FRIDGE FOR THAWING AND AGING

Abstract

The invention relates to a fridge for thawing and aging, and it comprises a body 11 having inner space 12, a cooling unit 13, an inner panel 21 forming an inner wall facing the inner space 12 and being applied or impregnated by the functional materials 22 being capable of emitting anions or far-infrared radiations, a heating unit and a fan unit 30 whose exhaust hole 33 is disposed near to the inner panel 21 to exhaust the air against to or along the inner panel 21 of the body 11.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a fridge for thawing and aging, and more particularly to a fridge for thawing and aging which is capable of effectively circulating functional materials such as anion generated in the storage of the fridge or air flow.

BACKGROUND ART

Generally, fridges for thawing and aging are used to heat the inner space of the storage of the fridge to a predetermined temperature as well as to supply cool air to the storage of the fridge similarly to ordinary refrigerator. For example, the fridges for thawing and aging, such as a food aging apparatus or a bread making machine can supply heat and moisture to the storage to achieve rapid aging of dough, or it can thaw frozen food materials. These fridges for thawing and aging are generally provided with a cooling unit to keep the storage at low temperature, and also are provided with a heater or a steam generator to thaw frozen food materials or to supply moisture. But if thawing processing is not properly managed, as the moisture or gravy may be spilled out, the taste of foods may be changed, or as various bacteria can be propagated and the food materials can be spoiled, and the expiration date of the food materials can be shorten.

Recently, in order to solve the above mentioned problems, devices to generate functional materials such as anions or far-infrared radiations are added to the fridge for thawing and aging, but these conventional devices to generate the anions or far-infrared radiations also have problem such that it should use high voltage, which incurs safety problems and increased cost of manufacturing. And these fridges also have some difficulties of how to circulate the generated functional materials such as anions or functional materials in the storage of the fridge effectively.

DISCLOSURE

Technical Problem

The invention is proposed to solve the above problems, and the object of the invention is to provide a fridge for thawing and aging in which the generated functional materials such as anions can be effectively circulated in the storage of the fridge by inducing air flow toward the side wall of the storage with simple structure to highly enhance the inherent function of the fridge.

Technical Solution

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a fridge for thawing and aging wherein the fridge comprises;

a body 11 having inner space 12;

a cooling unit 13 installed on one side of the body 12 to maintain the inner space 12 at the predetermined low temperature;

an inner panel 21 forming an inner wall facing the inner space 12 and being applied or impregnated by the functional materials 22 being capable of emitting anions or far-infrared radiations;

a heating unit 16 installed in the inner space 12 to heat the inner space 12 and the surface of the inner panel 21; and

a fan unit 30 mounted on the upper part of the inner space 12 to circulate air in the inner space 12, which includes a blowing case 32 having an intake hole 34 on one side of it and an exhaust hole 33 on the other side of it, a blowing fan 31 mounted on the intake hole 34 to intake air in the inner space 12, wherein the exhaust hole 33 is disposed near to the inner panel 21 to exhaust the air against to or along the inner panel 21 of the body 11.

According to the other aspect of the invention, there is provided a fridge for thawing and aging wherein, the fridge further includes shelves 40 in the inner space 12 of the body 11, which comprises racks 42 on which food material is placed, and rack supporters 41 on which the racks 42 are supported, wherein the ends of the racks 42 are separated apart from the inner panel 21 of the body 11 to form circulation space between the inner panel 21 and the racks 42.

Advantageous Effect

According to the invention, as the fridge for thawing and aging includes inner panel 21 being applied or impregnated by the functional materials being capable of emitting anions or far-infrared radiation, and a fan unit 16 mounted on the upper part of the inner space 12 and including a blowing case 32 having an intake hole 34 on one side of it and an exhaust hole 33 on the other side of it, a blowing fan 31 mounted on the intake hole 34 and the exhaust hole 33 being disposed near to the inner panel 21 to exhaust the air against to or along the inner panel 21 of the body 11, the anions or other functional materials emitted from the inner panel 21 can be effectively and smoothly circulated in the inner space 12 to be uniformly distributed, so the uniformly distributed anions or other functional materials can contact the food materials to achieve uniform and enhanced thawing and aging effects regardless of the placed position of the food materials in the inner space 12 of the body 11.

And, as the shelves 40 in the inner space 12 includes racks 42, the ends of which are separated apart from the inner panel 21 of the body 11, the air circulation in the inner space 12 can be effectively carried out without being blocked by the racks 42 themselves or the food materials placed on the racks 42, so the functional materials such as anions can effectively contact the food materials so the food materials can be maintained fresh.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front section of one embodiment of the invention

FIG. 2 is a side section of the above embodiment of the invention

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 3

FIG. 4 is an inner view of the embodiment of the invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 to 4 show one embodiment of the invention. As shown, a fridge for thawing and aging 10 of the invention includes a body 11 having inner space 12, a cooling unit 13, a steam generator 14, and a control panel 15 to control these parts on the upper side. In the inner space 12 of the body 1, a heating unit 16 for thawing or aging food materials and a plural of shelves 40 on which food materials are placed are provided, and a fan unit 30 is provided on the ceiling to circulate the air in the inner space 12. More detailed structure and operation will be described below in reference with FIGS. 2 and 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an insulation 30 is inserted inside the outer case 18 of the body 11, and an inner panel 21 is provided in the inside of the insulation 30 to form an inner wall of the fridge. Functional materials to emit anions or far-infrared radiations are applied or impregnated on the inner panel 21. For example, the functional materials to be applied or impregnated on the inner panel 21 may be paint materials in which rock powder such as mica, feldspar, shale or serpentine are mixed with acrylic emulsion, which can emit anions or far-infrared radiations to reduce bad smell or harmful components, and prevent from propagating of harmful bacteria or fungus as well. These functional materials themselves are already known ones.

