CN111226085B

CN111226085B - Cooling device

Info

Publication number: CN111226085B
Application number: CN201980004421.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 岩崎高宏
Original assignee: Fuji Electric Co Ltd
Current assignee: Fuji Electric Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-09-25
Filing date: 2019-07-25
Publication date: 2022-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 2039-07-25
Also published as: WO2020066259A1; CN111226085A; JP2020051646A; JP7215040B2

Abstract

The cooling device (30) comprises: a condenser (33) that constitutes a refrigeration circuit in which a refrigerant is sealed together with the evaporator (31), the compressor (32), and the expansion mechanism (34), and condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor (32) by radiating heat to the ambient air passing through the condenser; an evaporation pan (36), which is disposed on the rear side of the condenser (33) and stores dew condensation water generated by the evaporator (31), and the evaporation pan (36); and an evaporation/absorption member (37) having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, the evaporation/absorption member (37) being erected on an evaporation pan (36) and absorbing dew condensation water by capillary action, air radiated by the condenser (33) passing through the periphery to evaporate dew condensation water, the cooling device cooling a predetermined region by air cooled by the evaporator (31), and an upper end portion of the evaporation/absorption member (37) being formed so as to extend gradually upward from the front to the rear.

Description

Cooling device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a cooling device.

Background

Conventionally, a cooling device including a cooling unit and an evaporation unit is known. The cooling unit is configured to include an evaporator, a compressor, and a condenser. The evaporator is a member that evaporates the supplied refrigerant to cool the air passing through the evaporator. The compressor is a member that sucks and compresses the refrigerant evaporated by the evaporator. The condenser is a member that condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor. An expansion mechanism is provided between the condenser and the evaporator. The expansion mechanism adiabatically expands the refrigerant condensed by the condenser and supplies the refrigerant to the evaporator.

The evaporation unit is configured to include an evaporation pan and an evaporation sheet. The evaporation pan is a member that stores dew condensation water generated by the cooling unit. The evaporation sheet is a member which is vertically installed in the evaporation pan and absorbs dew condensation water by using a capillary phenomenon.

In the above-described cooling device, the condenser is disposed in a standing posture so that the refrigerant compressed by the compressor flows in the vertical direction while meandering in the horizontal direction, and the evaporation unit is disposed on the rear side of the condenser. Then, by driving a blower fan provided at a predetermined position, the air having passed through the condenser passes through the evaporation unit, thereby evaporating the dew condensation water (see, for example, patent document 1).

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent No. 5685994

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem to be solved by the invention

In the cooling device proposed in patent document 1, the evaporation sheet is formed in a flat plate shape and is erected on the evaporation pan, and since the air passing through the condenser is sufficiently heated by the heat radiation of the refrigerant, the dew condensation water absorbed by the evaporation sheet is evaporated by the air passing through the condenser until reaching the upper end portion of the evaporation sheet. That is, the upper end portion of the evaporation sheet is always in a dry state, and not only does it not contribute to evaporation of dew, but it also becomes resistance to passing air, which is a main cause of pressure loss of air passing through the condenser.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a cooling device capable of reducing a pressure loss of air passing through a condenser and improving evaporation of dew condensation water.

Technical scheme for solving technical problem

In order to achieve the above object, a cooling device of the present invention includes: a condenser which constitutes a refrigeration circuit in which a refrigerant is sealed together with an evaporator, a compressor, and an expansion mechanism, and which condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor by radiating heat to air passing through the condenser; an evaporation pan disposed at a rear side of the condenser and storing dew water generated by the evaporator; and an evaporation/absorption member having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape which is erected on the evaporation pan and absorbs the dew condensation water by a capillary phenomenon, and through which the air radiated from the condenser passes to evaporate the dew condensation water, wherein the cooling device cools a predetermined area by the air cooled by the evaporator, and wherein an upper end portion of the evaporation/absorption member is formed so as to extend gradually upward from the front toward the rear.

In the cooling device of the present invention, the upper end portion of the evaporation/absorption material is inclined so as to extend upward gradually from the front toward the rear.

