JP2017160017A - Storage container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a storage container which efficiently inhibits an odor of a content and propagation of bacteria.SOLUTION: A storage container 1 includes: a housing 10 having an opening 12; a lid 11 which is connected with the housing 10 and opens/closes the opening 12; an air curtain formation part 103 which is provided at the housing 10 or the lid 11, blows a gas in a predetermined direction to form an air curtain for closing the opening 12, and supplies a medical agent to the interior of the housing 10 in conjunction with formation of the air curtain; an opening/closing state identification part 104 which identifies an opening/closing state of the lid 11; and a control part which controls the air curtain formation part 103 on the basis of an identification result of the opening/closing state identification part 104.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a storage container.

  As a container for storing garbage generated in restaurants, general households, and the like, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a storage container that suppresses malodor of food waste and bacterial growth. The storage container includes a storage room for storing garbage, and a bubbling tank connected to the storage room via a pipe. In the bubbling tank, hypochlorous acid water having deodorizing and sterilizing action is stored.

  The air in the storage chamber is supplied to the liquid in the bubbling tank through the pipe by an air pump, so that malodorous components of the air are removed (deodorized). The air that has floated on the liquid surface of the bubbling tank generates mist (fine droplets) on the liquid surface, and supplies the mist to the storage chamber to deodorize and disinfect the garbage.

  However, in this storage container, the amount of mist that falls in the storage room far away from the bubbling tank is less mist than the garbage in the bubbling tank. There is a problem that the effect cannot be obtained sufficiently. Further, since the storage container needs to constantly supply the air in the storage chamber to the bubbling tank, the air pump must be continuously driven, and there is a problem in terms of power consumption. Furthermore, there is a problem that hypochlorous acid water or the like adversely affects the human body depending on the amount handled.

JP 2006-103821 A

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a storage container that can efficiently suppress the smell of contents and the growth of bacteria.

In order to achieve the above object, a storage container according to the present invention comprises:
A housing having an opening;
A lid connected to the housing and opening and closing the opening;
Forming an air curtain that is provided on the casing or the lid and blows gas in a predetermined direction to block the opening, and supplies the medicine into the casing together with the formation of the air curtain And
An open / closed state identifying unit for identifying the open / closed state of the lid;
A control unit that controls the air curtain forming unit based on the identification result of the open / closed state identifying unit.

It is the figure which showed typically the storage container which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the state which opened the cover of the storage container shown in FIG. It is the block diagram which showed the functional structure with which a storage container is provided. It is the flowchart which showed the control processing which a storage container performs. (A) is the figure which showed the example which changes the position of an air curtain according to the height of the content. (B) is the figure which showed typically a mode that the air curtain was formed in the position higher than the air curtain shown to Fig.5 (a). (A) is the figure which showed typically a mode that the air curtain was formed by the air curtain formation part provided in the lid | cover. (B) is the figure which showed typically a mode that the air curtain was formed by the air curtain formation part provided in the housing | casing. It is the figure which showed typically a mode that the formation of the air curtain and the supply of the chemical | medical agent to the inside of a housing | casing were performed separately. It is a figure for demonstrating the example which the cover of a storage container opens based on the detection result of a human sensitive sensor.

  Hereinafter, a storage container according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the storage container 1 includes a housing 10 and a lid 11. The housing 10 has an opening 12 that opens upward. The lid 11 is connected to the housing 10 via a shaft member or the like that is pivotally supported on the back side of the opening 12 of the housing 10, and opens and closes the opening 12. Inside the housing 10, the contents D put in through the opening 12 by opening the lid 11 are stored. The contents D give off a bad odor such as garbage or used diapers, for example, and bacteria are easy to propagate.

  The storage container 1 forms an air curtain that closes the opening 12 when the lid 11 opens. For example, at the position above the contents D, the air curtain is directed from one side surface (the left side surface shown in FIG. 2) inside the housing 10 to the surface (the right side surface shown in FIG. 2) facing the surface. Then, it is formed by blowing gas so as to form a layered air flow. By forming the air curtain, the odor of the content D stored in the housing 10 does not leak to the outside, and the user can use it without feeling uncomfortable due to the bad odor of the content D.

