JPH11351693A - Portable heating-cooling box - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the cooling or heating efficiency of a portable heating- cooling box using a Peltier unit. SOLUTION: This heating-cooling box is provided with a pair of temperature plates 4 and 5 that comprise least a Peltier element 3 and a metal with improved thermal conductivity, and is provided with a Peltier unit 6 where one temperature plate 4 exhibits a heat absorption action or a heat radiation action depending on a conduction direction to the Peltier element 3 and the other temperature plate 5 exhibits a heat radiation action or a heat absorption action, and an article-accommodation chamber 7 that includes either one of the temperature plates for cooling or heating based on the heat absorption action or the heat radiation action of the temperature plate. The above article-accommodation chamber 7 is composed of a bag 8, and the internal volume of the bag 8 is made changeable according to the amount of article to be accommodated in the bag 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable air-conditioning box for cooling and preserving articles such as beverage cans and fruits, or for heating and preserving articles such as beverage cans and lunch boxes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A portable cooler box, which is an insulated container, has a box-shaped article storage room in which articles to be cooled such as canned juice are put together with a cooling source such as ice, and the articles to be cooled are cooled and stored by a cooling source. Structures are common. This type of cooler box is small and inexpensive, but if the cooling source is ice, the ice will melt and the item to be cooled will get wet. In addition, there is a problem that it is difficult to cool and store articles such as canned juice over a long period of time due to a rise in the temperature of the cooling source.

[0003] The above-mentioned portable cooler box is
If a heated article such as a canned coffee or a lunch box is put in the article storage room without a cooling source, the article can be used as a heat retaining box for suppressing a decrease in the temperature of the heated article. However, such a heat retaining box does not further heat the heated article, but only suppresses the temperature decrease of the pre-heated article, so that the temperature of the heated article is maintained for a long time. The heat insulation capacity as a heat insulation box is low.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the portable cooler box for cooling and storing articles, an electric (compression) cooler box, which is a miniaturized electric refrigerator for ordinary households, has been widely used. I have. This electric cooler box circulates a cooling fluid and actively cools the articles in the refrigerator compartment. The electric cooler box also operates using the battery of the car as a power source, making it convenient for outdoor use. .

[0005]

In the electric cooler box as described above, since only the articles to be cooled need to be stored in the box-shaped article storage chamber, the quantity of articles that can be cooled at one time can be increased, and even the power supply can be secured. This has the advantage that the article can be cooled and stored for a long time with a stable refrigerating capacity. However, there is a drawback that the basic structure is the same as that of an electric refrigerator in a general home, and the structure of a portable cooler box is complicated and considerably expensive.

Accordingly, the present inventor has developed a simple and inexpensive electric cooler box using a Peltier element as a cooling source. That is, when a Peltier element is sandwiched between a pair of temperature plates made of a metal having good thermal conductivity and the direction of direct current to the Peltier element is set to a specific direction, one of the temperature plates has an endothermic effect and the other has a heat absorbing effect. The temperature plates each exhibit a heat radiation effect. In addition, when the direction of electric current is changed to the opposite direction, one of the temperature plates has a heat radiation effect and the other temperature plate has a heat absorption effect. Therefore, by using a temperature plate exhibiting an endothermic effect, the inside of the box can be cooled, and a small and inexpensive electric cooler box can be realized.

However, the Peltier element has a considerably lower cooling capacity than a compression-type cooling source. Therefore, when applied to a portable cooler box, the Peltier element cools the articles stored in the article storage chamber to a desired temperature. Not only takes a long time, but also takes a long time to cool down to the original temperature, even if the temperature of the article storage chamber rises due to taking in and out of the stored articles.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a portable air-conditioning box which can cool or heat an article storage room to a desired temperature relatively quickly with a simple structure even if a Peltier element is used. It is in.

