JP7344757B2 - Cold storage - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cold storage having a cold heat source, and particularly to a direct cooling type cold storage using a Stirling refrigerator.

Conventionally, as this type of cold storage, for example, an electronic heating/cooling refrigerator is known, which is a cold storage in which a thermo module having a plurality of Peltier elements is thermally connected to a metal inner container through a heat transfer member. (For example, see Patent Document 1.) In addition, in recent years, Stirling refrigerators that apply the reverse Stirling cycle, which can cool down to lower temperatures and can precisely control the temperature, have been used for low-temperature storage that is fixed to the bottom of the inner container via a fixed part (corresponding to the heat absorption part of the present invention). Storage systems are also known (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Patent No. 3303290 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-225942

Although the thermo module itself is small and lightweight in an electronic heating/cooling refrigerator such as that disclosed in Patent Document 1, it has the disadvantage that it cannot be cooled down to a very low temperature. To overcome this drawback, a cascade structure can be used, but since the temperature on the exhaust heat side becomes too high, a large heat exchanger must be installed to prevent damage to the Peltier element, which is a semiconductor. There was a problem that the advantage of being lightweight was lost.

On the other hand, a low-temperature storage using a Stirling refrigerator not only allows the interior of the inner container to be cooled to an extremely low temperature, but also allows temperature adjustment in small steps. However, in a structure in which the Stirling refrigerator is disposed below the inner container, as in Patent Document 2, the center of gravity becomes high and unstable. This is not so much of a problem with a stationary type that is designed to prevent it from tipping over, but it becomes a problem with a relatively small portable cooler. For this reason, in portable refrigerators, the Stirling refrigerator is generally placed on the side of the inner container. If the refrigerator is a direct cooling type, it is necessary to cover the heat transfer part with a heat insulating cover. If the heat transfer section is not covered with a heat insulating cover, or if the heat insulating cover is thin, the heat from the waste heat section of the Stirling refrigerator will transfer to the heat transfer section, and the interior of the inner container will not be sufficiently cooled. On the other hand, if the heat transfer section is covered thickly with a heat insulating cover, the airflow passing through the heat exhaust fins attached to the heat exhaust section of the Stirling refrigerator will be obstructed, which will impede the exhaust heat and, as a result, will reduce the heat absorption capacity of the heat absorption section. There was a problem that the Further, when the cold storage is a direct cooling type, if the contact area between the heat transfer part and the inner container is small, the inner container becomes locally low temperature, and the inside of the inner container cannot be cooled well. For this reason, if the heat transfer section is made larger, the heat insulating cover will also be made larger, which will obstruct the airflow passing through the heat exhaust fins attached to the heat exhaust section of the Stirling refrigerator, preventing exhaust heat. As a result, there was a problem in that the heat absorption ability of the heat absorption section was reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a cold storage that can efficiently exhaust heat from heat exhaust fins while reliably insulating a heat transfer part. Another object of the present invention is to provide a cold storage that can efficiently transfer heat from the inner container to the heat absorption part of the Stirling refrigerator.

The cold storage box according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a cold storage box body having a metal inner container, a heat absorption part and a heat exhaust part disposed on the side of the inner container, and a heat exhaust part disposed on the side of the inner container. In a cold storage box that includes a Stirling refrigerator provided with heat fins, a heat transfer section that thermally connects the inner container and the heat absorption section, and a fan for blowing air to the heat exhaust fins, the heat transfer A ventilation path is formed between the heat insulating cover and the heat exhaust fins, and the heat insulating cover is disposed closer to the heat exhaust part of the Stirling refrigerator from the central axis of the Stirling refrigerator. It has an inclined part that separates.

Furthermore, the cold storage box according to claim 2 of the present invention has a wind guide cover which covers the Stirling refrigerator and is provided with an inlet opening end on the heat exhaust part side, The fan is provided on the wind cover, and an end of the sloped part of the heat insulating cover on the heat exhaust part side is located at or outside an inlet opening end of the wind guide cover.

Furthermore, in the cold storage box according to claim 3 of the present invention, in claim 1, the heat transfer section is formed such that the cross-sectional area increases from the heat absorption section side toward the inner container side.

By configuring the cold storage box according to claim 1 of the present invention as described above, the airflow passing through the ventilation path formed between the heat insulating cover and the heat exhaust fins is directed to the inclined part of the heat insulating cover. Since the heat is guided and flows to the exhaust heat fins, the heat in the exhaust heat section of the Stirling refrigerator is efficiently discharged, and the heat absorption section is brought to a low temperature, thereby allowing the interior of the inner container to be cooled well.

