JPH076734B2 - Deodorizer such as refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a deodorizing device such as a refrigerator for removing odorous components contained in air in a refrigerator or the like.

(Prior Art) Generally, in a refrigerator, when an odor is generated from the food stored in the refrigerator, there is a problem that the odor is filled in the refrigerator or adheres to other foods.

In order to solve such a problem, there are the following conventionally. That is, for example, using an adsorbent such as activated carbon,
The adsorbent adsorbs and removes the odorous components contained in the indoor air, or is equipped with an ozone generator and a catalyst, and the ozone generated from the ozone generator reacts with the odorous components of the indoor air. , The odorous components are oxidatively decomposed and removed, and the residual ozone is decomposed and removed by a catalyst.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, of the above-mentioned ones, the former one only adsorbs odorous components by the adsorbent and has a limited adsorption capacity of the adsorbent, so that the life of the deodorizing function is short. There is a drawback that. On the other hand, the latter one has a drawback that the structure is complicated as a whole because it requires an ozone generator and also needs a catalyst for decomposing the rest of ozone harmful to the human body.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a deodorizing device such as a refrigerator having a long deodorizing function life, a simple structure, and high deodorizing efficiency.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention is provided in a circulation path in which air in a refrigerator or the like circulates and oxidizes and decomposes odor components by adsorbing and heating the odor components. Deodorizing body, a heater provided in the vicinity of the deodorizing body so as to face the deodorizing body and heating the deodorizing body by controlling the electrical connection and disconnection, and covering the side of the deodorizing body opposite to the heater side. And a cover having a reflecting portion protruding toward the heater in a state where a gap is provided between the heater and the deodorizing body, and the reflecting portion deodorizes heat radiated from the heater. It has a feature in that it is set in the direction of reflecting to the body side.

(Operation) When the air passing through the circulation path comes into contact with the deodorant body, the odorous components contained in the air are adsorbed by the deodorant body. Then, when the heater is energized and the deodorant body is heated by the heater, the odorous components adsorbed in the deodorant body are desorbed, oxidized and decomposed and removed. At this time, the deodorizing body is directly heated by the radiant heat of the heater and is also heated by the heat reflected by the reflecting portion of the cover, so that the deodorizing body is efficiently heated. The adsorbing function of the heated deodorizer is regenerated by desorbing the adsorbed odor component.

According to this, since the deodorizing body has its adsorption function regenerated by heating of the heater, the deodorizing function has a long life, unlike the case where it is simply adsorbed. Moreover, the structure is simpler than that using an ozone generator. In addition, since the deodorant is efficiently heated, the odorous components are desorbed and oxidatively decomposed by the heating efficiently.

(Embodiment) An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a refrigerator will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

First, in FIG. 3, 1 is a refrigerator body, and 2 and 3
Is a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment formed therein, and 4 and 5 are doors, respectively. Reference numeral 6 denotes a cooler arranged in the cooler room 7 at the back of the freezing room 2, and 8 denotes a fan arranged above the cooler 6. When the fan 8 is driven, part of the air cooled by the cooler 6 is supplied from the supply port 9 into the freezer compartment 2, and the air in the freezer compartment 2 is passed through the return duct 10 to the cooler compartment. The inside of the freezer compartment 2 is cooled by being circulated so as to be returned to the inside 7, and a part of the air cooled by the cooler 6 is supplied into the refrigerating compartment 3 through the supply duct 11 and then the refrigerator 3 The air inside is circulated so as to be returned to the inside of the cooler chamber 7 via the return duct 12, and the inside of the refrigerating chamber 3 is cooled. In this case, therefore, the cooler room 7, the freezing room 2 and the return duct 10 constitute a circulation path through which the air in the freezing room 2 circulates, and the cooler room 7, the supply duct
11, the refrigerating compartment 3 and the return duct 12 constitute a circulation path through which the air in the refrigerating compartment 3 circulates.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a defrosting heater, which is a heater disposed below the cooler 6 in the lower part of the cooler chamber 7, and is a glass tube having a heater wire 13b provided in the glass tube 13a as shown in FIG. It is composed of a heater, and energization is controlled only when the cooler 6 is defrosted, and the rest is cut off. 14
Is a cover provided on the defrost heater 13 so as to cover it from above, and is formed of a metal plate such as aluminum having heat resistance and water resistance. Cooler 6
Of defrosting water on the defrosting heater 13 during defrosting.

