JPS63207973A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

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

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is applied to a refrigeration device, for example, a refrigerator for storing foods such as meat, fish, vegetables, etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, when it comes to food preservation, with the exception of dried foods and canned foods, low-temperature preservation in refrigerators has been overwhelmingly used, as seen in everyday households.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in low-temperature preservation using conventional refrigerators, etc., although there are differences in how cold air is distributed, such as a forced cold circulation method or a natural convection method, it is not possible to store food at low temperatures. It merely slows down the respiration, oxidation, putrefaction, and bacterial growth of the food itself.

For this reason, some foods cannot be stored for a long time, and there is also an uneven temperature distribution within the refrigerator, making it impossible to avoid accidents such as some foods spoiling sooner than expected.

Means for Solving the Problems As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigeration apparatus of the present invention uses an oxygen depletion device to further make the low-temperature air inside the storage case oxygen depleted.

For this purpose, the oxygen depletion device is equipped with a gas separator configured using a gas separation membrane that separates oxygen. Air is supplied from either or both of the outside of the body.

The gas separation membrane is further provided with a non-permeable gas take-off pipe system and a permeate gas take-off pipe system, one of which takes out the oxygen-enriched gas, and the other of which takes out the oxygen-depleted gas.

Of the two pipe systems mentioned above, the pipe system for taking out the W1 enriched gas opens to the outside of the storage case, and the other opens to the storage space.
As a result, the oxygen-enriched gas is discharged outside the storage casing, while the oxygen-depleted gas is discharged into the storage space.

The storage case is combined with a cooling unit and sealed to maintain the internal air in a low temperature and oxygen-deficient state, but it is configured to be openable at any time, and when opened, the items inside are can be taken out.

Function: Since the refrigeration apparatus of the present invention is constructed as described above, the storage case is filled with low-temperature air depleted in oxygen, and this is continued by the operation of the cooling device and the oxygen-deficient device. As a result, the inside of the storage case becomes an oxygen-deficient state in which bacteria, etc. that rely on oxidation of the product and oxygen cannot survive or reproduce. Become.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of the refrigeration device of the present invention. In this embodiment, the compressor 21 of the cooling device 20 and the oxygen-deficient bag [30 are provided at the rear lower part of the storage casing 10, and the upper part inside the storage casing 10 Cooling device!
It is made into a household refrigerator equipped with an I20 cooler 22.

The storage case 10 is box-shaped and has thick walls filled with a heat insulating material, and has a storage space 12 that is sealed with a door 11 that is also filled with a heat insulating material. Net shelves 13 and the like are provided to partition the storage space 12 into the upper and lower sections, and various pockets 14 are provided on the door. Ru.

The cooling device 20 includes a compressor 21. It is composed of a cooler 22, a condensation side I3, etc., and compresses and expands a refrigerant such as fluorocarbon, and removes the heat of vaporization from the inside of the storage case 10 to lower the temperature of the inside of the refrigerator. You can choose from the structure.

The oxygen depletion device 30 uses a gas separation ff31 that separates oxygen to discharge the separated oxygen to the outside of the storage case 10, and discharges the oxygen-deficient gas after separating the oxygen into the storage case 10. It is composed.

In the embodiment, the gas separation membrane 3! , the permeation rate is N20
> CO2 > 02 > CO≧N2 (A membrane having D characteristics is used, and such a gas separation membrane includes "Hisep" (registration direction a) manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.

The gas component RB31 is stored in a gas separator 32, and on the gas supply side of the gas separator 32 there is a gas supply pipe system 40 and a non-permeable gas extraction pipe system 50 that does not pass through the gas component lli membrane. A permeate gas extraction pipe system 6o is connected to the gas permeation side of the gas separator 32.

The gas separator 32 differs depending on the structure of the gas separation membrane 31, and the current structure of the gas separator 111M31 is classified into flat membrane modules, hollow fiber modules, spiral modules, etc.

The gas separation membrane 31 is provided with a pressure difference such that the gas supply side is at a high pressure so that the gas can permeate through the membrane. A fan 71 and a vacuum pump 72 located on the gas permeation side are provided.

The gas supply pipe system 4o is configured to suck in air from either inside the refrigerator or from outside, or both, and feed it to the gas separator 32, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The illustrated embodiment includes an intake port 41 that opens into the refrigerator.

The gas component 111 membrane 31 has a property of separating oxygen O2, and in the embodiment, O2 is permeated and N2 is separated to the non-permeable side with a pressure difference set by the permeation gas pressure applying means. It is prescribed to do so.

Since the permeate side of the gas separation membrane 3I becomes oxygen-enriched gas, the permeate gas extraction pipe system 60 has an exhaust port 61 that opens to the outside of the refrigerator. is exhausted into the room.

