JP2007167208A - Kitchen cabinet - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a kitchen cabinet capable of draining without trouble, suppressing running cost to a low level and hardly restricting an installation place. <P>SOLUTION: This kitchen cabinet is provided with a dehumidification unit reversibly absorbing/releasing moisture, sends dehumidified air from the dehumidification unit to a dry chamber for storing objects 2 such as dishes and cooking appliances, and makes the dry chamber into a dry atmosphere. This kitchen cabinet is provided with a water receiving structure 7 collecting water dripping from the stored objects 2 and receiving it in a water receiving face 6, the water receiving structure 7 is formed into a duct structure ventilating the air from one part to an exhaust port 8 connected to the outside of the cabinet 4, and the outside air is formed into an air flow flowing from one part to the exhaust port 8 by a ventilation air blower 13 provided in the cabinet 4 so as to dry the received water. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a kitchen cabinet provided with a drying cabinet for storing articles such as dishes and cooking utensils in a dry state by a dehumidifying unit having a stationary adsorption dehumidifying element.

  As a kitchen cabinet equipped with a drying cabinet for storing dishes, utensils, and other items in a dry state, air heated by a heater is circulated in the drying cabinet, and a part of the air is outside the drying cabinet. And the circulating air in the drying chamber is passed through a dehumidifying function part having an adsorbent to keep the drying chamber in a dry atmosphere. When using natural zeolite or silica gel as the adsorbent, water does not accumulate in the drying cabinet, and it can be regenerated by applying heat to the adsorbent to dehumidify it, which is highly convenient. This main prior art is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

JP 2003-93833 A JP-A-4-114714

  A conventional kitchen cabinet of this type is configured as a dedicated cabinet as a heat-resistant box. For this reason, it is necessary to process water dripping from articles such as stored wet tableware and cooking utensils. The dripping water is collected in a pot installed at the eye level and drained regularly, or drained into a kitchen cabinet net sink. Further, when the drying cabinet is incorporated in the kitchen cabinet, a drying device having only a drying function is provided without the cleaning function of the dishwasher. However, it is very difficult to use because it must be drained regularly and the installation location is limited. In addition, in the case where the drying device is provided, there is a problem that the running cost becomes high.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and the object of the present invention is a kitchen capable of processing drains that does not require a lot of effort, and can be kept low in running cost and with few restrictions on installation locations. Is to get a cabinet.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises a dehumidifying unit that reversibly absorbs and releases moisture, and sends dehumidified air from the dehumidifying unit to a drying chamber that stores articles such as dishes and cooking utensils. The kitchen cabinet is configured to have a dry atmosphere, and is provided with a water receiving structure that collects the water dripped from the articles stored in the bottom of the drying cabinet and receives it on the water receiving surface. A duct structure that allows ventilation to the exhaust port that communicates with the outside is adopted, and a means is adopted in which outside air is formed as an air flow from one side to the exhaust port by a ventilation fan provided in the cabinet, and the received water is dried.

  According to the present invention, the water dripped from the stored article is collected, and this is evaporated by blowing air and discharged to the outside. In addition, there is no restriction on the installation location, and the kitchen cabinet is easy to use.

