, and supports the housing 12 from the side.

[0034] With this configuration, when the up / down drive mechanism 7 is raised or lowered by the drive of the lifting drive mechanism, the storage unit 6 supported by the up / down drive mechanism 7 also rises or lowers. As a result, the storage unit 6 can be moved from the upper standby position shown in Figure 1 to the cooling position in the cooling tank 3 shown in Figure 2.

[0035] In addition, the lid 11 of the cooling tank 3 is attached integrally to the underside of the support arm 15 (or the housing 12 of the up-down drive mechanism 7), and when the storage unit 6 moves into the cooling tank 3, the lid 11 also descends to close the opening 3D of the cooling tank 3.

[0036] 3 shows the storage unit 6 in detail. As shown in the figure, the storage unit 6 includes a frame 21, a plurality of loading trays 22 arranged within the frame 21, and a stirring unit 23 attached to the bottom of the frame 21 and arranged below the loading trays 22. In this embodiment, the loading trays 22 have the same shape.

[0037] The frame 21 is configured by combining a plurality of rod-shaped frame members 21A. The frame members 21A form a framework of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a plurality of loading trays 22 are stored in this framework in a vertically stacked state.

[0038] Plate-shaped side walls 24 are provided on the sides of the frame 21. A support structure (e.g., rails, not shown) that supports each of the multiple loading trays 22 so that it can move forward and backward is provided on the inward surface (the surface on the loading tray 2 side) of the side walls 24. This support structure allows each loading tray 22 to be pulled out forward like a drawer at a predetermined position within the frame 21, allowing objects to be placed on the loading trays 22.

[0039] As also shown in Figure 4, the loading tray 22 has an approximately rectangular bottom portion 22A, side portions 22B on both the left and right sides of the bottom portion 22A, and wall portions 22C provided in front and behind the bottom portion 22A, and the bottom portion 22A is the loading portion on which the object to be cooled is placed.

[0040] The bottom surface 22A and the side surfaces 22B are made of thin rod-like members arranged in a mesh pattern (e.g., wire mesh), and the coolant can flow through the mesh, allowing the coolant to flow freely up and down inside the storage unit 6, which is made up of multiple stacked trays 22.

[0041] Meanwhile, front and rear wall portions 22C of the loading tray 22 serve as walls that block the front and rear of the loading tray 22 and restrict the inflow of cooling liquid. Small openings are formed at predetermined positions of the wall portions 22C, and these openings serve as grip portions 22D for pulling out the loading tray 22.

[0042] With this configuration, the four sides (front, back, left and right) of the storage unit 6 are almost completely sealed off by the front and back walls 22A, 22B and the left and right side walls 24, so that almost no coolant flows in from the sides of the storage unit 6.

[0043] Meanwhile, the upper part of the storage unit 6 is an open section 25 that allows the flow of cooling liquid at all times. That is, on the upper side of the storage unit 6, there is a wire mesh (not shown) similar to the bottom section 22A that prevents the cooled object from flying out of the frame 21 and the uppermost loading tray 22, and the cooling liquid can flow freely from the top of the storage unit 6 to the inside through this uppermost mesh.

[0044] 5, the stirring unit 23 includes an outer frame 31 and a plurality of opening and closing flaps 32 arranged inside the outer frame 31. In this embodiment, the plurality of opening and closing flaps 32 have the same shape.

[0045] The outer frame 31 is made up of front and rear (top and bottom in FIG. 5) frame sections 31A and 31B and left and right frame sections 31C and 31D. These frame sections 31A to 31D form a substantially rectangular frame with approximately the same dimensions as the loading tray 22, and multiple opening and closing flaps 32 are arranged in parallel throughout the space within this frame.

[0046] The opening / closing flap 32 is a member having an elongated plate shape (a blade shape). The long sides of the opening / closing flap 32 extending in the longitudinal direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 5 ) are a base end 32A and a tip end 32B, respectively. The base end 32A and the tip end 32B have approximately the same dimensions as the inner portions of the frame portions 31A and 31B of the outer frame 31, and are positioned facing the frame portions 31A and 32A of the outer frame 31. Meanwhile, the side portions 32C and 32D, which are the short sides of the opening / closing flap 32 on both longitudinal sides, are positioned adjacent to the frame portions 31C and 32D of the outer frame 31, respectively.

[0047] The opening / closing flap 32 is supported rotatably around a rotation shaft 33 relative to the outer frame 31. More specifically, the rotation shaft 33 extending in the longitudinal direction is provided at a predetermined position near the base end 32A of the opening / closing flap 32. The rotation shaft 33 extends from both side portions 32C, 32D of the opening / closing flap 32 and is journaled on frame portions 31C, 31D of the outer frame 31.

