JPH0526565A - Storage cabinet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a stored item to be stored for a long period of time without deteriorating quality of the item and further to enable a maintenance work to be easily carried out. CONSTITUTION:A storage box 14 is arranged within a thermally insulated box 11. An inner part of the storage box 14 is indirectly cooled. A porous gas adsorption member 16 for adsorbing gas promoting deterioration of the stored item is installed in the storage box 14 and the gas adsorption member 16 is arranged at a position where dew forming water generated within the storage box flows in touch with it. With such an arrangement, the gas adsorption member is washed away with water, adsorbed ethylene gas is disolved into dew water and gradually removed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage compartment configured to indirectly cool the inside of a storage box.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Agricultural products such as vegetables are preferably cooled while avoiding drying in order to preserve them with high quality.
For this reason, conventionally, a high humidity type storage has been developed in which a storage box is arranged in a heat insulation box, and cool air is flown outside the storage box to indirectly cool the inside of the storage box.

By the way, it is known that agricultural products such as vegetables release ethylene gas and carbon dioxide gas by their own respiratory action, and these act as plant hormones that promote maturation and deterioration of agricultural products. Therefore, in the storage configured to store the vegetables and the like in the storage box as described above, ethylene gas and the like generated by the vegetables themselves stay in the storage box, which promotes deterioration of the vegetables and the like, and eventually The quality of the stored goods tends to deteriorate early.

Therefore, in recent years, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-1021
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 78, there is considered a structure in which a gas adsorbing member for adsorbing ethylene gas is provided in the storage box to reduce the concentration of the deterioration accelerating gas in the storage box.

[0005]

However, if the gas adsorbing member is simply provided as in the above structure, the gas adsorbing ability of the gas adsorbing member will eventually be saturated and deteriorate. It is impossible to completely maintain the quality of agricultural products by removing the deterioration-promoting gas. To avoid this, maintenance work such as periodical replacement of the gas adsorbing member is required, but such work is very troublesome for the user, and the cost is high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances.
The purpose thereof is to provide a gas adsorbing member for adsorbing a deterioration-accelerating gas of the stored product, so that the stored product can be stored for a long period of time without degrading the quality, and maintenance work such as replacement of the gas adsorbing member can be reduced. It is in the area of providing storage.

[0007]

A storage of the present invention is a storage in which a storage box is arranged in an insulating box and the inside of the storage box is indirectly cooled by flowing cool air between the insulating box and the storage box. In the above, in the storage box, a porous gas adsorbing member for adsorbing the deterioration-promoting gas of the stored matter is provided, and the gas adsorbing member is arranged at a position where dew condensation water generated in the storage box flows in contact with Have.

[0008]

Since the gas adsorbing member is provided in the storage box, even if a deterioration-promoting gas such as ethylene gas is released from agricultural products, it is adsorbed by the gas adsorbing member. As a result, the gas concentration of the deterioration accelerating gas in the storage box is lowered, so that the deterioration of the stored material in the storage box is suppressed and the long-term storage thereof can be performed.

Further, since the gas adsorbing member is arranged at a position where the dew condensation water generated in the storage box flows in contact therewith, the dew condensation water unavoidably generated due to high humidity in the storage box is utilized. The gas adsorbing member can be rinsed with water.
Since ethylene gas, which is a typical example of a plant deterioration accelerating gas, has a relatively high solubility in water, if the gas adsorbing member is constantly rinsed with water as described above, the adsorbed ethylene gas becomes condensed water. It will be dissolved and gradually removed, and the gas adsorption capacity of the gas adsorption member will be maintained for a long period of time without being saturated.

[0010]

As described above, according to the storage of the present invention, since the gas adsorbing member for adsorbing the deterioration promoting gas of the stored product can be washed with the dew condensation water, the gas adsorbing ability of the gas adsorbing member is saturated. It can be maintained at a high level without being stored and the stored product can be stored for a long period of time without deterioration of quality. Moreover, as the water for washing the gas adsorbing member, the dew condensation water that is inevitably generated in the storage box is used, so no maintenance work is required by the user in particular, which may result in cost increase. Absent.