It should be noted that there is an air guide cover that covers the Stirling refrigerator and has an inlet opening end on the side of the heat exhaust section, and the fan is installed on this air guide cover, and the exhaust of the sloped part of the heat insulating cover is provided. By locating the heating section side end at the inlet opening end of the air guide cover or on the outside thereof, the airflow generated by the fan passes through the entire heat exhaust fin, thereby better discharging heat. heat can be discharged.

Further, since the heat transfer portion is formed so that the cross-sectional area increases from the heat absorption portion side to the inner container side, heat is transferred from a wide range of the inner container to the heat absorption portion, so that the The container can be cooled well.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a front view of the cold storage box which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a left side view of the same. It is a perspective view of the same. It is a sectional view taken along the line CC in the same figure. It is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of the same.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on FIGS. 1 to 5. Note that the left and right in FIG. 1 are defined as the left and right in this embodiment. 1 is a cold storage of the present invention. In addition, in this embodiment, this cold storage 1 is a portable type. This cold storage 1 includes a cold storage main body 2 and a lid 3. Note that the lid body 3 is attached to the cold storage main body 2 via a hinge part 4.

The cold storage main body 2 has an outer shell 5 and an inner container 6. The outer shell 5 is formed into a box shape with an open top. Similarly, the inner container 6 is also formed in a box shape with an open top. This inner container 6 is formed of a metal with good thermal conductivity such as an aluminum alloy. Further, the thickness of the inner container is set to be 1 mm or more, preferably about 5 mm, from the viewpoint of cooling characteristics. A heat insulating section 7 is provided between the outer shell 5 and the inner container 6. Note that as this heat insulating portion 7, foamed urethane or a vacuum heat insulating material is used. Further, a plurality of legs 8 that are in contact with the floor F are provided on the lower surface of the outer shell 5.

A mechanism chamber 9 that does not have the heat insulating section 7 is provided on the left side of the outer shell 5. A through hole 10 is provided in the heat insulating section 7 on the mechanism chamber 9 side. An intake port 11 is provided on the left side surface of the mechanism chamber 9. Furthermore, an exhaust port 12 is provided on the lower surface of the mechanism chamber 9. Furthermore, an operation panel 13 is provided on the upper surface of the mechanism chamber 9. Further, a circuit board 14 is provided at the inner upper part of the mechanism chamber 9. Furthermore, a cooling unit 15 is provided inside the mechanism chamber 9.

The cooling unit 15 will be explained in detail. The cooling unit 15 includes a Stirling refrigerator 16 , heat exhaust fins 17 , a heat transfer section 18 , a wind guide cover 19 , and a blower fan 20 . The Stirling refrigerator 16 has a cylindrical part 21 and a body part 22, the tip of the cylindrical part 21 is a heat absorption part 23, and the base end of the cylindrical part 21 is a heat exhaust part 24. . The Stirling refrigerator 16 has a shape having a central axis X, and is arranged in the mechanism chamber 9 so that the central axis X is perpendicular. The cylindrical portion 21 is on the upper side and the body portion 22 is on the lower side. Therefore, when placed in the mechanism chamber 9, the heat absorption section 23 becomes the upper end of the Stirling refrigerator 16. The heat exhaust fins 17 are attached to the heat exhaust section 24 in a thermally conductive manner. Further, the heat transfer section 18 is attached to the heat absorption section 23 in a thermally conductive manner. Note that the heat transfer section 18 is covered with a heat insulating cover 25. Further, the air guide cover 19 is provided in a cylindrical shape so as to surround the body portion 22 and the heat exhaust fins 17. A small gap is provided between the outer end of the heat exhaust fin 17 and the inner surface of the inlet opening end 19A of the air guide cover 19. Note that a sealing material having vibration-proofing properties may be provided between the outer end of the heat exhaust fin 17 and the inner surface of the inlet opening end 19A of the air guide cover 19. Further, the blower fan 20 is provided at the lower part of the air guide cover 19 .

The heat transfer part 18 passes through the through hole 10 and contacts the outer surface of the inner container 6 in a heat transfer manner. The heat transfer portion 18 has an enlarged portion 26 whose cross section expands downward from the heat absorption portion 23 side toward the inner container 6 side. That is, the heat transfer section 18 is formed so that its cross-sectional area increases from the heat absorption section 23 side toward the inner container 6 side. The heat insulating cover 25 covering the heat transfer section 18 also has an inclined section 27 on its lower surface that widens downward from the heat absorption section 23 side toward the inner container 6 side. That is, the inclined portion 27 is formed such that the side closer to the exhaust heat section 24 of the Stirling refrigerator 16 is further away from the central axis X of the Stirling refrigerator 16. Note that an end 27A of the inclined portion 27 of the heat insulating cover 25 on the heat exhaust section 24 side is close to the outside of the inlet opening end 19A of the air guide cover 19. A ventilation path 28 for the intake air flow Ai is formed between the heat insulating cover 25 and the heat exhaust fins 17. Furthermore, a passage P for the exhaust flow Ae is formed between the bottom of the outer shell 5 and the floor F by the leg portions 8 .

