JPS63318478A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator that deodorizes the air inside the refrigerator using Ozos.

Conventional technology In recent years, for the purpose of preserving the freshness of fresh foods such as fish and meat, household refrigerators have been equipped with an independent refrigerator compartment, separate from the conventional refrigerator, and have independent temperature control using a dedicated damper thermometer. The use of low-temperature greenhouses is becoming mainstream. On the other hand, a refrigerator has been proposed in which an ozone generator is installed in one section of the refrigerator compartment to deodorize the inside of the refrigerator.

1, an example of which will be explained below with reference to FIGS. There is. Reference numeral 6 denotes a first partition wall, which houses a cooler 6 and a blower 7 for forced ventilation, and forms a freezing chamber (8 metal partitions) at the top. Reference numeral 9 denotes a second partition wall provided below the first partition wall 6, and a refrigerating chamber 10 is entirely formed in the lower part. Reference numeral 11 denotes a cold room partitioned between the first partition wall 6 and the second partition wall 9. Reference numeral 12 denotes a duct for guiding all of the air cooled by the cooler 6 to the freezer compartment 8, the refrigerator compartment 10, and the low temperature compartment 11 through the blower 7; are provided with damper thermos 13 and 14, respectively, for fully adjusting the amount of cold air inflow. Reference numeral 15 denotes a control panel housing the damper thermometer 13 of the refrigerator compartment, and a heat insulating material 16
A discharge air passage 17 is formed inside the damper thermostat 13 and communicates with the duct 12 through the damper thermostat 13. 18
1 is a control panel containing a damper thermostat 14 of the cold room, and a discharge air passage 20 communicating with the duct 12 via the damper thermostat 14 is formed inside by a heat insulating material 19. Reference numeral 21 denotes a ventilation passage formed on the top surface of the low temperature chamber 11, which communicates with the discharge air passage 2o and opens at the front surface of the low temperature chamber 11. Further, 22, 23, and 24 are the freezer compartment 8 and the refrigerator compartment 10, respectively. This is a cold air suction port for returning cold air from the cold room 11 to the cooler 6. And 2
Reference numeral 5 denotes a deodorizing device placed at the rear of the net shelf 26 provided in the refrigerator compartment 10. Further, 27 is a compressor of a refrigeration cycle provided at the bottom of the main body 1.

Next, the configuration of the deodorizing device 26 will be explained.

In the figure, 28 is a case, and 29 is the case 28.
30 is an inlet hole for inlet air (including odor) in the refrigerator, and 30 is an outlet hole for deodorized air. Also, 31 is an ozone generator,
32 is an ozone reaction chamber, and 33 is a filter-shaped ozone decomposition catalyst, which are arranged in the order described above from the inlet hole 29 side. The ozone generator 31 includes a flat high-voltage electrode 36 made of a stainless steel metal 34 and a borosilicate glass dielectric 36 bonded with a silicone adhesive, and a flat low-voltage electrode 37 made of a stainless steel metal.
The air gap 38 formed between the dielectric material 36 of these high voltage electrodes 36 and the low voltage electrode 37, and the both electrodes 36.3
7, and a support frame 39 that supports 7.

Reference numeral 40 denotes a high voltage generator for the ozone generator 31, which is disposed in a space separated from the ozone reaction chamber 32 by a partition plate 41. Further, 42 is a PVC-coated electric wire that connects the ozone generator 31 and the high voltage generator 4o. The ozone generator 31 is configured to operate in synchronization with the blower 7, for example.

The operation of this configuration will now be described.

Various foods are stored in the freezer compartment 8, refrigerator compartment 10, and low temperature compartment 11, and each is maintained at an appropriate temperature. When the indoor temperature rises, a thermoswitch (not shown) operates to shut down the compressor 27 and The blower 7 is operated, and the cold air cooled by the cooler 6 is sent to the duct 12 by the blowing action of the blower 7.
It is then sent to a freezing room 8, a refrigerator room 10, and a low temperature room 11.

