JP2013088103A - Cold storage and cold insulation container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cold storage and a cold insulation container that keep freshness of articles which need to be stored for a long period, utilizing actions of plasma, a metal catalyst and a photocatalyst, and have simple configurations.SOLUTION: There is provided a cold storage 1 which includes a cold storage compartment 2 for storing articles and a cold air generating machine 31 that can optionally change the internal temperature in the cold storage compartment 2, and which performs refrigeration processing or freezing processing on the articles. The cold storage includes: a catalyst layer 13 provided on an insulating surface formed on an inner side face of the cold storage compartment 2, and containing the photocatalyst and metal catalyst; and a plasma electrode 21 arranged in the cold storage compartment 2. Plasma is generated between the plasma electrode 21 and the inner side face of the cold storage compartment 2 serving as a grounding electrode, the photocatalyst is activated with the generated plasma, and catalyst action of the metal catalyst, action of the plasma, and catalyst action of the photocatalyst are exhibited to keep the articles fresh.

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator such as a refrigerator or a freezer, and a refrigerator that is used by being placed in a refrigerator in a state in which an article that needs to be stored is accommodated.

  Conventionally, when an article that needs to be preserved, such as fresh ingredients or fresh flowers, is to be preserved while maintaining its freshness, it is not possible to store the article in a refrigerator such as a refrigerator or a freezer and subject it to refrigeration or freezing. It has been done widely so far.

  However, even if it is refrigerated or frozen in a refrigerator, it is difficult to prevent deterioration and decay when the cold period is long, and it is not possible to prevent deterioration and discoloration of articles, generation of odors and molds, loss of umami, etc. It's not easy.

  Therefore, when performing refrigeration processing or freezing processing on an article that needs to be preserved, there is a refrigerator that places the article that needs to be preserved in an alternating magnetic field and performs refrigeration processing or freezing processing while giving the article a slight vibration due to the alternating magnetic field It has been developed so far (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-61729 A

  However, even in a conventional cool box in which an article is placed in the above alternating magnetic field and the article is refrigerated or frozen, the article is deteriorated and discolored, bad odors, mold, etc. Etc. could not be prevented.

  In view of the above situation, the present invention uses the action of plasma, a metal catalyst, and a photocatalyst to maintain the freshness of articles that need to be preserved over a long period of time, and also provides a cool box and a cool container having a simple configuration. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention comprises a cold insulation chamber that houses an article, and a cold air generator that can arbitrarily change the internal temperature of the cold insulation room, and performs cold storage processing or freezing treatment on the article. A catalyst layer that is provided on an insulating surface formed on an inner surface of the cold insulation chamber and contains a photocatalyst and a metal catalyst, and a plasma electrode disposed in the cold insulation chamber, Plasma is generated between the plasma electrode and the inner surface of the cold insulation chamber serving as a ground electrode, the photocatalyst is activated by the generated plasma, and the catalyst of the photocatalyst together with the catalytic action of the metal catalyst and the action of the plasma Provided is a cold box characterized by maintaining its freshness by exerting its action.

  Here, it is preferable that the plasma electrode also serves as a shelf plate on which an article stored in the cold storage chamber is placed.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention is a cold storage container that is used by being placed in a cold storage container that refrigerates or freezes an article in a state in which the article is accommodated, on the inner surface of the cold storage container. A plasma layer provided on the formed insulating surface, containing a photocatalyst and a metal catalyst, a plasma electrode disposed in the cold storage container, and a counter electrode facing the plasma electrode, the plasma Plasma is generated between the electrode and the counter electrode, the photocatalyst is activated by the generated plasma, and the catalytic action of the metal catalyst and the action of the plasma are exhibited to maintain the freshness of the article. The present invention provides a cold storage container characterized by

  According to the cool box and the cool container of the present invention, the article can be stored for a long period of time while maintaining freshness in an excellent storage environment.

  Further, by omitting the light source for activating the photocatalyst, it is possible to realize a simplified configuration, space saving, cost reduction, and energy saving.

  Furthermore, according to the cool box of the present invention, by using the inner side surface of the grounded cool chamber as the counter electrode of the plasma electrode, the configuration can be simplified, and space saving and cost reduction can be achieved.