[0011]

【Example】

<First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The storage is constructed by using a horizontally long heat insulating box 11 as an outer shell, and three doors 12 are provided on the front surface thereof so as to be opened and closed. Both the heat insulating box 11 and the door 12 are configured by filling a double wall structure with a heat insulating material such as urethane foam.

A machine room 13 is attached to the left side of the heat insulation box 11, and although not shown in the figure, the components such as a compressor and a condenser, which constitute a known compression refrigeration cycle, and a control device for this refrigeration cycle are housed therein. Has been done. The evaporator of the refrigeration cycle is arranged near the left side portion of the heat insulating box 11 together with the fan device, and the cool air generated in the evaporator can be circulated in the heat insulating box 11 by the fan device.

On the other hand, in the heat insulating box 11, a storage box 1 formed of a metal plate having good heat conductivity such as a stainless steel plate is used.
4 are arranged. The storage box 14 has a horizontally long box shape with an open front surface, and as shown in FIG. 1, the storage box 14 is assembled so that its front opening coincides with the opening of the heat insulating box 11 and stores stored items in its internal space. Then, the door 12 can be closed to close it. Storage box 14 is a heat insulation box 1
1 is a size that occupies most of the internal space,
A space for ventilation is left between the outer peripheral surface and the inner surface of the heat insulating box 11, and when the fan device is operated, the cool air generated in the cooler flows through the outer peripheral portion of the storage box 14 from the left side to the right side of the ceiling portion. And circulates downward and flows from right to left to return to the cooler. As a result, the inside of the storage box 14 is indirectly cooled. As shown in FIG. 1, the ceiling and bottom of the storage box 14 have a shape in which the back is slightly inclined downward, and the bottom of the bottom penetrates the heat insulating box 11 and is led to the outside. Drain pipe 1
5 are provided.

Now, as shown in FIG. 1, this storage box 14
A gas adsorbing member 16 that adsorbs a deterioration-promoting gas of the stored material is provided near the ceiling portion of the inside. The gas adsorbing member 16 is a plate-shaped porous body, and in the case of the present embodiment, it is formed of tuff (Otani stone) having an excellent property of adsorbing ethylene gas which is a deterioration promoting gas for agricultural products. .. The gas adsorbing member 16 is provided in the storage box 1
Condensation water dripping from the ceiling surface of the storage box 14 placed on the ceiling surface of the storage box 14 with both ends supported by the support metal fittings 17 attached to the left and right inner side walls of 4 It is located near the ceiling to cover almost all of it so that it can catch it.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, since the wall surface of the storage box 14 is cooled by the cold air flowing around it, the stored items in the storage box 14 are indirectly exposed without being directly exposed to the cool air. Is cooled to. As a result, since the inside of the storage box 14 is kept at high humidity, the stored material is cooled without being excessively dried, and high-quality cooling / storing can be performed.

On the other hand, in such high humidity storage, the door 12
The moisture contained in the outside air that enters when the container is opened and the moisture released from the stored product such as fruits and vegetables may condense on the inner wall surface of the storage box 14 at a low temperature, and in particular, may drip as water droplets from the ceiling portion. However, in the present embodiment, since the porous plate-shaped gas adsorbing member 16 is provided below the ceiling portion, the water droplets dripping from the ceiling portion are absorbed by the gas adsorbing member 16.
Are trapped in the water and prevent water droplets from dripping onto the store.

Further, the water droplets dripping on the gas adsorbing member 16 are absorbed and spread by the capillary phenomenon throughout the porous gas adsorbing member 16 to bring the gas adsorbing member 16 into a wet state. Then, the excess water moves to the inner side of the storage box 14 along the inclination of the gas adsorbing member 16 and drips from the rear edge portion to the bottom surface portion of the storage box 14 to finally drain the drain pipe 15.
Is discharged to the outside of the aircraft. It should be noted that the entire area of the gas adsorbing member 16 being in a wet state means that when the inside of the storage box 14 is dried, water is evaporated from the gas adsorbing member 16 and the storage box 14 is discharged.
This means that the inside is kept at high humidity, which makes it even more effective for keeping the stored items at high humidity.

