JP2009030920A - Direct cooling type refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a direct cooling-type refrigerator capable of keeping high deodorizing and disinfecting performances. <P>SOLUTION: This direct cooling type refrigerator 100 comprising a rectangular heat insulating box 101 forming a reserving chamber in its inside and having an opening portion at its front face, a heat insulating door 107 attached openably/closably to the opening, and a cooler 110 for directly cooling the air in the heat insulating box 101, further comprises a carrier 201 arranged in the heat insulating box 101 and carrying a photocatalyst, an irradiating means 202 for irradiating the carrier 201 with an exciting light for exciting the photocatalyst, and a blower fan 203 for distributing the air in the heat insulating box 101 forcibly toward the carrier 201, and the blower fan 203, the carrier 201 and the cooler 110 are successively disposed from the upstream of the airflow generated by the blower fan 203. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a direct cooling refrigerator that directly cools a storage chamber, and more particularly to a direct cooling refrigerator that can disinfect and deodorize the storage chamber.

  Conventionally, for small refrigerators and refrigerators used in dry areas such as Europe, countermeasures for condensation in the storage room are not so important, so a direct cooling method that cools the air in the storage room directly with a cooling panel etc. is generally used It has been adopted. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a refrigerator that employs a direct cooling method.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the direct cooling refrigerator from which the heat insulating portion is removed from the back.

  As shown in the figure, the direct cooling refrigerator 100 includes a cooling pipe 121 in a meandering manner inside the inner wall of the storage room. Then, the liquid coolant flows through the cooling pipe 121 at a low temperature, so that the air in the storage chamber is directly cooled.

  Moreover, in patent document 2, it is a direct-cooling type refrigerator, Comprising: The direct-cooling type refrigerator which can suppress propagation of bacteria and mold | fungi in a storage chamber is disclosed.

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a direct cooling refrigerator having a function of suppressing the growth of bacteria and fungi.

As shown in the figure, in the direct cooling refrigerator 100, a sheet 122 containing an organic volatile antibacterial agent is attached to the ceiling in the storage room. Then, by gradually evaporating the organic volatile antibacterial agent from the sheet 122, it is intended to suppress the growth of bacteria and mold in the storage chamber.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-120108 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-262629

  However, in the case of a direct-cooled refrigerator, for example, the air cooled at the back of the storage room has a high density and accumulates in the lower part of the storage room, resulting in temperature unevenness in the vertical direction in the storage room. have. In particular, when a shelf plate is provided to partition the storage chamber up and down and foods and the like are fully loaded, temperature unevenness in the storage chamber becomes remarkable.

  In addition, since air stagnates in the storage chamber, there is a problem that bacteria, molds, etc. propagate locally at high concentrations.

  Furthermore, there is a proposal to use an organic volatile antibacterial agent as a countermeasure against the bacteria and molds, but the evaporation amount of the antibacterial agent is limited. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically replace the antibacterial agent, which is troublesome. Further, in a direct-cooled refrigerator that cannot expect convection in the storage chamber, there is a concern that the antibacterial agent also stays in a part of the storage chamber and cannot exert an effect such as sterilization on the entire storage chamber. In addition, there is a problem in applying an organic antibacterial agent to a storage room for storing food.

  In view of the above problems, the present inventors have found a direct-cooled refrigerator to be sterilized using a photocatalyst, and have filed a separate application for the present invention.

  As a result of intensive research and experiments to further increase the efficiency of sterilization and deodorization, the present inventors have focused on the temperature gradient in the direct cooling refrigerator and found the optimal arrangement of the photocatalyst and the like. It came.

  The present invention has been made as described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a direct-cooling refrigerator having an optimal arrangement capable of efficiently exhibiting the effects of deodorization and sterilization.

