JP2011252607A - Food storage container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a food storage container in which ozone is stably supplied without being affected by humidity inside a storage compartment.SOLUTION: The food storage container includes: a storage box 170 having openings at the front side thereof, in which a vegetable storage compartment 120 for storing food is formed; doors 111 for opening and closing the storage box 170; an ozone generator 200 provided on the ceiling of the storage box, for generating ozone that is to be supplied to the vegetable storage compartment 120; a partition 210 for partitioning the ozone generator 200 and the vegetable storage compartment 120; and discharge holes 211 provided in the partition 210, for allowing the ozone generated by the ozone generator 200 to penetrate.

Description

  The present invention relates to a food storage including a refrigerator, and particularly to a food storage including an ozone generator.

Conventionally, ozone having a high oxidizing action has been used for sterilization and fungicide in refrigerators and the like. For example, in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 6, an ozone generator 200 is directly attached to a lid 122 of a food container 121 that is housed in a vegetable room of a refrigerator so as to be drawable. And by arranging the ozone generator 200 in the opening part of the food container 121 in this way, it is supposed that the ozone concentration in the food container 121 can be suppressed and sterilization and antibacterial can be performed efficiently.
JP 2001-911146 A

  However, when the ozone generator is arranged at the opening of the food container, water vapor evaporated from food, particularly vegetables, has an adverse effect on the ozone generator and slows down the ozone generation efficiency. Therefore, it becomes difficult to maintain the inside of the food container at a necessary ozone concentration, and it is necessary to consume a large amount of electric power to maintain the necessary ozone concentration.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, and it aims at provision of the food storage which can make a storage chamber into required ozone concentration, suppressing the influence of the water vapor | steam discharge | released from a foodstuff.

  In order to achieve the above object, a food storage according to the present invention forms a storage room for storing food, a storage box having an opening in the front, a door for opening and closing the storage box, and a supply to the storage room An ozone generator for generating ozone, wherein the ozone generator provided on the ceiling of the storage box, partition means for partitioning the ozone generator and the storage chamber, and ozone generated by the ozone generator It has a discharge hole provided in the partition means, which transmits.

  As a result, the storage room for storing food and the ozone generator are separated, and the ozone generator is arranged in a separated state above the space in which the food is stored. Therefore, the ozone generator can be protected from the ozone, and the ozone generation efficiency of the ozone generator can be maintained at a high level.

  And a food container having an opening that is disposed in the storage chamber and that can be pulled out and opened upward, and wherein the ozone generator is spaced apart from the opening and faces the opening. It is desirable to be arranged in.

  Thereby, since the ozone generator is arranged in a separated state above the food container in which food is stored, the ozone generator can be protected from the influence of moisture evaporated from the food. It becomes possible to maintain ozone generation efficiency in a high state.

  And a lid that closes the opening of the food container, the lid being provided at a position corresponding to the discharge hole, provided at a position other than the passage hole through which ozone passes and the position corresponding to the discharge hole, It is desirable to provide an adjustment hole for releasing the atmosphere outward.

  According to this, it is possible to adjust the state inside the food container, for example, the humidity while introducing ozone into the food container. Therefore, the ozone concentration and humidity in the food container can be maintained in an arbitrary state.

  The passage hole preferably has a shape in which the opening area of the lid lower surface portion is smaller than the opening area of the lid upper surface portion.

  According to this, it becomes possible to effectively capture the ozone falling from the ozone generator disposed above and introduce it into the food container. In addition to this, it is possible to suppress the amount of atmosphere that flows out from the food container through the passage hole.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the food storehouse which can suppress the influence of the humidity in a storage chamber and can maintain the generation | occurrence | production efficiency of the stable ozone can be provided.

  Next, an embodiment of a food storage according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a front view showing a food storage in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  As shown in the figure, the food storage 100 is a refrigerator including three doors 111, and the storage chamber formed by the storage box 170 is divided into three.

  The food storage 100 is provided with a refrigerator compartment 110, a vegetable compartment 120, and a freezer compartment 130 from above as compartmentalized storage compartments. In the same figure, the rectangular broken lines represent the openings of the respective storage chambers, and the food to be stored is carried into the storage box 170 partitioned in a shelf shape from the front and is taken out. It has become.

  Further, the food storage 100 includes a door 111 that can seal the storage box 170 and can be opened and closed. Specifically, the food storage 100 includes a first door 111a capable of opening and closing the refrigerator compartment 110, a second door 111b capable of opening and closing the vegetable compartment 120, and a third door 111c capable of opening and closing the freezer compartment 130. The door 111 is attached to the storage box 170 so that it can be opened and closed by a hinge.