[0009]

A first aspect of the present invention to achieve the above object has at least a Peltier element and a pair of temperature plates made of a metal having good thermal conductivity, and a temperature plate depending on the direction of current supply to the Peltier element. A Peltier unit in which one temperature plate has an endothermic or heat-dissipating effect, and the other temperature plate has a heat-dissipating or heat-absorbing effect, including one of the temperature plates
An article storage room for cooling or heating based on a heat absorbing or heat radiating action of the temperature plate, wherein the article storage chamber is configured to be able to change a room volume according to an amount of articles stored in the article storage chamber. It is characterized by having done.

A second invention of the present invention has at least a Peltier element and a pair of temperature plates made of a metal having good thermal conductivity, and one of the temperature plates has an endothermic action or a heat radiation depending on the direction of current supply to the Peltier element. A Peltier unit in which the other temperature plate exhibits a heat-dissipating or heat-absorbing effect, and an article storage room that includes one of the temperature plates and cools or heats based on the heat-absorbing or heat-dissipating effect of the temperature plate; A switch for switching a direction of power supply from the power supply to the Peltier element; and wherein the article storage chamber is configured to be capable of changing a room volume according to an amount of articles stored in the article storage chamber.

A third invention of the present invention is characterized in that the article storage chamber is formed by a bag made of a flexible member. By storing the articles in the bag and shrinking and deforming the bag so as to reduce the space between the bag and the stored articles, the volume of the article storage chamber can be freely changed.

A fourth invention of the present invention is characterized in that the bag is housed in a hard heat-insulating box. In this case, the heat insulating box has a function of suppressing the heat loss of the bag and increasing the cooling / heating efficiency, and a function of protecting the bag from external force and improving the usability of the cooling / heating box.

Further, a fifth invention of the present invention is characterized in that the switch is arranged in a heat insulating box, and a sixth invention is characterized in that a switch and a DC power supply are arranged in the heat insulating box. Here, the DC power supply is a rechargeable battery, a solar battery, or the like, but also includes a DC power supply converted from an AC power supply. In particular, the switch is a switch for selecting a cooling or heating mode by appropriately switching the direction of conduction to the Peltier element.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, it is the same throughout all figures, or
Corresponding parts have the same reference characters allotted to avoid duplication of description.

The cooling / heating box 2a of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 forms a Peltier unit 6 in which a Peltier element 3 is sandwiched between a pair of temperature plates 4 and 5, and an article storage chamber 7 in which the article 1 is stored. A bag 8 made of a flexible member,
A rigid heat-insulating box 9 for accommodating the bag 8 is provided. The heat-insulating box 9 is a box with an upper end opening and a lid 10 of a heat-insulating structure is installed at the upper end opening so as to be openable and closable. A Peltier unit 6 is installed at the center of the bottom of the heat insulating box 9 so that one of the temperature plates 4 constitutes a part of the article storage room 7, and the bag 8 is connected to the one temperature plate 4. The bag 8 can be formed of a heat insulating material having low thermal conductivity. In particular, when the bag 8 is formed of a metal plate having good heat conductivity such as copper or aluminum, the lower portion or bottom portion of the bag 8 Thermally coupled to temperature plate 4.

A pair of temperature plates 4 and 5 of the Peltier unit 6
Is a metal plate having good heat conductivity, such as copper or aluminum, and is connected to a DC power supply (battery) 12 through switches 13 and 14 as shown in FIG. The battery 12 is a rechargeable battery, a solar battery, or the like, and is installed in a part of the heat insulation box 9. The switch 13 is a manual power switch, and the switch 14
Is a manual switch for changing the direction of conduction, which is installed in a part of the heat insulation box 9. When the power switch 13 is turned on and the changeover switch 14 is switched to the cooling side (cooling side), a current in a specific direction flows through the Peltier element 3, and one temperature plate 4 becomes a heat absorbing plate and the other temperature plate 5 becomes a heat radiating plate. Becomes When the changeover switch 14 is switched to the heating side (heating side), a current flows in the Peltier element 3 in the opposite direction to the specific direction, and one temperature plate 4 becomes a heat sink and the other temperature plate 5 absorbs heat. It becomes a board. The other temperature plate 5 is installed so as to be exposed on the lower surface of the heat insulating box 9.

