JPH07104094B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a refrigerator for deodorizing indoor air with ozone.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a refrigerator has been proposed in which an ozone generator is installed in a refrigerator or a freezer to deodorize the inside of the refrigerator.

An example thereof will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. Reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator main body, which is composed of an outer box 2, an inner box 3 and a heat insulating material 4 filled between the boxes 2 and 3. A first partition wall 5 contains a cooler 6 and a blower 7 for forced ventilation therein, and a freezer compartment 8 is formed in the upper part. Reference numeral 9 is a second partition wall provided below the first partition wall 5 and is a refrigerating chamber 10 at the bottom.
To form a compartment. Reference numeral 11 denotes a low temperature chamber defined between the first partition wall 5 and the second partition wall 9. Reference numeral 12 denotes the blower 7 for the cold air cooled by the cooler 6 and the freezer compartment.
8, ducts for guiding to the cold storage room 10 and the low temperature room 11, and damper thermostats 13 and 14 for adjusting the amount of cold air inflow are provided at the entrances of the cold storage room 10 and the low temperature room 11, respectively. Reference numeral 15 is a control panel containing a damper thermo 13 of the refrigerating compartment, and a heat insulating material 16 internally forms a discharge air passage 17 communicating with the duct 12 via the damper thermo 13. Reference numeral 18 denotes a net rack provided in the refrigerating room 10. Reference numeral 19 denotes a deodorizing device, which is placed on the rear portion of the mesh shelf 18. 20
Is a compressor provided at the bottom of the main body 1.

Next, the configuration of the deodorizing device 19 will be described. In the figure, 21 is a case, 22 is an inflow hole for air inside the chamber (including odor), and 23 is an exhaust hole for deodorized air. 24 is an ozone generator, 25 is an ozone reaction chamber,
Reference numeral 26 denotes a filter-like ozone decomposition catalyst, which is made of a metal such as Mn or Ni or an oxide thereof or a supported material thereof, and is arranged from the side of the inflow hole 22 in the order described above. The ozone generator 24 includes a flat plate high-voltage electrode 29 formed by bonding a borosilicate glass dielectric 28 to a stainless steel-based metal 27 with a silicon-based adhesive and a flat plate low-voltage electrode 30 made of a stainless steel-based metal. An air gap 31 formed between the high voltage electrode 29 and the low voltage electrode 28, and the both electrodes.
It is composed of a support frame 32 that supports 29 and 30.

33 is a high voltage generator for the ozone generator 24,
It is arranged in a space partitioned from the ozone reaction chamber 25 by a partition plate 34. Reference numeral 35 is a vinyl chloride covered electric wire that connects the ozone generator 24 and the high voltage generator 33.
The ozone generator 24 is configured to operate, for example, in synchronization with the blower 7.

Next, the operation of this structure will be described.
Various foods are stored in the freezer compartment 8, the refrigerator compartment 10 and the low temperature compartment 11 and are maintained at appropriate temperatures, respectively. However, when the room temperature rises, a compressor 20 is activated by the action of a thermo switch (not shown). And the blower 7 is operated, and the cool air cooled by the cooler 6 by the blowing action of the blower 7 is sent to the freezer compartment 8, the refrigerating compartment 10, and the low temperature compartment 11 via the duct 12. Here, in the refrigerating compartment 10, the rear control panel 15 via the damper thermo 13
Cool air flows in through the discharge air passage 17 inside. At this time, the ozone generator 24 operates in synchronism with the operation of the blower 7, and when a pulsed high voltage is applied between the high-voltage electrode 29 and the low-voltage electrode 30 by the high-voltage generator 33, silent discharge is generated between the electrodes 29 and 30. Occurs.
Then, oxygen contained in the circulating cold air (including odor) flowing in through the inflow hole 22 of the deodorizing device 19 is changed to ozone to generate ozonized air, and the malodorous component is decomposed in the ozone reaction chamber 25. The unreacted ozone is decomposed into oxygen by the ozone decomposition catalyst 26, and clean air is discharged into the refrigerating chamber 10 through the discharge hole 23.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such a configuration, the ozone generator 24
Since the deodorizing device 19 provided with is disposed in the refrigerating compartment 10, it has a relatively high humidity due to the moisture generated from food and the ingress of outside moisture due to the opening and closing of the door, and the ozone generation efficiency is not so good. For this reason, the ozone generator 24 having a relatively large capacity is required, and therefore the high voltage generator 33 must be enlarged. As a result, there is a problem that the deodorizing device 19 itself becomes large and the effective internal volume of the refrigerating room 10 is obstructed. Also, if the ozone decomposition catalyst 26 is exposed to a humid environment and dew condensation occurs, its decomposing ability is reduced, and the ozonized air is cooled by the refrigerating chamber 10.
There is also a problem in that the amount of ozone flowing into the interior increases and the ozone latency becomes higher than a predetermined concentration, which is not preferable for safety.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator having a highly safe deodorizing function without reducing the effective internal volume of the refrigerating compartment.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the refrigerator of the present invention has a discharge air passage formed in a control panel provided in a refrigerating chamber, and upstream of a damper thermostat for adjusting the amount of cold air. An ozone generator and an ozone decomposing catalyst are arranged in the.

