JP2014025602A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to reduce the oxygen concentration in a storage chamber and improve the freshness maintaining effect of food.
A refrigerator includes a container that forms a space therein, a suction unit that sucks gas in the container, and a passage that preferentially passes oxygen in the gas from the container to the suction unit according to suction. A section.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator.

  Foods undergo oxidation by reacting with surrounding oxygen during storage. In particular, unsaturated fatty acids such as DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) that are abundant in fish, some amino acids in meat, and vitamin C in vegetables are oxidized by contact with surrounding oxygen. It is lost as the reaction progresses. Therefore, many techniques for preventing oxidation of nutritional components by reducing the amount of oxygen in contact with food by utilizing a vacuum pack, an antioxidant, or the like are routinely incorporated.

  A refrigerator is known in which air in a sealed container in a refrigerator is sucked using a vacuum pump to reduce the amount of oxygen in the sealed container and suppress deterioration due to oxidation of nutrient components (for example, Patent Document 1). ).

JP 2011-58670 A

  However, the refrigerator described above suppresses the oxidation reaction of food by exhausting the air in the sealed container with a negative pressure pump, maintaining a predetermined negative pressure in the sealed container, and reducing the amount of oxygen around the food. ing. Therefore, the ratio of nitrogen and oxygen in the sealed container is the same as that of air, and the ratio of oxygen to nitrogen is approximately 1: 4. Therefore, in order to further suppress the oxidation reaction, it is necessary to lower the pressure in the sealed container. The lower the pressure in the sealed container, the less the nutrient components are oxidized, but it is necessary to increase the pressure resistance of the sealed container. Therefore, it is necessary to make the sealed container a stronger structure as the antioxidant performance of the nutritional component is improved. As a result, the wall of the sealed container becomes thick, and the volume in which food can be stored is reduced with respect to the apparent volume of the sealed container. As a result, the sealed container becomes inconvenient although it is expensive.

  This invention is made | formed in view of said subject, and it aims at providing the technique which reduces the oxygen concentration in a storage chamber and improves the freshness maintenance effect of a foodstuff.

  In order to solve the above problems, a refrigerator according to an aspect of the present invention includes a container that forms a space therein, a suction unit that sucks gas in the container, and the suction from the container in accordance with the suction. And a passage part that preferentially passes oxygen out of the gas to the suction part.

  It is possible to reduce the oxygen concentration in the storage chamber and improve the freshness maintaining effect of the food.

It is a front view of the refrigerator main body which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is AA arrow sectional drawing which shows the structure of the refrigerator main body which concerns on Example 1. FIG. It is BB arrow sectional drawing which shows the structure of the lower part of the refrigerator compartment 2 which concerns on Example 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a decompression storage chamber 13. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a front portion of the decompression storage chamber 13. FIG. It is BB arrow sectional drawing which shows the structure of the lower part of the refrigerator compartment 2 which concerns on Example 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows the time change of the oxygen concentration in a container. It is BB arrow sectional drawing which shows the structure of the lower part of the refrigerator compartment 2 which concerns on Example 3. FIG.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  In the present embodiment, a refrigerator that reduces the oxygen concentration in the storage chamber while reducing the pressure in the storage chamber will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a refrigerator body according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA showing the configuration of the refrigerator body according to the first embodiment. Here, FIG. 2 shows an AA arrow cross section in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator main body 1 to which the present invention is applied includes a refrigerating room 2 that is a storage room in a refrigerating temperature zone around 6 ° C. arranged at the top, and a temperature around 6 ° C. arranged at the bottom. And a vegetable room 5 which is a storage room in a refrigerated temperature zone. Between the refrigerating room 2 and the vegetable room 5, a freezing room having a freezing temperature zone of 0 ° C. or less (for example, a temperature zone of about −20 ° C. to −18 ° C.) that is adiabatically partitioned from both the rooms. A certain quick freezing room 3b and a freezing room 4 are arranged, and an ice making room 3a is arranged on the left side of the quick freezing room 3b. As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerator compartment 2, the quick freeze compartment 3b, the freezer compartment 4, and the vegetable compartment 5 are partitioned by partition walls k1, k2, and k3, respectively. In the following description, each of the refrigerator compartment 2, the ice making room 3a, the quick freezing room 3b, the freezing room 4, and the vegetable room 5 may be referred to as a storage room.