The bag 8 forming the article storage chamber 7 is a bag having an upper end opening formed of a sheet or a heat insulating sheet having good heat conductivity. The bottom of the bag 8 is connected to the temperature plate 4. The article storage room 7 which is the internal space of the bag 8 is cooled by the heat absorbing action of the temperature plate 4. The bag 8 has flexibility, and when the article 1 is stored from the upper end opening thereof, the bag 8 is contracted and deformed so as to be pressed against the article 1 as shown in FIG.
The opening between the upper ends of the bags 8 is closed with, for example, a string 15 in such a manner that the space between the bags 8 is as small as possible.

As shown in FIG. 1A, when the article 1 is stored in the bag 8 and the temperature plate 4 functions as a heat absorbing plate, the article storage room 7
And the article 1 are cooled. Here, since the volume of the room air in the article storage room 7 is a value close to the minimum due to the shrinkage deformation of the bag 8, the cooling loss due to the room air is suppressed to the minimum and the temperature plate 4 The article 1 is efficiently cooled by the endothermic action in a short time. When the bag 8 is made of a member having good thermal conductivity, the article 1 is cooled even through the bag 8, so that the cooling efficiency can be improved. Further, since the bag 8 is stored in the heat insulating box 9, the cooling and preservation of the article 1 can be performed even more efficiently. Further, the hard heat insulating box 9 protects the flexible bag 8 from external force, and makes the air conditioning box 2a easy to use.

The cooling and preservation of the article 1 is performed by the Peltier unit 6.
As long as the current supply is continued, the operation is always performed efficiently. When taking out the cooled and stored article 1, as shown in FIG. 1 (B), it is easy to open the upper end opening of the bag 8.

The cooling / heating box 2a is provided with a changeover switch 14
Is switched to the heating side and the direction of the current flowing through the Peltier unit 6 is reversed, so that one of the temperature plates 4 becomes a heat radiating plate and is used as a heating (heating) box. In this case, the other temperature plate 5 becomes a heat absorbing plate. In such a heating box, since the volume of the indoor air in the bag 8 is a value close to the minimum, the heating efficiency of the article 1 stored in the bag 8 by the temperature plate 4 is improved, and Can be heated.
Further, since the heated article 1 is wrapped in the bag 8 and the bag 8 is stored in the heat insulating box 9, the temperature of the heated article 1 can be efficiently stored.

Next, the cooling / heating box 2b of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 and the cooling / heating box 2c of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 4 will be described in order.

In the cooling / heating box 2b shown in FIG. 3, the interior space of the heat insulating box 16 at the upper end opening with the bottom is the article storage chamber 7, and the volume fluctuation of the article storage chamber 7 is reduced by the lid 17 having a lid structure. That is, the heat-insulating box 16 is a hard box, and the lid 17 of the heat-insulating structure is slid up and down by its own weight on the vertical inner surface of the upper end opening. The Peltier unit 6 is installed on the bottom of the heat insulation box 16. After storing the article 1 in the heat insulating box 16, the lid 17 is inserted from the upper end opening of the heat insulating box 16 to a position where the lid 17 hits the article 1. In this way, the volume (air amount) in the room below the lid 17 of the article storage room 7 is reduced, and the article 1 is efficiently cooled and heated.

In the cooling / heating box 2b, the lid 1
7 may be constituted by a flexible heat insulating sheet. Further, an opening / closing lid (not shown) may be connected to the upper end opening of the heat insulating box 16 so that the article storage chamber 7 has a double lid structure of an opening / closing lid and a dropping lid.

The cooling / heating box 2c shown in FIG.
The article storage room 7 is formed by the heat insulation box 18 and the second heat insulation box 19. The first heat-insulating box 18 is a rectangular hard box with an open left side in FIG. 4, and the Peltier unit 6 is installed on the right side wall opposite to the opening on the left side. The second heat-insulating box 19 is a rectangular tubular box having a left and right opening which is slidably inserted into the first heat-insulating box 18 in a pull-out manner. A lid 20 having a heat-insulating structure is installed at the left opening of FIG. You.

