JP2009047382A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

A refrigerator capable of improving deodorization and sterilization performance without lowering cooling performance and increasing costs even if a plurality of purification function means are provided in a cold air circulation path.
Cooling air generated in a cooler 7 is supplied to a storage space 2 by a fan 8 and then circulated back to the cooler, and a functional material having both a deodorizing function and a sterilizing function, or both functions is made air-permeable. In the refrigerator 1 in which the deodorizing and disinfecting apparatus 18 composed of a plurality of purification function means 16 and 17 supported on a carrier is installed in the cold air circulation path 12, each of the plurality of purification function means includes a respective deodorizing and sterilizing apparatus. The performance and the amount of air passing through the interior are different from each other, and the plurality of purification function means are arranged in parallel with the flow of the cold air in the circulation path.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator in which a deodorizing and disinfecting apparatus is disposed in a cold air circulation path.

  Household refrigerators contain foods with various odors. Conventionally, in order to remove odors and airborne bacteria in refrigerators, air permeability made of adsorbents such as activated carbon, honeycomb-shaped ceramics, etc. Deodorization and sterilization have been carried out by disposing a purification function means in which a catalyst such as an oxide is supported on a carrier having NO in the cold air circulation path of the refrigerator.

  The odor in the refrigerator is a complex odor of various odors such as aldehydes, fatty acids and sulfur compounds from the result of gas chromatograph analysis after adsorbing the odor components on activated carbon and various floating bacteria in the cabinet. Therefore, it has been difficult to deodorize and disinfect all odor components with a single adsorbent or purification function means as described above.

  As a method for solving this problem, as described in Patent Document 1, a plurality of purification function means suitable for deodorization and sterilization of each odor component are arranged in series along the flow of the circulating cold air. In order to reduce costs, a deodorized antibacterial filter having a half size and arranged in parallel with the cold air circulation path has been commercialized.

However, since these purification function means are high-pressure loss bodies, when a plurality of purification function means are provided in the cold air circulation path in the refrigerator, the amount of cold air circulation in the entire refrigerator becomes extremely small and a predetermined amount Since the passing air volume cannot be obtained, there is a possibility that the cooling performance may be significantly lowered. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to provide a dedicated blowing means (for example, refer to Patent Document 2).
JP-A-5-203336 JP 2004-232888 A

  However, in the configuration described in Patent Document 2, not only the deodorization and sterilization apparatus becomes large, but also there is a problem that the cost of the dedicated air blowing means is increased, so that there is a problem that the cost is high. There has been a demand for the development of a purification catalyst means having low pressure loss without any problems. In addition, as described above, there are various odor components in the refrigerator, and the relationship between the odor components and the odor intensity varies greatly depending on the stored food. Therefore, it is advantageous to reduce the size of the deodorizing and sterilizing apparatus, reduce pressure loss, and reduce the cost.

  Furthermore, in the case of an adsorption member such as activated carbon or a decomposition catalyst such as an oxide, in general, the larger the amount of air passing through the catalyst, the greater the removal amount of odors and airborne bacteria per unit time. For those installed with the purification function means, the relationship between the adsorption decomposition performance and the air volume differs for each member of the purification function means, so if the air volume exceeds a certain air volume, the removal performance may not improve or the performance may deteriorate. Yes, it was desirable to set an appropriate air volume according to the adsorbing member and the disassembling member.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and even if a plurality of purification function means are provided in the cold air circulation path, it is possible to improve the deodorizing and sterilizing performance without causing a decrease in cooling performance and high cost. It aims at providing the refrigerator which can measure.

  In order to solve the above problems, the refrigerator of the present invention circulates the cool air generated by the cooler to the cooler after being supplied to the storage space by a fan and has a deodorizing function and a sterilizing function, or both functions. In a refrigerator in which a deodorizing and disinfecting device comprising a plurality of purification function means in which a functional material possessed by a carrier having air permeability is installed in the cold air circulation path, each of the plurality of purification function means includes a deodorizing / removing device. The fungus performance and the amount of air passing through the inside are different from each other, and the plurality of purification function means are arranged in parallel with the flow of the cold air in the circulation path.