  The front opening of the refrigerator compartment 2, the ice making room 3a, the quick freezing room 3b, the freezing room 4 and the vegetable room 5 is provided with doors 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 having a heat insulating structure for closing the openings. It has been. The outer peripheral housing portion excluding the doors 6 to 10 in the refrigerator main body 1 has a steel plate outer box 11. Between the outer box 11 and the resin inner box, there are provided a urethane foam heat insulating material and a vacuum heat insulating material (not shown) for heat insulation from the outside air.

  The refrigerator compartment door 6 (6a, 6b) that closes the front opening of the refrigerator compartment 2 is a so-called double door with a double door. On the other hand, an ice making room door 7 for closing the front opening of the ice making room 3a, a quick freezing room door 8 for closing the front opening of the quick freezing room 3b, a freezing room door 9 for closing the front opening of the freezing room 4, and a vegetable room The vegetable compartment door 10 which closes the front opening of 5 is comprised by the drawer-type door from which the container in a storage chamber is pulled out.

  In the refrigerator body 1, a refrigeration cycle for performing refrigeration and refrigeration is configured by connecting a compressor, a condenser, a capillary tube, an evaporator serving as a cooling source that takes away the heat of vaporization of the refrigerant, and a compressor again. (Not shown).

  On the rear side of the storage chamber, there are provided an evaporator, a blower fan that blows cool air from the evaporator, and a cool air passage that is a passage of the blown cool air (not shown). The cold air is sent to the ice making room 3a, the quick freezing room 3b, and the freezing room 4 through the cold air passage. Moreover, it will be sent to the refrigerator compartment 2 and the vegetable compartment 5 through the openable / closable damper device that closes when the temperature is below the refrigerator temperature. In addition, after the cool air is blown into each storage chamber, it has a circulation structure in which it is cooled again by the evaporator and blown. Each storage chamber is temperature-controlled by a control device using a temperature sensor and maintained at a predetermined temperature.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a decompression storage chamber 13 in which the interior is maintained at a predetermined negative pressure is provided at the lower portion of the space in the refrigerator compartment 2. The decompression storage chamber 13 is provided with ribs 14s as protrusions on the upper surface. As a result, an appropriate gap is formed between the decompression storage chamber 13 and the shelf 18 immediately above it.

  A cool air passage discharge port 20 that guides cool air from the cold air passage into the refrigerating chamber 2 is provided on the rear side of the upper portion of the decompression storage chamber 13 in the rear surface of the refrigerating chamber 2. Further, on the rear side of the lower part of the decompression storage chamber 13 in the rear surface of the refrigerating chamber 2, a cold air passage inlet 19 that guides the exhaust from the refrigerating chamber 2 to the cold air passage is provided. Thereby, the cool air around the decompression storage chamber 13 flows as shown by the arrow, and indirectly cools the decompression storage chamber 13.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the lower part of the refrigerator compartment 2 according to the first embodiment, taken along the line BB. This figure shows a cross section taken along line BB in FIG. The refrigerator compartment door 6a is supported rotatably about the support shaft S1. The refrigerator compartment door 6a is provided with a pocket-like and semi-transparent resin-molded door storage 6a1 that protrudes on the inner side. On the back surface of the refrigerator compartment door 6a, there is provided a rotary partition 6a2 configured to be swingable by a biasing force of a torsion coil spring and a guide. The rotary partition 6a2 is in contact with the inner walls of the refrigerator compartment doors 6a and 6b when the refrigerator compartment doors 6a and 6b are closed (see FIG. 1), and prevents leakage of cold air between the refrigerator compartment doors 6a and 6b. On the other hand, when the refrigerator compartment door 6a is opened (indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 3), the rotary partition 6a2 is configured to swing in the thickness direction of the refrigerator compartment door 6a so as not to disturb the user.

  Further, the right refrigerator compartment door 6b is supported so as to be swingable about the support shaft S2, and a pocket-like semi-transparent resin-molded door storage 6b1 is provided on the inner side so as to store a drink or the like. .

  In a state where the refrigerator compartment door 6b is closed, a predetermined space is formed between the door storage 6b1 of the refrigerator compartment door 6b and the lid member 16 of the decompression storage compartment 13 so as not to contact each other.