Here, cold air flows into the refrigerator compartment 10 through the damper thermostat 13 and the discharge air passage 17 in the control panel 15 . At this time, the ozone generator 31 operates in synchronization with the operation of the blower 7, and when a pulsed high voltage is applied from the high voltage generator 40 between the high voltage electrode 36 and the low voltage Wi 37, a silent number is generated between both electrodes 36 and 37. 11-Arise. and,
Oxygen contained in the circulating cold air (including odor) flowing in through the inflow hole 29 of the deodorizing device 25 is changed into ozone to generate ozonized air, and malodorous components are decomposed within the ozone reaction chamber 32. In addition, the unreacted ozone is removed by the ozone decomposition catalyst 3.
3, most of the ozone is decomposed into oxygen, but a small amount of ozone that passes through the ozone decomposition catalyst 33 without being decomposed is also discharged into the cold castle chamber 10 through the discharge hole 30. Therefore, in addition to the deodorizing effect provided by the deodorizing device 26, a slight bactericidal effect can also be obtained by a small amount of ozone leaking into the refrigerator compartment 1°. Further, the deodorizing device 26 is installed in the refrigerator compartment 1o, the freezer compartment 8, the refrigerator compartment 10. Cold room 11
The cold air in each room is distributed through cold air suction ports 22, 23° 24'ft.
After that, the air is collected under the cooler 6, and the blower 7 blows air into each room 8.
, 10 and 11 is repeated, the deodorizing effect is also accumulated in the freezing room 8 and the cold room 11 one after another.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such a configuration, the ozone generator 3
11&: Since the provided deodorizing device 25 is placed in the refrigerator room 1o, the humidity is relatively high due to moisture generated from the food and intrusion of outside moisture due to opening and closing of the door, and the ozone generation efficiency is not very good. Therefore, the ozone generator 31 with a relatively large capacity is not required, and therefore it is necessary to increase the size of the high voltage generator 4o. As a result, the deodorizing device 26
There was a problem that the refrigerator itself became large and obstructed the entire effective internal volume of the refrigerator compartment 10. Furthermore, if the ozone decomposition catalyst 33 is exposed to a humid environment and condenses, its decomposition ability will decrease, and the amount of ozonized air flowing into the refrigerator compartment 10 will increase, causing the ozone concentration to exceed a predetermined concentration, which is preferable for safety. There was also the problem that there was no

Furthermore, a deodorizing device 26 is installed in the refrigerator compartment 1o,
The amount of air taken into the cold air inflow hole 29 is reduced to the discharge hole 17.
Since the cold air layer becomes part of the cold air layer discharged into the refrigerator compartment 10, it is necessary to circulate the cold air a considerable number of times and it takes time to obtain the desired deodorizing effect. However, there was also the disadvantage that the deodorizing effect on the cold room 11 for storing fresh foods such as meat did not appear immediately, and the antibacterial effect could not be expected.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is capable of deodorizing fresh foods such as fish and meat without reducing the effective internal volume.
The overall objective is to provide cold sterilized rhinoceros with a highly safe deodorizing function that effectively inhibits bacteria.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the refrigerator of the present invention has a cooling system that is located within the discharge air passage formed in the control panel provided in the low temperature room and upstream of the damper thermometer for adjusting the amount of cold air. The ozone generator and ozone decomposition catalyst are all installed in the reactor.

Operation According to the above-described configuration of the present invention, the odor-laden cold air that is about to flow into the cold room is decomposed by the ozone efficiently generated within the discharge nozzle width where the absolute humidity is low, and the bad odor is removed. In addition, most of the unreacted ozone is decomposed into acid by the ozone decomposition catalyst, but the small amount of ozone that is not decomposed flows into the low temperature chamber and exerts a bacteriostatic effect on the stored food. Furthermore, since the ozone decomposition catalyst is directly exposed to low humidity, the decomposition ability is not greatly reduced due to dew condensation, and safety against large amounts of ozone leakage is increased.

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. It should be noted that the same components as those in the prior art are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted, and only the different parts will be described. In the figure, 43 is the refrigerator body, and 44 is the freezer compartment 8.
, cold room 10. This is a duct that circulates cold air cooled by the cooler 6 into the low temperature room 11. 46 is a control panel installed at the back of the cold room 11, and there is a heat insulating material 4 inside.
6 and the resin cylinder 47 connect the duct 44 on the main body 43 side.
A discharge air passage 48 is formed which communicates with the air outlet.

A damper thermostat 14 is provided in the middle of the discharge air passage 48 to adjust the amount of cold air flowing into the cold room 11. 4
9 is a flat plate-shaped ozone generator fixed in the air by a support frame 60 from the inner surface of the cylindrical body 47, and 51 is a filter-shaped ozone decomposition catalyst disposed within the cylindrical body 47. An ozone generator 49 and an ozone decomposition catalyst 61 are arranged in this order at an appropriate interval within the discharge air passage 48 and upstream from the damper thermometer 14.

Further, a high voltage generator 62 that applies a high frequency high voltage to the ozone generator 49 is housed in an electrical component storage section 53 provided at the upper rear surface of the refrigerator main body 43.

Next, the configuration of the ozone generator 49 will be explained.

Reference numeral 54 denotes a flat induction electrode made of stainless steel metal, and a borosilicate glass dielectric material 65 is applied around it. A thin wire-shaped discharge electrode 56 made of tungsten metal is provided on one surface of the borosilicate glass dielectric 56. Further, a PVC-coated electric wire 68 from the high voltage generator 52 is connected to both the electrodes 54 and 56 by solder 57.