On the other hand, from the agricultural products stored in the storage box 14, ethylene gas, carbon dioxide gas, ammonia gas, etc. are gradually released and stay in the storage box 14. Some of these gases act as a deterioration-promoting gas that promotes the maturation and deterioration of agricultural products, and if left unattended, the concentration will gradually increase, causing the quality of agricultural products to deteriorate early. However, in this embodiment, since the gas adsorbing member 16 is provided in the storage box 14, the deterioration promoting gas such as ethylene gas is absorbed by the gas adsorbing member 16 and the storage box 14
The increase in the internal concentration is suppressed. As a result, the phenomenon of deterioration of stored products such as fruits and vegetables is suppressed, and freshness can be maintained for a long period of time.

By the way, as described above, the gas adsorption member 16
If the gas continues to absorb the deterioration promoting gas, the gas component may be saturated in the gas adsorbing member 16 and the absorption capacity of the deterioration promoting gas may be reduced. In this regard, in this embodiment, the effect of retaining the deterioration-promoting gas at a high level can be maintained and the freshness-keeping effect of the stored material can be made permanent as follows.

That is, ethylene gas, which is a typical example of a deterioration-promoting gas for agricultural products, has a property that it is relatively soluble in water (absorption coefficient at 0 ° C is 0.266), and it is adsorbed and saturated with water vapor. It has been confirmed that the gas adsorbing member 16 has a much higher absorption capacity for ethylene gas. Therefore, in the gas adsorbing member 16 in which the dew condensation water is constantly in contact with the gas adsorbing member 16 as in the present embodiment, the gas adsorbing member 16 is wetted by the dew condensation water, so that the ethylene gas absorption capacity is further increased and a large amount of ethylene is absorbed. Can absorb gas.
Further, the ethylene gas absorbed by the gas adsorbing member 16 also dissolves in the dew condensation water, and the dew condensing water in which this ethylene gas is melted, when the new dew condensation water drips from above, the rear edge portion of the gas adsorbing member 16 Since the gas flows to the side and is discharged downward, the gas adsorbing member 16 is always washed with fresh condensed water. For this reason, the gas absorption capacity of the gas adsorption member 16 is not saturated, and it is possible to keep the high gas absorption capacity forever and prevent the deterioration of the stored material for a long period of time.

Of course, as described above, the gas adsorbing member 16 is flushed with water to maintain its gas absorbing ability, but the water is inevitably stored because the inside of the storage box 14 is kept at high humidity. Since the dew condensation water generated in the box 14 is used, there is no need to separately prepare a water source for flushing the gas adsorbing member 16, the structure is simple, and maintenance work is not required. There is no risk of cost increase.

Moreover, the fact that dew condensation water flows in contact with the gas adsorbing member 16 as described above means that the ammonia gas, which is extremely soluble in water, is once absorbed by the gas adsorbing member 16 and dissolved in water in the same manner as ethylene gas. Since it means that it can be discharged to the outside of the machine, it is of course possible to prevent deterioration of the stored material due to ammonia gas, and it also exerts a deodorizing effect, which is more convenient for high-quality storage.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment lies in the arrangement position of the gas adsorbing member 21, and the other points are the same as in the first embodiment, so the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted. The gas adsorbing member 21 also has a plate shape formed of tuff (Otani stone), but in this embodiment, the gas adsorbing member 21 is attached so as to be in contact with the entire ceiling portion of the storage box 14.

With such a structure, the gas adsorption member 2
1 is also cooled to a low temperature and the dew condensation water adheres to it, and the excessive dew condensation water flows rearward along the inclination of the gas adsorbing member 21 and travels downward from the rear edge thereof along the back wall surface of the storage box 14. After that, it will be discharged from the machine through the drain pipe 15.