  The storage box 170 has a function to insulate the outside and the inside, and as shown in the ellipse in the figure, an inner box 171 vacuum-formed with a resin such as ABS and a metal material such as a pre-coated steel plate are used. The outer box 172 is used, and the heat insulating material 173 is disposed between the inner box 171 and the outer box 172. Similarly, the door 111 includes an inner plate, an outer plate, and a heat insulating material 173.

  FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the food storage 100 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in the figure, the food storage 100 includes an ozone generator 200, partitioning means 210, and a light source 220. The food storage 100 includes a food container 121 and a lid 122 inside the vegetable compartment 120.

  The ozone generator 200 is a device that can generate ozone to be supplied to the food container 121 disposed in the storage chamber. The ozone generator 200 is embedded in the lower surface side of the shelf 115 that partitions the refrigerator compartment 110 and the vegetable compartment 120 toward the inside of the vegetable compartment 120. Therefore, the ozone generator 200 is disposed above an opening 127 of the food container 121 described later, and is disposed at a position spaced from the opening 127 of the food container 121 and facing the opening 127.

  By burying the ozone generator in the shelf 115 in this way, the temperature of the ozone generator 200 is hardly changed even by the temperature change of the vegetable compartment 120, and the ozone generation efficiency can be stably maintained. .

Here, the ozone generator 200 is not particularly limited as long as it is a device that generates ozone. Specifically, a device for generating ozone (O ₃ ) by irradiating ultraviolet light to oxygen molecules (O ₂ ) in the air, or an electrode disposed in the air is set to a high voltage, and discharge or the like An apparatus that converts oxygen molecules into ozone, an apparatus that electrolyzes a substance containing oxygen such as water, and supplies ozone into the air can be exemplified.

  The partitioning unit 210 is a member made of a thin plate that partitions the ozone generator 200 and the storage chamber. As shown in FIG. 3, the partitioning unit 210 is an inverted quadrangular frustum-shaped cover provided with a large number of discharge holes 211 in front of the lower surface portion. . The partition unit 210 partitions the ozone generator 200 and the vegetable compartment 120 by being attached to the lower surface of the shelf 115 so as to cover the ozone generator 200 embedded in the shelf 115. In addition, the partition unit 210 is provided with a number of suction holes 212 behind the lower surface portion.

  The lower surface portion of the partitioning unit 210 is inclined so that the position gradually decreases toward the front of the food storage 100, and the discharge hole 211 is disposed in the vicinity of the lowest position.

  As a result, ozone having a higher specific gravity than air is mainly emitted downward from the emission hole 211. On the other hand, the suction hole 212 disposed at the rear mainly functions as a hole for sucking the atmosphere outside the partition unit 210. In the case of the present embodiment, the suction port 212 is positioned in the vicinity of a cool air discharge port 213 described later, and therefore sucks cool air in a relatively dry state. Therefore, the humidity inside the partition unit 210 can be kept low, and the ozone generation efficiency in the ozone generator 200 can be kept high. Further, when ozone is generated at a high voltage as the type of the ozone generator 200, ozone can be generated with high efficiency by lowering the temperature inside the partition unit 210. Therefore, it is possible to suppress power consumption necessary for generating ozone and contribute to energy saving.

  Further, the partitioning unit 210 has an ozone generation efficiency of the ozone generator 200, the amount of oxygen that flows into the partitioning unit 210 through the suction hole 212, and the amount of ozone that flows out from the discharge hole 211. It is possible to adjust the density. That is, the partition unit 210 adjusts the ozone concentration of the vegetable compartment 120 to some extent by determining the total opening area of the discharge hole 211 and the total opening area of the suction hole 212 provided in the partition unit 210 at the design stage. Can do. Specifically, when there are many discharge holes 211 (the total opening area is wide), the amount of ozone outflow increases, and the ozone concentration in the vegetable compartment 120 increases. Moreover, since the inflow amount of oxygen increases in proportion to the outflow amount of ozone, the number of discharge holes 211 and the ozone concentration in the vegetable compartment 120 are proportional to the limit of the capacity of the ozone generator 200. Conversely, if there are few discharge holes 211 (the total opening area is narrow), the amount of ozone flowing out will be small, and the ozone concentration in the vegetable compartment 120 will be low.

  In addition, although the said partition means 210 flowed out ozone by natural convection and flowed in oxygen, you may make it flow out ozone and forcibly take in oxygen using a fan. Further, an ozone concentration meter is arranged so that the ozone concentration in the food container 121 can be measured, and the ozone generation amount of the ozone generator 200 is adjusted based on information from the ozone concentration meter (for example, the fan is turned on or off). Thus, the ozone concentration in the food container 121 may be kept within a predetermined range.