  In order to achieve the above object, a direct-cooling refrigerator according to the present invention is composed of a heat insulating material, and has a rectangular box body with an opening on the front surface that forms a storage chamber inside, and the opening can be opened and closed freely. A direct cooling refrigerator comprising a door body to be attached and a cooling means for directly cooling the air in the box body, the carrier being disposed in the storage chamber and carrying a photocatalyst, and exciting the photocatalyst. An irradiating means for irradiating the carrier with excitation light; and an air blowing means for forcibly blowing the air in the storage chamber toward the carrier, from the upstream of the air flow generated by the air blowing means. It is characterized by arrange | positioning in order of a means, the said support body, and the said cooling means.

  Thereby, relatively high-temperature air can be brought into contact with the carrier, and the occurrence of condensation on the carrier can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently perform sterilization and deodorization while suppressing the functional degradation of the photocatalyst.

  Further, by adopting this arrangement, it is possible to form an air flow in a direction that promotes natural convection without hindering natural convection generated by the cooling means, so that temperature unevenness in the storage chamber is highly efficient. It becomes possible to solve with.

  As described above, the direct cooling refrigerator according to the present invention blows air that is relatively hot toward the low temperature side. Thereby, the natural convection in the storage chamber can be reinforced. In addition, since the photocatalyst acts on relatively high temperature air, sterilization and deodorization can be performed efficiently.

  Since the direct cooling type refrigerator according to the present invention can efficiently perform sterilization and deodorization, it is possible to provide a high-quality refrigerator with higher sterilization and deodorization effects.

  Next, an embodiment of a direct cooling refrigerator according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a front view of a direct-cooling refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  As shown in the figure, a direct-cooling refrigerator 100 according to the present embodiment is a direct-cooling refrigerator 100 having double doors, and is stored vertically in a heat insulating box 101 as a box body. It has a room.

  The storage compartments partitioned in the upper and lower parts of the direct cooling refrigerator 100 are referred to as a refrigerator compartment 102 and a freezer compartment 103 depending on the function (cooling temperature).

  The front opening of the refrigerator compartment 102 is provided with a rotary heat insulating door 107 filled with a foam heat insulating material such as urethane as a door body. Similarly, a heat insulating door 108 is provided on the front surface of the freezer compartment 103. Thus, the storage chamber is hermetically sealed so as not to leak cold air.

  The refrigerator compartment 102 is a storage compartment maintained at a low temperature that does not freeze for refrigerated storage. The lower limit of the specific temperature is usually set at 1 to 5 ° C.

  The freezer compartment 103 is a storage room set in a freezing temperature zone. Specifically, although it is normally set at −22 to −18 ° C. for frozen storage, it may be set at a low temperature of −30 or −25 ° C., for example, to improve the frozen storage state.

  FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a direct cooling refrigerator in the present embodiment.

  The heat insulating box 101 is a box formed by filling a heat insulating material such as hard foamed urethane between the outer box and the inner box. This heat insulation box 101 insulates the inside of the heat insulation box 101 from the periphery.

  Inside the heat insulation box 101, a cooler 110 as a cooling means is embedded in the heat insulation box 101.

  The cooler 110 forms a cooling cycle together with the compressor 111 and the like, and the refrigerant inserted into the cooler 110 evaporates to take away the heat of the air inside the heat insulation box 101 and directly cool the inside of the heat insulation box 101. It is a member to do.

  The sterilization apparatus 200 includes a support 201 on which a photocatalyst is supported, an irradiation unit 202 that irradiates the support with excitation light that excites the photocatalyst, a blower fan 203 as a blower, and a deodorizing filter as an adsorption filter. 204 and a base body 205 as a flow path forming means.

  The blower fan 203 is arranged closest to the heat insulating door 107 in the sterilization apparatus 200. Further, air is blown by the blower fan 203 in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure.

  The deodorizing filter 204 is disposed closest to the cooler 110 in the sterilization apparatus 200.

  The carrier 201 is disposed between the blower fan 203 and the deodorizing filter 204.

  Further, the carrier 201, the irradiation means 202, the blower fine 203, and the deodorizing filter 204 are attached to the ceiling of the heat insulating box 101.

  Next, the sterilization apparatus 200 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the sterilization apparatus attached to the direct cooling refrigerator.

  FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing the sterilization apparatus attached to the direct cooling refrigerator.

  The sterilization apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment forcibly sterilizes bacteria, spores and the like present in the air in the heat insulation box 101, and decomposes organic substances present in the air to deodorize them. It is a device that can be realized.

  The carrier 201 is a resin member made of a porous material that can come into contact with a large amount of air, and is a filter-like member that is formed by entanglement of fibers in which a photocatalyst is kneaded. Moreover, resin which can permeate | transmit the light of the wavelength which a photocatalyst is easy to excite is employ | adopted for resin which is a base material.

  The photocatalyst carried by the carrier 201 sterilizes bacteria in the air or oxidizes or decomposes odorous components (such as organic substances) in the air by irradiating with light of a specific wavelength. It is a catalyst that can be deodorized, and is a substance that is considered to be able to sterilize or deodorize based on the activation (for example, ionization or radicalization) of components in the air . Specific examples of the photocatalyst include silver oxide and titanium oxide.

  The wavelength of light necessary for silver oxide to exhibit functions such as sterilization is the blue region of visible light of about 400 nm to 580 nm. The wavelength of light necessary for titanium oxide to perform functions such as sterilization is 380 nm.

  The irradiation means 202 is a device that includes a light source 207 that can emit light including a wavelength that can excite the photocatalyst, a lighting substrate (not shown) for lighting the light source 207, and the like.

  The light source 207 may be any light source that emits a predetermined amount of light having a wavelength including the light having the above wavelength, and examples thereof include an ultraviolet lamp and a normal light bulb. In addition, when the photocatalyst is silver oxide, the use of an LED that emits blue light (470 nm) in the visible light region makes it possible to extend the life and cost. In addition, when the photocatalyst is titanium oxide, it is possible to adopt a UV-LED that emits UV light of 380 nm.

  In the case of the present embodiment, silver oxide is used as a photocatalyst, and three LEDs as light sources 207 of the irradiation unit 202 are arranged side by side on an elongated substrate.

  The blower fan 203 is configured such that a motor is arranged at the center, and a plurality of blades bent in a certain direction are radially attached to the rotation shaft of the motor, and the motor and the blades are housed in one casing. It is a thing. The blower fan 203 has a function of rotating the motor when the power is turned on, and the wings driven by the motor blow air in a certain direction.

  The deodorizing filter 204 has a function as an adsorption filter that adsorbs and removes odorous components present in the heat insulating box 101. Specifically, as the deodorizing filter 204, a member having a honeycomb structure made of activated carbon can be exemplified. Such a deodorizing filter 204 can adsorb odor components present in the air by allowing air to pass through the holes of the honeycomb structure.

  The base body 205 is a member formed of a resin capable of holding the carrier 201, the blower fan 203, and the deodorizing filter 204. A sterilization apparatus 200 is formed inside the heat insulation box 101 by screwing the base body 205 to which the carrier 201, the blower fan 203, and the deodorizing filter 204 are attached to a predetermined place of the heat insulation box 101. Is done.

  In a state in which the base body 205 is attached to the heat insulating box 101, the base body 205 has a portion other than a part where air is introduced into the base body 205 by the blower fan 203 and a part where the introduced air is led out to the outside of the base body 205. The base 205 has a structure in which air does not leak (is difficult to leak). Therefore, a flow path for air blown by the blower fan 203 is formed between the heat insulating box 101 and the base body 205.

  The base body 205 holds the carrier 201 so that the widest surface of the carrier 201 faces the irradiation means 202 attached to the heat insulating box 101 side.

  The substrate 205 is held away from the substrate 205 so that the carrier 201 does not directly contact the substrate 205. Specifically, the carrier 201 is attached to the tips of a plurality of thin columnar members extending from the base body 205. As a result, the carrier 201 is in a substantially floating state, and it is possible to bring almost the entire area of the carrier 201 into contact with the air introduced by the blower fan 203. Further, by adopting an aspect in which the other part of the base body 205 is not contacted, dew condensation generated on the base body 205 is prevented as much as possible from moving to the carrier 201. In addition, since the carrier 201 is held so as not to be blown by the air flowing through the carrier 201 or to bend due to gravity or the like, the surface of the carrier 201 is kept straight. It is possible to excite the photocatalyst carried on the carrier 201 efficiently without generating a shadow portion where light does not reach.

