CN101123902A - Versatile Childcare Storage Device - Google Patents

Abstract

A multi-functinal child care storage for storing and treating infant care products includes a plurality of functional compartments provided in a main body and having individual spaces divided by a partition member. The functional compartments includes a refrigerating compartment (120) for storing the infant care products at a reduced temperature, a refrigerating and heating compartment (130) for storing, cooling and heating the infant care products, a warming-in-water compartment (180) for warming up the infant care products and a sterilizing compartment (140) for sterilizing the sterlizining and drying. A control unit (160) controls the functional compartments so that each of the functional compartments is maintained at a predetermined temperature.

Description

Versatile Childcare Storage Device

technical field

The present invention relates to a multifunctional childcare storage device, and more particularly to a storage device suitable for storing and handling baby food or baby care products in a variety of ways based on use and function in a single unit to enhance baby-related items. A multifunctional child care storage device that maximizes the ease of use and avoids unnecessary consumption of time required for child care.

Background technique

Generally, refrigerators are used to preserve food or drinks for a long time in a refrigerated or frozen state or to cool them down quickly. Refrigerators include freezer and refrigerator compartments that are opened or closed by respective front doors. In order to supply cold air to the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, the refrigerator also includes a compressor, a condenser, a capillary tube, and a cooling device to perform a cooling cycle. In the cooling cycle, the compressor compresses the coolant at high temperature and high pressure, and supplies the thus compressed coolant to the condenser. Next, the condenser converts the compressed coolant into a low-temperature, low-pressure liquid state by releasing the coolant's heat. The low-temperature, low-pressure liquid coolant is then converted to a low-temperature, high-pressure liquid as it passes through the capillary. The low-temperature, high-pressure liquid coolant is then directed to cooling equipment installed behind the freezer. The coolant sent to the cooling device is converted to a low-pressure state while passing through the coolant pipe of the cooling device, and finally evaporates, thereby lowering the temperature of the freezer and refrigerator compartments. Such a cooling cycle of the refrigerator is repeatedly performed.

Recently, with the improvement of living standards, the demand for refrigerators of various special purpose types has gradually increased. Developed to meet these needs and commonly used are, for example, heating boxes for keeping the product warm at a constant temperature, separately equipped heating wires for ripening kimchi and evaporation tubes for preserving ripe kimchi Kimchi refrigerators, cosmetic coolers that cool cosmetics stored in cosmetic storage rooms with the help of thermoelectric elements, and more.

While such special-purpose or multi-purpose refrigerators have been developed, there has been no development of dedicated storage devices for infant care, which has continued to attract attention and investment in recent years.

If baby food or baby care products (such as formula, breast milk, liquid milk, weaning food, etc.) are stored in a conventional domestic refrigerator, they will pick up the odors of other foods stored in the refrigerator. This not only causes hygienic problems, but also leads to a deterioration in the quality of stored products. Moreover, when using a microwave oven to heat baby care products such as milk or milk powder with water, the task of heating needs to be repeated each time the need arises, which is very cumbersome and makes it difficult to nurse the baby for a long time. The product is kept above a predetermined temperature. As an option, a warming box can be used to heat or hold milk or powdered milk with water. However, such warming boxes are usually designed for hospitals, pharmacies, restaurants and similar establishments, rather than domestic use, which means that warming boxes are not suitable for infant care. Also, it costs too much to buy a warming box just for the purpose of milk storage.

Moreover, in consideration of ensuring baby hygiene, common household disinfection equipment is often used to sterilize baby care items, such as medical instruments, feeding bottles, gauze handkerchiefs, toys, etc. As sterilizing equipment is designed to sterilize tableware or other utensils used in the kitchen, such sterilizing equipment is not suitable for sterilizing baby care items along with kitchen utensils.

Korean Patent Application No. 2004-71011 teaches a multifunctional showcase type refrigerator in which a showcase, a disinfection device, a heating box and a water purifier are integrated. This refrigerator is constructed to integrate various devices required for commercial facilities of restaurants and can be centrally controlled by a microcomputer. Although this refrigerator allows users to conveniently enjoy various functions integrated therein, its function and structure are not suitable for child care, but are customized for commercial use, with emphasis on capacity enlargement.

