JPH0119024Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a humidity control device for a refrigerated container, and particularly to a humidity control device that has a simple structure and can be easily installed in existing containers.

[Prior art]

Traditionally, refrigerators have been designed to suck air inside the container through the intake port at the bottom of the container, cool it with a refrigerator, and then discharge the cooled air into the refrigerator from the discharge port at the top of the container to maintain the inside of the refrigerator at a constant low temperature. Containers are commonly known.

By the way, in this type of conventional refrigerated container, only temperature control is performed, and humidity control is not performed at all, so there is a risk that cargo inside the container may be damaged due to high humidity.

That is, in general, for example, in the case of mandarin oranges, it has been proven that the optimum transport conditions are to set the temperature at 3 to 5°C and the humidity at 80 to 85%.

However, in conventional refrigerated containers, when the temperature inside the container is controlled to be 3 to 5 degrees Celsius, depending on the outside air condition, the humidity may reach 95% or more, which causes the oranges inside the container to There is a problem of corruption.

[Purpose of invention]

The present invention was developed to solve these conventional problems, and it is possible to dehumidify without adversely affecting the temperature inside the warehouse and maintain the humidity inside the warehouse at the optimal value for the cargo in the warehouse. It is an object of the present invention to provide a humidity control device for a refrigerated container that has a simple structure, can be easily attached to a refrigerated container that requires humidity control, and does not reduce the internal volume.

[Summary of the idea]

The present invention provides a refrigerated container in which internal air is sucked through an intake port at the bottom of the container, cooled by a refrigerator, and the cooled air is discharged into the storage from an outlet at the top of the container to maintain a constant temperature inside the container. A rectangular tube is installed on the ceiling inside the outlet of the chamber, and has a fishtail shape in which the width gradually increases from the base opening to the tip opening, and the bottom slopes downward from the tip opening to the base opening. A shaped case is removably attached, a heater whose capacity can be switched to multiple stages is installed inside this case, and a humidity sensor consisting of a plurality of sensors of different types is removably attached to a position near the intake port. The present invention is characterized in that the output of the heater is controlled based on the signal from the humidity sensor, thereby controlling the humidity inside the refrigerator to an optimum value.

[Example of idea]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a refrigerated container equipped with a humidity control device, and 1 in the figure is the container. At one end in the longitudinal direction of this container 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a refrigerator compartment 3 is provided in the center thereof, which is isolated from the interior of the refrigerator 2 and opens to the outside. As shown in FIG. 2, equipment such as a compressor 4 and a temperature recorder 5 are mounted inside the compressor 3. Also, on both sides of the refrigerator compartment 3, there are removable inspection panels 6 as shown in FIG.
A passage 7 is formed in which the inside 2 side of the refrigerator is closed, and the lower end of each inspection panel 6 and the inside 2 side of the refrigerator are closed.
Air intake ports 9 are formed between the storage chamber 2 and the floor surface for guiding the air in the chamber 2 through the passage 7 to the evaporator coil 8 shown in FIG. Further, in each passage 7, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a fan 10 for forcibly sucking the air inside the refrigerator 2 into the passage 7 through the intake port 9 is disposed in the cylindrical container 11. It is installed in the same condition. The air in the refrigerator 2 sucked by the fan 10 is cooled while passing through the evaporator coil 8 shown in FIG. Moisture is discharged into the refrigerator interior 2 through a blow-off duct 12 formed at the upper part of the chamber 3 and both passages 7, and the moisture removed by cooling is discharged to the outside through a drain pipe 13. . Further, a ventilation opening 14 is provided at a position on the outer surface of the container 1 corresponding to the air outlet duct 12, as shown in FIG.

The above configuration is basically the same as that of a conventional refrigerated container, and the following configuration is further added to this embodiment.

That is, a heater unit 15 is removably attached to the blowout duct 12, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the heater unit 15 includes a case 16 having a rectangular tube shape, a heater 17 installed inside the case 16, and a protective thermostat 1.
8, and the conductive wire 19 drawn out from the heater 17 and the protective thermostat 18 is drawn out through the installation space of the evaporator coil 8, for example, into the passage 7 on the left end side in the figure, as shown in FIG. It is removably connected to a connector 20 installed in this passage 7 via a plug 21.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the case 16 is formed into a fishtail shape whose width gradually increases from the base end opening 16a toward the distal end outlet 16b, and the bottom surface 16c of the case 16 is It is formed with a downward slope from the distal end discharge port 16b toward the base end opening 16a, and is designed to prevent drain from flowing into the refrigerator interior 2. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a packing 22 made of forum rubber or the like is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the proximal end of the case 16, and the heater unit 15 opens the opening/closing panel 12a at the upper end of the blow-off duct 12 and wraps the packing 22. By sandwiching the 22 portion between the opening/closing panel 12a and the top surface of the container 1, it is removably fixed to the blowout duct 12 portion. The opening/closing panel 12a is fixed to a bracket (not shown) via butterfly bolts 23 so that the heater unit 15 can be attached and detached without tools, as shown in FIG.

