JPH09308818A - Deodorizer and showcase - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: Provided are a deodorizer and a showcase that use a photocatalyst that does not require heating temperature control, maintain high catalyst accuracy, and reduce running costs. SOLUTION: As a deodorizer, an ultraviolet lamp 8 which is a light source for projecting light in a predetermined direction and one end surface of the ultraviolet lamp are arranged so as to face each other in the projecting direction of the ultraviolet lamp, and light refraction of a peripheral portion from a shaft core portion thereof is performed. The optical fiber bundle 11 having the opposite curvature that guides the light of the light source in the direction of radiating from the peripheral surface and the optical fiber bundle 11 that is attached to the peripheral surface of the optical fiber bundle to bundle the light The photocatalyst 12, which is activated by receiving the light, captures water vapor, oil droplets, odor component fine particles, and the like and decomposes them.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a deodorizing device which is optimal for use in a site where a low-temperature environment is maintained, such as a cold storage room, or in a space having a large deodorizing capacity such as in a room,
The present invention relates to a showcase using the deodorizer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Cold rooms, refrigerators, freezers, etc., which require an environment for maintaining a low temperature, are in a completely sealed state unless the door is opened, and the odor generated from a specific object is trapped inside. I will end up.

This odor is apt to adhere to other objects to be contained, or becomes an unpleasant odor when the door is opened, and causes an unpleasant sensation. At present, deodorants such as (coconut shell) activated carbon are used, and some deodorizing effect is obtained.

However, the activated carbon itself has a very small capacity as compared with the space capacity of the cold room, for example.
Small deodorizing surface. Therefore, it takes time to obtain a complete deodorizing effect.

Under such circumstances, not only the cold storage room but also the indoor air may be required to be cleaned. In this state, a dedicated air cleaner is used. The air purifier has an electric dust collecting function by corona discharge, and the activated carbon is adhered to the filter in a film shape to perform a deodorizing action.

The disadvantage of this air purifier is that it consumes a large amount of power to perform the electric dust collecting function, and the running cost is high. Of course, it is not suitable for placing in a cold room or the like.

[0007]

Therefore, a catalyst is attached to an object having a large surface area, a deodorizer having improved catalyst efficiency is adopted, and odor component fine particles generated from an object to be contained are decomposed. It would be ideal if it could be cleaned.

However, in view of the characteristics of the above catalyst, in order to obtain an efficient catalytic action, the catalyst must be heated and maintained at a predetermined temperature, and it must be equipped with a heating means and a temperature control means. The increase in the number of parts and parts space, and the cost impact cannot be ignored.

On the other hand, in recent years, a photocatalyst has attracted attention. The composition of this photocatalyst is anatase type titanium oxide or the like, and has the property of being activated in the state of being irradiated with light.
That is, by using the photocatalyst, unlike the conventional catalyst, it is not necessary to heat and raise the temperature, so that the heating mechanism is not necessary, and since it is not necessary to keep the temperature constant, the temperature control mechanism is not necessary.

By adopting this photocatalyst, it is most suitable for a site such as a cold room where a low temperature environment is maintained, or a space with a large deodorizing capacity such as a room. The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to
An object of the present invention is to provide a deodorizer that uses a photocatalyst that does not require heating temperature control, maintains high catalyst accuracy, and reduces running costs, and a showcase equipped with this deodorizer.

[0011]

In order to satisfy the above-mentioned object, the deodorizer of the present invention is, as a first aspect, a light source for projecting light in a predetermined direction, and one end face thereof facing in the light projecting direction of the light source. And a bundle of optical fibers having a reverse curvature that guides the light of the light source in the direction of radiating from the peripheral surface. It is attached to the peripheral surface of the fiber bundle and activated by receiving light, capturing water vapor, oil droplets, odor component particles, etc.,
A photocatalyst for decomposing is provided.

According to a second aspect, the optical fiber bundle according to the first aspect is arranged in a plurality of rows and in a plurality of rows with a predetermined interval in a zigzag pattern. It is characterized by conducting.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the optical fiber bundle according to the first aspect is characterized in that a light scattering substance is accommodated along the axis of the optical fiber bundle to increase the amount of light leaked from the peripheral surface. In order to satisfy the above-mentioned object, the showcase of the present invention comprises:
As a result, the deodorizer according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is provided in the showcase body.