In addition to this, many kinds of sterilizing apparatuses for sterilizing baby care products, specifically feeding bottles, have been proposed, one of which is an ultraviolet ray sterilizing apparatus described in Korean Patent Application No. 2003-92985. However, such sterilizing devices are mostly only intended for sterilizing feeding bottles and do not have the capability to store various other baby care products other than feeding bottles based on use.

Thus, there is a need for a production device that can store baby food or baby care products in various ways based on its use and function. It is time to develop new uses and markets for refrigerators to form new customer groups, breaking the fixed thinking that appliances must be designed and distributed for the preferences of housewives or the convenience of adults.

Contents of the invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a multifunctional childcare storage device suitable for storing and handling baby food or baby care products in a variety of ways based on use and function within a single unit.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multifunctional childcare storage device for storing and handling baby care products, comprising: a main body; a plurality of functions disposed in the main body and having respective spaces separated by partition elements compartments, the functional compartments include a cold room for storing baby care products at reduced temperatures, a cold and warm room for storing, cooling and heating baby care products, a water bath warming room for warming up baby care products (warming- in-water compartment), and a disinfection chamber for disinfection and drying; and a control unit for controlling the functional chambers so that each functional chamber is maintained at a predetermined temperature.

According to the invention, baby food or baby care products can be stored in a single unit in various ways based on their use and function. This increases the convenience of use of the baby care product, allows users to fully utilize the baby care space at home, and prevents unnecessary waste of time required for baby care. The provision of a water bath heating chamber allows users to conveniently warm up breast milk, milk powder and water, liquid herbal medicines, etc. with minimal loss of nutrition, which helps the baby to absorb nutrients. Also, providing a cooling and heating compartment that allows switching between the cooling function and the heating function and allows a user to arbitrarily control the temperature thereof can improve storage efficiency of baby care products. In addition, providing a sterilization chamber for steam sterilizing baby care products enables convenient and hygienic sterilization of baby care foods.

Description of drawings

The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a multifunctional childcare storage device according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing a multifunctional childcare storage device according to the present invention with its door open;

Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator compartment of the multifunctional childcare storage device according to the present invention;

Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a cold storage compartment of a variant of the multifunctional childcare storage device according to the present invention;

5 is a side sectional view showing a first embodiment of a refrigeration and heating compartment employed in a multifunctional childcare storage device according to the present invention;

6 is a side sectional view showing a second embodiment of the refrigeration and heating compartment employed in the multifunctional childcare storage device according to the present invention;

7 is a side sectional view showing a third embodiment of the refrigeration and heating compartment employed in the multifunctional childcare storage device according to the present invention;

Figure 8 shows a front cutaway view of the sanitizing compartment and the water bath warming compartment of the multifunctional childcare storage device according to the present invention; and

Figure 9 shows a block diagram of circuitry for controlling a multifunctional childcare storage device according to the present invention.

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in such a manner that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multifunctional child care storage device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a use state of the multifunctional child care storage device according to the present invention.

As shown, the multifunctional child care storage device 100 includes a main body 110 whose internal space is divided into upper and lower parts in the horizontal direction by partition members. The lower part is also vertically divided into a refrigerating chamber 120 and a refrigerating and heating chamber 130 by the partition element 111, and the upper part is also divided into a disinfection chamber 140 and a water bath heating chamber 180 by the partition element 111, thereby forming a plurality of functional chambers. In each of the upper and lower parts, an insulating material 113 for heat insulation is filled in the wall member 112 and the partition member 111 . Although the upper and lower parts are shown and disclosed above as having two chambers, it is also permissible for the upper and lower parts to have only one functional chamber. For example, the upper part (or lower part) can be dedicated as a cold room or a cold/heating room (or a sterilization room or a water bath heating room).

Disposed on the outer front surface of the upper portion is a control unit 160 including switches and buttons for controlling operations of the refrigerating chamber 120, the refrigerating and heating chamber 130, the sterilizing chamber 140, the water bath heating chamber 180, and the like.

The lower portion is provided with a first door 123 for opening and closing the refrigerating compartment 120 and a second door 133 for opening and closing the refrigerating and heating compartment 130 . Similarly, the upper part is provided with a third door 143 for opening and closing the sterilization chamber 140 and a fourth door 181 a for opening and closing the water bath heating chamber 180 .