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. First, the user connects a power cord (not shown) to a power source (not shown). Then, by operating the operation panel 13, the cooling unit 15 is activated. That is, the Stirling refrigerator 16 and the ventilation fan 20 of this cooling unit 15 operate. By supplying electric power to the Stirling refrigerator 16 of the cooling unit 15, the heat absorption section 23 of the Stirling refrigerator 16 becomes low temperature, and the heat exhaust section 24 becomes high temperature. Note that since the principle of this heat transfer is already known, the explanation will be omitted. Further, when the Stirling refrigerator 16 is operated, Joule heat is generated by a linear motor (not shown) in the body 22 of the Stirling refrigerator 16. Then, when power is supplied to the blower fan 20, an airflow is generated. As described above, since the blower fan 20 is installed under the air guide cover 19, the airflow generated by the air fan 20 flows inside the air guide cover 19. In this embodiment, the airflow flows from the top to the bottom in FIG. 5 . That is, the intake air flow Ai flows into the ventilation passage 28 from the intake port 11, passes through the air guide cover 19, and then the exhaust air flow Ae flows out from the exhaust port 12 into the passage P. Then, the relatively low temperature intake air flow Ai passes through the ventilation path 28, changes direction, removes heat from the heat exhaust fins 17, and then passes through the inside of the air guide cover 19. It also takes away heat from the body. Further, the high-temperature airflow passes through the blower fan 20 and is then discharged from the exhaust port 12 as the exhaust flow Ae.

As described above, when the heat absorption part 23 of the cylindrical part 21 of the Stirling refrigerator 16 becomes low temperature, the heat transfer part 18 that is thermally attached to the heat absorption part 23 also becomes low temperature. Furthermore, since the heat transfer portion 18 becomes low temperature, the inner container 6 that is in thermally conductive contact with the heat transfer portion 18 also becomes low temperature. The heat transfer section 18 has an enlarged section 26 whose cross section expands downward from the heat absorption section 23 side toward the inner container 6 side, so that the heat transfer section 18 is disconnected from the heat absorption section 23 side toward the inner container 6 side. Since the heat transfer part 18 is formed to have a large area, the heat transfer part 18 contacts the inner container 6 over a wide area. Therefore, the Stirling refrigerator 16 can absorb heat from a relatively wide range of the inner container 6. Furthermore, since the inner container 6 is formed to have a relatively thick thickness of about 5 mm, the Stirling refrigerator 16 can absorb heat from a wider range of the inner container 6 well. Note that since the heat transfer section 18 and the heat absorption section 23 are covered by the heat insulation cover 25, heat is prevented from flowing into the heat absorption section 23 from sources other than the inner container 6.

The enlarged portion 26 of the heat transfer portion 18 has a cross section that expands downward from the heat absorption portion 23 side toward the inner container 6 side, that is, toward the heat exhaust portion 24 side of the Stirling refrigerator 16. On the other hand, the upper surface of the heat transfer section 18 (that is, the side of the heat absorption section 23) is horizontal. Therefore, the dimension of the cooling unit 15 in the axis X direction can be kept small. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the cold storage 1 from increasing in size. The lower surface of the enlarged portion 26 is inclined to become lower as the distance from the central axis X increases. Furthermore, since the inclined portion 27 is formed in the portion of the heat insulating cover 25 corresponding to the enlarged portion 26, the intake air flow Ai flowing into the ventilation passage 28 from the intake port 11 flows along the inclined portion 27. and smoothly turn downward. Since the end 27A of the inclined portion 27 on the side of the heat exhaust section 24 is close to the outside of the inlet opening end 19A of the air guide cover 19, the intake air flow Ai does not pass through the heat exhaust fins 17. It is possible to prevent parts from occurring.

