JPH073253Y2 - Ice storage type cold storage - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial field of application] The present invention is an ice that stores a relatively small amount of fresh food at supermarkets, fruit stores, flower shops, etc. at ice temperatures for several weeks without losing its freshness. Heat storage type cold storage.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, storage of fresh food items has been performed at room temperature, frozen, refrigerated, or in an ice room. At room temperature, long-term storage is difficult, and when frozen, cells die and have a bad taste.When refrigerated, temperature control is possible but humidity control is difficult, and fresh foods are dry and long-term storage is difficult. However, in the case of an ice room, the temperature inside the refrigerator is increased by +1 to 1 due to the melting of ice.
Since the humidity was automatically maintained at 3 ° C and 90%, the fresh food could be stored for a long time without deteriorating the freshness and taste.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

In conventional storage facilities, it has been impossible to store fresh foods for a long period of time without deteriorating the freshness and taste of foods other than the ice room.

That is, since the refrigerator can control the temperature but the humidity is difficult to control, the fresh food is dried and loses its freshness when it is stored, and the freezer freezes the fresh food to destroy the cells and taste.

In the case of an ice room, the room can be kept at the optimum temperature and humidity and fresh food can be stored for a long time, but since it is used for a long time, it is suitable for a large storage cabinet using a large amount of ice. , There was nothing suitable for the storage of small amounts of fresh food products in cities.

The present invention intends to provide a cool box that retains the excellent preservation of fresh foods in the ice room while maintaining the convenience of an electric refrigerator.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The present invention relates to an ice storage unit provided in an upper part of a refrigerator, a weight sensor for detecting the weight of the ice storage unit, and an ice machine controlled by an output signal of the weight sensor to supply ice to the ice storage unit. It is characterized by having.

[Action]

In the above, the ice made by the ice making machine is stored in the ice storage unit, and the inside of the refrigerator is kept at a temperature of +1 to 3 ° C. and a humidity of about 90% by the melting of the ice.

When the ice stored in the ice storage section is melted by heat generated from fresh food in the storage or heat entering from the outside of the storage, the ice storage section becomes lighter, and its weight is measured by the weight sensor. When detected and the weight is below the reference value, the weight sensor sends a signal to the ice maker. The ice machine to which the above signal is sent is activated to produce ice and supplies it to the ice storage unit, and stops when the weight of the ice storage unit exceeds a reference value.

Due to the above, while maintaining the excellent preservation of fresh food in the conventional ice room, while combining the convenience of the electric refrigerator, it is possible to store a small amount of fresh food at the optimum temperature and humidity for urban use. We were able to provide a suitable cool box.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS.

In this embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the refrigerator 2 is mounted on the common underframe 4.
It is also provided with a cool box 1 having a door 5 on the front and having a wall made of a heat insulating material, and an ice making machine 3 arranged on the cool box 1. Inside the cool box 1, one end has a pin
An ice tray 6 suspended by brackets 8a, 10 connected by a cable 9a and the other end thereof by a pin 9b and an ice tray 6 suspended by an electric load cell 11 are provided at the upper part of the ice tray. Below the 6 is a shelf 17 in which fresh food 18 is stored. Further, a fixed tube 13 is connected to the ice tray 6 via a flexible tube 12.
The fixed tube 13 is connected to a pump 14 driven by a motor 15 provided outside the cool box 1, and further, the pump
A tube 16 connected to the ice maker is connected to 14.

In the above, the refrigerator 2 installed on the side surface of the cool box 1 exchanges heat with the atmosphere and sends the refrigerant to the cool box 1 to cool the inside of the cool box 1. Further, although not shown, the refrigerant obtained by the refrigerator 2 enters an ice making machine 3 to cool water to make ice. The ice 7 produced by the ice making machine 3 is dropped on an ice tray 6 installed on the upper part of the cool box 1 which is kept warm by a heat insulating material, and the temperature and humidity in the cool box 1 are stored as fresh food products 18. Automatically keeps the optimum conditions.

One end of the ice tray 6 is fixed by a hinge by a bracket 8a, a pin 9a and a bracket 10 so that the ice tray 6 can rotate freely under the load of ice.
Since the other end of is fixed to the upper part of the cool box 1 via the bracket 8b, the pin 9b and the electric load cell 11, the weight of the ice on the ice tray 6 is constantly measured by the load cell 11.

When the temperature inside the cool box 1 rises due to heat generated from fresh food 18 or heat entering from the outside of the cool box, the ice 7 on the ice tray 6 melts naturally and the temperature inside the box is related to the outside air temperature. Without keeping it at +1 to 3 ° C, the humidity in the refrigerator is always kept at about 90% due to the natural melting of ice. That is, the shelf 17 in the cool box 1
The above-mentioned fresh food 18 is stored while the temperature and humidity are automatically controlled to the optimum conditions by natural convection in the refrigerator without deteriorating the freshness and taste even after long-term storage.

The water produced by melting the ice on the ice tray 6 is discharged to the outside of the refrigerator through the flexible tube 12 and the fixed tube 13 and then enters the ice making machine 3 again by the pump 14 driven by the motor 15 through the tube 16. It becomes ice and is used repeatedly.

The operation of the pump 14, the refrigerator 2, and the ice maker 3 are all started and stopped by measuring the weight of the ice 7 on the ice tray 6
11 signals. That is, when the ice 7 melts and the weight becomes less than a certain standard, the ice making machine 3 or the like is operated to supply the ice to the ice tray 6, and when the weight becomes more than the certain standard, the ice making machine 3 or the like is automatically stopped. , The temperature and humidity inside the refrigerator are always kept constant.

Due to the above, while maintaining the excellent preservation of fresh food in the conventional ice room, while combining the convenience of the electric refrigerator, it is possible to store a small amount of fresh food at the optimum temperature and humidity for urban use. We were able to provide a suitable cool box.

[Effect of device]

According to the present invention, an ice storage unit is provided in the upper part of the refrigerator, and the weight sensor for detecting the weight of the ice storage unit is used to control the ice making machine to improve the preservation of fresh food in the conventional ice compartment. With the simplicity of an electric refrigerator, it was possible to store a small amount of fresh food at an optimum temperature and humidity and provide a cool box suitable for use in cities.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustration of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an illustration of FIG.
II-II arrow view, FIG. 3 is a III-III arrow view of FIG. 1 ... Cooler, 2 ... Refrigerator, 3 ... Ice maker, 4 ... Common underframe, 5 ... Door, 6 ... Ice pan, 7 ... Ice, 8a, 8b,
10 …… Bracket, 9a, 9b …… Pin, 11 …… Load cell, 12 …… Flexible tube, 13 …… Fixed tube, 14 …… Pump, 15 …… Motor, 16 …… Cube, 17
…… Shelf, 18 …… Fresh food.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An ice making unit for supplying ice to the ice storage unit, which is controlled by an output signal of the weight storage unit and a weight sensor for detecting the weight of the ice storage unit provided in an upper part of the inside of the refrigerator. Ice storage type cold storage that is equipped with a machine.