A first thermoelectric element (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 ) is disposed in the refrigerating room 120 to cool down the refrigerating space 121 . The shelf 128 a and the storage drawer 128 b are detachably installed in the refrigerating space 121 .

Referring to FIG. 3 , the detailed structure of the refrigerating compartment 120 is shown in a cross-sectional view.

Behind the refrigerating space 121 , the refrigerating room 120 has an air circulation cooling room 191 providing an air circulation route whereby ambient air is introduced and exhausted to the outside to discharge heat emitted from the heat radiation plate 125 of the first thermoelectric element 122 . The heat radiation plate 125 of the first thermoelectric element 122 protrudes into the air circulation cooling chamber 191 . The first heat radiation fan 127 is installed on the heat release side of the first thermoelectric element 122 , that is, the side where the heat radiation plate 125 discharges the heat of the first thermoelectric element 122 to the outside through the heat radiation outlet 114 of the main body 110 . Also, the main body 110 has an air inlet 115 through which ambient air is drawn toward a first heat radiation fan 127 .

The first thermoelectric element 122 is installed on the wall element 112 at the back of the refrigerated space 121, and its number may be one or more. In response to the supply of electric current, the first thermoelectric element 122 absorbs heat on one side and emits the absorbed heat on the other side. The first thermoelectric element 122 has a heat absorbing plate 124 disposed on one side of the cooling space 121 to cool it. The heat radiation plate 125 is arranged on the opposite side of the heat absorbing plate 124 . Thus, the first thermoelectric element 122 dissipates cold into the refrigerating space 121 through the heat absorbing plate 124 and radiates heat to opposite sides of the refrigerating space 121 through the heat radiation plate 125 . A cold diffusion plate (coldness diffusion plate) 126 made of high thermal conductivity material (such as aluminum) is arranged on one side of the heat absorbing plate 124 and is exposed to the refrigerated space 121 so that the cold energy emitted from the first thermoelectric element 122 is rapidly diffused to Each part of the refrigerated space 121.

Also, in the refrigerator compartment 120 , an evaporation pan 117 for collecting and evaporating condensed water is disposed under the heat radiation plate 125 of the first thermoelectric element 122 . And collected in the evaporating dish 117 is condensed water discharged from the refrigerating and heating space 131 of the refrigerating and heating chamber 130 through the discharge pipe 118 . The condensed water collected in the evaporation pan 117 is rapidly evaporated by heat radiated from the heat radiation plate 125 of the first thermoelectric element 122 and supplied by the blowing action of the first heat radiation fan 127 .

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the detailed structure of the refrigerating room, which is a modified (second) embodiment of the refrigerating room 120 shown in FIG. 3 . The same parts or components will be identified with the same reference numerals as in FIG. 3 and no description will be given.

Similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , the air circulation cooling room 191 is disposed behind the refrigerated space 121 .

In the air circulation cooling chamber 191, an inlet 192, an outlet 193, and a cooling fan 194 installed near the outlet 193 are provided. Sequentially provided in the air circulation cooling chamber 191 are a pre-filter 195 and a final filter 196 , each of which serves to purify the air exhausted from the air circulation cooling chamber 191 .

The pre-filter 195 is detachably attached to the inlet 192 side of the air circulation cooling chamber 191 by means of a hook 191a. The pre-filter 195 has a frame 195 a forming its rim, inside of which a rectangular structural element or non-woven fabric 195 b is fixedly fastened in order to remove relatively large-sized dust from the air sucked through the inlet 192 .

The final filter 196 removes fine dust present in the air that has passed through the pre-filter 195, ensuring that the air is finally discharged from the outlet 193 in a clean state. A preferred example of final filter 196 includes a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter. The HEPA filter is made of charged special fiber material and has a strong adsorption force enough to remove mites, molds and viruses contained in the air as well as fine dust.