  According to the refrigerator of the present invention, the pressure loss of the purifying function means can be reduced, so that it is possible to maintain the cooling performance and increase the deodorization / sterilization performance, and further provide a dedicated air blowing means for improving the performance. Since it is not necessary, the deodorization and sterilization apparatus can be made compact and the cost can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view in which each front door showing an arrangement state of each component part in the main body of the refrigerator according to the present invention is removed, and at the top of the storage space inside the refrigerator main body (1) composed of a heat insulating box. Has a refrigerator compartment (2), and an ice making chamber (3) and a temperature switching chamber (4) are juxtaposed on the left and right sides through a heat insulating partition wall. Furthermore, a vegetable room (5) maintained at a high temperature and slightly higher temperature than the refrigerating room (2) is provided below, and a freezing room (6) is independently arranged at the lowermost part.

  Each storage room is not particularly shown, but is closed by providing a dedicated opening / closing door at the front opening thereof, and the refrigeration room (2) and the vegetable room (5), which are refrigerated storage spaces in each storage room, Cold air is circulated by a refrigeration cooler (7) that forms part of the refrigeration cycle installed on the back of the vegetable compartment (5), a fan (8) provided in the vicinity of the refrigeration cycle, and various cold air ducts described later, Cooling control is performed at a temperature set for each storage room. In addition, refrigeration storage spaces such as the freezing room (6) and the ice making room (3) other than the storage room are controlled to be cooled by independent cold air circulation by a freezing cooler and a fan (not shown).

  The cold air cooled to a predetermined low temperature by the refrigeration cooler (7) is sent by a fan (8) to a cold air supply duct (9) disposed on the back of the cold room, and as shown by an arrow, From the outlet (10), it is discharged into the refrigerating room (2) to cool the room, and from the inlet (11) at the bottom of the refrigerating room (2) from the vegetable room outlet (13) through the air duct (12) It is introduced into the vegetable room (5) and cooled.

  A part of the cold air from the refrigeration cooler (7) is directly introduced into a low temperature room installed in the lower part of the refrigerating room (2), and this is cooled to a lower temperature than in the upper refrigerating room (2). Yes, the cooled cold air joins with the circulating cold air from the refrigerator compartment (2) and is guided to the air duct (12). And the cold which finally cooled the inside of the vegetable compartment (5) is formed so as to return to the refrigeration cooler (7) via the return duct (15) from the suction port (14) provided in the rear. Yes.

  As for the cooling operation of the refrigerated storage space, the cool air cooled to a lower refrigeration temperature generated by the refrigeration cooler is introduced into the freezer compartment (6), the ice making chamber (3), etc. with a fan and forcedly circulated. Thus, each chamber is controlled to be cooled to a predetermined temperature.

  Thus, in the air duct (12) from the refrigerator compartment (2) to the vegetable compartment (5), a functional material having a deodorizing function, a sterilizing function, or both functions is supported on a carrier having air permeability. The purifying function means A (16), and the purifying function means B (17) in which a functional material having a different deodorizing and sterilizing function from the purifying function means A (16) is supported on the same carrier as described above. A deodorizing and disinfecting device (18) is installed.

  In this example, the odor in the refrigerator is a complex of various odors as described above, but according to a detailed analysis of the odorous substance, aldehydes such as acetoaldehyde that are generated from so-called fermented foods and The proportion of sulfur compounds such as methyl disulfide, which is a raw garbage odor (rot odor of vegetables), is large. Further, since the odor intensity of acetardite is 1.3 and that of methyl disulfide is about 2.5 times that of 1.3, the purification function means A (16) is an artificial substance that is good at deodorizing aldehydes. An organic catalyst such as an enzyme is attached to an adsorbent such as activated carbon and is supported on an air-permeable honeycomb carrier made of an organic material such as cellulose.

  The purification function means B (17) is mainly composed of a catalyst that excels in adsorption / decomposition to sulfur-based gases such as methyl disulfide, for example, metal oxides such as manganese dioxide, zeolite, and titanium oxide. An inorganic catalyst supported on an air-permeable honeycomb-shaped carrier made of an inorganic material such as ceramic or metal, or an organic catalyst such as artificial enzyme attached to an adsorbent such as activated carbon and an organic material such as cellulose The ratio of the effective catalyst amount of the purification function means A (16) corresponding to the odor of aldehydes and the purification function means B (17) corresponding to the sulfur-based odor. Is 1: 2.