  In addition, the storage container 1 forms an air curtain and supplies hypochlorous acid-based chemicals having a sterilizing and deodorizing action to the inside of the housing 10. Thereby, sterilization and deodorization of the content D accommodated in the storage container 1 can be performed efficiently.

  With reference to FIG. 3, the functional structure of the storage container 1 is demonstrated. The storage container 1 includes a control unit 101, a storage unit 102, an air curtain forming unit 103, an open / close state identification unit 104, an odor measurement unit 105, a concentration measurement unit 106, a lock unit 107, and a message output unit 108. With.

  The control unit 101 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory) functioning as a main memory of the CPU, a timer, and the like. The control unit 101 controls the storage unit 1, the air curtain formation unit 103, the open / close state identification unit 104, the odor measurement unit 105, the concentration measurement unit 106, the lock unit 107, and the message output unit 108, thereby controlling the entire storage container 1. To control. In addition, the control unit 101 executes a control process described later by executing a program stored in the storage unit 102.

  The storage unit 102 includes a storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a flash memory. The storage unit 102 stores programs and data used by the control unit 101 to perform various processes, and various data generated or acquired by the control unit 101 performing various processes. Specifically, the storage unit 102 determines the odor threshold value as a reference for determining whether or not to form an air curtain, the odor value measured by the odor measurement unit 105, and whether or not the lid 11 is locked. The threshold value of the chlorine concentration, etc., which is a reference for the storage, is stored.

  The air curtain forming portion 103 is provided along the longitudinal direction of the surface on one side surface (the left side surface shown in FIG. 2) inside the housing 10. As described above, the air curtain forming unit 103 forms an air curtain that closes the opening 12 and supplies the medicine into the housing 10.

  The air curtain forming unit 103 includes a storage tank 103a, a mixed gas generating unit 103b, and a blowing unit 103c. Hypochlorous acid-based chemicals are stored in the storage tank 103a. The mixed gas generation unit 103b mixes a predetermined amount of medicine received from the storage tank 103a with a gas such as outside air or air compressed by a compressor or the like. Thereby, the chemical | medical agent supplied to the mixed gas production | generation part 103b turns into mist-like fine particles, and is mixed with gas, and mixed gas is produced | generated. The blowing unit 103c blows out the mixed gas supplied from the mixed gas generating unit 103b through the pipe in a predetermined direction, thereby forming a layered airflow. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the air curtain forming unit 103 forms an air curtain that closes the opening 12 and supplies the medicine into the housing 10.

  The open / close state identification unit 104 is for detecting whether or not the lid 11 is opened. The open / closed state identification unit 104 includes, for example, a limit switch or the like, and as shown in FIGS. 11 is provided at a position where it does not contact 11. The control unit 101 receives a signal indicating the open / closed state of the lid 11 from the open / closed state identifying unit 104, and determines whether the lid 11 is open based on the signal (based on the identification result of the open / closed state identifying unit 104). Determine.

  The odor measuring unit 105 measures the odor inside the housing 10. The odor measuring unit 105 includes, for example, an odor sensor or the like, and is provided at a position where the odor of the contents D can be measured as shown in FIGS. The odor measuring unit 105 outputs the degree of odor (intensity of odor) as a numerical value. The control unit 101 receives a signal indicating the degree of odor from the odor measuring unit 105, and controls the air curtain forming unit 103 based on the signal (measurement result of the odor measuring unit 105).

  The concentration measuring unit 106 measures chlorine gas (concentration of vaporized drug) in the housing 10. The concentration measuring unit 106 includes, for example, a chlorine gas sensor or the like, and is provided in the housing 10 at a position where the concentration of chlorine gas can be measured as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Since the mixed gas blown out by the air curtain forming unit 103 contains hypochlorous acid-based chemicals, the concentration of chlorine gas inside the housing 10 increases as the mixed gas is blown out. Therefore, if the user opens the lid 11 when the chlorine gas concentration exceeds the reference value, the user's human body may be adversely affected. In order to avoid such a situation, the control unit 101 receives a signal indicating the concentration of the chlorine gas from the concentration measuring unit 106, and based on the signal (measurement result of the concentration measuring unit 106), the measurement of the concentration measuring unit 106. Based on the result, the lock unit 107 is controlled.