These functional materials 22 can easily emit anions or far-infrared radiations by heating the inner space 12 to a proper temperature by the heating unit 16 during the thawing and aging process. The heating unit 16 includes a heater case 23 disposed on the side wall of the inner space 12 and a heating element 17 in it. Inlet 24 and outlet are formed on the heater case 23 to intake and exhaust air.

The fan unit 30 is provided to blow the cool air supplied by the cooling unit 13 to the inner space 12, or to circulate air in the inner space 12. For this, the fan unit 30 includes a blowing case 32 having an intake hole 34 on one side of it and an exhaust hole 33 on the other side of it, a blowing fan 31 mounted on the intake hole 34 to intake air in the inner space 12, and the exhaust hole 33 is disposed near to the inner panel 21 to exhaust the air against to or along the inner panel 21 of the body 11.

The fan unit 30 is mounted on the ceiling of the inner space 12 corresponding to the cooling unit 13, and a blowing case 32 encasing the blowing fan 31. The blowing fan 31 may be a turbo fan capable of air intake air and air exhaust. In the illustrated embodiment, the exhaust hoe 33 of the fan unit 30 is disposed on the rear wall panel, but it can be disposed on either of the side wall panel, and according to the volume of the fridge, a plural of fan units 30 can be provided.

According to the structure mentioned above, when the fan unit 30 circulates the air in the inner space 12, the anions or far-infrared radiations can be effectively circulated or spread, so the anions or far-infrared radiations can be uniformly distributed in the inner space 12 of the fridge 10. According to the invention, the air circulation can be easily carried out in case that the racks 42 of the selves 40 are installed with multi-layer in the inner space 12 as below.

The selves 40 includes racks 42 and rack supporters 41. The rack supporters 41 are in shape of rectangular bar and mounted on the rear wall or side wall of the body 11 vertically, and the racks 42 are placed on the rack supporters 41 with multi-layer along vertical direction. The rack supporter 41 includes a base frame 43 in the shape of rectangular bar and a hanging strip 44 attached on the base frame 43. Plural engaging holes 45 are formed along the hanging strip 44. An engaging bracket 46 can be engaged in the engaging holes 45 of the hanging strip 44, and the rack 42 can be placed on the engaging bracket 46. The rack 42 can be a plate type or it may be a wired net type. And additional tray 47 can be added according to the types of food materials. These racks 42 of the selves 40 are separated apart from the inner panel 21 to enhance the air circulation in the inner space 12 as described below.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rack supporter 41 is mounted on the inner panel 21 with being projected from the inner panel 21 as much as the thickness of the rack supporter 41. So the selves 40 of the invention should be separated apart from the inner panel 21 of the body 11 as the edge of the rack 42 is engaged with the rack supporter 41. Therefore, the gap between inner panel 21 and the edge of the rack 42 can form a circulation path 34 of the air containing the functional materials.

According to the structure of the self 40 mentioned above, the air blown by the fan unit 30 positioned on the upper part of the inner space 12 can flow effectively without being blocked, so anions or other functional materials emitted from the inner panel 21 can be effectively and smoothly circulated in the inner space 12 to be uniformly distributed, so the uniformly distributed anions or other functional materials can contact the food materials to achieve uniform and enhanced thawing and aging effects regardless of the placed position of the food materials in the inner space 12 of the body 11. The numeral 50 refers a wheel mounted on the body 11 and the door 18 so that the fridge can be moved easily.

Claims

1. A fridge for thawing and aging wherein the fridge comprises;

a body 11 having inner space 12;

a cooling unit 13 installed on one side of the body 12 to maintain the inner space 12 at the predetermined low temperature;

an inner panel 21 forming an inner wall facing the inner space 12 and being applied or impregnated by the functional materials 22 being capable of emitting anions or far-infrared radiations;

a heating unit 16 installed in the inner space 12 to heat the inner space 12 and the surface of the inner panel 21; and

a fan unit 30 mounted on the upper part of the inner space 12 to circulate air in the inner space 12, which includes a blowing case 32 having an intake hole 34 on one side of it and an exhaust hole 33 on the other side of it, a blowing fan 31 mounted on the intake hole 34 to intake air in the inner space 12, wherein the exhaust hole 33 is disposed near to the inner panel 21 to exhaust the air against to or along the inner panel 21 of the body 11.

2. A fridge for thawing and aging of claim 1 wherein, the fridge further includes shelves 40 in the inner space 12 of the body 11, which comprises racks 42 on which food material is placed, and rack supporters 41 on which the racks 42 are supported, wherein the ends of the racks 42 are separated apart from the inner panel 21 of the body 11 to form circulation space between the inner panel 21 and the racks 42.