EP1457748A2 - Appareil de surgélation avec un compartiment séparé de congélation - Google Patents

Appareil de surgélation avec un compartiment séparé de congélation Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP1457748A2
EP1457748A2 EP04002533A EP04002533A EP1457748A2 EP 1457748 A2 EP1457748 A2 EP 1457748A2 EP 04002533 A EP04002533 A EP 04002533A EP 04002533 A EP04002533 A EP 04002533A EP 1457748 A2 EP1457748 A2 EP 1457748A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
deep
compartment
storage room
evaporator
freezing apparatus
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP04002533A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1457748A3 (fr
Inventor
Paolo Marega
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Original Assignee
Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Electrolux Home Products Corp NV filed Critical Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Publication of EP1457748A2 publication Critical patent/EP1457748A2/fr
Publication of EP1457748A3 publication Critical patent/EP1457748A3/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D11/00—Self-contained movable devices, e.g. domestic refrigerators
    • F25D11/02—Self-contained movable devices, e.g. domestic refrigerators with cooling compartments at different temperatures
    • F25D11/022—Self-contained movable devices, e.g. domestic refrigerators with cooling compartments at different temperatures with two or more evaporators
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D17/00—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces
    • F25D17/04—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection
    • F25D17/06—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection by forced circulation
    • F25D17/062—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection by forced circulation in household refrigerators
    • F25D17/065—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection by forced circulation in household refrigerators with compartments at different temperatures
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D2400/00—General features of, or devices for refrigerators, cold rooms, ice-boxes, or for cooling or freezing apparatus not covered by any other subclass
    • F25D2400/30—Quick freezing

