JPH05215455A - Low temperature cabinet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a low-temperature chamber capable of operating a fan without charging a battery by an AC power supply. CONSTITUTION:A low-temperature chamber 1 is provided with a storage chamber 6, cold heat accumulating agent 7 and a fan 13 for cooling the storage chamber 6 by circulating cold air, cooled by the latent heat of melting of the cold heat accumulating agent 7. The low-temperature chamber 1 is provided with a thermoelectric element 16 constituted of a thermocouple, whose low- temperature connecting point is arranged in a heat exchanging relation between the cold heat accumulating agent 7 and whose high-temperature connecting point is arranged in a heat exchanging relation between the outside of the chamber. The fan 13 is operated by thermal electromotive force generated by the thermoelectric element 16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cold storage for cooling a storage chamber with a cold storage agent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of low temperature refrigerator has been shown as a refrigerator used in a low temperature article transportation system disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-70962 (F25D11 / 00). That is, in such a physical distribution system, an AC power supply cannot be used during transportation of the low temperature warehouse, so a battery is installed in the low temperature warehouse, and a storage room for storing low temperature articles and a cold storage agent are provided in the heat insulating box of the low temperature warehouse. The cold air cooled by the latent heat of fusion of the regenerator is circulated to the storage room by a direct current (DC) blower supplied from a battery for cooling.

Since the above regenerator is used in a frozen state, in the above publication, a refrigeration cycle composed of an electric compressor, an evaporator and the like is mounted in a low temperature warehouse, and the place where an AC power source such as a delivery base is provided. A method is adopted in which the electric compressor is driven to freeze the regenerator by an evaporator, and then the cold storage is placed on a truck away from the AC power source. In this case, a charger for rectifying the connected AC power source is provided in the low temperature compartment, and the battery is charged by the charger while the cold storage agent is being frozen.

[0004]

Here, in recent years, there is a tendency that such a refrigerating cycle is deleted from the low-temperature storage, the structure of the low-temperature storage is simplified, the transportation is easy, and the cost is low. In that case, since the cold storage agent is separately frozen in a freezer or the like in the delivery base and then loaded in the low temperature warehouse, it is not necessary to connect an AC power supply to the low temperature warehouse to freeze the cold storage agent.

However, in order to operate the blower during transportation of the cold storage, a battery for supplying power to the blower must also be mounted. Therefore, in the case where a charger is mounted, this battery is charged. Therefore, it is necessary to connect an AC power supply to the cold storage at the delivery base, and if the charger is not installed, remove the battery from the cold storage one by one after each transport, and install a separately charged battery in the cold storage. There is a problem that the preparation work becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a low-temperature chamber in which a blower can be operated without charging a battery by an AC power source.

[0007]

A low temperature refrigerator 1 of the present invention circulates a storage chamber 6, a cold storage agent 7, and cold air cooled by latent heat of fusion of the cold storage agent 7 in the storage chamber 6 for circulation. And a blower 13 for cooling 6, the thermoelectric element comprising a thermocouple in which the low temperature connection point is arranged in a heat exchange relationship with the regenerator 7 and the high temperature connection point is arranged in a heat exchange relationship with the outside of the refrigerator. 16 is provided, and the blower 1 is driven by the thermoelectromotive force generated by the thermoelectric element 16.
3 drive.

[0008]

According to the present invention, since the low temperature connection point of the thermoelectric element 16 provided in the low temperature cabinet 1 is cooled by the cold storage agent 7 and the high temperature connection point becomes the outside temperature of the cabinet, a large temperature difference exists between both connection points. And a thermoelectromotive force is generated by the Seebeck effect. The blower 13 is operated by the heat current generated at this time, and circulates the cold air cooled by the latent heat of fusion of the regenerator 7 to the storage chamber 6.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the low temperature storage 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the low temperature storage 1, and FIG. 3 is an electric circuit diagram of the low temperature storage 1. still,
In the embodiment, the cold storage 1 is a so-called cold roll box configured to be loaded on a transportation means such as a truck and transported to a destination and to cool the stored articles during transportation. An example of a low temperature warehouse will be described.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a cold storage 1 is provided with wheels 2 for movement at the bottom thereof, an insulating box body 4 having an opening at the front, and an insulating door 5 for opening and closing the opening. It consists of and. A storage chamber 6 for storing food and a cooling chamber 8 in which a cold storage agent 7 is disposed are defined by a partition plate 9 in the heat insulating box 4. This cold storage agent 7 is used after removing the melted one after using the low-temperature storage 1 and placing it separately frozen in a delivery base or the like before using it in the cooling chamber 8.