  In addition, when heating a purification function means using a metal oxide such as manganese dioxide or hydrophobic zeolite as a functional material, or when using a photocatalyst such as titanium oxide together with an ultraviolet ray generator, it is included in the circulating cold air. Adsorbs odorous molecules and organic substances that can be adsorbed to obtain a higher deodorizing effect and promotes decomposition of the adsorbate, so that the deodorizing and sterilizing performance can be sustained over a longer period of time. There is.

  However, the purification function means A (16) and B (17) vary the functional material carried according to the component to be removed, and make the carrying amount and shape the minimum necessary size according to the amount of component to be removed. Therefore, the size of the deodorizing and disinfecting device (18) can be made compact and the cost can be reduced. In the present invention, the purification function means A (16) and B (17) are arranged in parallel to the cold air flow in the air duct (12).

  By arranging in parallel in this way, the pressure loss of the purification function means A (16) and B (17) which are high pressure loss bodies with respect to the air flow is reduced as compared with the case where the air flow is arranged in series. The figure shows the deodorization effect of ammonia over time, which can improve the deodorization and sterilization performance while maintaining the cooling performance as a refrigerator without reducing the cool air circulation air volume because it can be reduced As is clear from the comparison graph of 2, the deodorizing effect is remarkably improved when the purification function means is not provided, as compared with the case where the purification function means is arranged in series with the cold airflow.

  In addition, since the pressure loss in the circulation path of the cold air can be reduced, there is no need to provide a dedicated blower as in the conventional case, the structure can be made compact, and the cost cost can be kept low. By changing the shape of the purification function means A (16) and B (17), the pressure loss value of the purification function means can be adjusted, and the optimum amount of cool air passing air for each purification function means can be adjusted and set.

  In this example, since the odor intensity of methyl disulfide, which is a rotting odor of vegetables, is about twice as strong as that of aldehydes generated from fermented foods and the like, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the air duct (12). As shown in Fig. 2, the two types of purification function means are arranged in parallel, and the effective sectional area of the purification function means B (17), which is good at deodorizing sulfur-based odors with strong odor intensity of the components to be removed, The area of the purification function means A (16), which excels in deodorization of system odors, is approximately twice as large as that of the purification function means A (16). The deodorizing and disinfecting device (18) is made more compact by using a size of.

  Next, another embodiment for disposing the purification function means A (16) and B (17) in the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, which is the cross-sectional area of the air duct (12 ′) as in FIG. 3, the unit per unit area of the purification function means A (16 ′) and the purification function means B (17 ′). The ventilation performance of the purification function means B (17 ') is coarsely formed with respect to the purification function means A (16'). It is what.

  Thereby, the ventilation performance per unit area through which the cool air passes in each of the purification function means A (16 ′) and B (17 ′) can be made different from each other. Similarly, it is possible to achieve compactness and cost reduction as a deodorizing and disinfecting device, and by adjusting the pressure loss value, it is set to an appropriate air volume according to the functional material carried for each purification function means And can improve the deodorization and sterilization performance.

  Regarding the parallel arrangement of the purification function means with respect to the cool air circulation path, as shown in FIG. 5 which is a longitudinal sectional view of the air duct (12 ″), the purification function means B (17 ″) May be arranged so as to have different vertical thickness dimensions.

  Even with the above configuration, the deodorizing and disinfecting apparatus can be provided in the same manner as in each of the above embodiments by making the ventilation performance of the cold air in the purification function means A (16 ″) and B (17 ″) different from each other to the minimum required size. It is possible to achieve compactness and cost reduction, and by adjusting the pressure loss value, it is possible to obtain an appropriate air volume and deodorization / sterilization performance according to the functional material carried for each purification function means .

  In the above configuration, when there is a lot of cold air flowing in the air passage, the purification function means A (16 ") and B (17") disposed in the air duct (12 ") and the duct (12") wall are arranged. Even if there are some gaps, the purification function means A (16 ″) and B (17 ″) can obtain a sufficient amount of passing air, but there is no problem. Circulating cold air flows preferentially to the gap side and becomes difficult to flow to the purification function means, resulting in a problem that appropriate deodorization / sterilization performance cannot be obtained.