  It is desirable to maintain the ozone concentration in the vegetable compartment 120 or the food container 121 as a food storage room at 0.05 ppm or less. This is because if the ozone concentration is higher than this, when the food container 121 is drawn out or when food such as vegetables is taken out from the food container 121 container, there is a risk of some influence on the human body performing these operations. Moreover, it is desirable to maintain at 0.03 ppm or less. This is because, if the ozone concentration is higher than this, the person who performs the operation may feel uncomfortable due to the ozone odor.

  The light source 220 is a device that emits light of a predetermined wavelength that can promote decomposition of agricultural chemicals by ozone to food stored in the vegetable compartment 120 as a storage compartment. In the present embodiment, a light emitting diode (LED) is employed as the light source 220.

  Further, the light source 220 is disposed inside the partitioning unit 210. This is to prevent light of a predetermined wavelength from being absorbed by the light source 220 and degrading the decomposition efficiency of the agricultural chemical.

  Therefore, it is desirable that at least the partitioning unit 210 is made of a material that can sufficiently transmit light having a necessary wavelength among light emitted from the light source 220.

  The wavelength emitted by the light source 220 is a predetermined wavelength that can promote the decomposition of agricultural chemicals by ozone with respect to food stored in the storage room, and any wavelength region in the infrared region, visible region, or ultraviolet region. May be included.

  Specifically, a wavelength that resonates with vibrations of molecules constituting the agricultural chemical is preferable. This wavelength is considered to exist in the infrared region. More specifically, the infrared absorption spectrum of the target agricultural chemical is used, and the wavelength corresponding to the valley portion of the spectrum, such as the wavelength of the strongest absorbing portion, is preferable. For example, the wavelength specified from the infrared absorption spectrum of chlorpyrifos, malathion or pyrethroid pesticides is preferred. This is because it is an agrochemical that is often used in foods and is likely to remain in foods.

  On the other hand, the wavelength at which ozone is activated may be used. For example, the wavelength in the infrared region that ozone absorbs. This is because if ozone is activated, the decomposition of agricultural chemicals is promoted.

  Moreover, the light emission method of the light source 220 should just employ | adopt the method which is easy to decompose | disassemble an agrochemical. For example, a method in which the light source 220 is continuously turned on only when the ozone concentration in the vegetable compartment 120 is equal to or higher than a predetermined value can be considered. The predetermined value is preferably 0.01 ppm or more considering the decomposition efficiency of agricultural chemicals. Further, the light source 220 may be blinked at an emission interval corresponding to a multiple or a divisor of the natural frequency of the molecules constituting the agricultural chemical. As a result, it is considered that light energy can be efficiently input to the pesticide and the pesticide can be easily decomposed with ozone.

  The LED of the light source 220 may be fixed to the shelf plate 115 or fixed to the partition unit 210. When fixed to the partition unit 210, an LED substrate (not shown) for controlling the LED is also fixed to the partition unit 210.

  In the present embodiment, a light emitting diode is used as the light source 220. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to this, and the light source 220 that emits light having a continuous spectrum may be used. Further, a light source 220 may be used that is provided with a plurality of light emitting diodes that emit light of different wavelengths.

  Furthermore, the food storage 100 is provided with a cooling means 140. In the case of the present embodiment, the cooling means 140 is configured by a cooling cycle including two coolers. Specifically, a first cooler 112 is provided on the back side of the back surface portion of the refrigerator compartment 110. The inner surface of the refrigerator compartment 110 is cooled by heat conduction from the cooler 112. The air in the refrigerator compartment 110 is cooled by the cooled back surface portion.

  The second cooler 112 is provided on the back side of the back surface of the freezer compartment 130. The inside of the freezer compartment 130 is cooled by cold air that has been forcibly passed through the second cooler 112 and cooled, and the cold air that has cooled the food or the like returns to the second cooler 112 again. It has become.

  The cold air discharged from the second cooler 112 is also supplied to the vegetable compartment 120 via the cold air discharge port 213. The vegetable compartment 120 is maintained in a temperature zone between the temperature zone of the refrigerator compartment 110 and the temperature zone of the freezer compartment 130 by controlling the amount of cold air supplied by damper opening / closing control. Specifically, it is controlled so as to be maintained at a temperature within a range of 4 ° C. or lower and 0 ° C. or higher.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a food container and a lid.

  The food container 121 is a box having an opening 127 that is disposed in a vegetable room 120 as a storage room and that can be pulled out and opens upward.