In the cooling device of the present invention, the condenser is provided in a standing posture in which a length in a front-rear direction is shorter than that in a horizontal posture, and the cooling device includes a blower fan which is horizontally provided to close an upper opening of the air tunnel provided on a rear side of the evaporation/absorption material, and blows air so that the air having passed through the condenser is sent upward from the upper opening through the interior of the air tunnel after passing through the evaporation/absorption material.

In the cooling device of the present invention, the plurality of air blowing fans are arranged side by side in the left-right direction, and the air tunnel includes wall members provided apart from each other in the left-right direction in correspondence with the air blowing fans.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, since the upper end portion of the evaporation absorbing member is formed to extend gradually upward as going from the front to the rear, an effective region for evaporating the dew condensation water up to the upper end portion of the front portion, which is a portion close to the condenser, can be provided, and the resistance portion of the air passing therethrough can be reduced. This reduces the pressure loss of the air passing through the condenser, and improves the evaporation of the dew condensation water.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a sectional side view schematically showing the internal structure of a display case to which a cooling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the cooling device shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of the cooling apparatus shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a longitudinal section of a main part of the cooling apparatus shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view showing the evaporation absorbing member shown in fig. 3 and 4 when viewed from the front.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of the wind tunnel shown in fig. 3 and 4.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the cooling device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a sectional side view schematically showing the internal structure of a display case to which a cooling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The display case illustrated herein includes a case main body 10.

The case main body 10 is a heat insulating case having an opening (hereinafter, also referred to as a front surface opening) 10a on a front surface. The housing main body 10 defines a storage chamber 11 therein, and is provided with an air circulation device 20 and a cooling device 30.

The storage chamber 11 is a chamber defined to face the front opening 10a, and a plurality of (five in the illustrated example) commodity racks 12 are arranged in a vertical direction. The commodity shelf 12 is a member for placing commodities, respectively.

A bottom tray 13 is provided at the bottom of the storage chamber 11. The bottom tray 13 is a member for placing commodities, as in the commodity rack 12.

Further, a suction port 14 is formed at a front lower portion of the storage chamber 11, and a discharge port 15 is formed at a front upper portion of the storage chamber 11.

The suction port 14 is an opening for sucking air inside the storage chamber 11, and extends in the left-right direction of the storage chamber 11. The air outlet 15 is an opening for blowing air into the storage chamber 11. The air outlet 15 extends in the left-right direction of the storage chamber 11. Although not clearly shown in the drawings, a flow rectification member having a honeycomb structure is appropriately attached to the air outlet 15.

The air circulation device 20 includes an air passage 20a and a circulation fan 20 b. Air flow path 20a is a flow path of air from suction port 14 to discharge port 15.

The air flow path 20a is configured to communicate with each other: a lower air passage 21 communicating with the suction port 14 and located outside the storage compartment 11 and below the storage compartment 11; a back-side air duct 22, the back-side air duct 22 being located outside the storage compartment 11 and on the back side of the storage compartment 11; a storage box 23, the storage box 23 being located outside the storage chamber 11 and above the storage chamber 11; and an upper air flow path 24, the upper air flow path 24 being located outside the storage compartment 11 and above the storage compartment 11 and communicating with the air outlet 15.

The circulation fan 20b is a member that circulates air by being driven, and is provided at a predetermined position in the lower air passage 21. In the present embodiment, the circulation fan 20b is provided at a predetermined position in the lower air flow passage 21, but in the present invention, the position at which the circulation fan 20b is disposed is not particularly limited, and may be provided at any position as long as the function of the circulation fan 20b described below can be exerted.

In the air circulation device 20, the air inside the storage chamber 11 is sucked through the suction port 14 by driving the circulation fan 20b, the sucked air is sent out to the air outlet 15 so as to pass through the air flow path 20a, and the air is blown out into the storage chamber 11 through the air outlet 15, thereby circulating the air between the inside and the outside of the storage chamber 11.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing cooling device 30 shown in fig. 1. As also shown in fig. 2 above, the cooling device 30 includes a cooling unit 30a and an evaporation unit 30 b.

The cooling unit 30a is configured by connecting an evaporator 31, a compressor 32, a condenser 33, and an expansion mechanism 34 in this order by a refrigerant line 35. The evaporator 31 is provided inside the storage box 23, and cools air passing through the inside of the storage box 23 by evaporating the supplied refrigerant. The refrigerant evaporated by the evaporator 31 is sucked and compressed by driving the compressor 32.