  In order to cope with this problem, as shown in FIG. 5, the sealing material formed by a frame-like soft sponge or the like between the purification function means A (16 ″) and B (17 ″) and the surrounding duct wall. By providing (19), the gap with the duct (12 ″) wall is shielded, and the cooling air is forced to pass through the purification function means A (16 ″) and B (17 ″). As a result, the efficiency of deodorizing / sterilizing performance can be further improved.

  It should be noted that the provision of the sealing material (19) between the purification function means and the surrounding duct wall means that the purification function means A (16) and B (17) or A (16 ') and B (17). It goes without saying that the same applies even if it is adopted between the wall ') and the air duct (12) (12').

  Further, as one of the functional materials carried on the air-permeable carrier of the purification function means, in addition to the functional materials, a precious metal such as platinum or silver, or an artificial enzyme such as a polymer metal complex or a porphyrin complex, or If an inorganic adsorbent such as activated carbon or zeolite is included, higher deodorizing and sterilizing performance can be obtained. The decomposition of the adsorbate adsorbed on the enzyme or the adsorbent can be promoted, and the effect of maintaining the deodorizing and sterilizing performance over a long period can be obtained.

  Further, by forming a purification function means by combining the various functional materials, for example, by adding an adsorbent to a decomposing agent such as a metal oxide, it is possible to remove the components to be removed that were not sufficient with the decomposing agent alone. Adsorption performance can be supplemented, and deodorization and sterilization performance can be improved.

  In addition, about each said Example, the purification function means A (16) (16 ') (16 ") and B (17) (17') (17") which were provided in parallel, and the vegetable compartment (5) were made into ice. It was placed below the room (3) and the temperature switching room (4) and placed in the air duct (12) (12 '(12 ") between the refrigerator room (2) and the vegetable room (5). The arrangement position of the plurality of purification function means is not limited to this, and it is arranged in the cold air circulation path such as in the cold air supply duct (9) and the return duct (15) arranged in the back of the refrigerator compartment (2). In addition, the arrangement of the storage room in the refrigerator is not limited to the above, and the vegetable room (5) is arranged directly under the refrigeration room (2) or in the refrigeration room, or the freezing room (6) It can be applied to the type in which the position of the vegetable compartment (5) is opposite to that of the above embodiment, and the position of the refrigeration cooler (7) and the refrigeration cycle are also adopted in various forms. Kill it goes without saying.

It is the schematic front view which removed the door of the refrigerator which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a comparative graph which shows the deodorizing effect by the time passage of a purification function means. It is a cross-sectional view which shows the purification function means in the ventilation duct of the refrigerator in FIG. It is a cross-sectional view of the same portion as FIG. 3 showing another embodiment of the present invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the purification function means part which shows the further another Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator body 2 Refrigerated room 5 Vegetable room 7 Refrigerator 8 Fan 9 Cold supply duct
10 Cold air outlet
11 Suction port
12, 12 ′, 12 ″ air duct
13 Vegetable room outlet
14 Suction port
15 Return duct
16, 16 ', 16 "Purification function means A
17, 17 ', 17 "Purification function means B
18 Deodorizing device
19 Sealing material

Claims (7)

  Cool air generated by a cooler is circulated back to the cooler after being supplied to the storage space by a fan, and a plurality of functional materials having both a deodorizing function and a sterilizing function, or both functions are supported on a breathable carrier. In the refrigerator in which the deodorizing and disinfecting apparatus comprising the purifying function means is installed in the cold air circulation path, the plurality of purifying function means have different deodorizing and disinfecting performances and the amount of air passing through the inside. A refrigerator characterized in that the plurality of purification function means are arranged in parallel with the flow of cold air in the circulation path.   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein effective cross-sectional areas through which cool air passes in the plurality of purification function means are different from each other.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ventilation performance per unit area through which the cold air passes in the plurality of purification function means is different from each other.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein thickness dimensions corresponding to the flow direction of the cold air of the plurality of purification function means are different from each other.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein one of the functional materials in the plurality of purification function means includes an artificial enzyme.   The functional material in multiple purification function means is composed of a combination of metal oxides such as manganese dioxide and titanium oxide, precious metals such as platinum and silver, artificial enzymes, and inorganic adsorbents such as activated carbon and zeolite. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   The plurality of purification function means is composed of a purification function means that is good at deodorizing sulfur-based odors and a purification function means that is good at deodorizing aldehyde-based odors, and the ratio of the effective catalyst amount of these purification function means is 2 The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: 1 is set.

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