  The base body 205 holds the blower fan 203 and the deodorizing filter 204 so that they are laid down on the surface of the heat insulating box 101 while being attached to the heat insulating box 101. Thus, by making the ventilation fan 203 and the deodorizing filter 204 lie in the horizontal direction, the protrusion of the sterilization apparatus 200 into the heat insulating box 101 is reduced as much as possible, and a large volume of air Can be introduced into the sterilization apparatus 200, and the large volume of air can be passed through the deodorizing filter 204 having a large surface area.

  The part to which the sterilization apparatus 200 of the heat insulating box 101 is attached is formed with a recessed part 120 that is recessed, and the heat insulating material is thinner than other parts.

  By attaching the sterilization apparatus 200 to the recessed portion 120, the sterilization apparatus 200 can be prevented from protruding into the heat insulation box 101, and the volume phenomenon inside the heat insulation box 101 can be suppressed as much as possible. It becomes. In addition, since the heat insulating material is thin, the temperature of the sterilization apparatus 200 can be increased from other parts, and sterilization can be performed efficiently.

  An irradiation unit 202 is attached to the bottom of the recessed portion 120 of the heat insulation box 101, and the portion protrudes so that the distance between the carrier 201 and the irradiation unit 202 is reduced.

  Further, an illumination device 300 is attached in front of the recessed portion 120 to which the sterilization device 200 is attached. The lighting device 300 is composed of a plurality of LEDs, and illuminates the inside of the heat insulating box 101 from the front (the heat insulating door 107 side) to the rear (the heat insulating box 101 back wall side).

  FIG. 5 is a bottom view showing a state in which the sterilization apparatus and the lighting apparatus are covered with a cover member.

  The cover member 206 is a plate-like member that can cover the entire sterilization apparatus 200 attached to the heat insulating box 101, and includes an air inlet 211 and an air outlet 212. A plurality of louvers for controlling the air flow are attached to the air inlet 211 and the air outlet 212. The cover member 206 covers the sterilization apparatus 200 to improve design, and is disposed at a predetermined distance from the sterilization apparatus 200, thereby disposing the sterilization apparatus 200 inside the heat insulating box 101. Separated from cold. Therefore, the cover member 206 prevents the sterilization apparatus 200 from condensing and lowering the performance. The cover member 206 also covers the lighting device 300 embedded in the heat insulating box 101.

  The portion of the cover member 206 facing the lighting device 300 is transparent and the other portion is in a semi-transparent frosted glass shape, and the base 205 is entirely in a semi-transparent frosted glass shape. As a result, part of the visible light emitted from the light source 207 and the reflected light of the visible light reflected inside the sterilization apparatus 200 leak into the heat insulating box 101. As a result, it can be confirmed that sterilization has been performed, and it is possible to confirm from the outside whether or not the irradiation means 202 has failed.

  About the direct cooling type refrigerator 100 comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below.

  Air containing odor components (such as organic substances) and bacteria present inside the heat insulating box 101 passes through the air inlet 211 of the cover member 206 by the blowing force of the blower fan 203 and is sterilized via the blower fan 203. It is introduced inside the device 200. The introduced air is the air that is farthest from the cooler 110 and exists at the highest position in the heat insulating box 101, and is considered to be the air having the highest temperature in the heat insulating box 101.

  Further, the air introduced into the sterilization apparatus 200 is generated by the heat transmitted through the recessed portion 120 of the heat insulating box 101, that is, the thin portion of the heat insulating material, the heat generated by the irradiation means 202, or the lighting device 300. The temperature rises due to heat, etc., and becomes a temperature suitable for sterilization and deodorization. In addition, even when the heat insulating door 107 is opened and the outside air enters the heat insulating box 101 and is introduced into the sterilizing apparatus 200, the temperature of the entire sterilizing apparatus 200 is increased, so that no condensation occurs. It has become.