By providing the means for solving the above problems, according to the invention of claim 1, the light is efficiently diffused from the peripheral surface of the optical fiber bundle, and the photocatalyst is efficiently activated to perform the catalytic action. . No heating mechanism or temperature adjusting mechanism is required for the catalytic action, and these facilities are unnecessary. It can be used under conditions that do not favor temperature changes, and the range of use can be expanded.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the fluid to be cleaned surely comes into contact with the photocatalyst on the peripheral surface of the optical fiber bundle, so that a more efficient catalytic action is performed. According to the invention of claim 3, the light scattering substance accommodated along the axis of the optical fiber bundle increases the amount of light leaked from the peripheral surface and increases the amount of light absorption of the photocatalyst, thereby further improving the catalytic action. It can be used as an interior as well as being improved. According to the invention of claim 4, as a showcase, a high degree of hygiene can be maintained, an exhibition effect can be obtained, and the showcase can be effectively used.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an example in which the deodorizer is applied to a cold storage showcase. Here, the showcase body 1 has a casing that is extremely long in the width direction, and at least the front surface portion 1a and the upper surface portion 1b are formed of a transparent material such as a glass plate. A door plate is provided on the back surface 1c so that an object can be put in and taken out of the containing chamber 2 inside.

A cooler C is arranged along the upper surface 1b of the storage chamber 2 and is connected to other parts (not shown) so as to form a refrigeration cycle. Therefore, the accommodation chamber 2 is always kept at a predetermined low temperature, which is an optimal environment for cooling and storing the contained object.

A deodorizer S, which will be described later, is provided on one side of the showcase body 1, and an opening (not shown) is provided on the side surface of the showcase body facing the deodorizer S.
The ventilation fan 3 is attached to the outer surface portion facing the opening by appropriate means.

An opening not shown is also provided on the other side surface, and the ends of the duct 4 are connected to both the left and right openings. The ventilation fan 3 is housed inside one end of the duct 4, and both ends of the duct 4 are communicated with the inside of the showcase body 1 through the openings.

Next, the deodorizer S will be described in detail.
The deodorizer S includes a base 5 attached to the back surface 1c of the showcase body 1, a plurality of rigid deodorizing rods 6 protruding from the front surface of the base 5, and tip portions of the deodorizing rods 6. And a reflector 7 for integrally connecting the two.

The substrate 5 is formed in a thin box shape, and the illumination lamp 8 as a light source is housed inside. As the illumination lamp 8, an ultraviolet lamp that emits ultraviolet rays is used here.

The deodorizing rod 6 protruding from the base 5
Is fitted in the opening 5a provided in the base body 5, and its end face faces the ultraviolet lamp 8. That is, the end surface of the deodorizing rod 6 is irradiated with the ultraviolet rays generated by the ultraviolet lamp 8.

FIG. 3 shows details of the deodorizing rod 6. This is composed of an optical fiber bundle 11, which is a so-called optical fiber bundled with a large number of optical fibers 10 and has a predetermined diameter, and a photocatalyst 12 that covers the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber bundle 11.

The optical fiber 10 is bundled so that the optical fiber 10 located closer to the axis of the deodorizing rod 6 has a lower refractive index, and the optical fiber 10 located gradually closer to the outer peripheral surface from the axis has a higher refractive index. . That is, it forms an inverse curvature for a commonly used optical fiber.

The light applied to the end face of the optical fiber bundle 11 is repeatedly refracted along each optical fiber 10 and guided,
It is irradiated from the other end face. Due to the difference in the refractive index and the setting of the position, the light guided through the optical fiber bundle 11 gradually repeats refraction from the axial center toward the outer peripheral surface, and finally leaks from the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber bundle 11 to the outside. . The amount of light leaking from the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber bundle 11 is constant regardless of the axial position.

The photocatalyst 12 is formed in the form of fine particles and is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber bundle 11 with an adhesive so as to have a predetermined thickness. A narrow space is formed between the fine particles, and the remaining light absorbed by the photocatalyst 12 itself is guided to the outside through the space. Therefore, the light is evenly leaked over the entire peripheral surface of the deodorizing rod 6.

The plurality of deodorizing rods 6 made rigid in this way are arranged in a zigzag pattern in a plurality of rows in a row, and the wind generated by the ventilation action of the ventilation fan 3 is applied to each of the deodorizing rods 6. Consideration is given to hitting evenly.

The cooler C is the showcase body 1
The ventilation fan 3 is rotationally driven to suck the air in the storage chamber 2 into the duct 4 while the storage chamber 2 inside is being cooled. The air in the storage chamber 2 guided to the duct 4 is the showcase body 1
It is guided to the accommodation chamber 2 again from the other side portion and circulates through the accommodation chamber 2 and the duct 4.