As shown by the solid line and the dashed line in FIG. 4, the volume of the article storage chamber 7 fluctuates depending on the amount of slide insertion of the second heat insulating box 19 into the first heat insulating box 18. For example, the article 20 is stored in the second heat insulating box 19 by opening the lid 20 of the second heat insulating box 19,
0, the second heat-insulating box 19 is pushed into the first heat-insulating box 18 so that the inner heat-insulating boxes 18 and 19 sandwich the article 1 therein. And a value close to the minimum value according to the above, and efficient cooling and heating of articles can be performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the article storage room may be used in a state in which the heat insulating box is stored, or may be used without the heat insulating box. In this case, it is desirable that the article storage chamber be made of a member having heat insulation. Further, a changeover switch can be installed together with the DC power supply in the heat insulation box, but only the changeover switch can be installed. When only one of the cooling and heating modes is used, the changeover switch can be omitted. Further, as a means for changing the volume of the article storage room, a magic fastener, a magic tape, or the like can be used in addition to a string.

[0027]

According to the present invention, a Peltier unit can be obtained by reducing the volume of an article storage chamber according to the state of storage of articles therein and actively reducing the space other than articles in the room. In addition to improving the efficiency of cooling and heating the articles, the practical use of a portable air-conditioning box with a simple structure and low cost can be achieved.

Further, by forming the article storage room with a flexible bag, the entire box can be simplified and the cost of constituent materials can be easily reduced, and a portable air-conditioning box which is inexpensive and easy to handle can be provided.

Further, by storing the bag in a hard heat-insulating box, the heat-insulating box protects the bag from external force, thereby making the portable air-conditioning box easy to use. Moreover, the article is double surrounded by the heat insulating box and the bag, and the cooling or heat retaining effect of the article is improved.

In particular, if a switch for switching the direction of the current flowing through the Peltier element is provided, one portable box can be used as a cooler box for cooling and storing articles and a heating box for heating and storing articles. This makes it possible to provide a portable air-conditioning box with high practical value.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views of a cooling and heating box according to a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view when articles are stored, and FIG.

FIG. 2 is an electric wiring diagram of the cooling / heating box of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a cooling and heating box according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a cooling and heating box according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Article 2a-2c Air-conditioning box 3 Peltier element 4 Temperature plate (heat sink or heat sink) 5 Temperature plate (heat sink or heat sink) 6 Peltier unit 7 Article storage room 8 Bag 9 Heat insulation box 12 DC power supply (Battery) 13 Switch (Power switch) 14 switch (changeover switch)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A temperature sensor comprising a pair of temperature plates made of at least a Peltier element and a metal having good thermal conductivity, one of which has an endothermic or radiating action and the other of which has a radiating function depending on the direction of conduction to the Peltier element. A Peltier unit exhibiting an action or an endothermic action, and an article storage chamber including one of the temperature plates, and cooling or heating based on the heat absorption or heat radiation action of the temperature plate. A portable air-conditioning box characterized in that the interior volume can be changed according to the amount of articles stored in the article storage room. 2. A temperature sensor comprising at least a Peltier element and a pair of temperature plates made of a metal having good thermal conductivity, wherein one of the temperature plates has a heat absorbing function or a heat releasing function, and the other temperature plate has a heat releasing function, depending on the direction of current supply to the Peltier element. A Peltier unit exhibiting an action or an endothermic action, an article storage room including one of the temperature plates, and cooling or heating based on the endothermic action or the heat radiating action of the temperature plate, and the direction of current supply from the DC power supply to the Peltier element A portable air-conditioning box, comprising: a switch for changing over; and wherein the article storage room is configured to be able to change a room volume in accordance with an amount of articles stored in the article storage room. 3. The portable air-conditioning box according to claim 1, wherein the article storage chamber is formed of a bag made of a flexible member. 4. The portable air-conditioning box according to claim 3, wherein the bag is housed in a hard heat-insulating box. 5. The portable air-conditioning box according to claim 4, wherein the switch is arranged in a heat-insulating box. 6. The portable cooling and heating box according to claim 4, wherein a switch and a DC power supply are arranged in the heat insulating box.