  The lid 122 is a plate-like member that closes the opening 127 of the food container 121, and includes a passage hole 124 and an adjustment hole 125. The lid 122 is made of a material that can sufficiently transmit light having a necessary wavelength among light emitted from the light source 220. The lid 122 has a function of adjusting the humidity in the food container 121, and specifically, while maintaining the moisture evaporated from the vegetables stored in the food container 121 to some extent in the food container 121, The humidity is adjusted in the food container 121 to such an extent that the moisture does not condense.

  The passage hole 124 is a hole having a function of mainly passing ozone, and is a hole penetrating in the thickness direction of the lid 122. Further, the passage hole 124 has a tapered shape that gradually increases in diameter upward as shown in FIG. Further, since the passage hole 124 is a hole for introducing the ozone generated by the ozone generator 200 into the food container 121, the passage hole 124 is located immediately below the discharge hole 211 provided in the partitioning unit 210 and the surrounding area (position corresponding to the discharge hole). 126 (see FIG. 4)).

  By forming the passage hole 124 in such a shape, the ozone falling from the discharge hole 211 of the partitioning means 210 is received by the large diameter portion of the passage hole 124, and the ozone is effectively introduced into the food container 121. Can do. On the other hand, the moisture existing inside the food container 121 can be adjusted to the outflow amount of an adjustment hole 125 described later, and the humidity inside the food container 121 can be adjusted as designed.

  The adjustment hole 125 is a through-hole provided in a portion other than the discharge hole corresponding position 126, and discharges the inner atmosphere to the outside in order to adjust the state of the atmosphere inside the food container (especially moisture). It is a part with the function to do. The adjustment hole 125 is a hole penetrating in the thickness direction of the lid 122 as shown in FIG. Further, the number and size of the adjustment holes 125 are determined at the design stage depending on the range to be adjusted (for example, the humidity range in the food container 121).

  As described above, the food storage 100 according to the present invention makes it easy to decompose the pesticide remaining in the food to be stored with the power of light and decomposes the pesticide with the oxidizing power of ozone. Is possible. Therefore, even if the ozone concentration in the storage room is suppressed to a range that does not affect the human body, the residual agricultural chemical can be decomposed. Furthermore, since the pesticide can be decomposed even in an environment of 4 ° C. or less where the activity of the pesticide is low, it is possible to decompose the residual pesticide while allowing food to be stored for a long period of time.

  In addition, since ethylene gas can be reduced, it is possible to prevent deterioration such as browning of foods such as vegetables.

  In the present embodiment, the adjustment hole 125 is provided only in the lid 122, but the adjustment hole 125 may be provided in the wall surface of the food container 121.

  The present invention can be applied to food storages equipped with ozone sterilization and antibacterial functions, particularly refrigerators.

The front view which shows the food storage in Embodiment 1 of this invention Vertical section of the food storage of the same embodiment A perspective view of the partition means from below. Perspective view showing food container and lid (A) Cross section of transmission hole (b) Cross section of adjustment hole Perspective view showing a conventional food container

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Food storage 110 Refrigerating room 111a 1st door 111b 2nd door 111c 3rd door 112 Cooler 115 Shelf board 120 Vegetable room 121 Food container 122 Lid 124 Passing hole 125 Adjustment hole 126 Emission hole corresponding position 127 Opening part 130 Freezer compartment 140 Cooling means 170 Storage box 171 Inner box 172 Outer box 173 Heat insulating material 200 Ozone generator 210 Partition means 211 Release hole 212 Suction hole 213 Cold air outlet 220 Light source

Claims (5)

  A storage box for storing food, a storage box having an opening in the front, a door for opening and closing the storage box, and an ozone generator for generating ozone to be supplied to the storage room, A food storage comprising an ozone generator provided on a ceiling, partition means for partitioning the ozone generator and the storage chamber, and a discharge hole provided in the partition means through which ozone generated by the ozone generator permeates. .   And a food container having an opening that is disposed in the storage chamber and that can be pulled out and opened upward, and wherein the ozone generator is spaced apart from the opening and faces the opening. The food storage of Claim 1 arrange | positioned.   And a lid that closes the opening of the food container, the lid being provided at a position corresponding to the discharge hole, provided at a position other than the passage hole through which ozone passes and the position corresponding to the discharge hole, The food storage according to claim 2, further comprising an adjustment hole that discharges the atmosphere outward.   The food storage according to claim 3, wherein the passage hole has a shape in which an opening area of the lid lower surface portion is smaller than an opening area of the lid upper surface portion.   Furthermore, the food storage warehouse of Claim 1 provided with the cooling means which comprises a cooling cycle, and the cold air discharge port which discharges the cold air cooled by the cooling means to the said storage chamber.

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