  For example, the lock unit 107 includes a lock having a projecting engagement member provided on one of the housing 10 and the lid 11 and a groove-like engaged member provided on the other side. The lock portion 107 locks the lid 11 when the engaging member is engaged with the engaged member, and releases the lock when the engaging member is released from the engaged member. Locking the lid 11 means locking the lid 11 in a state where the lid 11 cannot be opened, and releasing the lock means unlocking the lid 11 so that the lid 11 can be opened. The lock unit 107 switches between locking and unlocking under the control of the control unit 101. The lock unit 107 has an operation button for receiving a user operation, and switches between locking and unlocking according to the operation of the operation button.

  The message output unit 108 includes a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), for example, and is provided on the outer front surface of the housing 10 as shown in FIG. The message output unit 108 displays various information and messages on the screen under the control of the control unit 101. For example, when the lid 11 is locked by the lock unit 107, a message indicating that the lid cannot be opened is output to the message output unit 108. As a result, the user can confirm that the lid 11 is locked, carry the storage container 1 to a ventilated place, etc., and perform the unlocking operation to open the lid 11. When the lock of the lid 11 is released by the lock unit 107, a message indicating that the lid can be opened is output to the message output unit 108.

  With respect to the storage container 1 configured as described above, a control process executed by the storage container 1 will be described below with reference to FIG. When the lid 11 is not locked, the control process including the following steps S102 to S111 is performed. When the lid 11 is locked, the control process including the steps S112 to S116 is performed. Done.

  When the lid 11 is not locked (step S101; NO), the control unit 101 performs the odor measurement unit at every predetermined measurement timing until the lid 11 is opened by the user (step S104; NO). 105 causes the odor inside the housing 10 to be measured. The control unit 101 sequentially stores and updates the odor values measured by the odor measurement unit 105 (step S102; YES, S103).

  When the user opens the lid 11, the control unit 101 receives a signal indicating the state in which the lid 11 is opened from the open / close state identification unit 104 and determines that the lid 11 has been opened (step S <b> 104; YES). In this case, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the latest odor value stored in step S103 exceeds a predetermined threshold value (step S105).

  When it is determined that the latest odor value does not exceed the threshold value (step S105; NO), the control unit 101 returns to step S102 and performs the same processing as described above. That is, in this case, the lid 11 is open, but no air odor is formed from the inside of the housing 10 so that the air curtain that covers the opening 12 is not formed, and no medicine is supplied.

  On the other hand, the control part 101 controls the air curtain formation part 103, when it determines with the value of the last smell exceeding the threshold value (step S105; YES). Specifically, in this case, the control unit 101 supplies a predetermined amount of the drug from the storage tank 103a to the mixed gas generation unit 103b, and generates a mixed gas by causing the mixed gas generation unit 103b to mix the drug and gas. Let Moreover, the control part 101 blows off the produced | generated mixed gas from the blowing part 103c, and forms a layered airflow. Thereby, an air curtain that covers the opening 12 is formed, and the medicine is supplied to the content D stored in the housing 10. The control unit 101 continuously forms the air curtain and supplies the medicine until the lid 11 is closed (step S107; NO).

  When the user closes the lid 11, the control unit 101 receives a signal indicating a state in which the lid 11 is closed from the open / close state identification unit 104 and determines that the lid 11 is closed (step S <b> 107; YES). In this case, the control unit 101 stops the formation of the air curtain and the supply of the medicine, and causes the concentration measurement unit 106 to measure the concentration of chlorine gas (concentration of the vaporized medicine) in the housing 10 (step S108).

  When the control unit 101 determines that the chlorine gas concentration measured by the concentration measurement unit 106 does not exceed a predetermined threshold (step S109; NO), the control unit 101 returns to step S101. That is, in this case, the control unit 101 does not control the lock unit 107 on the assumption that the chlorine gas concentration inside the housing 10 does not exceed the reference value and does not adversely affect the human body.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the chlorine gas concentration exceeds the threshold (step S109; YES), the control unit 101 locks the lid 11 by the lock unit 107 (step S110). In this case, the control unit 101 outputs a message to the effect that the lid 11 cannot be opened to the message output unit 108 (step S111) to notify the user that the lid 11 has been locked.
Through the above steps S102 to S111, a series of control processes when the lid 11 is not locked are performed, and thereafter, the process returns to step S101.