Therefore, also in this embodiment, the gas adsorption member 16
The dew condensation water comes into contact with the gas and flows into the gas adsorption member 21.
Since the water is always washed with condensed water, it is possible to prevent the gas absorption capacity from deteriorating.

<Third Embodiment> FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the second embodiment is that the gas adsorbing member 31 is provided not only on the ceiling surface of the storage box 14 but also on the back wall surface. It is located in Since the other points are the same as those of the second embodiment, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In this structure, the deterioration promoting gas in the storage box 14 is adsorbed not only by the gas adsorbing member 21 at the ceiling but also by the gas adsorbing member 31 at the back wall, so that the gas adsorbing ability is further enhanced. .. Further, the dew condensation water flows from the gas adsorbing member 21 at the ceiling portion to the gas adsorbing member 31 at the back wall portion, and is finally discharged from the drain pipe 15 to the outside of the machine,
It is possible to prevent the deterioration of the gas absorption capacity in the same manner as in the above two embodiments.

<Fourth Embodiment> FIGS. 5 and 6 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is that the storage box 1
4, a dew condensation water capturing device 41 is provided near the ceiling surface, and a plate-shaped porous gas adsorbing member 42 is provided on the back wall surface of the storage box 14.
I have installed it.

The above-mentioned condensed water trap 41 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in a partially enlarged view, two thin plates 43 having a large number of through holes 43a, for example, having a plate thickness of about 0.5 mm to 1.0 mm are integrated by sandwiching a square frame spacer frame 44 therebetween. The gap dimension d between the thin plates 43 is about 0.1 mm to 0.6 mm, which is suitable for causing the capillary phenomenon. The gas adsorbing member 42 also has a plate shape formed of tuff (Otani stone).

In this structure, the condensed water condensed on the thin plate 43 of the condensed water capturing device 41 is thinned by the thin film plate 4 due to the capillary phenomenon.
It enters into the minute gap between the three, moves backward along the inclination, and drops onto the surface of the gas adsorbing member 42 from the trailing edge.
Therefore, in addition to the condensed water condensed on the gas adsorption member 42,
The gas adsorbing member 42 is washed away by the dew condensation water dripping from the dew condensation water capturing device 41, and the gas adsorbing ability of the gas adsorbing member 42 can be maintained at a high level in the same manner as in each of the embodiments. ..

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified and implemented as follows, for example.

(1) The configuration for capturing dew condensation water is not limited to the dew condensation water trap 41 shown in the fourth embodiment, and various configurations can be freely adopted. For example, the fourth
The upper thin plate 43 in the dew condensation water trap 41 of the embodiment
It is also possible to omit the spacer frame 44 by using a non-hole-shaped flat plate or by utilizing a burr generated when the through hole 43a of the lower thin plate 43 is formed by pressing. Alternatively, a cloth made of water-absorbent fibers may be attached to a square metal frame, or a wire may be knitted in a grid pattern to form an infinite number of gaps for a fine capillary phenomenon.

(2) In order to cool the storage box, it is not always necessary to arrange the evaporator of the refrigeration cycle in the heat insulation box 11, and it is possible to cool the inside of the heat insulation box 11 by the brine system.

(3) The gas adsorbing member is not limited to Otaniishi (tuff) as shown in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, but other porous gas adsorbing materials having a property of adsorbing the deterioration accelerating gas of the stored material. It may be a material, for example, zeolite, molecular seeds, etc. can be used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the same as the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional side view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a part of the condensed water trap of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Insulation box 14 ... Storage box 16 ... Gas adsorption member

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location F25D 17/08 311 8511-3L 21/14 Q 7380-3L

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A storage box in which a storage box is arranged inside a heat insulation box, and cool air is passed between the heat insulation box and the storage box to indirectly cool the inside of the storage box. And a porous gas adsorbing member for adsorbing a deterioration accelerating gas of a stored item is provided in the storage box, and the gas adsorbing member is arranged at a position where dew condensation water generated in the storage box flows in contact with the storage box. And storage.