The condenser 33 is provided in a standing posture in front of the top wall portion of the main cabinet. As shown in fig. 3, in the condenser 33, flat refrigerant passage tubes 33a in which a plurality of refrigerant passages are arranged in parallel are provided so as to extend in the vertical direction while meandering in the horizontal direction, an inlet-side header 33b is connected to the inlet side of the refrigerant passage tubes 33a, and an outlet-side header 33c is connected to the outlet side of the refrigerant passage tubes 33 a. Corrugated fin members 33d are thermally connected between horizontally extending portions of the refrigerant passage tubes 33 a. A refrigerant line 35 connected to the outlet side of the compressor 32 is connected to the inlet-side header 33b, and a refrigerant line 35 connected to the expansion mechanism 34 is connected to the outlet-side header 33 c. The condenser 33 causes heat exchange between the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 32 and passing through the refrigerant flow path and the air passing through the surroundings, thereby condensing the refrigerant.

That is, the condenser 33 is provided in a standing posture in which the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 32 flows in the vertical direction while meandering in the left-right direction, and is provided in a shorter length in the front-rear direction than in a lying posture in which the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 32 flows in the front-rear direction while meandering in the left-right direction.

The expansion mechanism 34 adiabatically expands the refrigerant condensed by the condenser 33 to a low-temperature and low-pressure state, and supplies the refrigerant to the evaporator 31.

As shown in fig. 4, the evaporation unit 30b is provided on the rear side of the condenser 33 and on the front side of the storage box 23, and includes an evaporation pan 36 and an evaporation/absorption material 37.

The evaporation pan 36 is a member for storing dew condensation water generated by the evaporator 31 constituting the cooling unit 30a by a not-shown tank.

The evaporation/absorption material 37 is provided in plural (two in the illustrated example) and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The evaporation absorbing materials 37 are erected on the evaporation pan 36 at the rear side of the condenser 33 so as to be arranged in the left-right direction. The evaporation/absorption material 37 is formed by processing filter paper, and more specifically, as shown in fig. 5, a corrugated sheet member 372 is sandwiched between flat plate-shaped flat sheet members 371 that are separated in the left-right direction so as to be parallel to each other when viewed from the front. The evaporation/absorption material 37 absorbs the dew condensation water stored in the evaporation pan 36 by capillary action so that the dew condensation water is absorbed by the flat sheet member 371 and dispersed to the corrugated sheet member 372.

In the evaporation/absorption material 37, the upper end portion 37a is formed to be inclined so as to gradually extend upward from the front to the rear, and the upper surface 37b is an inclined surface.

An air tunnel 40 is provided in the region above the evaporation pan 36 and behind the evaporation/absorption member 37. As shown in fig. 6, the wind tunnel 40 includes: a pair of left and right side walls 41; a rear wall 42 connecting rear ends of the side walls 41 to each other; an upper wall 43 connecting upper ends of the side walls 41 to each other and also connecting an upper end of the rear wall 42; and a base wall 44 disposed opposite the upper wall 43. That is, the wind tunnel 40 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape with an open front surface. The front end portion of the side wall 41 extends forward beyond the upper wall 43 and the base wall 44, and covers both side regions of the evaporation/absorption material 37.

A rectangular upper opening 43a is formed over substantially the entire area of the upper wall 43 of the wind tunnel 40, and a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) air blowing fans 45 are horizontally arranged in the left-right direction so as to close the upper opening 43 a. The blower fan 45 sends out the air passing through the air tunnel 40 upward from the upper opening 43a when driven.

A plurality of (three in the illustrated example) wall members 46 are provided on the base wall 44 of the wind tunnel 40. The wall members 46 are provided on the base wall 44 so as to be spaced apart from each other in the left-right direction so as to extend upward from portions facing portions between the adjacent blower fans 45. That is, the wall members 46 are provided apart from each other in the left-right direction corresponding to the blower fan 45.