Arranged between the pre-filter 195 and the final filter 196 are a nano-silver filter 197 containing extremely fine silver particles and a nano-carbon filter 198 mainly composed of carbon particles. Unlike the illustrated embodiment, it is also possible to use only one of the silver nanofilter 197 and the carbon nanofilter 198 . The nano silver filter 197 is made of non-woven fabric or filter paper containing extremely fine silver particles and is excellent in antibacterial, deodorizing and sterilizing capabilities. The carbon nano filter 198 is a carbon powder filter for deodorization and has a strong adsorption force enough to remove irritating smell, tobacco taste and other toxic gases, thereby making the air clean and fresh.

The terminal filter 196 , nano silver filter 197 and nano carbon filter 198 are slidably fitted and detachably coupled at side edges thereof to a plurality of fixing flanges 191 b formed in the air circulation cooling chamber 191 . The cover plate 199 is fastened to one side of the air circulation cooling chamber 191 by means of bolts B, so that when the cover plate 199 is removed, access to the terminal filter 196, the nano-silver filter 197 and the nano-carbon filter 198 can be obtained. access for cleaning and replacement.

Referring again to FIG. 1 , at the front side of the main body, the refrigerating and heating compartment 130 is provided with a second door 133 for opening and closing the refrigerating and heating space 131 . The shelf 137a and the storage drawer 137b are detachably installed in the cooling and heating space 131 .

Referring to FIG. 5, the detailed structure of the refrigerating and heating compartment 130 of the multifunctional storage device according to the present invention is shown in a cross-sectional view. As shown, the refrigeration and heating chamber 130 is maintained at a predetermined temperature by means of the cooling and heating module 170 (see FIG. 9 ). The cooling and heating module 170 includes a second thermoelectric element 171 for cooling or heating the refrigerating and heating space 131 according to the direction of the applied current and also for controlling the heat absorption and heat dissipation according to the intensity of the current. Radiation plates 171a and 171b for emitting cold and heat are installed at opposite sides of the second thermoelectric element 171, respectively. A diffusion plate 171c for rapidly and intensively diffusing cold and heat is provided to face the refrigerating and heating space 131 . The diffusion fan 171d and the second radiation fan 171e are arranged at opposite sides of the second thermoelectric element 171 .

The diffusion fan 171d is adapted to rapidly diffuse cold or heat emitted from the radiation panel 171a into the refrigerating and heating space 131 . During the cooling of the refrigerating and heating space 131 by the second thermoelectric element 171, behind the refrigerating and heating space 131, along the duct 135 and then through the heat radiation outlet 136 formed on the main body 110, the second radiation fan 171e will transmit heat from the radiation plate 171b. The emitted heat and the air introduced through the inlet 134 formed on the main body 110 are exhausted.

FIG. 6 shows a second variant embodiment of the cooling and heating compartment shown in FIG. 5 . In a second variant embodiment, the cooling and heating module 170 includes a third thermoelectric element 172 and a first heater 173 . Like the first modified embodiment, the heat absorbing plate 172a and the heat releasing plate 172b are respectively formed on opposite sides of the third thermoelectric element 172 . The cold diffusion plate 172c is installed in contact with the heat absorption plate 172a and the third heat radiation fan 172d is provided aligned with the heat radiation plate 172b to discharge heat through the heat radiation outlet 136 . The first heater 173 is disposed inside the refrigerating and heating space 131 . A heating unit having a heating wire for generating heat in response to current supply may be used as the first heater 173 . A heat diffusion plate 173a made of a high thermal conductivity material such as aluminum is coupled to the first heater 173 at the refrigerating and heating space 131 side. The heat diffusion plate 173 a is exposed to the refrigerating and heating space 131 and serves to rapidly diffuse heat generated by the first heater 173 .

FIG. 7 shows a third variant embodiment of the cooling and heating chamber shown in FIG. 5 . In a third variant embodiment, the cooling and heating module 170 includes a cooler 174 and a second heater 175 that absorb ambient heat by using a circulating coolant. The cooler 174 includes a compressor 174a, a condenser 174b, and an evaporator 174c, and is adapted to supply cold to the refrigerating and heating space 131 by performing a cooling cycle consisting of a series of processes, ie, compression, condensation, and evaporation. In the cooling cycle, the high-temperature and high-pressure coolant compressed by the compressor 174a is supplied to the condenser 174b, which in turn condenses the coolant to a low-temperature and low-pressure state, thereby causing the coolant to release heat. The condensed coolant then passes through the evaporator 174c and absorbs ambient heat to ultimately produce cold. The cold thus generated is supplied to the refrigerating and heating space 131 by the diffusion fan 174d. This cooling cycle is repeated to cool and circulate the coolant. Like the first heater 173 of the second modified embodiment, the second heater 175 is provided with a heat diffusion plate 175 a for rapidly diffusing heat into the refrigerating and heating space 131 .