[0048] With this configuration, the opening / closing flaps 32 can be selectively positioned between a closed position (see FIG. 6 ) in which they are positioned substantially horizontally and an open position (see FIG. 7 ) in which they are rotated downward. When the opening / closing flaps 32 are in the closed position (closed state), the entire inside of the outer frame 31 is covered by the opening / closing flaps 32, preventing the flow of coolant beyond the agitation unit 23. On the other hand, when the opening / closing flaps 32 are in the open position (open state), the tip portions 32B of the opening / closing flaps 32 are positioned downward, creating gaps (flow paths 34) between adjacent opening / closing flaps 32, allowing the flow of coolant beyond the agitation unit 23.

[0049] The base end 32A and the tip end 32B of adjacent opening / closing flaps 32 overlap each other by a small amount so that the tip end 32B is below the base end 32A when the opening / closing flaps 32 are in the closed position. As a result, when the opening / closing flaps 32 are in the closed position, no gaps are formed between adjacent opening / closing flaps 32, thereby appropriately preventing the flow of coolant. Furthermore, while the opening / closing flaps 32 can be rotated toward the open position, excessive rotation beyond the closed position is appropriately prevented by the overlapping of the tip end 32B and the base end 32A.

[0050] 6 and 7 show in detail the opening and closing operation of the opening and closing flap 32 in the agitation unit 23. The opening and closing flap 32 rotates between a closed position shown in Fig. 6 and an open position shown in Fig. 7 in accordance with the up and down movement of the storage unit 6 to open and close.

[0051] More specifically, when the storage unit 6 is lowered within the cooling tank 3, as shown in Fig. 6, upward water pressure from below, as indicated by arrow 35, acts on the agitation unit 23 (opening / closing flap 32) located at the bottom of the storage unit 6. This pushes the opening / closing flap 32 of the agitation unit 23 upward, and it reaches the closed position (substantially horizontal rotation position) shown in Fig. 6. When the storage unit 6 continues to descend with the opening / closing flap 32 in the closed position, the coolant below the agitation unit 23 is pushed downward by the opening / closing flap 32 in the closed position.

[0052] On the other hand, when the storage unit 6 is raised in the cooling tank 3, downward water pressure, as indicated by arrow 36, acts on the agitation unit 23 (opening / closing flap 32) from above (inside the storage unit 6), as shown in FIG. 7. This causes the opening / closing flap 32 of the agitation unit 23 to be pushed downward and reach the open position (a rotated position in which the tip 32B is positioned downward) as shown in FIG. 7. As a result, the coolant can flow unrestricted through the flow path 34 formed between the opening / closing flaps 32. The opening / closing flap 32 rotates toward the open position under its own weight, and returns to the open position under its own weight when water pressure is not acting on it.

[0053] Next, the agitation of the coolant by the refrigeration system 1 of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to Figures 8 and 9. Figure 8 shows the flow of the coolant when the storage unit 6 is lowered, and Figure 9 shows the flow of the coolant when the storage unit 6 is raised.

[0054] 8, when the storage unit 6 is lowered, the opening and closing flap 32 of the agitation unit 23 is closed by water pressure from below. Therefore, the cooling liquid below the storage unit 6 is pushed downward (i.e., toward the bottom surface 3A of the cooling tank 3) by the closed opening and closing flap 32.

[0055] The pushed cooling water flow hits the bottom surface 3A of the cooling tank 3 and changes direction upward. This generates a flow of cooling liquid that rises upward from the bottom surface 3A of the cooling tank 3 along the four side walls 3B, as shown by arrow 41A in Figure 8. This flow flows around the cooling pipes 4 arranged to surround the storage unit 6, reaches the upper side of the cooling tank 3, flows toward the storage unit 6 as shown by arrow 41B, and flows into the storage unit 6 from the opening 25 of the storage unit 6 as shown by arrow 41C.

[0056] As mentioned above, the four sides (front, back, left and right) of the storage unit 6 are blocked by the front and back wall portions 22C and the side wall portions 24 on both sides, so the coolant does not flow into the interior of the storage unit 6 from the sides of the storage unit 6, but rather flows into the interior of the storage unit 6 from the opening 25 at the top of the storage unit 6.

[0057] 9, when the movement of the storage unit 6 switches to rising, water pressure is applied to the agitation unit 23 from above (inside the storage unit 6), causing the opening and closing flaps 32 to open. The opening and closing flaps 32 in the open position do not affect the flow of the coolant, so the coolant flows downward through the interior of the storage unit 6 (the multiple loading trays 22) as shown by arrow 41D in Fig. 9 (in reality, the storage unit 6 moves upward relative to the coolant), and then flows through the flow paths 34 between adjacent opening and closing flaps 32 to the outside of the storage unit 6 (downward) as shown by arrow 41E in Fig. 9.

[0058] In this way, according to the refrigeration device 1, as the storage unit 6 repeatedly moves up and down, the opening and closing flaps 32 open and close, and the cooling liquid pushed toward the bottom portion 3A of the cooling tank 3 by the closed opening and closing flaps 32 rises along the four side portions 3B, passes around the cooling pipes 4 which are heat exchangers, and flows into the storage unit 6 from the open portion 25 at the top, and passes through the flow path 34 formed by the open opening and closing flaps 32, generating a flow (reflux) of cooling liquid flowing out from below the storage unit 6.