In the display case configured as described above, the circulation fan 20b is driven to suck air in the storage compartment 11 through the suction port 14, and the air passes through the lower air passage 21 and the rear air passage 22 and enters the storage box 23. The air that has entered the storage box 23 passes through the upper air passage 24, reaches the air outlet 15, and is blown out from the air outlet 15. The air blown out from the air outlet 15 flows toward the air inlet 14 while passing through the front end of each of the commodity racks 12, thereby forming an air curtain.

In the cooling device 30, the compressor 32 is driven, whereby the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 32 is condensed by the condenser 33 and reaches the expansion mechanism 34. The refrigerant sent to the expansion mechanism 34 is sent to the evaporator 31 while being thermally insulated and expanded, and exchanges heat with the air passing through the housing box 23 and evaporates when passing through the refrigerant flow path of the evaporator 31. The evaporated refrigerant is drawn by the compressor 32 to circulate.

By driving the compressor 32 in this manner to cool the air passing through the storage box 23, the cooled air is blown out from the air outlet 15, and as a result, the internal air of the storage chamber 11 is cooled, and the commodities placed on the commodity placement rack 12 and the bottom tray 13 are cooled.

Further, dew condensation water is generated in the evaporator 31 by driving the compressor 32, and the generated dew condensation water is supplied to the evaporation pan 36 through the groove and stored in the evaporation pan 36.

In the cooling device 30, the blower fan 45 is driven to cause the air outside the casing body 10 to pass through the condenser 33 from the front to the rear, and then to pass through the evaporation/absorption material 37. Thus, the air having passed through the evaporation/absorption material 37 reaches the inside of the air tunnel 40, passes between the side wall 41 and the wall member 46, or passes between the wall members 46, and is sent upward from the upper opening 43 a.

The air heated by the condenser 33 passes through a front portion of the evaporation absorbing member 37 near the condenser 33, and the air at which the dew condensation water is evaporated passes through a rear portion of the evaporation absorbing member 37 far from the condenser 33. That is, the air having a large difference from the saturated water vapor pressure passes through the front portion of the evaporation absorbing member 37, and the air having a small difference from the saturated water vapor pressure passes through the rear portion of the evaporation absorbing member 37.

Therefore, in a state where the air heated by the condenser 33 is passed through, a difference occurs between the height at which the dew condensation water is sucked up from the evaporation pan 36 at the front portion of the evaporation absorbing material 37 and the height at which the dew condensation water is sucked up from the evaporation pan 36 at the rear portion of the evaporation absorbing material 37, and the height at which the dew condensation water can be sucked up at the rear portion is larger than that at the front portion.

Thus, when the vertical dimension of the front portion and the upper limit dimension of the rear portion in the evaporation absorbing material are made equal, the upper end portion of the front portion is always in a dry state, and this is a waste area that does not contribute to evaporation of dew condensation water.

In this regard, according to the cooling device 30 of the embodiment of the present invention, since the upper end portion 37a of the evaporation absorbing member 37 is formed to be inclined so as to gradually extend upward from the front toward the rear, it is possible to provide an effective area for evaporating the dew condensation water to the upper end portion of the front portion, which is a portion close to the condenser 33, and it is possible to reduce the resistance portion of the passing air. This reduces the pressure loss of the air passing through the condenser 33, and improves the evaporation of the dew condensation water.

According to the cooling device 30, the condenser 33 is provided in the standing posture in which the length in the front-rear direction is shorter than that in the horizontal posture, the blower fan 45 blows air so that the air having passed through the condenser 33 passes through the evaporation absorbing material 37, passes through the inside of the air tunnel 40, and is sent upward from the upper opening 43a, the blower fan 45 is horizontally provided so as to close the upper opening 43a of the air tunnel 40, and the air tunnel 40 is provided on the rear side of the evaporation absorbing material 37 of the evaporation pan 36 in the rear side of the condenser 33, and therefore, the size in the front-rear direction can be reduced as compared with the conventional condenser provided in the horizontal posture, and the entire device can be downsized. Further, since the air having passed through the condenser 33 from the front to the rear is sent upward from the upper opening 43a of the air tunnel 40 by the blower fan 45, the air sent from the upper opening 43a can be prevented from passing through the condenser 33 by the action of the blower fan 45.