Referring again to FIG. 1 , the sterilization chamber 140 has a third door 143 attached to an upper portion for opening and closing the sterilization space 141 .

As shown in FIG. 8 , disposed in the sterilization chamber 140 is a steam sterilization unit 142 for sterilizing the sterilization space 141 with steam. The steam sterilization unit 142 includes an evaporation container 142 a made of metal material such as stainless steel and arranged on the bottom surface of the sterilization space 141 . The evaporation container 142a is filled with water. The steam sterilization unit 142 also includes an evaporation heater 142b installed at the bottom of the evaporation container 142a for heating the evaporation container 142a to thereby evaporate water contained therein. An overheating prevention switch 142h, such as a bimetal switch, is disposed in the evaporation container 142a to cut off the current supply when the evaporation heater 142b is heated beyond a predetermined temperature.

Moreover, the sterilizing chamber 140 is also provided with a steam vent 142c formed in the third door 143 for exhausting steam from the sterilizing space 141 and a rack 142d and a rack 142d for holding the baby care product 1 to be sterilized in the evaporating container 142a. 142e. In order to ensure that the user is not exposed to steam, a cover plate 142i for closing the steam ventilation hole 142c is installed on the top surface of the third door 133 . The cover plate 142i allows steam exhausted through the steam vent hole 142c to be directed to the rear of the main body 110 . In the sterilization chamber 140, a sterilization basket 142d is arranged in the sterilization space 141 to keep the baby care products 1 spaced from the evaporation container 142a and to help the user take the baby care products 1 out of the sterilization space 141 at the end of sterilization. Also arranged in the sterilization chamber 140 is a sterilization base 142e having a plurality of steam passage holes 142j and a plurality of posts 142g for holding baby care products 1 such as feeding bottles.

Moreover, a drying unit 144 is disposed in the sterilization chamber 140 for drying the baby care products 1 sterilized in the sterilization space 141 . The drying unit 144 includes a suction duct 144a through which air is introduced into the sterilization space 141 from the outside, and a blower 144b installed on the suction duct 144a for blowing air into the sterilization space 141 . On the inlet side of the suction duct 144a, a filter 144c is removably attached to the main body 110 for removing harmful bacteria, fine dust and other foreign matter from the air introduced into the suction duct 144a from the outside. The suction duct 144 a is configured such that an outlet-side end thereof is adjacent to the evaporation container 142 a of the steam sterilization unit 142 . Thus, the heat generated by the evaporation heater 142b applied to the evaporation container 142a is supplied into the sterilization space 141 together with the air blown by the blower 144b, thereby shortening the drying time.

As will be discussed with reference to FIG. 9, the sterilization chamber 140 also includes a selector switch 145 manipulated by the user to select the independent operation of either the steam sterilization unit 142 (evaporative heater 142b) and the drying unit 144 (blower 144b) and continuous operation of both the steam sterilizing unit 142 and the drying unit 144; and a timer 146 for setting the time of operation of the steam sterilizing unit 142 or the drying unit 144. The timer 146 may be operatively associated with the selection switch 145 such that the timer 146 can set the operating time of the steam sterilization unit 142 or the drying unit 144 selected by the selection switch 145 .

Returning to Figures 1 and 8, the water bath heating chamber 180 is used to heat breast milk or formula in feeding bottles or the like. Preferably, the capacity of the sterilization chamber 140 and the water bath heating chamber 180 is smaller than that of the refrigerating chamber 120 or the refrigerating and heating chamber 130 .

The water bath heating chamber 180 includes a temperature raising container 182 detachably installed in the temperature raising space 181 and containing water, and a temperature raising heater 183 for preheating the water contained in the temperature raising container 182 .