  The kitchen cabinet of the present invention includes a dehumidifying unit that reversibly absorbs and releases moisture, sends dehumidified air from the dehumidifying unit to a drying cabinet that stores articles such as dishes and cooking utensils, and the drying cabinet has a dry atmosphere. It is comprised so that it may do. The upper surface of the cabinet is configured as a flat surface that can be used as a worktop for kitchen work. The drying cabinet is configured as an open and airtight storage container on the top of the drawer, and contains a rack made of linear material or mesh to store articles, and drops from the stored articles at the bottom. A water receiving structure that collects the water to be received and receives it on the water receiving surface is provided. The water receiving structure is configured as a flat duct structure capable of ventilating from the back side to an exhaust port that communicates with the outside in front of the cabinet, and constitutes a substantial bottom of the drying cabinet. A chamber is provided in the upper part of the cabinet, and a ventilation fan and a dehumidifying unit are incorporated. The ventilation blower sucks external air from a suction port provided in the front of the cabinet and blows it out into the chamber. The inlet and outlet of the dehumidifying air of the dehumidifying unit communicate with the drying chamber at the bottom of the chamber by a suction port and an outlet, respectively. In addition, the regeneration air inlet of the dehumidifying unit leads to the suction port of the ventilation blower, and the outlet communicates with the air outlet on the front surface of the cabinet via a duct provided in the chamber. A slit leading to the drying chamber is provided at the bottom of the chamber, and the blowout airflow of the ventilation blower is blown downward from the slit into the drying chamber to form an air flow with a wind speed of 1 to 3 m / S in the water receiving structure. Exhausted from the exhaust port.

  Pull out the kitchen cabinet drying cabinet, store the washed dishes and utensils in the rack, push the drying cabinet in, and turn on the operation switch. First, the dehumidifying unit uses the external air to heat A regeneration operation is performed in which air is passed through to regenerate the hygroscopic material. When the hygroscopic material is regenerated, the dehumidifying unit moves to a dehumidifying operation in which the air in the drying cabinet is circulated to generate dehumidifying air and the inside of the drying cabinet is dried. At the same time, the operation of the ventilation fan is started. The ventilation blower takes in external air and blows it out of the chamber through the slit into the drying chamber. Around the article stored in the rack, an airflow having a low flow rate with low humidity flows due to the effect of the ventilation airflow and the dehumidified airflow. The water droplets having a high water vapor pressure adhering to the surface of the article are promoted to be vaporized by the ventilation airflow. On the other hand, 30% to 50% of water droplets with a large mass adhering to the article during washing drop as they are and fall into the water receiving structure. The water droplets falling on the water receiving structure are collected by a gradient and fall from the hole to the water receiving surface to wet the water receiving surface, so that the surface area is greatly expanded. The ventilation airflow that has flowed down along the rack article flows into the water receiving structure from the back side of the water receiving structure, and flows in the water receiving structure at a wind speed of 1 to 3 m / S toward the exhaust port on the front surface. The water diffused to the water receiving surface by the ventilation airflow at this flow velocity is promoted to be vaporized and discharged to the outside along with the exhaust. During this time, the dehumidifying unit performs the dehumidifying operation and the regeneration operation alternately to make the inside of the drying chamber a dry atmosphere.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
The present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 relates to a kitchen cabinet with a drying cabinet constituting the system kitchen. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a kitchen cabinet in a state where a drying cabinet is pulled out, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the kitchen cabinet, FIG. 3 is a plan view of a chamber, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a dehumidifying unit.

  The kitchen cabinet of the present embodiment includes a dehumidifying unit 1 that reversibly absorbs and releases moisture, and sends dehumidified air from the dehumidifying unit 1 to a drying cabinet 3 that stores articles 2 such as tableware and cooking utensils. The interior of the cabinet 3 is configured to have a dry atmosphere. The upper surface of the cabinet 4 is configured as a plane on which kitchen work can be performed as a work top. The drying cabinet 3 is configured as an open and airtight storage container with a drawer-type upper surface, and stores a rack 5 made of a linear material, mesh, or the like for storing the article 2. A water receiving structure 7 that collects water dripped from the stored article 2 and receives it on the water receiving surface 6 is provided at the bottom of the drying cabinet 3. The water receiving structure 7 is configured as a flat and hollow duct structure capable of ventilating from the back side to the exhaust port 8 leading to the outside on the front surface of the cabinet 4 (front surface of the drying chamber 3). It is composed. The upper portion of the water receiving structure 7 is inclined downward toward the center as a water receiving 9 and a drain hole 10 is opened in the center. An inorganic three-dimensional porous material 11 having good water permeability is laid on the water receiving surface 6. As the inorganic three-dimensional porous material 11, a plastic fiber pile sheet, a glass fiber cloth or the like is employed in addition to a ceramic plate. Thereby, the surface area of the water received by the water receiving surface 6 becomes remarkably wide (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