  An oxygen separation membrane unit 24 is provided in the vacuum storage chamber 13 and is connected to a vacuum pump 15 (negative pressure pump) via a gas passage 25. The vacuum pump 15 sucks the gas in the decompression storage chamber 13 through the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 and the gas passage 25 and exhausts the gas outside the decompression storage chamber 13. At this time, the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 preferentially passes oxygen out of the gas from the decompression storage chamber 13 to the gas passage 25. The oxygen separation membrane unit 24 may be provided outside the decompression storage chamber 13, or may be provided in the cold air passage. Moreover, the vacuum pump 15 may be provided outside the refrigerator compartment 2, and may be provided in a cold air | gas channel | path.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of the decompression storage chamber 13. This figure shows the decompression storage chamber 13 seen from diagonally forward. The decompression storage chamber 13 has a wall surface formed by a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shell member 14 having an opening on the front surface and being flat at the back, and a lid member 16 that moves forward and backward to open and close the opening of the outer shell member 14. Has been. In other words, the outer member 14 is integrally formed in a box shape. A large number of ribs including ribs 14s are provided on the outer wall surface of the decompression storage chamber 13 in order to improve the strength. The lid member 16 is provided with a support shaft 35s extending in the left-right direction and an opening / closing handle 26 rotatably supported by the support shaft 35s. The user opens and closes the decompression storage chamber 13 by grasping the opening / closing handle 26.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the front portion of the decompression storage chamber 13 taken along the line CC. This figure shows a CC arrow section in FIG. This figure also shows a state in which the lid member 16 closes the opening on the front surface of the outer member 14 and the decompression storage chamber 13 is sealed. In the lid member 16, a differential pressure release hole 16 a for introducing air outside the decompression storage chamber 13 into the inside is formed in a portion behind the opening / closing handle 26. The opening / closing handle 26 is connected to a differential pressure relief valve 35t that closes the differential pressure relief hole 16a from the outside. The differential pressure relief valve 35t is made of an elastic body such as rubber and has a packing that is in close contact with the differential pressure relief hole 16a. The differential pressure release valve 35t opens and closes the differential pressure release hole 16a by rotating around the support shaft 35s in conjunction with the opening / closing handle 26.

  When the lid member 16 closes the opening of the outer member 14 and the opening / closing handle 26 is lowered, the differential pressure release valve 35t closes the differential pressure release hole 16a. Thereby, the decompression storage chamber 13 is sealed, and the inside is kept at a predetermined negative pressure. When the user grasps the opening / closing handle 26 to open the lid member 16 and lifts it in the direction of the arrow in the figure, the differential pressure release valve 35t is separated from the differential pressure release hole 16a, and the differential pressure release hole 16a is opened. Thereby, air is introduced into the inside through the differential pressure release hole 16a from the outside in the decompression storage chamber 13, and the atmospheric pressure in the decompression storage chamber 13 becomes equal to the atmospheric pressure. Thereafter, the user pulls the opening / closing handle 26 forward to open the lid member 16.

  The gas in the decompression storage chamber 13 is sucked by the vacuum pump 15 through the gas passage 25 and decompressed to a predetermined negative pressure, for example, 0.8 atm (80 kPa). The composition of air is 78.03% nitrogen, 20.93% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.03-0.04% carbon dioxide, and the rest is neon, helium, and the like. When this air is exhausted to 0.8 atm with the vacuum pump 15 as it is, the amount of gas in the decompression storage chamber 13 decreases, but the ratio of the gas component is not different from the ratio of the gas component in the air.

  Due to the oxygen separation membrane unit 24, the oxygen concentration (oxygen ratio) in the gas in the decompression storage chamber 13 exhausted from the vacuum pump 15 becomes higher than the oxygen concentration of air. When the inside of the decompression storage chamber 13 is decompressed through the oxygen separation membrane unit 24, more oxygen can be exhausted from the decompression storage chamber 13 as compared with simple decompression.

  Hereinafter, an example of the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 will be described in detail.