On the other hand, the ultraviolet lamp 8 serving as a light source is turned on to irradiate the end faces of the deodorizing rods 6 with ultraviolet rays. Ultraviolet rays are guided to one end surface of the optical fiber bundle 11 constituting each deodorizing rod 6, are repeatedly refracted along each optical fiber 10, and are guided from the other end surface.

Since the reflecting plate 7 is provided on this end face, the light emitted from the end face of the deodorizing rod 6 is reflected, and the optical fiber bundle 11 is refracted again in the opposite direction. Then, due to the difference in the refractive index and the position of the optical fiber 10 as described above, the ultraviolet rays leak to the peripheral surface of the optical fiber bundle 11 and are absorbed by the photocatalyst 12 applied. The photocatalyst 12 absorbs ultraviolet rays and is activated.

On the other hand, due to the action of the ventilation fan 3, the air in the storage chamber 2 has passed through the deodorizer S and is in contact with each deodorizing rod 6. Therefore, the photocatalyst 12 reliably captures and decomposes odor component particles contained in the air introduced therein.

The accommodating chamber 2 is deodorized and cleaned while the air has passed through the deodorizing rods 6 ...
It is guided to the accommodation chamber 2 from the other side part and circulates in the above-mentioned path. Moreover, since the light leaked from the peripheral surface of the deodorizing rod 6 without being absorbed by the photocatalyst 12 is ultraviolet rays, the air in the storage chamber 2 passing through the deodorizer S is sterilized. The storage chamber 2 is deodorized, sterilized, and cleaned to maintain high hygiene.

4 and 5 show an embodiment in which the deodorizer S is provided in the cooking chamber. That is, although not shown, a range hood equipped with a ventilation fan is provided above the heating cooker arranged in the cooking chamber to collect cooking exhaust gas generated during heating cooking.

An opening is provided on the wall surface of the cooking chamber,
An exhaust duct extending from the range hood is connected.
The cooking exhaust gas collected in the range hood is discharged to the outside through the opening by the action of the ventilation fan.

However, depending on the conditions, the wall surface cannot be provided with an opening. In this case, the device shown in the figure may be adopted. The exhaust duct 20 connected to the range hood is directly extended to the cooking chamber. An air cleaner 21 is connected to the end of the exhaust duct 20.

The air cleaning section 21 has a housing 22 in which a deodorizer Sa and a water heat exchanger 23 are housed. The deodorizer Sa is attached to the ultraviolet lamp 8a, which is a light source, the optical fiber bundle 11a, the photocatalyst 12a applied to the peripheral surface thereof, and the tip of the optical fiber bundle, as described above. It is composed of a reflector 7a.

The optical fiber bundle 11a is the same as that of the optical fiber bundle 11a in which optical fibers having a gradually increasing refractive index are bundled from the axis to the peripheral surface. And the composition of the photocatalyst 12a,
The attachment means to the optical fiber bundle 11a does not change.

The water heat exchanger 23 circulates city water,
It is designed to exchange heat with the air passing through it. Then, a discharge port (not shown) that opens into the cooking chamber is provided on the lower side of the housing 22.

With such a structure, when the heating and cooking switch is turned on, the ventilation fan starts operating and the ultraviolet lamp 8a is turned on. In the water heat exchanger 23, circulation of city water starts.

Cooking exhaust gas generated by heating and cooking is collected in the range hood and guided to the air cleaning section 21 through the exhaust duct. Then, it passes through the deodorizer Sa and is subjected to the catalytic action of the photocatalyst 12a.

The photocatalyst 12a captures and decomposes water vapor, fine oil droplets, and odor component particles contained in the cooking exhaust gas. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, since the deodorizing rods 6a are arranged in a staggered manner, the cooking exhaust gas comes into efficient contact with each other and receives the catalytic action.

The air decomposed and cleaned by the deodorizer Sa is guided to the water heat exchanger 23 in a high temperature state. Then, it exchanges heat with city water to lower the temperature. After returning to almost room temperature, it is released into the cooking chamber through the outlet.

This apparatus is equipped with a timer delay circuit so that even if the required cooking is completed and the switch is turned off, the ventilation fan is operated for a predetermined time, the city water is circulated and the ultraviolet lamp 8a is irradiated. Retained. That is, the processing of the cooking exhaust gas that rises due to the residual heat is also reliably performed.

Therefore, even under the condition that the opening cannot be provided on the wall surface of the cooking chamber, the heating cooker can be used by providing the device having the above-mentioned configuration.
The range of use can be expanded.