The temperature-raising heater 183 is configured by a heating unit in which a heating wire is arranged and directly attached to the bottom of the temperature-raising container 182 . Alternatively, a temperature-raising heater 183 may be installed in the temperature-raising space 181 so that it can be separated from the temperature-raising container 182 . The power connectors 184 a and 184 b are used to supply current to the temperature raising heater 183 when the temperature raising container 182 is arranged in the temperature raising space 181 . The power connectors 184a and 184b are in the form of releasably coupled sockets and plugs. The power connectors 184 a and 184 b are separated from each other when the temperature raising container 182 is removed from the temperature raising space 181 , and rejoined when the temperature raising container 182 is put into the temperature raising space 181 , thereby stably supplying electric current to the temperature raising heater 183 .

Referring now to FIG. 9, there is shown a block diagram of circuitry for controlling a multifunctional childcare storage device in accordance with the present invention.

The control unit 150 is suitable for controlling the operation of the first thermoelectric element 122 and the first heat radiation fan 127 arranged in the refrigerating room 120, the operation of the cooling and heating module 170 arranged in the refrigerating and heating room 130, the operation of the cooling and heating module 170 arranged in the sterilizing room 140 Operation of the steam sterilizing unit 142 and drying unit 144, and the operation of the heating heater 183 arranged in the water bath heating chamber 180.

The control unit 150 controls the first thermoelectric element 122 of the refrigerating room 120 and the refrigerating and heating room 120 in response to temperature signals emitted from the first and second temperature sensors 151 and 152 disposed in the refrigerating space 121 and the refrigerating and heating space 131, respectively. The cooling and heating module 170 of 130 in such a way that the refrigerating compartment 120 and the refrigerating and heating compartment 130 can be kept at the temperatures stored in the setting unit 129 for refrigerating temperature and the setting unit 132 for refrigerating/heating temperature.

Also, in response to temperature signals from the third and fourth temperature sensors 153 and 154 disposed in the sterilizing space 141 and the temperature-raising space 181, respectively, the control unit 150 controls the evaporation heater 142b and the temperature-raising heater 183 in such a manner that The sterilization chamber 140 and the water bath heating chamber 180 can be maintained within the temperatures stored in the setting unit 147 of the sterilization temperature and the setting unit 185 of the warming temperature.

The setting unit 185 is used to set the heating temperature when the feeding bottle 2 and the like are heated in the water bath heating chamber 180 . The control unit 150 controls the temperature raising heater 183 to maintain the temperature set in the setting unit 185 . A water level sensor 186 is attached to the temperature raising container 182 for detecting the water level inside the temperature raising container 182 to avoid a situation where the temperature raising container 182 is overheated by the temperature raising heater 183 . A detection signal output by the water level sensor 186 is sent to the control unit 150, and if the water level in the temperature raising container 182 is equal to or lower than a predetermined water level, the control unit stops the operation of the temperature raising heater 183.

The fourth temperature sensor 154 is installed in the temperature raising container 182 to accurately detect the temperature during the temperature raising process. The fourth temperature sensor 154, the water level sensor 186 and the warming heater 183 are supplied with current through the power connectors 184a and 184b.

The operation and action of the above multifunctional child care storage device will now be described.

Baby care food or products, especially milk, breast milk, medical devices for babies, cosmetics for babies, are stored in the refrigerator compartment 120 . If current is supplied to the first thermoelectric element 122 of the refrigerating chamber 120, cold is emitted from the first thermoelectric element 122 and diffused into the refrigerating space 121 through the heat absorbing plate 124 and the cold diffusing plate 126, thereby cooling the refrigerating space 121. At this time, the heat radiated from the first thermoelectric element 122 is transferred to the heat radiation plate 125 and discharged through the heat radiation outlet 114 of the main body 110 by the blowing action of the first heat radiation fan 127 .

The temperature inside the refrigerating compartment 120 is controlled by the control unit 150 in proportion to the intensity of the current supplied to the first thermoelectric element 122 . In other words, the control unit 150 controls the temperature of the refrigerated space 121 in response to the detection signal of the first temperature sensor 151 so that the temperature of the refrigerated space can be substantially equal to the temperature input in the setting unit 129 .