It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the external appearance of the cool box which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. It is the whole schematic for demonstrating the outline | summary of a structure of the cold storage shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the external appearance of the cold storage container which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is the whole schematic for demonstrating the outline | summary of a structure of the cold storage container shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First embodiment]
Drawing 1 is a mimetic diagram showing an example of the appearance of the cool box concerning a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an overall schematic diagram for explaining the outline of the configuration of the cool box shown in FIG. 1, and illustrates a state in which the cool box body is viewed from the front.

  As shown in these drawings, the cool box 1 according to this embodiment includes a cool box body 10 including a top wall 1A, a bottom wall 1B, side walls 1C, 1D, and 1E having heat insulation properties, and an inside of the cool box body 10 inside. It is comprised from the opening-closing door 1F which can be sealed and has heat insulation.

  In the cool box main body 10, a cool room 2 and a device installation unit 3 are provided.

  The cold insulation chamber 2 is a space for accommodating and storing articles that need to be preserved, and a catalyst layer forming plate 11 is provided on the inner surface of the side wall of the cold insulation chamber 2. The catalyst layer forming plate 11 is formed by laminating a catalyst layer 13 containing a photocatalyst and a metal catalyst on a substrate 12 having an insulating surface, and this catalyst layer 13 faces the cold insulation chamber 2 side. The catalyst layer 13 is formed by applying a catalyst agent in which metal catalyst particles and photocatalyst particles are mixed using a solution composed of a binder agent and a binder auxiliary agent. Therefore, the catalyst layer 13 has a configuration in which the metal catalyst particles and the photocatalyst particles are exposed on the surface.

  Here, metal particles such as platinum, gold, silver, copper, iron, cobalt, nickel, chromium, and zinc are used as the metal catalyst particles, and platinum particles are particularly preferable. . The photocatalyst particles used are titanium dioxide, titanium oxide, zinc oxide, iron oxide, copper oxide, silver oxide, tungsten oxide, zirconium oxide, bismuth oxide, indium oxide, germanium oxide, nickel oxide, cobalt oxide. , Chromium oxide, manganese oxide, vanadium oxide, niobium oxide, antimony oxide, strontium oxide and the like, and titanium dioxide powder is particularly preferable.

  Further, one or a plurality of shelf boards 21 for placing articles are arranged in the cold room 2. In order to suspend and support the shelf plate 21, a support column 22 is provided in the cold insulation chamber 2. It is preferable that four columns 22 are arranged in the vicinity of the four corners of the cold storage chamber 2, but the number, position, etc. can be changed as appropriate. If the shelf plate 21 can be supported, it is not a columnar body but a plate shape. The body and others may be used. In addition, the support part 23 which consists of an insulating material is provided in the base (lower end) of the support | pillar 22, respectively.

  Here, the shelf plate 21 and the support column 22 are made of a conductive material, and will be described in detail later. The shelf plate 21 is connected to the plasma generating AC power supply 32 via the support column 22 and also serves as a plasma electrode plate. . On the other hand, the inner surface of the cold insulation chamber 2 is grounded, and this ground electrode is used as a counter electrode of the plasma electrode.

  The equipment installation unit 3 is provided with a cold air generator 31 and a plasma generating AC power supply 32. The cold air generator 31 uses a known heat exchanger that generates cold air having an arbitrary temperature, flow rate, and flow rate from the taken-in air by various mechanisms. The cold air generated by the cold air generator 31 is led out from the device installation unit 3 to the cold insulation chamber 2, circulates in the cold insulation chamber 2, and returns to the cold air generator 31 again. Although not shown and detailed description is omitted because it is publicly known, the cold air generator 31 of the device installation unit 3 is provided with a temperature control unit and the like, and the cold storage 1 is a refrigeration function like a conventional ordinary refrigerator or freezer. It is assumed that a freezing function, a cooling release function, a thawing function, and the like are provided.

  The plasma generating AC power source 32 applies a plasma generating AC voltage (for example, 1000 V to 15000 V) to the plasma electrode plate (shelf plate) 21 described above, and plasma (between the plasma electrode plate (shelf plate) 21 and the ground electrode). Visible and invisible light elementary particles). Since the inner side surface of the cold insulation chamber 2 grounded as described above also serves as a counter electrode of the plasma electrode, it is unnecessary to separately provide an electrode plate in the cold insulation chamber 2.