A chamber 12 is provided in the upper part of the cabinet 4, and a ventilation fan 13 and a dehumidifying unit 1 are incorporated therein. The ventilation blower 13 sucks external air from a suction port 14 provided on the front surface of the cabinet 4 and blows it out to the chamber 12. As shown in FIG. 4, the dehumidifying unit 1 includes a dehumidifier 15 having a large number of passages for passing air in which a hygroscopic material such as silica gel is bonded to inorganic fibers by a polymerization reaction, and a blower 16 for sending air to the dehumidifier 15. The heating means 17 for raising the temperature of the air to be fed is incorporated in the outer shape of the hexahedron. The inlet and outlet of the dehumidified air of the dehumidifying unit 1 communicate with the drying chamber 3 at the bottom of the chamber 12 through the suction port 18 and the blowout port 19 respectively. Further, the regeneration air inlet of the dehumidifying unit 1 leads to the suction port 14 of the ventilation blower 13, and the outlet communicates with the air outlet 20 on the front surface of the cabinet 4 through a duct provided in the chamber 12. The dehumidifying air and the regeneration air inlet / outlet of the dehumidifying unit 1 are alternately opened and closed by an opening / closing damper mechanism 22 by a stepping motor 21.

As shown in FIG. 2, slits 23 leading to the drying chamber 3 are arranged in the front-rear direction at the bottom of the chamber 12, and the blown air flow of the ventilation blower 13 is directed almost uniformly downward from the slits 23 into the drying chamber 3. It is blown out, and an air flow with a wind speed of 1 to 3 m / S is formed in the water receiving structure 7 and exhausted to the outside through the exhaust port 8. In order to form an air flow with a wind speed of 1 to 3 m / S in the water receiving structure 7, it is suitable to configure the water receiving structure 7 with dimensions of about 20 cm in width and about 2 cm in height.

  When the drying cabinet 3 of the kitchen cabinet is pulled out, articles 2 such as dishes and cooking utensils washed with water are stored in the rack 5, the drying cabinet 3 is pushed into the cabinet 4, and the operation switch is turned on. Using the external air, the heating means 17 heats the air, and the blower 16 passes the dehumidifier 15 to perform a regeneration operation for regenerating the hygroscopic material. When the hygroscopic material is regenerated, the dehumidifying unit 1 moves to a dehumidifying operation in which the air in the drying cabinet 3 is circulated to produce dehumidified air and the inside of the drying cabinet 3 is dried. At the same time, the ventilation fan 13 is also operated. The ventilation blower 13 takes in external air and blows it out of the chamber 12 through the slit 23 into the drying chamber 3. Around the article 2 stored in the rack 5, an air flow having a low flow rate with low humidity flows due to the effect of the ventilation air flow and the dehumidification air flow.

Water droplets with a high water vapor pressure adhering to the surface of the article 2 are promoted to vaporize by the ventilation airflow. On the other hand, the entire 30% to 50% of water droplets having a large mass adhering to the article 2 at the time of cleaning are dropped as they are and fall into the water receiver 9 of the water receiver structure 7. The water drops that have fallen on the water receiver 9 are collected by a gradient and fall from the drain hole 10 to the water receiver surface 6. The water falling on the water receiving surface 6 penetrates and diffuses into the permeable inorganic three-dimensional porous material 11 and wets the water receiving surface 6 extensively. The ventilation airflow that has flowed down along the article 2 of the rack 5 flows into the water receiving structure 7 from the back side of the water receiving structure 7, and the wind speed is 1 to 3 m / second through the water receiving structure 7 toward the front exhaust port 8. S flows. The water diffused on the water receiving surface 6 by the ventilation airflow at this flow velocity is promoted to be vaporized and discharged to the outside together with the exhaust. During this time, the dehumidifying unit 1 performs the dehumidifying operation and the regeneration operation alternately to make the inside of the drying cabinet 3 a dry atmosphere.