  On the other hand, when the lid 11 is locked (step S101; YES), the control unit 101 determines whether or not the user has performed an unlock operation (step S112). When the lock unit 107 receives an unlock operation from the user, the lock unit 107 supplies a signal corresponding to the operation to the control unit 101. When the control unit 101 receives the signal, the control unit 101 determines that the user has performed an unlock operation (step S112; YES).

  When it is determined that the user has not performed the unlocking operation (step S112; NO), the control unit 101 causes the concentration measurement unit 106 to measure the concentration of chlorine gas in the housing 10 (step S113).

  When the control unit 101 determines that the concentration of the chlorine gas measured by the concentration measurement unit 106 exceeds a predetermined threshold (step S114; YES), the control unit 101 returns to step S101. That is, in this case, since the concentration of chlorine gas inside the housing 10 exceeds the reference value, the control unit 101 does not control the lock unit 107 as maintaining the locked state of the lid 11.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the chlorine gas concentration does not exceed the threshold value (step S114; NO), the control unit 101 controls the lock unit 107 to release the lock of the lid 11 (step S115). That is, when the chlorine gas in the housing 10 leaks from the gap between the lid 11 and the housing 10 and the concentration of the chlorine gas becomes lower than the reference value, the lid 11 is unlocked. In this case, the control unit 101 outputs a message to the effect that the lid 11 can be opened to the message output unit 108 (step S116) to inform the user that the lid 11 has been unlocked.
Through the above steps S112 to S116, a series of control processes when the lid 11 is locked are performed, and thereafter, the process returns to step S101.

  As described above, according to the storage container 1 according to the present embodiment, when the lid 11 is opened, the air curtain that closes the opening 12 is formed and the medicine is supplied to the inside of the housing 10. Therefore, the smell of the content D and the propagation of bacteria can be efficiently suppressed without leaking the smell of the content D to the outside.

  Moreover, since the container 1 can blow out the mixed gas in which gas and the chemical | medical agent were mixed and can form an air curtain, a chemical | medical agent can be equally supplied to the inside of a housing | casing with an air curtain.

  In the above embodiment, the control unit 101 of the storage container 1 has explained the example of controlling the air curtain forming unit 103 based on the latest odor value when it is determined that the lid 11 is opened. When it is determined that the lid 11 is opened, the control unit 101 may cause the odor measuring unit 105 to measure the odor inside the housing 10 and control the air curtain forming unit 103 based on the measurement result.

  In the above embodiment, the storage container 1 includes the odor measuring unit 105, the concentration measuring unit 106, the lock unit 107, and the message output unit 108. However, these configurations may not be provided as necessary. . For example, the control unit 101 of the storage container 1 may control the air curtain forming unit 103 based on the identification result of the open / close state identifying unit 104.

  Further, the position and quantity of the air curtain forming portion 103 are not limited as long as the air curtain forming portion 103 can form an air curtain that covers the opening 12. Further, the layered airflow formed by the air curtain forming unit 103 may be formed by a plurality of layers. By forming an air curtain that closes the opening 12 with a plurality of layers, leakage of the odor of the content D to the outside can be suppressed more reliably.

  Moreover, the air curtain formation part 103 may be provided with the adjustment mechanism which changes the direction which blows off gas. Further, the storage container 1 may be provided with an optical sensor 109 capable of detecting the height of the contents D stored in the housing 10. When these structures are provided, the position at which the air curtain is formed may be changed according to the height of the content D stored in the housing 10. That is, the control unit 101 controls the adjustment mechanism of the air curtain forming unit 103 based on the detection result of the optical sensor 109. Thereby, the position of the air curtain that blocks the opening 12 is changed according to the height of the content D stored in the housing 10, and leakage of the odor of the content D to the outside can be suppressed. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the control unit 101 increases the position of the air curtain as the height of the contents D stored in the housing 10 increases. Thus, the air curtain forming unit 103 is controlled.

