Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Masahide Hashimoto

Yoshitaka Kurisu

Yoshio Sasaki

Hiroshi Suenaga

Akio Katou

Shigeo Zuiki

A freezing apparatus comprises a cooling hollow body to receive food products to be frozen thereon and to be driven for rotation, a flexible container made of a flexible sheet material which is arranged on the upper surface of the cooling hollow body so as to cover said products placed on said upper surface, a cold brine circulating path including the hollow portion of the cooling hollow body and the interior of the flexible container which are mutually communicated to feed cold brine, a plurality of adapters attached to the outer periphery of the flexible container, and a guide rail provided around the outer periphery of the flexible container to slidably support the adapters. The flexible container is moved synchronousely with the cooling hollow body due to a frictional force resulted between the flexible container and the cooling hollow body.

Freezing apparatus

A freezing apparatus capable of chilling articles to be chilled or frozen by chilling each article substantially from the entire surface thereof through contact freezing for quick chilling or freezing. The freezing apparatus comprises a rotary chilling plate disposed in a horizontal position for rotation about a vertical axis, an annular tube formed of a flexible sheet, placed over the rotary chilling plate so as to be in contact with the upper and lateral surfaces of each article placed on the rotary chilling plate, and adapted to be driven together with the rotary chilling plate about the same vertical axis, and a brine tank disposed under the rotary chilling plate so that chilly brine supplied therein flows along the lower surface of the rotary chilling plate as the same overflows the brine tank, and adapted to be rotated together with the rotary chilling plate. Chilly brine is circulated through the annular tube and the brine tank to chill each article substantially from the entire surface thereof for quick chilling or freezing without causing the article to dry and lose in weight.

A continuous freezing apparatus is provided with a flexible sheet conveyor arranged above products to be frozen placed on and carried by a steel conveyor so as to be in contact with the products and the flexible sheet conveyor is filled with cold brine, to thereby freeze said products through both upper and lower surfaces of contact. The width of the track of the flexible sheet is determined in such a manner that the track width is made substantially equal to the width of the flexible sheet at its turning areas where the flexible sheet does not in contact to the products and the track width is made narrow to the extent that a depressed slack sufficient to fill therein the cold brine is formed in the flexible sheet at a position where the flexible sheet is in contact with said products.

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Nagasaki, Japan

Masahide Hashimoto