That is, this kitchen cabinet can easily handle the water dripped from the article 2, is easy to handle, has few restrictions on installation location, and can be operated only by the ventilation fan 13, so the running cost is lower than that using heating means. It will be much lower.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
The kitchen cabinet of this embodiment shown by FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 processes the water droplet dripped from the goods by the ventilation of the fan of a dehumidification unit, and is the same as that of Embodiment 1 except the structure which concerns on this. It is. Therefore, the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment are used for the same parts as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the kitchen cabinet of the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the same. As can be seen from the drawing, the ventilation fan 13 is not provided in the kitchen cabinet. The water receiving structure 7 is configured as an outlet path to the outside of the regenerated air during the regeneration operation of the dehumidifying unit 1. The water accumulated on the water receiving surface 6 is vaporized by the regenerated air heated at the time of regeneration of the dehumidifier 15 and discharged from the exhaust port 8. The dehumidifying unit 1 is provided in the drying chamber 3, and the outlet of the regeneration air communicates with the back side of the water receiving structure 7. As a result, the regenerated air discharged from the dehumidifying unit 1 flows through the water receiving structure 7 and is blown out from the exhaust port 8. Since the water accumulated in the water receiving structure 7 is processed during the regeneration operation of the dehumidifying unit 1, the running cost is reduced, and the manufacturing cost is also reduced because the configuration related to ventilation is unnecessary. The other functions are the same as those in the first embodiment.

It is a perspective view of the kitchen cabinet of the state which pulled out the drying warehouse. (Embodiment 1) It is sectional drawing of a kitchen cabinet. (Embodiment 1) It is a top view of a chamber. (Embodiment 1) It is sectional drawing of a dehumidification unit. (Embodiment 1) It is a perspective view of a kitchen cabinet. (Embodiment 2) It is sectional drawing of a kitchen cabinet. (Embodiment 2)

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dehumidification unit, 3 Drying cabinet, 6 Water receiving surface, 7 Water receiving structure, 8 Exhaust port, 11 Inorganic three-dimensional porous material, 13 Ventilation fan.

Claims (3)

  It is equipped with a dehumidifying unit that reversibly absorbs and releases moisture, and is configured to send dehumidified air from the dehumidifying unit to a drying chamber that stores articles such as tableware and cooking utensils, thereby creating a dry atmosphere in the drying chamber. A kitchen cabinet is provided at the bottom of the drying cabinet with a water receiving structure for collecting water dripping from the stored articles and receiving it on a water receiving surface, and venting the water receiving structure from one side to an exhaust port that leads to the outside of the cabinet. A kitchen cabinet having a duct structure capable of forming external air as an air flow from one side to the exhaust port by a ventilation fan provided in the cabinet, and drying received water.   It is equipped with a dehumidifying unit that reversibly absorbs and releases moisture, and is configured to send dehumidified air from the dehumidifying unit to a drying chamber that stores articles such as tableware and cooking utensils, thereby creating a dry atmosphere in the drying chamber. A kitchen cabinet is provided at the bottom of the drying cabinet with a water receiving structure for collecting water dripping from the stored articles and receiving it on a water receiving surface, and venting the water receiving structure from one side to an exhaust port that leads to the outside of the cabinet. A kitchen cabinet having a duct structure capable of drying the regenerated air when dehumidifying the dehumidifying unit from one side toward the exhaust port to dry the received water.   It is a kitchen cabinet in any one of Claim 1 or Claim 2, Comprising: The kitchen cabinet which laid the inorganic three-dimensional porous material in the water receiving surface of the water receiving structure.

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