15 is a rectangular plate-shaped deodorant, which is an adsorbent layer made of an adsorbent such as activated carbon or silica (silicon dioxide).
It has a two-layer structure of 15a and a catalyst layer 15b such as platinum or nickel provided on the surface of the adsorbent layer 15a. Here, the deodorant body 15 forms a plate-shaped adsorbent layer 15a by sintering an adsorbent, and the catalyst is attached to the surface by a treatment such as immersing the adsorbent layer 15a in a catalyst solution. After letting
By heat treatment, the catalyst layer 1 is formed on the surface of the adsorbent layer 15a.
5b is formed. The adsorbent layer 15a and the catalyst layer 15b are each porous so that air can flow inside. And this deodorant body 15
Is supported and fixed by a plurality of attachment claws 16 attached to the lower surface of the cover 14 by welding or the like via a heat insulating material 17 made of glass fiber or the like, and thus the defrost heater 13 is provided near the upper portion of the defrost heater 13. It is provided opposite to 13. Therefore, the upper surface of the deodorant body 15 opposite to the defrost heater 13 side is covered with the cover 14, and the lower surface and the side surface are exposed. The cover 14 has a horizontal upper surface portion.
A reflecting portion 14b that protrudes downward, which is the defrost heater 13 side, is bent and formed on the peripheral side portion of 14a. The reflecting portion 14b and the deodorizing body are formed.
A predetermined gap is formed between the side surface of fifteen. In this case, the angle θ formed by the reflecting portion 14b with respect to the upper surface portion 14a is set to 90 degrees, and the lower end of the reflecting portion 14b and the lower surface of the deodorizing body 15 are set to be substantially flush with each other. Therefore, in this case, as shown in FIG.
The angle α formed by the line connecting the lower end of 14b is larger than the angle β formed by the line connecting the center of the defrost heater 13 and the lower edge of the deodorizing body 15 (α> β), and the reflecting portion 14b is Defrost heater 13
The heat radiated from is reflected to the deodorizing body 15 side.

Now, in the above configuration, during cooling operation of the refrigerator, the air in the refrigerator is circulated through the cooler chamber 7, the freezing chamber 2 and the return duct 10 by the blowing action of the fan 8.
Cooler room 7, supply duct 11, refrigerating room 3 and return duct 1
Circulated through 2. At this time, the air passing through the inside of the cooler chamber 7 comes into contact with the deodorant body 15, and the odorous component contained in the air is adsorbed by the adsorbent layer 15a of the deodorant body 15 and removed.

When the operation cumulative time of the compressor (not shown) reaches a predetermined value, the operation of the compressor and the fan 8 is stopped, while the defrost heater 13 is energized to start the defrost operation of the cooler 6. Due to the heat generated by the defrost heater 13, the cooler 6 is heated and defrosted.
15 is heated. At this time, the deodorizing body 15 is heated by directly receiving the radiant heat of the defrosting heater 13 on the lower surface of the deodorizing body 15 and covering the heat radiated from the defrosting heater 13.
The heat radiated to the reflecting portion 14b side of 14 is reflected to the deodorizing body 15 side by the reflecting portion 14b as shown by an arrow A, and the side surface is heated by the reflected heat. In the heated deodorizer 15, the odor component adsorbed by the adsorbent of the adsorbent layer 15a is desorbed, and at the same time, the odor component is oxidatively decomposed and removed in the catalyst layer 15b. And deodorant body
The heating function of 15 regenerates the adsorption function, that is, the deodorizing function. At this time, the cover 14 plays a role of efficiently confining the heat from the defrosting heater 13 to heat the deodorizing body 15 efficiently, and the deodorizing body 15 and the defrosting heater 13 are defrosted from the cooler 6. Prevents water from splashing. The heat insulating material 17 suppresses the heat of the deodorant body 15 from being radiated from the cover 14, and also prevents the heat shock of the deodorant body 15 due to the defrosting water falling on the cover 14 and the cover 14 being rapidly cooled. ing.

When the temperature of the cooler 6 becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined defrosting end temperature, the defrosting heater 13 is cut off and the defrosting operation ends.
Then, when the compressor and the fan 8 are energized and the cooling operation is restarted, the odorous components contained in the stems in the refrigerator are adsorbed and removed by the deodorizing body 15 as in the above.