  The oxygen separation membrane unit 24 is provided with a membrane that blocks a gas flow path from the decompression storage chamber 13 to the gas passage 25. This membrane has a property of allowing gas to permeate, for example, an oxygen permeable membrane. The oxygen permeable membrane is, for example, a silicone thin film. The oxygen permeable membrane allows gas to permeate from the higher pressure side to the lower atmospheric pressure side of both sides of the membrane. Therefore, when the gas on the vacuum pump 15 side of the membrane is sucked by the vacuum pump 15, the gas on the decompression storage chamber 13 side on the opposite side of the membrane passes through the membrane and leaks to the vacuum pump 15 side. Since there are no holes in the membrane of the oxygen separation membrane unit 24, bacteria and viruses do not pass through the membrane, but gas slowly passes through the membrane. At that time, of the gas components, oxygen passes through the membrane faster than nitrogen. More specifically, oxygen dissolves in the membrane of the oxygen separation membrane unit 24, diffuses into the membrane, and leaves. At that speed, oxygen is faster than nitrogen. Accordingly, since oxygen passes through the membrane faster than nitrogen, the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 side of the vacuum pump 15, that is, the exhaust gas of the vacuum pump 15, becomes a gas having a high oxygen concentration.

  Therefore, when the gas in the decompression storage chamber 13 is exhausted by the vacuum pump 15 through the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 to 0.8 atm, oxygen can be preferentially exhausted. Thereby, the gas in the conventional decompression storage chamber when decompressed to 0.8 atm without using the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 and the decompression storage chamber decompressed to 0.8 atm using the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 13, the amount of gas in the decompression storage chamber 13 is equal to the amount of gas in the conventional decompression storage chamber, but the oxygen concentration in the decompression storage chamber 13 is the oxygen concentration in the conventional decompression storage chamber. Lower. That is, the amount of oxygen in the decompression storage chamber 13 is smaller than the amount of oxygen in the conventional decompression storage chamber maintained at the same atmospheric pressure. Thereby, the decompression storage chamber 13 nurtures an air atmosphere in which the effects of preventing the oxidation of food and maintaining the freshness of vegetables are improved.

  Further, when the components of the gas in the decompression storage chamber 13 are arranged in the descending order of speed through the membrane of the oxygen separation membrane unit 24, water vapor, oxygen, and nitrogen are obtained. Therefore, as the amount of gas passing through the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 increases, the amount of moisture exhausted from the decompression storage chamber 13 increases. In addition, the greater the amount of absolute moisture in the gas in the decompression storage chamber 13, the greater the amount of moisture exhausted from the decompression storage chamber 13. As described above, since the exhaust port (exit) side of the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 is a high-humidity gas, condensation is likely to occur due to cooling.

  In this embodiment, the exhaust port of the vacuum pump 15 is opened in the refrigerator main body 1, and the exhaust is discharged into the refrigerator main body 1. When the high-humidity gas accumulates in the vicinity of the exhaust port of the vacuum pump 15, the condensed water does not become a problem. However, since the space between the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 and the vacuum pump 15 is a closed space, when the gas passage 25 is long or when the gas passage 25 is easily cooled, water vapor accumulated in the gas passage 25 is condensed and accumulated. The flow of gas in the gas passage 25 will be hindered. However, maintenance such as periodically draining from the gas passage 25 is required, and the usability of the refrigerator is reduced.

  To solve this problem, an oxygen separation membrane unit 24 is disposed in the vicinity of the cold air passage outlet 20 for discharging cold air to the decompression storage chamber 13. Preferably, the distance from the cold air passage outlet 20 to the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 is shorter than the distance from the cold air outlet 20 to the vacuum pump 15. Thereby, the temperature of the gas around the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 becomes lower than the temperature of the gas in the other part in the decompression storage chamber 13, and the absolute humidity of the gas around the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 is reduced in the decompression storage chamber. It becomes lower than the absolute humidity of the other part in 13. For this reason, the amount of water vapor passing through the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 can be reduced. Thereby, the amount of dew condensation in the gas passage 25 can be suppressed.

  When the inside of the decompression storage chamber 13 reaches 0.8 atm by the operation of the vacuum pump 15, the pressure sensor in the vacuum pump 15 detects this, and the vacuum pump 15 stops its operation and the pressure valve in the vacuum pump 15. Close. Thereby, the gas passage from the gas passage 25 to the vacuum pump 15 is closed, and the inside of the decompression storage chamber 13 is maintained at 0.8 atm. Both sides of the membrane of the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 are maintained at 0.8 atm, which is the same as that in the decompression storage chamber 13.