In response to a detection signal from the second temperature sensor 152 disposed in the refrigerating and heating space 131 , the control unit 150 controls the cooling and heating module 170 so that the refrigerating and heating chamber 130 can maintain the temperature set in the setting unit 132 . The temperature in the refrigerating and heating space 131 may be, for example, 3-4°C for weaning vegetables or fruits, 7°C for baby cosmetics, 10°C for baby medical devices, 8-12°C for tropical fruits, and 35-40°C for hot beverages or herbal medicines. Needless to say, the temperature in the refrigerating and heating space 131 can be arbitrarily changed according to the kinds of foods and products to be stored.

Baby bottles, gauze handkerchiefs, toys, etc. are stored in the sterilization space 141 of the sterilization chamber 140 . These products are sterilized using steam generated by evaporating water contained in the evaporation container 142 a of the steam sterilizing unit 142 . At the end of the sterilization process, the baby care products are dried by the air supplied from the blowing fan 144b of the drying unit 144 . Meanwhile, the air introduced into the sterilization space 141 by the blowing fan 144b is clean air that has passed through the filter 144c to remove harmful bacteria or other foreign matter. The air flows along the suction duct 144a and is sprayed at a position adjacent to the evaporation container 142a. This enables the advantage that the heat generated from the evaporation heater 142b and applied to the evaporation container 142a shortens the time required to dry baby care products such as feeding bottles or the like.

Use of the selector switch 145 enables operation of either the steam sterilizing unit 142 and the drying unit 144 or sequential operation of the steam sterilizing unit 142 and the drying unit 144 . The operating times of these devices 142 and 144 can be appropriately set by using the timer 146 . Examples of functions selectable by manipulating the selection switch 145 include a steam sterilization function using the evaporation heater 142b, a drying function using the blowing fan 144b, a sterilization and drying function using the evaporation heater 142b and the blowing fan 144b in combination. According to the sanitization, drying and preservation functions, the preservation operation is performed automatically after the sanitization and drying functions have been completed. The preservation operation is repeated drying of the stored baby care product for a shorter period of time (eg 5 minutes) at predetermined intervals (eg 30 minutes). This helps to prevent recontamination of baby care products by residual moisture, especially when sanitized and dried products are stored for extended periods of time without use.

The water bath heating chamber 180 employs a temperature raising system in which a predetermined amount of water is heated to 80° C. or higher to raise the temperature of, for example, a baby bottle. In addition, the use of the setting unit 185 allows the user to select the warming temperature according to his wish, which makes it possible to quickly heat the water in the feeding bottle to about 50°C suitable for mixing milk powder or 37-40°C suitable for feeding milk. Thus, the water bath chamber 180 can be controlled similarly to a bottle warmer. The control unit 150 recognizes the temperature inside the temperature raising container 182 based on the detection signal supplied from the fourth temperature sensor 154 and controls the temperature raising heater 183 so that the temperature inside the temperature raising container 182 is kept substantially equal to the temperature set in the setting unit 185 . Examples of bottle warmer functions selectable by manipulating the setting unit 185 include a mode-based warming function and a temperature hold function, and a time-based warming function.

The mode-based warming function can be divided into bottle mode, pack mode, slow mode (defrost mode or night mode). The feeding bottle mode is to raise the temperature of a normal feeding bottle to about 70°C. The packaging mode is to heat the packaged product to a relatively low temperature, such as 50°C. Unlike the above two modes, which can be completed in about 10 minutes, the slow mode (defrost mode or night mode) is to heat the product step by step over a relatively long period of time (such as 3 hours) and then maintain it at this temperature for an extended period of time. time (eg 3 hours). In slow mode, frozen breast milk can be thawed slowly with minimal loss of nutrients and held for an extended period of time in preparation for evening feedings.

Meanwhile, the temperature maintaining function can be set independently or in combination with the mode-based warming function. The temperature hold function is automatically activated immediately after the warming function in bottle mode or pack mode has ended, or can be set independently to keep hot product at the proper temperature. Once the sum of the temperature raising time and the temperature maintaining function reaches a predetermined time (for example, 6 hours), this temperature maintaining function is automatically interrupted.

Since the baby care product is kept at an elevated temperature by using the temperature hold function, the need to reheat the product later is avoided. Furthermore, the use of the warming function in slow mode (defrost mode or night mode) makes it possible to warm up and preserve baby care products, such as breast milk, without loss of nutrition.