According to the cooling device 30, since the evaporation/absorption member 37 is configured such that the corrugated sheet member 372 is sandwiched between the flat plate-shaped flat sheet members 371 which are spaced apart in the left-right direction so as to be parallel to each other when viewed from the front, the contact area with the air blown by the air blowing fan 45 can be increased, and the air blowing amount can be sufficiently secured by passing the air through the gap between the flat sheet member 371 and the corrugated sheet member 372. Therefore, dew condensation water can be evaporated well. Since the air passing through the evaporation/absorption material 37 is the air passing through the condenser 33, the air having a temperature increased by the condenser 33 and a relative humidity decreased passes through the evaporation/absorption material 37, and the dew condensation water can be evaporated well.

According to the cooling device 30, since the wall members 46 are provided on the base wall 44 constituting the air tunnel 40 so as to be spaced apart from each other in the left-right direction in correspondence with the air blowing fans 45, the air in the air tunnel 40 is caused to pass between the side walls 41 and the wall members 46 or between the wall members 46 by driving the air blowing fans 45, and the wall members 46 function as flow regulating members for guiding the air, whereby occurrence of turbulence caused by interference between the air passing by driving the air blowing fans 45 can be suppressed.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made.

Although the upper end portion 37 of the evaporation absorption member 37 is formed to be inclined so as to extend upward gradually from the front to the rear in the above-described embodiment, the upper end portion is not necessarily formed to be inclined in the present invention, and may be formed to extend upward stepwise, for example, from the front to the rear. That is, the upper end portion may be formed to extend upward from the front to the rear, and the embodiment is not limited.

In the above embodiment, the cooling device 30 applied to the showcase has been described, but the present invention is not limited to the showcase and may be applied to a vending machine or the like.

In the above embodiment, the evaporation/absorption material 37 is configured such that the corrugated wave-shaped sheet member 372 is sandwiched between the flat plate-shaped sheet members 371 which are spaced apart in the vertical direction so as to be parallel to each other when viewed from the front.

(symbol description)

30 cooling device

30a cooling unit

30b evaporation unit

31 evaporator

32 compressor

33 condenser

34 expansion mechanism

36 evaporating dish

37 evaporative absorber

2a upper end

40 wind tunnel

43a upper opening

45 blower fan

Claims

1. A cooling device, comprising:

a condenser which constitutes a refrigeration circuit in which a refrigerant is sealed together with an evaporator, a compressor, and an expansion mechanism, and which condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor by radiating heat to air passing through the condenser;

an evaporation pan disposed at a rear side of the condenser and storing dew-condensed water generated by the evaporator; and

a substantially rectangular parallelepiped evaporation/absorption member that is erected on the evaporation pan, absorbs the dew condensation water by a capillary phenomenon, and evaporates the dew condensation water by passing air radiated from the condenser through the surroundings,

the cooling device cools a prescribed area using the air cooled by the evaporator,

the cooling device is characterized in that,

the upper end portion of the evaporation and absorption material is formed to extend upward gradually from the front to the rear,

the rear of evaporation attraction piece is equipped with the wind-tunnel, and this wind-tunnel includes: a pair of left and right side walls; a rear wall joining rear ends of the side walls to each other; an upper wall joining upper ends of the side walls to each other and also connected to an upper end of the rear wall; and a base wall provided so as to oppose the upper wall, wherein a front end portion of the side wall extends more forward than the upper wall and the base wall, and covers both side regions of the evaporation suction member.

2. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1,

the upper end portion of the evaporation/absorption material is formed to be inclined so as to gradually extend upward from the front to the rear.

3. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

the condenser is installed in a standing posture in which the length in the front-rear direction is shorter than that in a lying posture,

the cooling device includes a blower fan that is horizontally disposed to close an upper opening of a wind tunnel provided on a rear side of the evaporation/absorption member, and blows air so that the air having passed through the condenser passes through the evaporation/absorption member, passes through an inside of the wind tunnel, and is sent out upward from the upper opening.

4. The cooling apparatus according to claim 3,

the air supply fan is provided with a plurality of air supply fans which are arranged side by side along the left and right direction,

the wind tunnel includes wall members provided apart from each other in the left-right direction in correspondence with the blower fans.