Further, since the ventilating action for discharging the indoor air to the outside is not performed, there is no invasion of the outside air into the room due to ventilation, and it is difficult to inhale suspended matter such as pollen into the room, which easily affects the human body. Noise is prevented from penetrating through the ventilation opening, and it is not affected by outside air.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show an embodiment of the deodorizer Sb which has both the original catalytic function and the partition of the room. The deodorizer Sb is a flexible deodorizing rod 6 having a diameter.
b ... is hung from the ceiling surface a of the partition part 30.

The lower end portion of the deodorizing rod 6b is separated from the floor surface b by a predetermined distance, and in a sense, hangs down from the ceiling surface. A lamp 8b, which is a light source, is embedded in the ceiling surface a facing the upper end of the deodorizing rod 6b.

The deodorizing rod 6b houses the light scattering member 31 along the axis thereof. As described above, the optical fibers 10b having different refractive indices are bundled on the peripheral surface to form the optical fiber bundle 11b, and the outer peripheral surface is coated with the photocatalyst 12b as described above.

With such a deodorizer Sb, the lamp 8
The light b is applied to the light scattering member 31 and scattered, and the amount of light leaked to the outside through the optical fiber bundle 11b and the photocatalyst 12b becomes large.

The photocatalyst 12b is further activated, and the dirty air outside the room is further cleaned by the catalytic action and introduced into the room.
When the light scattering member 31 is used, the amount of light leaking out becomes large, and the peripheral surface of the deodorizing rod 6b becomes bright. Therefore, it is suitable not only for deodorizing effect but also for interior.

In the above-described embodiments, all the gas containing impurities has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a deodorizer intended for a fluid such as water containing impurities is used. There is no problem even if there is. The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0052]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the optical fiber bundles arranged in the light projecting direction of the light source are provided with optical fibers so that the peripheral portion has a larger optical refractive index than the axial portion. Since they are bundled and formed into a reverse curvature, and the photocatalyst is attached to the peripheral surface of this optical fiber bundle, the light is efficiently diffused from the peripheral surface of the optical fiber bundle, and the photocatalyst is efficiently activated and catalyzed. Make it work. No heating mechanism or temperature adjusting mechanism is required for the catalytic action, and these facilities are unnecessary. As a result, it can be used under conditions that do not favor temperature changes, and the range of use can be expanded.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the optical fiber bundles are arranged in a plurality of rows, and the plurality of rows are arranged in a zigzag pattern at predetermined intervals, and the fluid to be cleaned is made to flow between them. Therefore, the fluid to be cleaned surely comes into contact with the photocatalyst on the peripheral surface of the optical fiber bundle, and more efficient catalytic action is performed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the light scattering substance is accommodated along the axis of the optical fiber bundle to increase the amount of light leaked from the peripheral surface, the amount of light absorption of the photocatalyst increases. As a result, the catalytic action can be further improved and it can be used as an interior. According to the invention of claim 4, as a showcase, a high degree of hygiene can be maintained and an exhibition effect can be obtained.
Effective use can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a cold storage showcase including a deodorizer, showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a cold storage showcase according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a partial front view of the deodorizing rod of the same embodiment. (B) is a longitudinal sectional view of the deodorizing rod of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partial front view of the cooking exhaust gas treatment apparatus including the deodorizer according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the deodorizer according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 6A is a front view of a deodorizer that also serves as a partition according to the third embodiment. FIG. 3B is a side view of the deodorizer that also serves as a partition according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the deodorizing rod of the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 8 ... Light source (ultraviolet lamp), 11 ... Optical fiber bundle, 12 ... Photocatalyst, 31 ... Light scattering material, 1 ... Showcase body.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A light source for projecting light in a predetermined direction, and one end surface of the light source facing the light projecting direction.
An optical fiber bundle having a reverse curvature, which is bundled so that the light refractive index of its peripheral portion is larger than that of its axial portion, and guides the light of the light source in the direction of radiating from the peripheral surface, and the circumference of this optical fiber bundle. A deodorizer equipped with a photocatalyst which is attached to a surface and is activated by receiving light to capture and decompose water vapor, oil droplets, odor component particles, and the like. 2. The optical fiber bundle is arranged in a plurality of rows and arranged in a plurality of rows at a predetermined interval in a zigzag manner, and a fluid to be cleaned is made to flow between these. The deodorizer according to Item 1. 3. The deodorizer according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber bundle contains a light-scattering substance along its axis to increase the amount of light leaked from the peripheral surface. 4. A showcase, wherein the deodorizer according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is provided in a showcase body.