  A heater 31 is installed at the end of the gas passage 25 between the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 and the vacuum pump 15 on the vacuum pump 15 side. After the pressure valve in the vacuum pump 15 is closed, the gas passage 25 is heated by the heater 31, so that the heater 31 increases the temperature in the gas passage 25. As a result, the gas expands according to Boyle Charles' law, and the pressure in the gas passage 25 becomes larger than 0.8 atm. As a result, a pressure difference is generated between the reduced pressure storage chamber 13 and the gas passage 25. That is, the pressure in the gas passage 25 is higher than that in the decompression storage chamber 13. Here, the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 does not have the ability to hold the pressure, and both sides of the membrane try to have the same pressure, so that the gas permeates from the gas passage 25 into the vacuum storage chamber 13. At this time, as described above, since water vapor, oxygen, and nitrogen pass through the membrane in order, the water vapor retained in the gas passage 25 can be efficiently returned to the reduced pressure storage chamber 13. Thereby, the maintenance for removing the water | moisture content in the gas channel | path 25 becomes unnecessary. In addition, since the heater 31 is provided in the vicinity of the vacuum pump 15, the influence of the heating of the gas passage 25 on the reduced pressure storage chamber 13 can be reduced. Furthermore, it can contribute to the high humidity in the decompression storage chamber 13, and the freshness fall by the fall of the water | moisture content in the decompression storage chamber 13 can be prevented.

  The heater 31 may be omitted, and the end of the gas passage 25 on the vacuum pump 15 side may be wound around the vacuum pump 15. In this case, since the vacuum pump 15 generates heat by operation, the end of the gas passage 25 on the side of the vacuum pump 15 can be heated, similarly to the heater 31. A heater 31 may be provided in the vacuum pump 15. Further, the vacuum pump 15 may increase the atmospheric pressure in the gas passage 25 after the pressure valve in the vacuum pump 15 is closed.

  According to the present embodiment, by reducing the oxygen concentration in the reduced pressure storage chamber 13 while reducing the pressure in the reduced pressure storage chamber 13, the amount of oxygen in the reduced pressure storage chamber 13 can be reduced as compared with the case of simply reducing the pressure. it can.

  Note that the pressure inside the decompression storage chamber 13 may be kept higher than 0.8 atm, and may be kept at an oxygen amount equivalent to that of the storage chamber simply reduced to 0.8 atm. In this case, compared with the case where the decompression storage chamber 13 is maintained at 0.8 atm, the strength of the decompression storage chamber 13 can be reduced, and the cost of the decompression storage chamber 13 can be reduced. Moreover, a capacity | capacitance can be increased, keeping the volume of the decompression storage chamber 13. FIG.

  In the present embodiment, a refrigerator that reduces the oxygen concentration in the storage chamber while maintaining the atmospheric pressure in the storage chamber at atmospheric pressure will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB showing the configuration of the lower part of the refrigerator compartment 2 according to the second embodiment. This figure shows a cross section of the refrigerator main body 1 of FIG. In this figure, elements denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment are the same as or equivalent to those in the first embodiment, and description thereof is omitted here. Compared to the refrigerator main body 1 in the first embodiment, the refrigerator main body 1 b in the second embodiment has a reduced oxygen storage chamber 51 instead of the decompression storage chamber 13. The oxygen reduction storage chamber 51 has an intake port 22 in addition to the elements of the decompression storage chamber 13. The oxygen-reducing storage chamber 51 includes elements such as ribs 14s for improving strength in the decompression storage chamber 13, and mechanisms such as a differential pressure release valve 35t and a differential pressure release hole 16a for returning from negative pressure to atmospheric pressure. do not need. The intake port 22 is preferably disposed at a position as far as possible from the exhaust port of the vacuum pump 15. Note that the air inlet 22 may introduce air from the outside of the refrigerator body 1 or from a cold air passage.

  By introducing the same amount of air as the exhaust amount of the vacuum pump 15 from the intake port 22 into the reduced oxygen storage chamber 51, the oxygen concentration is reduced while maintaining the pressure in the reduced oxygen storage chamber 51 at atmospheric pressure. can do.