  In addition, when the lid 11 of the storage container 1 is configured to be able to open over a plurality of stages, the position where the air curtain is formed may be changed based on the degree of opening of the lid 11. For example, the control unit 101 adjusts the amount of mixed gas blown from the blowing unit 103 c of the air curtain forming unit 103 and the blowing direction of the adjustment mechanism based on the degree of opening of the lid 11 identified by the open / close state identifying unit 104. To do. Thereby, the air curtain which blocks the opening part 12 according to the opening degree of the lid | cover 11 can be formed efficiently, and the leakage of the smell of the content D to the exterior can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, when the lid 11 of the storage container 1 is configured to be able to open over a plurality of stages, the air curtain forming unit 103 to be controlled may be selected based on the degree of opening of the lid 11. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, an air curtain forming unit 103 is provided in each of the housing 10 and the lid 11, and the control unit 101 is identified by the open / closed state identifying unit 104. Based on the degree of opening of the lid 11, it may be selected whether to control the air curtain forming portion 103 provided on the lid 11 or to control the air curtain forming portion 103 provided on the housing 10. Thereby, the air curtain which closes the opening part 12 by the air curtain formation part 103 selected according to the opening degree of the lid | cover 11 can be formed efficiently.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the air curtain formation part 103 demonstrated the example which produces | generates the mixed gas which mixed gas and a chemical | medical agent, as shown in FIG. The medicine may be separately supplied into the housing 10. For example, the air curtain forming unit 103 supplies chemicals below the air curtain that covers the opening 12, thereby suppressing the odor of the content D from leaking to the outside, and the odor of the content D and the bacteria Breeding can be efficiently suppressed.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, when the human sensor 110 is provided in the storage container 1 and the lid 11 is configured to open based on the detection result of the human sensor 110, the detection result of the human sensor 110. May be applied as an identification result of the open / closed state of the lid 11. That is, the human sensor 110 may be used as the opening / closing state identification unit, and the control unit 101 may control the air curtain forming unit 103 based on the detection result of the human sensor 110 (the identification result of the opening / closing state identification unit). .

  In addition to the lid 11 that rotates and opens and closes the opening 12 as described in the above embodiment, the lid of the storage container 1 can be slid laterally to open and close the opening 12 and can be attached and detached. You may employ | adopt the lid | cover which opens and closes the opening part 12. FIG.

  Although some embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Storage container 10 ... Housing 11 ... Cover 12 ... Opening
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Control part 102 ... Memory | storage part 103 ... Air curtain formation part 103a ... Storage tank 103b ... Mixed gas production | generation part 103c ... Outlet part 104 ... Opening-closing state identification part 105 ... Odor measurement part 106 ... Concentration measurement part 107 ... Lock part 108 ... Message output part

Claims (5)

A housing having an opening;
A lid connected to the housing and opening and closing the opening;
Forming an air curtain that is provided on the casing or the lid and blows gas in a predetermined direction to block the opening, and supplies the medicine into the casing together with the formation of the air curtain And
An open / closed state identifying unit for identifying the open / closed state of the lid;
A control unit that controls the air curtain forming unit based on the identification result of the open / closed state identifying unit;
Storage container. The air curtain forming unit blows out the mixed gas generated by the mixed gas generating unit to generate a mixed gas in which the gas and the medicine are mixed, and blows out to form the air curtain With
The control unit causes the mixed gas generation unit to generate the mixed gas based on the identification result of the open / close state identification unit, and causes the blowing unit to blow out the mixed gas.
The storage container according to claim 1. Further comprising an odor measuring unit for measuring the odor inside the housing,
The control unit controls the air curtain forming unit based on the measurement result of the odor measuring unit when the open / closed state identifying unit identifies the state in which the lid is opened.
The storage container according to claim 1 or 2. A concentration measuring unit for measuring the concentration of the drug in the housing;
A lock portion for locking the lid,
The control unit causes the lock unit to perform the lock based on the measurement result of the concentration measurement unit.
The storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The control unit outputs a message indicating that the lid cannot be opened when the lock unit is locked, and based on the measurement result of the concentration measurement unit after the message is output, the lock unit To release the lock,
The storage container according to claim 4.

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