  In the above description, the configuration in which the catalyst layer forming plate 11 is installed on the inner surface of the side wall of the cold chamber 2 to form the catalyst layer 13 has been described. However, the inner surface of the side wall of the cold chamber 2 is an insulating surface, and no substrate or the like is provided. Alternatively, the catalyst layer 13 may be directly formed. In the above description, the shelf plate 21 on which an article that needs to be stored is also used as a plasma electrode plate made of a conductive material has been described. However, the shelf plate is made of an insulating material, and plasma is formed on the shelf plate. It is good also as a structure which arrange | positions an electrode layer.

  With the configuration as described above, according to the cool box 1 of the present invention, in addition to performing refrigeration and freezing treatment on an article that needs to be stored, such as a conventional cool box, the following effects can be obtained. Can be obtained.

(1) Effects of Plasma As described above, when the plasma generating AC power supply 32 is operated, plasma that vibrates between the plasma electrode plate (shelf plate) 21 and the ground electrode is generated. Along with this, an oscillating electric field is generated in the cold chamber 2 and ozone and negative ions are generated. Articles in the cold room 2 are exposed to an oscillating electric field and slightly vibrate internally, thereby preventing decay, oxidation, and the like. Furthermore, antibacterial fungi, sterilization, virus inactivation, deodorization, decoloration, removal of organic substances, and negative ion oxidation prevention effect by ozone can be obtained.

(2) Effects of metal catalyst and photocatalyst As described above, the catalyst layer forming plate 11 is provided on the inner surface of the side wall of the cold insulation chamber 2, and the catalyst layer 13 has the photocatalyst particles and the metal catalyst particles. And are exposed on the surface. Here, the metal catalyst has an effect of adsorbing and decomposing an organic compound or the like (consisting of C, H, and O) that causes discoloration and malodor to an article that needs to be stored. On the other hand, the photocatalyst has an effect of decomposing and removing dirt, bad odors, bacteria, harmful chemical substances, etc. in the cold insulation chamber 2 by an oxidation-reduction action. In particular, since the photocatalyst decomposes oxygen molecules in the air in the cool chamber 2 to generate active oxygen, the active oxygen is adsorbed and decomposed by the metal catalyst particles, such as organic compounds such as C, H, O By combining with atoms and the like, these can be made into safe and harmless molecules such as carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) and water (H ₂ O).

  When a metal catalyst such as platinum adsorbs and decomposes an organic compound, a catalyst poison such as CO is adsorbed very strongly, and a new reaction such as adsorption decomposition cannot be performed (deactivation of the catalyst). Therefore, by containing the photocatalyst together with the metal catalyst in the catalyst layer 13, the catalyst poison of the metal catalyst as described above can be oxidized and desorbed from the metal catalyst. That is, the catalytic effect of the metal catalyst can be maintained semipermanently.

  Here, the photocatalyst is a substance that exhibits a catalytic action when irradiated with light (particularly ultraviolet light), but in the present invention, a light source for exciting the photocatalyst is not particularly mounted in the cool box 1. This is because the plasma generated at random in the cold chamber 2 activates the photocatalyst and exhibits a catalytic action as in the case where a light source is provided. This is presumed to be because the movement of electron holes, which occurs when plasma discharges toward the counter electrode in a high-voltage electric field atmosphere, acts on the photocatalyst.

  As described above, according to the cool box of the present invention, the article can be stored for a long period of time while maintaining freshness in an excellent storage environment. Further, by omitting the light source, it is possible to realize a simplified configuration, space saving, cost reduction, and energy saving. Furthermore, by using the inner side surface of the grounded cold insulation chamber as the counter electrode of the plasma electrode, the configuration can be simplified, and space saving and cost reduction can be achieved.

[Second Embodiment]
So far, we have described refrigerators, freezers, and other cold storage containers, but they can also be applied to cold storage containers that can be stored for a long period of time while keeping freshness by placing them in a conventional cold storage room that contains items that need to be preserved. Is possible. Hereinafter, the cold insulation container according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Drawing 3 is a mimetic diagram showing an example of the appearance of the cold storage container concerning a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an overall schematic diagram for explaining the outline of the configuration of the cold insulation container shown in FIG. 3, and is a perspective view of the cold insulation container main body with the lid portion opened.

  As shown in these drawings, the cold insulation container 4 according to the present embodiment is a box-shaped container made of an insulating resin material, and includes a lid portion 4A and a bottom portion that can be sealed by the lid portion 4A. 4B and the cold insulation container main body 40 provided with the side parts 4C, 4D, 4E, and 4F.