  When a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the operation of the vacuum pump 15, the vacuum pump 15 may be stopped and the valve in the vacuum pump 15 may be closed. When the valve in the intake port 22 is provided and the valve in the vacuum pump 15 is closed, the inside of the reduced oxygen storage chamber 51 may be sealed by closing the valve in the intake port 22.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the change over time of the oxygen concentration in the container. In this figure, the horizontal axis indicates the time [min] from the start of the operation of the vacuum pump 15, and the horizontal axis indicates the oxygen concentration [%] in the container (the reduced pressure storage chamber 13 or the reduced oxygen storage chamber 51). Moreover, the measured value 40 shows the time change of the oxygen concentration in the decompression storage chamber 13 of Example 1, and the measurement value 41 shows the time change of the oxygen concentration in the oxygen reduction storage chamber 51 of Example 2.

  In the measured value 40 of the decompression storage chamber 13 that decreases the oxygen concentration with the decompression, the oxygen concentration linearly decreases with the passage of time. That is, as compared with the oxygen-reducing storage chamber 51, the decompression storage chamber 13 can efficiently reduce the amount of oxygen. However, the strength of the container of the decompression storage chamber 13 needs to be increased in order to withstand pressure compared to the oxygen-reducing storage chamber 51.

  In the measured value 41 of the oxygen-reducing storage chamber 51 that reduces the oxygen concentration under atmospheric pressure, the oxygen concentration does not decrease linearly with time. This is because the amount of oxygen passing through the membrane gradually decreases as the amount of oxygen around the membrane of the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 gradually decreases. That is, the amount of gas passing through the oxygen separation membrane unit 24 of the reduced oxygen storage chamber 51 is larger than that in the reduced pressure storage chamber 13, and the time until the oxygen concentration in the reduced oxygen storage chamber 51 reaches the target value becomes longer. However, since the pressure is not reduced, it is not necessary to increase the strength of the container of the oxygen-reducing storage chamber 51 in order to withstand pressure.

  According to the present embodiment, the oxygen-reducing storage chamber 51 does not require pressure resistance performance because the interior is maintained at atmospheric pressure while reducing the oxygen concentration. Thereby, compared with the decompression storage room 13, the reduced oxygen storage room 51 can make the thickness of a wall thin, and can enlarge an internal capacity.

  In this embodiment, a refrigerator that effectively uses oxygen exhausted from a storage room will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB showing the configuration of the lower part of the refrigerator compartment 2 according to the third embodiment. This figure shows a cross section of the refrigerator main body 1 of FIG. In this figure, elements denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment are the same as or equivalent to those in the first embodiment, and description thereof is omitted here. Compared to the refrigerator main body 1 in the first embodiment, the refrigerator main body 1 c in the third embodiment includes a gas passage 61 and a deodorizing unit 62 in addition to the elements of the refrigerator main body 1. An intake port of the gas passage 61 is connected to the exhaust port of the vacuum pump 15, and an intake port of the deodorizing unit 62 is connected to the exhaust port of the gas passage 61. The deodorizing unit 62 is provided in the cold air passage 63 and discharges the deodorized gas into the cold air passage 63.

  Thereby, the gas with high oxygen concentration exhausted from the vacuum pump 15 is sent to the deodorizing unit 62 and deodorized. The deodorizing unit 62 is, for example, a catalyst having manganese oxide or the like, and deodorizes odorous components in the gas by an oxidation reaction. Therefore, when a gas having a high oxygen concentration is supplied from the oxygen separation membrane unit 24, the efficiency of the oxidation reaction is improved and the deodorization performance is improved.

  According to the present embodiment, the deodorization performance can be improved by reducing oxygen from the decompression storage chamber 13 and supplying the exhaust from the decompression storage chamber 13 to the deodorization unit 62.

  Note that the deodorizing unit 62 can also be applied to the second embodiment. That is, the exhaust gas from the vacuum pump 15 may be supplied to the deodorizing unit 62 through the gas passage 61 in the second embodiment.