On the other hand, the non-permeable gas extraction pipe system 50, for example,
The lower part of the storage case 10 is used as the exhaust port 51, and the N
The refrigerator is configured to exhaust air of two concentrations into the refrigerator.

In the above, the atmospheric pressure inside the refrigerator is reduced due to the operation of exhausting the oxygen-enriched air from the gas separation membrane, so the first
As shown in the figure, a check valve 73 is provided to take in outside air, and the above-mentioned blower fan 71 is connected to the check valve 73.
It is also possible to send air to the

Furthermore, in this case, although not shown, the atmosphere may be cooled in advance by installing piping or the like through a portion of the cooler 22 that is likely to be frosted.

In the refrigeration system of the present invention, the air depleted in oxygen by the oxygen depletion device 30 is stored in the storage space! 2, the cooling device 12
Coupled with the fact that food is maintained at a cool temperature at 0, this makes it difficult for food to breathe, oxidize, and spoil.In addition, aerobic bacteria and insects also lack oxygen, causing them to die or reproduce. is significantly suppressed.

In addition, according to the above embodiment, since oxygen-enriched air is discharged into the room where the refrigerator is placed, the environment inside the room becomes more favorable for humans, even if only slightly.

In the above, the refrigeration device of the present invention can also be configured as follows.

When the above-mentioned Hi-SEP (Tosasho Fri) is used as the gas separation membrane 31, carbon dioxide CO2 is reduced by the permeated gas pressure.
It is possible to obtain # element 02 as a non-permeable gas while allowing it to permeate.

In this case, as shown in FIG.
Storage case! This will allow the H20 component to be exhausted into the storage case along with carbon dioxide CO2, making it possible to maintain high humidity within the storage case and prevent foods from drying out. do.

Further, as in the above embodiment, when the gas supply pipe system 40 sucks air inside the housing case, oxygen depletion can be increased.

Next, the gas supply pipe system 40 may suck air outside the storage case lO, and in this case, as shown in FIG.
There are cases in which the permeable gas containing the N2 component is exhausted into the housing casing 10, and cases in which the non-permeable gas component including the N2 component is exhausted, as shown in FIG. Since the air is exhausted into the housing 10, the temperature of the air inside the storage housing 10 generally increases, and the cooling efficiency decreases.

In the above embodiment, the blower fan 71 located on the gas supply side and the vacuum pump 72 located on the gas permeation side are used as permeation gas pressure applying means, but a compressor may be used on the gas supply side. In order to protect the gas MIIN, it is desirable to provide a filter at the intake port.

Further, in the above embodiment, the oxygen depletion device 30 is built into the storage case 10, but as shown in FIG. In this way, one oxygen depletion device 30 can of course be used for a large number of storage cases IO, but there are also clothing pests that die due to oxygen deprivation. Therefore, it can be attached to and detached from wardrobes, etc., and can also be used as an insect repellent unit.

In that case, as shown in FIG. 7, it is housed in a compact case 33, and each pipe system 40, 50, 60 is connected to the joint 42, 52, 62 at the intake port 41. tJl' air mouth 51.
61, and in this way, the oxygen depletion device 30 can be easily detachably set in the storage case IO.

Effects of the Invention By maintaining the storage space in an oxygen-deficient, low-temperature state, the refrigeration system of the present invention suppresses respiration, oxidation, and putrefaction of foods, and kills aerobic bacteria or significantly inhibits their proliferation. This provides a much better preservation environment than conventional preservation methods that simply maintain the temperature at a low temperature, allowing foods to be preserved for a longer period of time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a rear perspective view showing an embodiment of the refrigeration device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of an oxygen depletion device used in the same soil storage device, and Figs. 3 to 5 are respectively an oxygen depletion 1a FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the refrigeration device of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the oxygen-deficient device. .

Claims (1)

[Claims] A storage case that is combined with a cooling device and has a storage space that can be opened and closed at any time and that can maintain a sealed low temperature state when closed, and an oxygen deficiency device that is combined with the storage case, the oxygen deficiency device that includes: a gas separation membrane that separates oxygen; a gas supply pipe system that supplies air to the gas separation membrane either inside the storage housing or outside the storage housing; and a gas supply pipe system provided on the gas supply side of the gas separation membrane. It has a non-permeable gas take-off pipe system and a permeate gas take-off pipe system provided on the permeate side of the gas separation membrane, and of the non-permeable gas take-off pipe system and the gas take-off pipe system,
A refrigerator characterized by having a pipe system for taking out the oxygen-enriched gas separated by the gas separation membrane opened to the outside of the storage casing, and a pipe system for taking out the oxygen-depleted gas to open into the storage space. Device.