According to the above-described embodiment, the deodorizing body 15 has a deodorizing function that is reproduced by heating the defrosting heater 13, so that the deodorizing function has a long life, unlike the one that is simply adsorbed by the adsorbent.
Needless to say, this deodorizing device has a simpler structure than that using an ozone generator. Moreover, according to this, since the surfaces of the deodorant body 15 other than the upper surface are exposed, the area in contact with the air in the refrigerator is large, and the odorous component is efficiently adsorbed. Further, the deodorizer 15 has its lower surface directly heated by receiving the radiant heat of the defrost heater 13 when heated by the defrost heater 13, and the side surface is reflected by the reflecting portion 14b of the cover 14. Since it is heated by heat, the side surface is also heated to a high temperature, so that the heating efficiency is good, and the desorption and oxidative decomposition of odorous components are efficiently performed. Further, according to the present embodiment, since the defrosting heater 13 is used as a heater for heating the deodorant body 15, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to separately provide a dedicated heater.

In the embodiment described above, the reflecting portion 14b of the cover 14
The angle θ formed by the upper surface 14a is set to 90 degrees,
As shown in FIG. 4 as a different embodiment of the present invention, the angle θ may be set to be slightly larger than 90 degrees. Even in this case, the heat reflected by the reflecting portion 14b can be reflected to the deodorant body 15 side as shown by the arrow B.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the deodorant body 15 and the cover 14
As the heat insulating material 17 disposed between the heat insulating material 17 and the heat insulating fluororesin, which has been made water-repellent by surface treatment, or a non-water-absorbing or non-hygroscopic material is used as a heat insulating material. It is possible to further increase the heat insulating effect, and to further improve the heating efficiency for the deodorant body 15 and further increase the temperature rise thereof.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described respective embodiments, and for example, the heater for heating the deodorizing body 15 is not limited to the defrost heater 13, but a dedicated heater is provided, and this heater is preferably removed. The on / off control may be performed in synchronization with the frost heater 13. Further, the deodorant body 15 may be divided into a plurality of parts in place of one laterally long one, and the deodorant body 15 does not have a two-layer structure, for example, an adsorbent and a catalyst are mixed. It may be a single layer that is bonded and solidified.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the deodorizing device of the present invention is
It is composed of a deodorizer that oxidizes and decomposes the odor component by absorbing and heating the odor component, a heater that heats the deodorant component, and a cover that covers the opposite side of the deodorant component from the heater side. Therefore, the structure is simple and the adsorption function of the deodorant body is regenerated by heating, so that the deodorant function has a long life. In addition, a reflecting portion is provided on the side portion of the cover so as to project toward the heater with a gap between the deodorizing body, and the reflecting portion reflects the heat emitted from the heater to the deodorizing body. By setting the orientation, the deodorant body is of course directly heated by the radiant heat of the heater,
Since it is also heated by the heat reflected by the reflecting portion, the heating efficiency is good, and the desorption and oxidative decomposition of odorous components can be performed efficiently, and between the reflecting portion and the deodorant body. Has a certain gap,
There is a large contact area between the air containing an odorous component and the deodorant body, and an excellent effect that the odorous component can be adsorbed well can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an enlarged vertical side view of a main portion, FIG. 2 is a front view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a vertical side view of an upper part of a refrigerator. Further, FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a different embodiment of the present invention. In the drawings, 1 is a refrigerator main body, 6 is a cooler, 7 is a cooler chamber (circulation path), 13 is a defrost heater (heater), 14 is a cover,
Reference numeral 14b is a reflecting portion, 15 is a deodorant, 15a is an adsorbent layer, and 15b is a catalyst layer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A deodorant body which is provided in a circulation path in which air in a refrigerator or the like circulates and which oxidizes and decomposes an odor component by adsorbing and heating the odor component, and the deodorant in the vicinity of this deodorant body. Between the heater which is provided so as to face the body and which is controlled to turn on and off to heat the deodorant body, and the deodorant body which is provided so as to cover the side of the deodorant body opposite to the heater side, and the deodorant body. A cover having a reflecting portion that protrudes toward the heater in a state where there is a gap, and the reflecting portion is set in a direction to reflect the heat radiated from the heater to the deodorizing body side. Deodorizer such as refrigerator.