The operation in this configuration will be explained. The ozone generator 49 is of a creeping discharge type (the conventional example is a silent discharge type), and when a high frequency high voltage is applied to both the electrodes 54 and 56 by the high voltage generator 49, the discharge electrode 66
A more powerful high-frequency creeping streamer discharge occurs, producing ozone in the surrounding area. The generated ozone is introduced into the discharge air passage 48 formed in the control panel 45 through the duct 44 by the blower 7, and the air components are forced into the air in an environment with low absolute humidity upstream of the damper thermometer 14. It is efficiently decomposed and deodorized.

Here, the relationship between the ozone generation capacity of the ozone generator 49 and the absolute humidity is shown in Figure 4, as shown in Figure 4, the higher the absolute humidity, the lower the concentration of ozone produced, and conversely, the lower the absolute humidity, the less ozone is produced. The concentration becomes higher. Therefore, since the ozone generator 49 is installed in the discharge air passage 48 where the absolute humidity is low, the ozone generator 49 has a high ozone generation ability. Therefore, there is no need to increase the size of the device and sacrifice the effective internal volume in order to increase the ozone generation capacity as in the conventional example, and the operating time of the ozone generator 49 can be shortened by making the device smaller than the conventional example, thereby extending the service life. It is possible to extend the time and reduce power consumption.

Also, most of the unreacted ozone is decomposed into oxygen by the ozone decomposition catalyst 61, but a small amount of ozone is not decomposed and flows into the cold room 11 via the damper thermo 14, so it is stored. It has an antibacterial effect on fresh foods such as fish and meat.

On the other hand, since the ozone decomposition catalyst 51 is also placed in an atmosphere with low absolute humidity, its surface is covered with dew condensation and its decomposition ability is significantly reduced, causing an unnecessarily large amount of ozone to leak into the cold room 11. This improves safety.

Further, since both the ozone generator 49 and the ozone decomposition catalyst 51 are integrated into the control panel 46, which is detachable, assembly work is easy, and service such as parts replacement is also easy.

Although a borosilicate glass dielectric is used in the ozone generator, the same effect can be obtained by using a dielectric such as alumina.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above explanation, the present invention provides the following effects.

(1) The ozone generator is installed in the discharge air path upstream of the damper thermometer in the control panel where absolute humidity is low, so the ozone generation efficiency is high and the ozone generator is smaller than conventional ones. Do not interfere with product development. Alternatively, the operating time can be shortened to extend the service life and reduce power consumption.

(2) A small amount of ozone that cannot be decomposed by the ozone decomposition catalyst is pumped into the low-temperature room, so it can exert an antibacterial effect on fresh foods such as fish and meat that particularly require deodorizing and antibacterial effects. Furthermore, since the ozone generator is located in a forced ventilation channel, the rate at which cold air containing odor components is taken in is high, and the deodorizing effect can be achieved quickly.

(3) Since the ozone decomposition catalyst is also placed in a low-humidity environment, there is little danger that the decomposition ability will be greatly reduced due to dew condensation and the ozone concentration in the refrigerator compartment will increase.

←) Since it is integrated into the control panel, assembly work is easy and serviceability such as parts replacement is also excellent.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a refrigerator showing one embodiment of the present invention;
The figure is an enlarged plan view of the ozone generator in Figure M1, Figure 3 is a sectional view of the ozone generator in Figure 2, and Figure 4 is the ozone generator in Figure 2.
．． A diagram showing the ozone generation efficiency of the ozone generator in Figure 3,
Figure 6 is a sectional view of a conventional refrigerator;
It is an enlarged sectional view of the deodorization device in the figure. 6...Cooler, 7...Blower, 8...
... Freezer room, 10... Refrigerator room, 11...
...Cold room, 14...Damper thermo, 44
...Duct, 46 ...Control panel, 48 ...Discharge air path, 49 ...Ozone generator, 51 ...Ozone decomposition catalyst . Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person6-
--Jōseigu 2nd Figure 49-11 Oshin Mitsuru Student! Figure 4 (Mr. Lee) P! , zfu′ wet letter [(1-shi)
Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] A freezer compartment, a refrigerator compartment, a cold room whose temperature is controlled independently of the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment, and a blower that forces cold air cooled by the cooler into the freezer compartment, the refrigerator compartment, and the cold room. a control panel provided at the entrance of the cold room of the duct; a discharge air passage formed within the control panel and communicating the duct with the inside of the cold room; A refrigerator comprising: a damper thermostat that adjusts the required amount of cold air; an ozone generator and an ozone decomposition catalyst provided upstream of the damper thermoser in the discharge air path.