The heater 17 is constructed of a linear heater whose capacity can be switched in two stages, for example, 1.6KW and 3.2KW, as shown in FIG. It is designed to be ON/OFF controlled by a signal from a humidity sensor unit 24 installed in one of the passages 7, and a control box 25 installed in the refrigerator room 3 as shown in FIG. The capacity can be changed manually by operating the button.

The humidity sensor unit 24 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 5, it is equipped with a ceramic or polymer type humidity sensor 26, a hair type humidity sensor 27, and a case 28 that houses both of these sensors 26 and 27. One side of the case 28 As shown in FIG. 5, a locking piece 30 is provided which is removably inserted into and fixed to a mounting bracket 29 attached to the lower end of the side surface of the passageway 7. Further, from this case 28, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a conductive wire 31 is drawn out, one end of which is connected to each of the humidity sensors 26 and 27, and a conductive wire 31 is connected to the other end of the conductive wire 31. The plug 32 is connected to the passage 7.
It is detachably connected to a connector 33 provided in the. And the heater 17 of the heater unit 15
are both humidity sensors 2 of the humidity sensor unit 24.
ON/OFF control is performed in accordance with the humidity setting values of humidity sensors 6 and 27, and one of the humidity sensors 26
Alternatively, even if humidity sensor 27 malfunctions due to adhesion of water droplets or the like, ON/OFF control is automatically performed only by the other humidity sensor 27 or 26.

On the other hand, the control box 25 installed in the refrigerator compartment 3 is removably installed in an appropriate space in the refrigerator compartment 3 via a wing nut (not shown), as shown in FIG. Inside the control box 25, there is a power switch and a heater 17.
capacity selector switch, digital hygrometer, etc.
It also incorporates an automatic humidity recorder, etc. Further, a conductive wire 34 drawn out from the control box 25 is detachably connected to a connector 35 provided on the side surface of the refrigerator compartment 3 via a plug 36.

Note that the automatic humidity recorder incorporated in the control box 25 can be omitted if the temperature recorder 5 shown in FIG. 2 is improved so that temperature and humidity can be recorded on the same recording paper.

Next, the effect will be explained.

When controlling the humidity inside the refrigerator 2, the heater unit 15, the humidity sensor unit 24, and the control box 25 are first set at predetermined positions.

That is, when setting the heater unit 15, first remove the butterfly bolt 23 shown in FIG. 3, open the opening/closing panel 12a of the blow-off duct 12 downward, and then open the upper surface of the packing 22 at the base end of the case 16 as shown in FIG. Place it in contact with the top of container 1. In this state, the open/close panel 12a is closed and fixed with wing bolts 23. Thereby, the heater unit 15 is fixed to the blowout duct 12 portion. A conductive wire 19 led from this heater unit 15 into the passage 7 through the installation space of the evaporator coil 8.
connects the plug 21 at the tip to the connector 20.

When setting the humidity sensor unit 24, first remove the inspection panel 6, open one passage 7 to the inside of the refrigerator 2, as shown in FIG.
Insert and lock the locking piece 30. and conductive wire 31
is pulled upward through the cylindrical container 11, and the plug 32 at its tip is connected to the connector 33. After that, the inspection panel 6 is attached and the passage 7 is closed.

Furthermore, when setting the control box 25, the control box 25 is installed in a predetermined space in the refrigerator compartment 3 via a wing nut or the like, and then the plug 36 at the tip of the conductive wire 34 is connected to the connector 35.
Connect to.

After setting in this way, humidity sensor 2
For example, in the case of mandarin oranges, set the humidity of 6.27 to 82%. At this time, due to problems with sensor accuracy, the ceramic or polymer type humidity sensor 26 was actually used at 82%, and the hair type humidity sensor 27 was used at 82%.
is 80%.