As described above, in the Stirling refrigerator 16, the distal end of the cylindrical portion 21 serves as the heat absorption section 23, and the base end serves as the heat exhaust section 24. Therefore, the distance between the heat absorption section 23 and the heat exhaust section 24 is short, and if the heat transfer section 18 is covered with the heat insulation cover 25, the ventilation path 28 will become narrow. The intake air flow Ai flows to the heat exhaust fins 17 through this narrow ventilation path 28. However, by providing the slope portion 27 on the heat insulating cover 25, the intake air flow Ai smoothly changes direction downward along the slope portion 27. Therefore, the intake air flow Ai flows smoothly through the inlet opening end 19A of the air guide cover 19 where the heat exhaust fins 17 are provided. Thereby, the heat exhaust fins 17 can efficiently exhaust heat to the intake air flow Ai. By increasing the heat exhaust efficiency in the heat exhaust section 24, the heat absorption efficiency in the heat absorption section 23 can be increased.

As described above, the present invention has a cold storage main body 2 having an inner container 6 made of metal, a heat absorption part 23 and a heat exhaust part 24 disposed on the side of the inner container 6, and a heat exhaust part 24. A Stirling refrigerator 16 provided with heat exhaust fins 17, a heat transfer section 18 that thermally connects the inner container 6 and the heat absorption section 23, and a fan 20 for blowing air to the heat exhaust fins 17. The cold storage 1 has a heat insulating cover 25 that covers the heat transfer section 18, a ventilation passage 28 is formed between the heat insulating cover 25 and the heat exhaust fins 17, and the heat insulating cover 25 It has an inclined part 27 that is farther away from the central axis X of the Stirling refrigerator 16 toward the heat exhaust section 24 of the refrigerator 16, and passes through a ventilation path 28 formed between the heat insulation cover 25 and the heat exhaust fins 17. Since the intake air flow Ai is guided by the inclined part 27 of the heat insulating cover 25 and flows to the heat exhaust fins 17, the heat of the heat exhaust part 24 of the Stirling refrigerator 16 is efficiently discharged and the heat absorbing part 23 is kept at a low temperature. As a result, the inside of the inner container 6 can be cooled well.

Further, it has an air guide cover 19 that covers the Stirling refrigerator 16 and is provided with an inlet opening end 19A on the side of the heat exhaust section 24, and the fan 20 is provided on this air guide cover 19, and the heat insulating Since the end 27A of the inclined part 27 of the cover 25 on the side of the heat exhaust part 24 is located at or outside the inlet opening end 19A of the air guide cover 19, the intake air flow Ai generated by the fan 20 is By passing through the entire heat exhaust fin 17, the heat of the heat exhaust section 24 can be more effectively exhausted.

Furthermore, since the heat transfer portion 18 has an enlarged portion 26 whose cross-sectional area increases from the heat absorption portion 23 side to the inner container 6 side, heat is transferred from a wide range of the inner container 6 to the heat absorption portion 23. Therefore, the inner container 6 can be cooled well.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the central axis of the Stirling refrigerator is vertical, but the central axis may be horizontal. Further, in the above embodiment, the heat absorption part of the Stirling refrigerator is located above, but the heat absorption part may be located below. In either case, the inclined part of the heat insulating cover covering the heat transfer part may be inclined so as to be farther away from the central axis of the Stirling refrigerator as it approaches the heat exhaust part of the Stirling refrigerator. Further, in the above embodiment, the inclined portion is inclined in a straight line, but it may be inclined in a curved line so that the inclination increases continuously.

1 Cold storage 2 Cold storage main body 6 Inner container 16 Stirling refrigerator 17 Heat exhaust fins 18 Heat transfer section 19 Air guide cover 19A Inlet opening end 20 Ventilation fan 23 Heat absorption section 24 Heat exhaust section 25 Heat insulation cover 26 Enlarged section 27 Inclined section 27A End 28 Ventilation passage Ai Intake flow Ae Exhaust flow X Center axis

Claims (3)

A Stirling refrigerating machine including a cold storage box body having a metal inner container, a heat absorption part and a heat exhaust part disposed on the side of the inner container, and a heat exhaust fin provided in the heat exhaust part, and the above contents. In a cold storage warehouse having a heat transfer part that thermally connects the container and the heat absorption part, and a fan for blowing air to the heat exhaust fins,
It has a heat insulating cover that covers the heat transfer section, and a ventilation passage is formed between the heat insulating cover and the heat exhaust fins, and the heat insulating cover is arranged so that the closer to the heat exhaust section of the Stirling refrigerator A cold storage box characterized by having an inclined part that moves away from a central axis. It has an air guide cover that covers the Stirling refrigerator and is provided with an inlet opening end on the side of the heat exhaust part, and the fan is installed on the air guide cover, and the heat exhaust part of the inclined part of the heat insulating cover is provided. The cold storage refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the side end portion is located at an inlet opening end of the baffle cover or outside thereof. 2. The cold storage box according to claim 1, wherein the heat transfer section is formed so that its cross-sectional area increases from the heat absorption section side toward the inner container side.

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