  In the cold insulation container main body 40, a space is provided for accommodating articles that need to be stored and keeping them cool. A catalyst layer 43 containing a photocatalyst and a metal catalyst is laminated on the insulating surface of the inner surfaces of the side portions 4C, 4D, 4E, and 4F of the cold insulation container body 40 as shown in FIG. Similar to the catalyst layer 13 in the first embodiment, the catalyst layer 43 is coated with a catalyst agent in which metal catalyst particles and photocatalyst particles are mixed using a solution composed of a binder agent and a binder auxiliary agent. It is formed by doing. Therefore, the catalyst layer 43 has a configuration in which the metal catalyst particles and the photocatalyst particles are exposed on the surface. The example of the raw material used as a metal catalyst and a photocatalyst is as having shown in 1st embodiment.

  In the above description, the structure in which the catalyst layer 43 is directly formed on the inner surface of the side wall of the cold insulation container main body 40 has been described. However, as in the first embodiment, the catalyst layer forming plate is installed and the catalyst layer is formed on the plate. Anyway.

  The insulating substrate 5 is disposed on the upper surface of the bottom portion 4B of the cold insulation container body 40. On this insulating substrate 5, for example, a plasma electrode plate 51 is formed in a mesh shape, and is connected to an external AC power source for plasma generation (not shown). Further, a counter electrode plate 52 is disposed in the cold insulation container main body 40, and is similarly connected to an external AC power source for plasma generation (not shown). In the present embodiment, an AC voltage is applied between the plasma electrode plate 51 and the counter electrode plate 52 to generate plasma in the cold container main body 40.

  The cold storage container 1 having the above-described configuration can be obtained in a conventional cold storage and refrigerated or refrigerated to obtain the effects of plasma and the effects of a metal catalyst and a photocatalyst as in the first embodiment. The article can be stored for a long time in an excellent storage environment while maintaining freshness. Further, by omitting the light source, it is possible to simplify the configuration, reduce the cost, and save energy.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Based on the meaning of this invention, various deformation | transformation are possible, These are excluded from the scope of the present invention. is not.

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator such as a refrigerator and a freezer, and a cold storage container that is used by being placed in a refrigerator in a state in which an article that needs to be stored is accommodated, and has industrial applicability.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cold storage 1A Top wall 1B Bottom wall 1C, 1D, 1E Side wall 1F Open / close door 10 Cold storage main body 11 Catalyst layer formation board 12 Substrate 13 Catalyst layer 2 Cold storage room 21 Plasma electrode plate (shelf)
22 support 23 support part 3 equipment installation part 31 cold air generator 32 AC power source for plasma generation 4 cold insulation container 4A lid part 4B bottom part 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F side part 40 cold insulation container main body 43 catalyst layer 5 insulating substrate 51 plasma electrode Plate 52 Counter electrode plate

Claims (3)

A cold storage room for storing the article, and a cold air generator capable of arbitrarily changing the internal temperature of the cold storage room, and performing a refrigeration process or a freezing process on the article,
A catalyst layer provided on an insulating surface formed on the inner surface of the cold chamber, and containing a photocatalyst and a metal catalyst;
A plasma electrode disposed in the cold chamber;
With
Plasma is generated between the plasma electrode and the inner surface of the cold storage chamber that also serves as a ground electrode,
A cold storage chamber that maintains the freshness of an article by activating the photocatalyst by the generated plasma and exerting the catalytic action of the metal catalyst together with the catalytic action of the metal catalyst and the action of the plasma.   The cold insulator according to claim 1, wherein the plasma electrode also serves as a shelf plate on which an article accommodated in the cold chamber is placed. In a state where the article is accommodated, a cold storage container that is used by being placed in a cold storage chamber that performs refrigeration processing or freezing processing on the article,
A catalyst layer provided on an insulating surface formed on the inner surface of the cold storage container, containing a photocatalyst and a metal catalyst;
A plasma electrode disposed in the cold insulation container;
A counter electrode facing the plasma electrode;
With
Generating a plasma between the plasma electrode and the counter electrode;
A cold storage container characterized in that the photocatalyst is activated by the generated plasma and exhibits the catalytic action of the metal catalyst and the catalytic action of the photocatalyst together with the action of the plasma to maintain the freshness of the article.

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