Next, for example, in the case of mandarin oranges, the temperature of the refrigerator is set to 5°C, the ventilation port 14 is set to be fully open, and the capacity of the heater 17 is set to 3.2KW.
Set to . Then, the power switches for the refrigerator and control box 25 are turned on. Then, the air inside the refrigerator 2 is sucked into the passage 7 through the intake port 9 by the fan 10, and is further sent to the evaporator coil 8. The cooling air is cooled while passing between the evaporator coils 8 and is discharged into the refrigerator interior 2 from the blow-off duct 12.

Thus, the temperature inside the refrigerator 2 is controlled at a constant temperature of 5°C.

By the way, when the high-temperature air inside the refrigerator 2 passes between the evaporator coils 8 and is cooled, naturally some moisture in the air is removed and the drain pipe 1
However, in the case of cargo that generates a large amount of water, such as oranges, the dehumidifying function of the refrigerator alone is insufficient, and the interior of the warehouse 2 becomes humid, causing mold and rot. may occur.

However, in this embodiment, the humidity sensor unit 2
4 detects the humidity inside the refrigerator 2, and the heater unit 15
Since it is controlled ON/OFF, the humidity in the chamber 2 can be maintained at around 82%, which is optimal for mandarin oranges.

That is, when the air inside the refrigerator 2 is guided into the passage 7 by activation of the fan 10, the humidity is measured by the humidity sensors 26 and 27 installed at the entrance thereof. If the measured value exceeds, for example, 85%, the heater 17 of the heater unit 15 is automatically energized by a signal from the humidity sensor unit 24. As a result, the cooling air discharged from the blow-off duct 12 is directed to the case 1 of the heater unit 15.
While passing through the inside of the refrigerator 6, the temperature rises slightly, and the humidity decreases by the amount of the temperature rise, and this air is discharged into the refrigerator interior 2 from the tip outlet 16b. The temperature of the air supplied to the warehouse 2 rises due to the respiratory heat and intrusion heat generated by the cargo, and it is also humidified by the moisture generated from the cargo. For example, the temperature is 5°C and the humidity is 100°C.
% air is introduced into the passage 7 again. This air is cooled and dehumidified while passing between the evaporator coils 8.
At this time, the temperature of the air on the inlet side of the evaporator coil 8 increases by the amount heated by the heater 17.
The air will be higher than if it were not provided, and the air will contain a correspondingly large amount of moisture. Therefore, when the air passes between the evaporator coils 8 and is cooled, more water is removed, and the humidity inside the refrigerator 2 gradually decreases.

Note that when the heater 17 is energized, the temperature of the cooling air discharged from the blow-off duct 12 rises slightly as described above, and the temperature inside the refrigerator 2 increases by that amount. 2 rises, the evaporator coil 8 is controlled to lower it to the set temperature (specifically, the ON time of the evaporator coil 8 that is ON/OFF controlled becomes longer). The temperature rise in the interior 2 is suppressed within an allowable range, and does not adversely affect the temperature in the interior 2.

When the humidity inside the refrigerator 2 falls below a predetermined value, for example 80%, both humidity sensors 26 and 27 of the humidity sensor unit 24 detect this, and the heater 17 is energized by a signal from the humidity sensor unit 24. will be automatically blocked.

After that, the above operation is repeated and the humidity inside the refrigerator 2 becomes 82.
% maintained.

Figure 6 shows this state, in which A is the process in which the air is cooled by the evaporator coil 8, B is the process in which the air is heated by the heater 17, and C is the process in which the air is heated inside the refrigerator 2.
The figure shows the process in which the temperature of the air rises due to respiratory heat and intrusion heat generated from the cargo, and the air is humidified by moisture generated from the cargo.

Therefore, by a simple method of heating the air discharged from the blow-off duct 12 into the refrigerator interior 2,
The humidity inside the refrigerator 2 can be maintained at a desired value,
Moreover, the temperature control inside the refrigerator 2 is not adversely affected. Therefore, the oranges are never damaged by mold or rot. Also heater 1
7 is controlled ON/OFF according to the humidity inside the refrigerator 2, so there is no risk that the interior 2 will become too dry and the oranges will become dry.

The applicant conducted an experiment on the damage rate of bare stacked mandarin oranges using a conventional refrigerated container and a container in which the humidity control device was installed in an existing refrigerated container.

As a result, if the transportation period is relatively short,
Although it was possible to keep the damage rate low by using conventional refrigerated containers, almost all of the containers were damaged when shipped to Europe, where the shipping period was long (about one month). On the other hand, in the case of the container according to the present invention, even when shipped to Europe, it was confirmed that there was no damage such as mold growth or rot, and the oranges did not dry out.