A cold air suction port 11 is formed at the front of the partition plate 9 to connect the upper storage chamber 6 and the lower cooling chamber 8 to each other. A cold air blowing duct 12 is formed which extends upward with a space from the wall and whose lower end communicates with the rear portion of the cooling chamber 8. A direct current (DC) blower 13 is arranged at the upper end of the cold air blowout duct 12, and when the blower 13 is operated, the cool air in the cooling chamber 8 cooled by the latent heat of fusion of the cold storage agent 7 blows out cold air. After being sucked up through the duct 12 and discharged into the storage chamber 6 from above, the inside of the storage chamber 6 is circulated and cooled, and then a cold air circulation is formed to return from the cold air suction port 11 into the cooling chamber 8.

On the other hand, in the cooling chamber 8, there is disposed a heat sink 14 having a substantially L-shaped cross section, which is composed of an aluminum block or the like. Bottom 14 of this heat sink 14
A is located immediately below the cold storage agent 7 and is in a heat exchange relationship with the cold storage agent 7, whereby it is cooled to -25 ° C. or lower, and the rear side 14B of the heat sink 14 is located in the lower portion of the back wall of the heat insulating box 4. is doing.

A thermoelectric element 16 is attached to the rear side 14B of the heat sink 14 from the outside of the cabinet. Thermoelectric element 16
Is composed of a thermocouple in which two kinds of metals are combined, and when a temperature difference is formed between the high temperature connection point and the low temperature connection point, a thermoelectromotive force is generated by the Seebeck effect. In the case of the present invention, the low temperature connection point of the thermoelectric element 16 is closely attached to the heat sink 14 so as to establish a heat exchange relationship with the cold storage agent 7, and the high temperature connection point is exposed to the outside of the refrigerator to expose the outside air to the outside. It is related to heat exchange. The blower 13 is connected to the thermoelectric element 16 as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation will be described. Now, assuming that the frozen regenerator 7 is mounted in the cooling chamber 8 and arranged in a heat exchange relationship with the heat sink 14, the regenerator 7 has a temperature of about -25 ° C., and the heat sink 14 has the same temperature. descend. On the other hand, if the outside temperature is + 30 ° C,
A temperature difference of 55 ° C. is formed between the low temperature connection point and the high temperature connection point of the thermoelectric element 16. As a result, a thermoelectromotive force is generated in the thermoelectric element 16, a thermal current flows in the blower 13, and the blower 13 rotates.

By the rotation of the blower 13, cold air cooled by the latent heat of fusion of the regenerator 7 is circulated in the storage chamber 6 as described above, and is cooled to a predetermined temperature. Therefore, it is not necessary to mount a battery for operating the blower 13, and it is not necessary to connect an AC power source to the cold storage 1 for charging the battery. Therefore, the preparatory work for using the cold storage 1 only needs to be replaced with the cold storage agent 7. Further, the thermoelectromotive force of the thermoelectric element 16 is also used for the operation of the control device of the cold storage 1.

When the battery BAT is mounted on the cold storage 1, the battery BAT is charged by the thermoelectromotive force of the thermoelectric element 16 as shown in FIG.
It is also effective to connect the blower 13 to operate by the discharge of T.

[0017]

According to the low temperature storage of the present invention, the low temperature connection point of the thermoelectric element is cooled by the regenerator, the high temperature connection point becomes the outside temperature, and a temperature difference occurs between both connection points to generate thermoelectromotive force. As a result, the blower can be operated by the thermal current generated at this time. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately store energy in the cold storage to operate the blower, and the structure of the cold storage and the preparatory work before use are greatly simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a low temperature refrigerator of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cold storage.

FIG. 3 is an electric circuit diagram of a low temperature storage.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the electric circuit of the low temperature chamber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Low Temperature Chamber 4 Insulation Box 6 Storage Room 7 Cooling Agent 13 Blower 14 Heat Sink 16 Thermoelectric Element

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A low temperature warehouse provided with a storage chamber, a cold storage agent, and a blower for cooling the storage chamber by circulating cold air cooled by latent heat of fusion of the cold storage agent into the storage chamber, wherein a low temperature connection point is provided. A thermoelectric element including a thermocouple arranged in a heat exchange relationship with the cold storage agent and having a high temperature connection point arranged in a heat exchange relationship with the outside of the refrigerator is provided, and the blower is operated by thermoelectromotive force generated by the thermoelectric element. A low temperature warehouse characterized by that.