  The air in the above state passes so as to lick the surface having the largest area of the carrier 201. Here, since the flow path sandwiched between the irradiation means 202 and the base body 205 facing the irradiation means 202 is set narrower than the other portions, the air comes into contact with the carrier 201 in a large amount. Odor components and bacteria contained in the air are captured on the surface of the carrier 201. The trapped odor components and bacteria are deodorized and sterilized by oxidative degradation and sterilization by the normal (not photocatalytic) catalytic action of silver oxide. As a result, the odor decomposition and sterilization action is exerted by the action of silver oxide even when light is not irradiated, so the amount of light irradiation and time can be reduced while ensuring the desired deodorization and sterilization effect, The life of the irradiation means can be prolonged and the energy saving effect can be enhanced. Furthermore, the light energy (blue or ultraviolet light) emitted from the light source 207 excites silver oxide having an absorption spectrum in these wavelength regions with the light energy of blue light, and the photocatalyst on the surface of the support 201 is excited. . When the photocatalyst is excited, OH radicals are generated from moisture in the air, and are captured by the carrier 201 or oxidative decomposition of odor components existing in the vicinity of the carrier 201 and lysis of bacteria.

  The air to be sterilized and deodorized by the catalytic action is air having the highest temperature in the heat insulating box 101. Therefore, it is considered that the efficiency of sterilization and deodorization is the highest.

  Furthermore, odor components that could not be decomposed on the surface of the carrier pass through the holes of the deodorizing filter 204 having a honeycomb structure together with air, and are adsorbed and held by the deodorizing filter 204.

  Thus, the air that has passed through the sterilization apparatus 200 becomes clean air that has been deodorized and sterilized, and is blown out from the air outlet port 212 of the cover member 206 into the heat insulating box 101. Therefore, if the sterilization is continued, the number of bacteria in the entire heat insulating box 101 can be reduced, and the odor component can be reduced.

  Since the blown air is blown out toward the cooler 110, the air is directly touched on the cooler 110 and cooled to a temperature suitable for storing food or the like. Therefore, even if the temperature rises once in the sterilization apparatus 200, it is cooled after being blown into the heat insulating box 101, so that it does not adversely affect the stored food.

  On the other hand, in the heat insulation box 101, the overall convection of air is promoted by introducing air into the sterilization apparatus 200 and derivation of air from the sterilization apparatus 200. That is, the air cooled by the cooler 110 in the inner wall of the heat insulating box 101 falls to the bottom of the heat insulating box 101 because of its high specific gravity. The air whose temperature has risen due to the heat passing through the door 107 or the like rises toward a portion surrounded by the ceiling of the heat insulating box 101 and the heat insulating door 107. The blower fan 203 blows air in a direction that promotes convection without opposition to the very gentle convection as described above that occurs inside the heat insulating box 101. As a result, forced and strong convection is generated inside the heat insulating box 101.

  Therefore, it is possible to prevent cold air from accumulating at the bottom of the heat insulation box 101 and to make the temperature inside the heat insulation box 101 uniform. Further, the OH radicals generated by the sterilization apparatus 200 convect with the air inside the heat insulation box 101 and also deodorize and sterilize within the heat insulation box 101.

  As described above, the direct cooling refrigerator can be physically sterilized and deodorized by the sterilization apparatus 200 without using an organic sterilizing agent or the like. It is no longer necessary to consider the effects of the organic disinfectant on the human body. Further, since the photocatalyst can be sterilized and deodorized without changing the photocatalyst itself, the effect can be maintained semipermanently.

  Note that the surface having the largest area of the carrier 201 may be held parallel to the vertical surface. If the carrier is arranged in this way, even when the carrier 201 is condensed, the moisture condensed on the surface with the largest area is pulled downward by gravity and the portion with the largest area is cut off. . Therefore, it becomes possible to sterilize and deodorize the branched air without being obstructed by the condensed moisture by the photocatalyst.