In addition, the heater unit 15, humidity sensor unit 24, and control box 25 are all designed to be easily attachable and detachable, so if you prepare these in advance at a container yard, etc., you can quickly and minimally dehumidify containers that require dehumidification. can be set up at a cost of In particular, refrigerated containers are not prepared in advance for each type of cargo, but the temperature inside the container 2 is adjusted according to the cargo to be loaded, so the practical effect is extremely large.

Also, since the capacity of the heater is variable,
For example, by increasing the heater capacity for tangerines, etc., which generate a large amount of water, and by reducing the heater capacity for bulbs, etc., which generate a relatively small amount of water, the same heater unit 15 can be used for all types of cargo.

Furthermore, since the heater unit 15 is small and located at the corner of the top surface of the container 1, it
without reducing the substantial volume of the

Furthermore, since two humidity sensors 26 and 27 are built into the humidity sensor unit 24, and they use different methods, there is a possibility that both humidity sensors 26 and 27 will fail at the same time due to a certain phenomenon. is extremely small, and reliability can be greatly improved.

Furthermore, an automatic humidity recorder is incorporated in the control box 25, so that the humidity inside the warehouse 2 during transportation can be checked later, so that the service to the shipper can be improved.

Furthermore, the heater unit 15, humidity sensor unit 24, and control box 25 are all formed extremely small and can be set up in a small space, so that they can be applied to all types of refrigerated containers.

In the above embodiment, the humidity sensor unit 24
The heater unit 15 is automatically activated by the signal from
Although we have explained the ON/OFF control, when there is little change in humidity in the warehouse 2, such as with cargo where the amount of water generated is small, the heater unit 15 can be turned on manually.
It may also be controlled on/off. Further, the heater 17 may be configured to be switchable in three or more stages.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the heater unit 15 is
Although ON/OFF control has been described, the same effect can be obtained with strength/weak control.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, in this invention, a case containing a built-in heater is removably attached to the ceiling inside the refrigerator at the outlet for cooling air, and a humidity sensor is removably installed near the inlet for air inside the refrigerator. Since the output of the heater is controlled based on the signal from the humidity sensor, it can be easily installed in existing refrigerated containers that require humidity control, and will not adversely affect the internal temperature. It is possible to perform dehumidification without affecting the cargo and maintain the humidity inside the warehouse at the optimum value for the cargo, without reducing the effective volume inside the warehouse.

In addition, the case has a fishtail shape in which the width gradually increases from the base opening to the distal opening, so the cooling air discharged from the case is evenly distributed inside the refrigerator, improving the temperature distribution and humidity inside the refrigerator. There is no variation in the distribution. Further, since the bottom surface of the case slopes downward from the distal opening to the proximal opening, there is no risk of drain flowing into the refrigerator.

Furthermore, since the capacity of the heater can be switched between multiple stages, it is possible to optimally control humidity in response to differences in the amount of water generated from loaded cargo.

Furthermore, since the humidity sensor is composed of a plurality of sensors of different types, there is a very low possibility that all the sensors will fail at the same time due to a certain phenomenon, and reliability can be greatly improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the installed state of the control box, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the installed state of the humidity sensor unit and heater unit, Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing the installed state of the heater unit, and Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the installed state of the heater unit. Perspective view showing the humidity sensor unit attachment/detachment structure, No. 6
The figure is a psychrometric diagram. 1...Container, 2...Inside the warehouse, 7...Aisle, 8
...Evaporator coil, 9...Intake port, 12...
...Blowout duct, 15...Heater unit, 16
... Case, 17 ... Heater, 18 ... Protective thermostat, 24 ... Humidity sensor unit, 2
5...Control box, 26, 27...Humidity sensor, 28...Case.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a refrigerated container in which internal air is sucked through an intake port at the bottom of the container and cooled by a refrigerator, and the cooled air is discharged into the container from an outlet at the top of the container to maintain the interior at a constant temperature, A rectangular cylindrical case with a fishtail shape in which the width gradually increases from the proximal opening to the distal opening and whose bottom surface slopes downward from the distal opening to the proximal opening is installed on the inner ceiling. In addition to attaching the heater removably, a heater whose capacity can be switched to multiple stages is installed in the case, and a humidity sensor consisting of a plurality of sensors of different types is removably installed near the air inlet. Based on the signal from the sensor,
A humidity control device for a refrigerated container, characterized in that the output of the heater is controlled.