While the invention has been shown and described with respect to preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. transform.

Claims (11)

1. multi-functional child care storage that is used to store and handle infant care product comprises:

Main body;

Be arranged in the main body and have a plurality of functional compartments in each space of being separated by baffle unit, described functional compartments comprises the refrigerating chamber, the refrigeration and the heating clamber that are used to store, cool off and heat infant care product that are used for the temperature storage infant care product that reduces, the warming-in-water compartment of the infant care product that is used to heat up and being used to is sterilized and the disinfection room of drying; And

Be used to control described functional compartments so that each functional compartments maintains the control module of predetermined temperature.

2. according to the multi-functional child care storage of claim 1, wherein refrigerating chamber comprises:

Be used to open and close the door of the refrigerating space that limits by baffle unit; And

The infant care product that is used for being stored in refrigerating space is cooled to the thermoelectric element of predetermined temperature.

3. according to the multi-functional child care storage of claim 1, wherein refrigeration and heating clamber comprise:

Be used to open and close the door of the refrigeration that limits by baffle unit and heating space; And

The thermoelectric element that is used for to be stored in the infant care product cooling of refrigeration and heating space or is heated to predetermined temperature.

4. according to the multi-functional child care storage of claim 1, wherein refrigeration and heating clamber comprise:

Be used to open and close the door of the refrigeration that limits by baffle unit and heating space;

The infant care product that is used for being stored in refrigeration and heating space is cooled to the thermoelectric element of predetermined temperature; And

The infant care product that is used for being stored in refrigeration and heating space is heated to the heater of predetermined temperature.

5. according to the multi-functional child care storage of claim 1, wherein refrigeration and heating clamber comprise:

Be used to open and close the door of the refrigeration that limits by baffle unit and heating space;

Thereby be used for circulating coolant maintains predetermined temperature with the hot infant care product that will be stored in refrigeration and heating space of absorbing environmental cooler; And

The infant care product that is used for being stored in refrigeration and heating space is heated to the heater of predetermined temperature.

6. according to the multi-functional child care storage of claim 1, wherein disinfection room comprises:

Be used to open and close the door of the disinfection space that limits by baffle unit;

Be arranged in the disinfection space and the evaporation of water container is housed;

Be used for the heating evaporation container to make water evaporating into steam and to be dispersed in the evaporation heater of disinfection space; And

Be used for steam is discharged to from disinfection space the steam air vent of outside.

7. according to the multi-functional child care storage of claim 6, wherein disinfection room also comprises:

The anti-superheated switch that is used for when evaporating space is heated to above predetermined temperature, cutting off the electricity supply; And

Be arranged at the support that is used to support infant care product to be sterilized on the container for evaporation.

8. according to the multi-functional child care storage of claim 6, wherein disinfection room also comprises and being used at the infant care product drying equipment of dry infant care product after the disinfection space sterilization, and this drying equipment comprises:

Intake line, air is introduced into disinfection space by described intake line;

Be used for air is blowed to by intake line the blower fan of disinfection space; And

Be used for removing the filter of foreign object or harmful bacteria from the air that passes intake line,

Wherein intake line has near the port of export that is arranged in the container for evaporation.

9. multi-functional child care storage according to Claim 8, wherein disinfection room also comprises:

Be used to select evaporation heater and blower fan the two one of the selector switch of continued operation of independent operation and evaporation heater and blower fan; And

Be used to set the timer of the operating time of evaporation heater or blower fan.

10. according to the multi-functional child care storage of claim 1, wherein warming-in-water compartment comprises:

Be used to open and close the door in the intensification space that limits by baffle unit;

Be arranged in the intensification space discretely and the intensification container of water is housed;

Be used to make the intensification heater of the water intensification that is contained in the intensification container; And

Be used for setting the intensification temperature setting portion part of the temperature in intensification space.

11. according to the multi-functional child care storage of claim 10, wherein warming-in-water compartment also comprises:

Be arranged at the water level that is used for sensing intensification container in the intensification container sending the level sensor of detection signal,

When wherein if the water level in the intensification container is lower than predeterminated level, control module is suitable in response to detection signal stop the to heat up operation of heater.

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