Definitions

  • the present invention refers to an improved type of deep-freezing apparatus, preferably of the type for use in households, for food preservation applications.
  • Deep-freezing appliances are largely known in the art to be provided with an internal storage room, which is usually subdivided into a variety of compartments or shelves arranged above each other, in which said storage room is separated from the outside ambient by means of one or more thermally insulated doors.
  • said storage room is cooled by at least an evaporator and, owing to this room being actually subdivided into compartments that are not isolated thermally from each other, the temperature inside said storage room is essentially uniform.
  • the steady-state temperature prevailing inside the storage room of the appliance is already at the value which the temperature of the fresh food item to be frozen is intended to reach, and which is desirably to be kept at a sensibly constant level, as this on the other hand actually occurs under normal conditions, it logically ensues that the temperature inside the fresh food item to be frozen tends to decrease at quite a slow rate to reach down to said steady-state temperature prevailing in the storage room following an almost asymptotic trend.
  • Such a limitation is prejudicial to the quality of the deep-freezing process, resulting in obvious negative effects on the frozen food itself upon thawing.
  • the amount of food items to be deep-frozen is generally significantly smaller than the maximum allowable batch quantity that is admitted for deep-freezing in an appliance, i.e. which the deep-freezer is designed for. This practically means that deep-freezing appliances are generally overpowered, and therefore far too expensive, with respect to the actual average deep-freezing demand.
  • opening the door of the deep-freezer causes ambient air to enter the storage room of the appliance, thereby bringing about a temporary increase of the temperature thereinside and causing the performance of the appliance to deteriorate, although to a slight extent.
  • This deep-freezing apparatus must furthermore be capable of being manufactured with the use of readily available, existing materials and techniques, and must also be reliable and safe in its operation.
  • a deep-freezing apparatus comprises an outer casing, inside which there is provided a storage room 1 for holding the frozen food items, an evaporator 2 that is usually inserted totally, i.e. fully built-in within said storage room for improved efficiency, and a first door 3 for closing the storage room itself.
  • the storage room is usually provided with a plurality of shelves, drawers or similar supports 1A, 1B, 1C on which the food items can be placed in an orderly arrangement so as to make an optimum use of the available space.
  • a compartment 4 which is distinct and separate from the remaining internal volume of the same storage room.
  • the separation of this compartment from the remaining volume of the storage room is obtained, according to a preferred embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, with the help of at least a horizontal partition wall 5 that is as large as the horizontal cross-section of the storage room, and which therefore delimitates said compartment from the remaining portion of the storage room itself.
  • a second door 6 that opens forwards, i.e. towards the user, and that, when pushed inwards, shuts the inner volume of said compartment completely, but solely that inner volume.
  • said door is made so as to enable said compartment to be closed/opened freely and independently, without affecting any other inner volume of the main storage room.
  • said compartment 4, jointly with the second door 6 thereof, are to be considered in every respect as being included in the inner volume of the main storage room, and that, in order to open said compartment, it is therefore necessary for said first external door 3 to be opened first, thereby gaining access to the main storage room, and for the second door 6 to be then opened in order to gain access to the interior of said compartment.
  • both the horizontal partition wall 5 and the second door 6 are appropriately insulated, although these can of course be made without providing them with any particular insulation, for instance in view of reaching different aims, such as lower costs or larger useful volumes.
  • this compartment ensures that, in this compartment, cold is held more effectively over longer periods of time.
  • cold must be first produced in said compartment and, in order to be able to obtain a more intensive cool-down effect, it is highly desirable that this compartment be specifically cooled down by a second evaporator 8 of its own, which is therefore distinct from the evaporator 2 of the remaining storage volume.
  • second evaporator 8 may suitably consists simply of an additional section or extension of the evaporator 2 connected in series to the latter and arranged in such a manner as to be effective almost solely within said compartment, using well-known techniques applied universally for other types of products, such as for instance the so-called two-temperature and two-door refrigerators, to this purpose.
  • Circumstances may however arise, in which such a kind of connection does not prove advantageous, since it is for example required that a demand of maximum deep-freezing capacity be solely directed at said compartment, whereas the remaining storage room does not have actually to meet any such peak-capacity requirement. In such a case, the above-considered solution proves fully inadequate.
  • the first evaporator must therefore be made functionally independent of the second one, which, as mentioned above, works only in the separate compartment.
  • This may be implemented in various manners, which are all well-known to those skilled in the art, and which must be selected in accordance with the other existing constraints: for example, an option might be the use of a single refrigerating unit with two evaporators in parallel, in which each branch in parallel is provided with a respective electromagnetic valve to regulate the related flow of refrigerant medium.
  • Another option may consist of a simplified version of the above-described arrangement, which can be obtained by simply eliminating one of said two electromagnetic valves, preferably the one associated to the storage room evaporator, so that the latter is constantly on and its operation is solely regulated by the thermostat controlling the temperature of the storage room, and possibly by further control means that shall be illustrated in greater detail further on.
  • a further option for controlling the temperature in the separate compartment consists in providing the latter with a complete and independent refrigerating unit of its own. Such a solution may clearly provide ideal operating conditions as far as both the storage room and the separate compartment are concerned, but has a disadvantage in terms of a significant cost increase.
  • the result to be obtained is a temperature in the separate compartment which is lower than the temperature of the main storage compartment by an extent to be properly defined.
  • a lower temperature may be obtained either by appropriately increasing the insulation of said separate compartment with respect to the outside ambient (while it is clear that said compartment must anyway be provided with an evaporator of its own) or by providing an adequate amount of frigories, i.e. units of heat extraction, in said compartment, however these may also be generated and controlled, or by using a combination of these methods.
  • the appliance goes on operating, thereby achieving the twofold advantage that the previously frozen food items stored in the main storage room keep their previous temperature practically unaltered, and are not undesirably and uselessly over-refrigerated, while the fresh food items to be deep-frozen are placed in an ambient at a temperature that may even be considerably lower than the temperature which they would have been exposed to in a deep-freezing apparatus not provided with the separate compartment according to the present invention, thereby excluding a possible deterioration in the quality of the deep-freezing process for the reasons that have already been explained earlier in this description.
  • the present invention is effective in bringing about another clear benefit: in fact, thanks to the superinsulation thereof, the separate compartment is capable of holding a sensibly constant or, at most, minimally oscillating temperature therewithin, and this of course contributes to a sensibly improved performance of such a compartment as a storage compartment for holding the same deep-frozen food items upon conclusion of the deep-freezing process.
  • said fan 9 and the arrangement used to cool down said second evaporator 8 are both connected in parallel to a single control means situated externally (and not shown in the Figures); the overall arrangement is therefore such that, when a fresh food item to be deep-frozen is introduced in the super-refrigeration compartment 4, by operating said single control means it is possible for all of the modes and conditions of operation that are required at that point to ensure the best possible quality of the deep-freezing process, to be set and controlled automatically.
  • said single control means may be further provided with timing devices, or devices that are responsive to the temperature being detected inside the deep-freezing compartment, in which these devices are made capable of cutting off the operation of said fan 9 and said second evaporator 8 upon expiration of a period of time that is selectively pre-settable by the user, or as soon as a temperature threshold, that may again be predefined by the user, is reached inside said compartment during an on-going deep-freezing process.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Devices That Are Associated With Refrigeration Equipment (AREA)
  • Cold Air Circulating Systems And Constructional Details In Refrigerators (AREA)
EP04002533A 2003-03-12 2004-02-05 Appareil de surgélation avec un compartiment séparé de congélation Withdrawn EP1457748A3 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ITPN20030021 2003-03-12
ITPN20030021 ITPN20030021A1 (it) 2003-03-12 2003-03-12 Congelatore perfezionato con cella separata.