[0059] The cooling liquid pushed by the agitation unit 23 toward the bottom surface 3A of the cooling tank 3 is pushed evenly in all directions of the cooling tank 3. Furthermore, since the cooling liquid flows into the open portion 25 of the storage unit 6 evenly from all directions, an almost uniform flow occurs inside the storage unit 6 throughout the entire area.

[0060] Therefore, the cooling liquid in the cooling tank 3 is effectively stirred throughout the entire cooling tank 3 (storage section 3C), allowing for uniform stirring throughout the cooling tank 3, improving unevenness in the flow rate of the cooling liquid in the cooling tank 3, thereby appropriately increasing the flow rate of the cooling liquid around the object to be cooled and improving the heat exchange efficiency between the cooling liquid and the object to be cooled.

[0061] Furthermore, since the cooling pipe 4 (heat exchanger) is arranged to surround the periphery of the storage unit 6, the flow of the cooling liquid pushed by the agitation unit 23 flows evenly around the periphery of the cooling pipe 4 and throughout the entire coil shape of the cooling pipe 4. This allows the cooling liquid to be cooled effectively by the cooling pipe 4, and improves the heat exchange efficiency between the cooling liquid and the heat exchanger.

[0062] In this way, according to the refrigeration device 1 of this embodiment, the cooling liquid in the cooling tank 3 can be effectively and uniformly stirred, and the flow rate of the cooling liquid can be increased to improve the heat exchange efficiency between the cooling liquid and the object to be cooled and between the cooling liquid and the heat exchanger, thereby improving the freezing speed and freezing throughput of the object to be cooled.

[0063] Furthermore, the only configuration required to stir the coolant in the cooling tank 3 is the stirring unit 23, which does not require a large installation space, located below the storage unit 6. Therefore, since there is no need to install an agitator, the volume of the cooling tank 3 can be reduced, which reduces the amount of coolant required and also allows for the overall size of the refrigeration system 1. Furthermore, since the stirring unit 23, which has a simple configuration, is the only configuration required for stirring, costs can be significantly reduced compared to when an agitator is installed.

[0064] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the claims. For example, in the above embodiments, the storage unit 6 moves only up and down, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The storage unit 6 may move up and down in combination with left and right movement and / or rotational movement.

[0065] In the above embodiment, the storage unit 6 has the form of a storage shelf equipped with multiple trays 22, but the present invention is not limited to this form. The storage unit can take any form as long as it can store objects to be cooled inside and allow cooling liquid to flow through it.

[0066] The present invention can be used to quickly freeze food or other objects to be cooled.

[0067] DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigeration device 2 Base 3 Cooling tank 3A Bottom surface of cooling tank 3B Side surface of cooling tank 3C Storage section 4 Cooling pipe (heat exchanger) 5 Refrigerant supply section 6 Storage unit 7 Vertical drive mechanism 8 Lifting mechanism 9 Control device 11 Lid 12 Housing of vertical drive mechanism 13 Support arm of vertical drive mechanism 14 Housing of lifting mechanism 15 Support arm of lifting mechanism 21 Frame of storage unit 22 Loading tray 22A Bottom surface of loading tray 22B Side of loading tray 22C Wall of loading tray 23 Stirring unit 24 Side wall of storage unit 25 Opening section 31 Outer frame of stirring unit 32 Opening / closing flap 33 Rotating shaft

Claims

1. A refrigeration device which freezes an object to be cooled by bringing it into contact with a cooling liquid, comprising: a cooling tank in which the cooling liquid is stored; a storage section disposed within the cooling tank, capable of storing the object to be cooled and allowing cooling liquid to flow vertically through the storage section; a drive mechanism capable of driving the storage section vertically; and an opening / closing member disposed at the bottom of the storage section, which closes when the storage section is lowered to prohibit the flow of the cooling liquid, but opens when the storage section is raised to allow the flow of the cooling liquid.

2. A refrigeration device as described in claim 1, wherein the opening and closing member is provided with a plurality of opening and closing flaps that can be opened and closed to allow the cooling liquid to flow vertically by rotating around a rotation axis extending parallel to a substantially horizontal direction.

3. A refrigeration system according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of opening and closing flaps are arranged in parallel such that the leading ends of the opening and closing flaps partially overlap adjacent opening and closing flaps when in a closed state.

4. The refrigeration device of claim 1, wherein the cooling tank has a bottom portion and side portions, the storage section has a wall portion closing the side portion of the storage section, and an open portion provided on the upper side of the wall portion through which cooling liquid can flow, and when the storage section moves up and down, the cooling liquid pushed downwardly of the bottom portion by the opening and closing member which is in a closed state when the storage section is lowered rises from the bottom portion along the side portions in the cooling tank, flows into the interior of the storage section through the open portion, and generates a flow of cooling liquid that passes through the opening and closing member which is in an open state when the storage section is raised and flows out from inside the storage section to the outside.

5. A refrigeration system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a heat exchanger disposed so as to surround the periphery of said storage section.

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