Effect According to the present invention, the odor-containing cold air that is about to flow into the refrigerating compartment is efficiently generated without being affected by the humid environment on the refrigerating compartment side downstream of the damper thermostat in the discharge air passage having a low absolute humidity. It is decomposed by the ozone which is removed and the odor is removed. Further, unreacted ozone is efficiently decomposed by an ozone decomposition catalyst having a high decomposition efficiency even in an environment of low absolute humidity, and clean cold air is supplied to the refrigerating chamber.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. The same components as those of the related art are designated by the same reference numerals, detailed description thereof will be omitted, and only different portions will be described. In the figure, 36 is the refrigerator body. Reference numeral 37 is a control panel attached to the inner surface of the refrigerating compartment 10. Inside the duct 12 on the main body 36 side by a heat insulating material 38 and a resin tubular body 39
A discharge air passage 40 that communicates with is formed. A damper thermostat 13 for adjusting the amount of cold air to the refrigerating compartment 10 is provided in the middle of the discharge air passage 40. Reference numeral 41 denotes a flat plate-shaped ozone generator fixed in the air from the inner surface of the cylindrical body 39 by a support frame 42, and 43 denotes a filter-like ozone decomposing catalyst arranged in the cylindrical body 39, both of which are discharged as described above. An ozone generator in the air passage 40 and upstream of the damper thermostat 13
41 and the ozone decomposition catalyst 43 are arranged in this order at appropriate intervals. Further, the high voltage generator 44 for applying a high frequency high voltage to the ozone generator 41 is housed in an electrical equipment housing portion 45 provided on the upper rear surface of the refrigerator main body 36.

Next, the configuration of the ozone generator 41 will be described. 46
Is a flat plate-shaped induction electrode made of stainless steel metal, and a borosilicate glass dielectric 47 is applied to the periphery thereof. And
A thin wire-shaped discharge electrode 48 made of tungsten metal is provided on one surface of the borosilicate glass dielectric 47. or,
The electrodes 46 and 48 are connected to the high voltage generator 4 by solder 49.
PVC-coated electric wire 50 from 4 is connected.

The operation of this configuration will be described. The ozone generator 41 is of a creeping discharge type (a silent discharge type in the conventional example).
When a high frequency high voltage is applied to 8, a high frequency creeping streamer discharge stronger than the discharge electrode 48 occurs, and ozone is generated in the surroundings. The generated ozone is ducted by the blower 7.
A discharge air passage formed in the control panel 37 through 12
The odorous components of the cold air introduced into 40 are decomposed and deodorized in an environment with a low absolute humidity upstream of the damper thermostat 13. here,
As shown in FIG. 4, the relationship between the ozone generation capacity of the ozone generator 41 and the absolute humidity is such that when the absolute humidity is high, the ozone generation vorticity is low, and conversely, when the absolute humidity is low, the ozone generation concentration is high. . Therefore, the ozone generator 41
Is provided in the discharge air passage 40 with low overall humidity, and therefore has a high ozone generation and production capacity. Therefore, unlike the conventional example, without increasing the size of the device to increase the ozone generation capacity and sacrificing the effective internal volume of the refrigerating chamber 10, the device can be made smaller than before and the operating time of the ozone generator 41 can be reduced. Short life can be extended and power consumption can be reduced.

Further, unreacted ozone is decomposed by the ozone decomposition catalyst 43 into clean cool air, which is adjusted to an appropriate amount by the damper thermostat 13 and flows into the refrigerating compartment 10. At this time, since the ozone decomposing catalyst 43 is also placed in an atmosphere with a low absolute humidity, there is little risk that the surface will be covered with dew condensation and the decomposing ability will deteriorate, and the safety against ozone leakage into the refrigerating compartment 10 is low. Will also be higher.

Furthermore, since both the ozone generator 41 and the ozone decomposition catalyst 43 are integrally incorporated in the detachable control panel 37, the assembling work is easy, and the service such as parts replacement is easy. Although the borosilicate glass dielectric is used in the ozone generator, the same effect can be obtained by using a dielectric such as alumina.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) Since the ozone generator is installed in the discharge air passage upstream of the damper thermo in the control panel having a low absolute humidity, the ozone generation efficiency is high, and the ozone generator is smaller than the conventional one and is refrigerated. Does not interfere with the internal volume of the chamber. Alternatively, the operating time can be shortened, the life can be extended, and the power consumption can be reduced.

(2) Since the ozone decomposing catalyst is also placed in a low humidity environment, there is little risk that the decomposing ability will decrease due to dew condensation and the ozone concentration in the refrigerating room will increase.

(3) As it is integrated into the control panel, the assembly work is easy and the serviceability such as parts replacement is excellent.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a refrigerator showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is an enlarged plan view of the ozone generator shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a side view of the ozone generator shown in FIG. 2, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the ozone generation efficiency of the ozone generator of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a refrigerator showing a conventional example, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the deodorizing device in FIG. 6 ... Cooler, 7 ... Blower, 8 ... Freezer, 10 ... Refrigerator, 12 ... Duct, 13 ... Damper thermo, 37 ... Control panel, 40 ... Discharge air passage, 41 ... Ozone generator, 43 ... Ozone decomposition catalyst.

Continued front page (56) References Open 63-168786 (JP, U) Open 63-165484 (JP, U) Open 63-166239 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A freezer compartment, a refrigerating compartment, a blower and a duct for forcibly ventilating the cool air cooled by a cooler to the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment, and a control panel provided at the refrigerating compartment inlet of the duct. A discharge air passage formed in the control panel for communicating the duct with the refrigerating chamber, a damper thermostat provided in the discharge air passage for adjusting a required amount of cold air to the refrigerating chamber, and a discharge air passage in the discharge air passage. A refrigerator comprising an ozone generator and an ozone decomposition catalyst provided on the upstream side of the damper thermostat.