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1457748A2 true EP1457748A2 (fr) 2004-09-15
EP1457748A3 EP1457748A3 (fr) 2005-07-27

Family

ID=32750520

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP04002533A Withdrawn EP1457748A3 (fr) 2003-03-12 2004-02-05 Appareil de surgélation avec un compartiment séparé de congélation

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1457748A3 (fr)
DE (1) DE202004021117U1 (fr)
IT (1) ITPN20030021A1 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1918664A2 (fr) * 2006-10-24 2008-05-07 Indesit Company S.p.A. Appareil de réfrigération
US9557092B1 (en) 2015-03-23 2017-01-31 Edward Robert Heussner Sub-0 home freezer

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB1375335A (fr) * 1972-05-12 1974-11-27
DE4322247A1 (de) * 1993-07-03 1995-01-12 Licentia Gmbh Haushalt-Umluft-Gefrierschrank mit einschiebbarer Isolationstrennplatte
US5737939A (en) * 1995-05-19 1998-04-14 Forma Scientific, Inc. Ultra low temperature split door freezer
EP1074803A2 (fr) * 1999-08-05 2001-02-07 CANDY S.p.A. Réfrigérateur avec un refroidisseur à air forcé et un congélateur rapide
EP1245914A2 (fr) * 2001-03-26 2002-10-02 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Réfrigérateur à plusieurs compartiments et son procédé de commande

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB1375335A (fr) * 1972-05-12 1974-11-27
DE4322247A1 (de) * 1993-07-03 1995-01-12 Licentia Gmbh Haushalt-Umluft-Gefrierschrank mit einschiebbarer Isolationstrennplatte
US5737939A (en) * 1995-05-19 1998-04-14 Forma Scientific, Inc. Ultra low temperature split door freezer
EP1074803A2 (fr) * 1999-08-05 2001-02-07 CANDY S.p.A. Réfrigérateur avec un refroidisseur à air forcé et un congélateur rapide
EP1245914A2 (fr) * 2001-03-26 2002-10-02 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Réfrigérateur à plusieurs compartiments et son procédé de commande

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1918664A2 (fr) * 2006-10-24 2008-05-07 Indesit Company S.p.A. Appareil de réfrigération
EP1918664A3 (fr) * 2006-10-24 2014-08-27 Indesit Company S.p.A. Appareil de réfrigération
US9557092B1 (en) 2015-03-23 2017-01-31 Edward Robert Heussner Sub-0 home freezer

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
ITPN20030021A1 (it) 2004-09-13
EP1457748A3 (fr) 2005-07-27
DE202004021117U1 (de) 2007-01-04

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
KR100889821B1 (ko) 온도조절 챔버를 구비한 냉장고
US8418485B2 (en) Refrigerator
CN100549599C (zh) 冰箱
JP3576103B2 (ja) 冷蔵庫
EP2578973B1 (fr) Réfrigérateur et son procédé de commande
US8261572B2 (en) Food heat-exchange device and refrigerator having the same
US11668512B2 (en) Refrigerator and method for controlling the same
JP2016223752A (ja) 冷蔵庫
AU2018202123B2 (en) Refrigerator and method for controlling the same
WO2007010267A2 (fr) Ameliorations apportees a une chambre frigorifique
CN210832684U (zh) 风冷冰箱
JP2007139296A (ja) 冷蔵庫
JP5384271B2 (ja) 冷却装置
CN112393498A (zh) 风冷冰箱的控制方法与风冷冰箱
EP1457748A2 (fr) Appareil de surgélation avec un compartiment séparé de congélation
JP2007192446A (ja) 冷蔵庫
JP2007309530A (ja) 冷蔵庫
WO2011154388A2 (fr) Dispositif de réfrigération à deux compartiments
JPH05164449A (ja) 冷凍冷蔵庫
JP2008089260A (ja) 冷蔵庫
EP3945270A1 (fr) Appareil frigorifique sans givre
JP2023116296A (ja) 家庭用冷蔵庫
JP2023116295A (ja) 家庭用冷蔵庫
JP2013190125A (ja) 冷蔵庫
JP2006234219A (ja) 冷蔵庫

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A2

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LI LU MC NL PT RO SE SI SK TR

AX Request for extension of the european patent

Extension state: AL LT LV MK

PUAL Search report despatched

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009013

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A3

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LI LU MC NL PT RO SE SI SK TR

AX Request for extension of the european patent

Extension state: AL LT LV MK

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 20051212

AKX Designation fees paid

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LI LU MC NL PT RO SE SI SK TR

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN

18D Application deemed to be withdrawn

Effective date: 20061229