The techniques described in the above embodiments can be expressed as follows.
(Expression 1)
A container forming a space inside,
A suction part for sucking the gas in the container;
In accordance with the suction, a passage part that preferentially passes oxygen out of the gas from the container to the suction part; and
Refrigerator.
(Expression 2)
The passage section has a film that blocks a gas flow path from the container to the suction section,
The membrane allows gas to permeate from the high pressure side to the low pressure side of both sides of the membrane, and allows oxygen to permeate faster than nitrogen in the permeating gas.
The refrigerator according to expression 1.
(Expression 3)
Furthermore,
A lid member covering the opening of the container, the lid member having a hole for introducing gas from the outside to the inside of the container;
A valve that closes the hole in conjunction with the closing operation of the lid member and opens the hole in conjunction with an opening operation of the lid member;
The refrigerator according to expression 1 or 2.
(Expression 4)
Furthermore, a pipe for guiding gas from the passage part to the suction part is provided,
The suction part stops the suction when the atmospheric pressure in the pipe reaches a predetermined negative pressure, and closes the gas passage in the suction part;
The refrigerator according to expression 3.
(Expression 5)
The suction part increases the air pressure in the pipe after the passage is closed,
The refrigerator according to expression 4.
(Expression 6)
The suction part heats the end of the pipe on the suction part side after the passage is closed,
The refrigerator according to expression 5.
(Expression 7)
The container has an inlet for introducing gas into the container from outside the container in response to the suction.
The refrigerator according to expression 1 or 2.
(Expression 8)
And a storage chamber for storing the container and the passage.
The storage chamber has a discharge port for discharging the cold air from the cold air passage to the inside of the storage chamber,
The distance from the discharge port to the passage portion is shorter than the distance from the discharge port to the suction portion,
The refrigerator according to any one of expressions 1 to 7.
(Expression 9)
Furthermore, a deodorizing unit for deodorizing the gas discharged from the suction unit is provided.
The refrigerator according to any one of expressions 1 to 8.

  Terms in these expressions will be described. The container corresponds to, for example, the outer member 14. The suction unit corresponds to, for example, the vacuum pump 15. The suction unit may include a heater 31. The passage portion corresponds to, for example, the oxygen separation membrane unit 24. The hole corresponds to, for example, the differential pressure release hole 16a. The valve corresponds to, for example, a differential pressure relief valve 35t. The tube corresponds, for example, to the gas passage 25. The storage room corresponds to the refrigerator room 2, for example. The discharge port corresponds to, for example, the cold air passage discharge port 20.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. A person skilled in the art can make various additions and changes within the scope of the present invention.

1, 1b, 1c: refrigerator main body, 2: refrigerator compartment, 6: refrigerator compartment door, 6a, 6b: refrigerator compartment door, 11: outer box, 13: decompression storage compartment, 14: outer member, 14s: rib, 15: Vacuum pump, 16: lid member, 16a: differential pressure release hole, 18: shelf, 19: cold air passage inlet, 20: cold air passage outlet, 22: air inlet, 24: oxygen separation membrane unit, 25: gas passage, 26: Opening / closing handle, 31: Heater, 35s: Support shaft, 35t: Differential pressure relief valve, 51: Hypoxic storage chamber, 61: Gas passage, 62: Deodorizing section, 63: Cold air passage

Claims (9)

A container forming a space inside,
A suction part for sucking the gas in the container;
In accordance with the suction, a passage part that preferentially passes oxygen out of the gas from the container to the suction part; and
Refrigerator. The passage section has a film that blocks a gas flow path from the container to the suction section,
The membrane allows gas to permeate from the high pressure side to the low pressure side of both sides of the membrane, and allows oxygen to permeate faster than nitrogen in the permeating gas.
The refrigerator according to claim 1. Furthermore,
A lid member covering the opening of the container, the lid member having a hole for introducing gas from the outside to the inside of the container;
A valve that closes the hole in conjunction with the closing operation of the lid member and opens the hole in conjunction with an opening operation of the lid member;
The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2. Furthermore, a pipe for guiding gas from the passage part to the suction part is provided,
The suction part stops the suction when the atmospheric pressure in the pipe reaches a predetermined negative pressure, and closes the gas passage in the suction part;
The refrigerator according to claim 3. The suction part increases the air pressure in the pipe after the passage is closed,
The refrigerator according to claim 4. The suction part heats the end of the pipe on the suction part side after the passage is closed,
The refrigerator according to claim 5. The container has an inlet for introducing gas into the container from outside the container in response to the suction.
The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2. And a storage chamber for storing the container and the passage.
The storage chamber has a discharge port for discharging the cold air from the cold air passage to the inside of the storage chamber,
The distance from the discharge port to the passage portion is shorter than the distance from the discharge port to the suction portion,
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 7. Furthermore, a deodorizing unit for deodorizing the gas discharged from the suction unit is provided.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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