  A direct cooling refrigerator according to the present invention is a heat insulating box body 101 that is a rectangular box body that is made of a heat insulating material and has an opening on the front surface that forms a storage chamber therein, and a door that can be freely opened and closed in the opening. Body and a cooler 110 as a cooling means for directly cooling the air in the box body, which is disposed in the storage chamber and which supports the photocatalyst and supports the photocatalyst From upstream of the flow of air generated by the blower fan 203, which is provided with irradiation means for irradiating the excitation light to the carrier 201 and air blowing means for forcibly blowing the air in the storage chamber toward the carrier, The blower fan 203, the carrier 201, and the cooling means are arranged in this order.

  Thereby, relatively high-temperature air can be brought into contact with the carrier, and the occurrence of condensation on the carrier 201 can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently perform sterilization and deodorization while suppressing the functional degradation of the photocatalyst.

  Further, by adopting this arrangement, it is possible to form an air flow in a direction that promotes natural convection without hindering natural convection generated by the cooling means, so that temperature unevenness in the storage chamber is highly efficient. It becomes possible to solve with.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that an adsorption filter for adsorbing and holding odors in the storage chamber is provided, and the adsorption filter is disposed downstream of the carrier and upstream of the cooling means.

  As a result, the deodorizing effect and the like can be further enhanced, and further, by arranging it downstream of the carrier, it is only necessary to retain the remaining odor treated with the photocatalyst, thereby extending the life of the adsorption filter. It becomes.

  As described above, the direct cooling refrigerator according to the present invention blows air having a relatively high temperature toward the low temperature side. Thereby, the natural convection in the storage chamber can be reinforced. In addition, since the photocatalyst acts on relatively high temperature air, sterilization and deodorization can be performed efficiently.

  The present invention is applicable to a direct cooling refrigerator.

Front view of direct cooling refrigerator in embodiment 1 of the present invention Longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a direct cooling refrigerator in the same embodiment Sectional drawing which shows the disinfection apparatus of the state attached to the direct-cooling type refrigerator in the embodiment The bottom view which shows the sterilization apparatus of the state attached to the direct-cooling refrigerator in the same embodiment The bottom view which shows the state which covered the microbe elimination apparatus in the embodiment, and the illuminating device with the cover member Perspective view of main part of direct cooling refrigerator showing conventional example. Cross-sectional view of a direct cooling refrigerator showing another conventional example

Explanation of symbols

100 Direct cooling refrigerator 101 Heat insulation box (box body)
102 Cold room (storage room)
103 Freezer room (storage room)
107 Insulated door (door)
108 Insulated door (door)
110 Cooler (cooling means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 111 Compressor 120 Concave part 200 Disinfection apparatus 201 Carrier 202 Irradiation means 203 Blower fan (blower means)
204 Deodorizing filter (adsorption filter)
205 Substrate (flow path forming means)
206 Cover Member 207 Light Source 211 Air Inlet 212 Air Outlet 300 Lighting Device

Claims (4)

  A rectangular box body that is formed of a heat insulating material and has an opening on the front surface that forms a storage chamber therein, a door body that can be freely opened and closed in the opening, and a cooling means that directly cools the air in the box body A direct-cooled refrigerator comprising: a carrier disposed in the storage chamber and carrying a photocatalyst; irradiation means for irradiating the carrier with excitation light for exciting the photocatalyst; and air in the storage chamber Direct cooling that is arranged in the order of the air blowing means, the carrier, and the cooling means from the upstream of the air flow generated by the air blowing means. Type refrigerator.   2. The direct cooling refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising an adsorption filter that adsorbs and holds an odor in the storage chamber, the adsorption filter being disposed downstream of the carrier and upstream of the cooling unit.   2. The direct cooling according to claim 1, wherein the cooling means is attached to an inner back wall side of the box body, and the carrier, the irradiation means, and the air blowing means are attached to a ceiling side of the box body. Type refrigerator.   The direct cooling refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the photocatalyst carried by the carrier is silver oxide.

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