JPH0627607B2 - 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 and a simple structure.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention is provided in a circulation path in which air in a refrigerator such as a refrigerator having a cooler circulates, and the cooling is performed by heating the cooler. Defrost heater for defrosting the vessel, a cover provided to cover the defrost heater from above, and a odor component attached to the lower surface of the cover in a state of being located between the cover and the defrost heater. And a control circuit that energizes the defrost heater during defrosting of the cooler. Have.

(Operation) During cooling operation, the air passing through the circulation path comes into contact with the deodorant body, and the odorous components contained in the air are adsorbed by the deodorant body. Then, during defrosting of the cooler, when the defrost heater is energized and the deodorizing heater is heated by the defrost heater, the odorous components adsorbed in the deodorizing body are desorbed and oxidatively decomposed and removed. It Then, when the defrosting ends and the cooling operation is restarted again, the deodorizing body again adsorbs the odorous component contained in the air passing through the circulation path.

According to this, since the adsorption function is regenerated by the heating of the defrosting heater for the deodorizing body, the life of the deodorizing function is long unlike the case where it is simply adsorbed. Moreover, the structure is simpler than that using an ozone generator. In addition, since the defrost heater is used as a means for heating the deodorant body, the number of parts can be reduced by that amount, the structure can be further simplified, and special control is required to control the heating of the deodorant body. May eliminate the need to do.

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

First, in FIG. 1, 1 is a refrigerator main 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, a part of the air cooled by the cooler 6 is supplied into the freezer compartment 2 from the supply port 9, and the air in the freezer compartment 2 is returned to the return duct 10.
The inside of the freezer compartment 2 is cooled by being circulated so as to be returned to the inside of the cooler compartment 7 via the supply duct, and a part of the air cooled by the cooler 6 is introduced into the refrigerating compartment 3 via the supply duct 11. The air supplied and the air in the refrigerator compartment 3 is returned to the return duct 1.
The refrigerating chamber 3 is cooled by being circulated so as to be returned to the cooler chamber 7 via 2. In this case, therefore, the freezer compartment 2, the freezer compartment 2 and the return duct 10 are used to form the freezer compartment 2.
It forms a circulation path through which the air in the inside circulates, and also includes a cooler chamber 7, a supply duct 11, a refrigerating chamber 3, and a return duct 12.
This constitutes a circulation path through which the air in the refrigerator compartment 3 circulates.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a defrosting heater disposed below the cooler 6 in the lower part of the cooler chamber 7. This is a glass tube heater having a heater wire 13b provided in the glass tube 13a as shown in FIG. Become. A cover 14 is provided on the defrost heater 13 so as to cover the defrost heater 13 from above. The cover 14 is made of a metal plate such as aluminum having heat resistance and water resistance.
As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 3, it is formed in a shallow container shape having an open lower side, and prevents defrost water from splashing on the defrost heater 13 during defrosting of the cooler 6. Reference numeral 15 denotes a deodorant, which is an adsorbent layer 15a made of an adsorbent such as activated carbon or silica (silicon dioxide), and the adsorbent layer 15a.
Catalyst layer 15 of platinum or nickel provided on the surface of the
It has a two-layer structure with b. Here, this deodorant 15
Is a plate-shaped adsorbent layer 15 formed by sintering the adsorbent.
a is formed, the adsorbent layer 15a is dipped in a catalyst solution to adhere the catalyst to the surface, and then heat treatment is performed to form the catalyst layer 15b on the surface of the adsorbent layer 15a. Further, each of the adsorbent layer 15a and the catalyst layer 15b has a porous shape so that air can flow inside. The deodorizing body 15 is supported and fixed to the lower surface of the cover 14 by a supporting member 17 via a heat insulating material 16 made of glass fiber or the like, whereby the defrost heater 13 is provided.
Is provided in the vicinity of above. Reference numeral 18 is, for example, a metal net formed of a material having a high thermal conductivity so as to have a large number of through holes, and is provided so as to cover the surface of the deodorant body 15.

On the other hand, in FIG. 4, reference numeral 19 is a timer circuit which is a control circuit for controlling the on / off switching of the defrosting heater 13, which is provided so that a comp-on signal Sc for turning on a compressor (not shown) is inputted. Signal S
The timer operates only while c is being input. Then, the timer circuit 19 outputs an ON signal Son composed of a high level signal when the integrated time of the timer operation (thus, the integrated operation time of the compressor) reaches a predetermined value. Reference numeral 20 denotes a transistor whose base terminal is connected to the output terminal of the timer circuit 19 via a resistor 21, and a relay coil 22 is connected to the collector terminal of the transistor. Reference numeral 23 denotes a relay switch connected to the defrosting heater 13, which is turned on by the relay coil 22 when the ON signal Son is output from the timer circuit 19 and the transistor 20 is turned on. To energize. A temperature detection circuit 24 detects the temperature of the cooler 6, and outputs a reset signal Sr to the timer circuit 19 when the temperature of the cooler 6 becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined defrosting end temperature during defrosting. The timer circuit 19 stops the output of the on signal Son when the reset signal Sr is given, and the relay switch 23 is turned off based on this, thereby defrosting the heater 1
Turn off 3.

Now, in the above configuration, during the cooling operation, 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, and the cooler chamber 7 and the supply duct 11 are also provided. , Is circulated through the refrigerator compartment 3 and the return duct 12. At this time, the air passing through the inside of the cooler chamber 7 comes into contact with the deodorant body 15 through the through holes of the wire net 18, and the odorous component contained in the air is adsorbent layer 15 of the deodorant body 15.
Adsorbed by a and removed.

Then, the accumulated time of the timer operation of the timer circuit 19,
Therefore, when the accumulated operation time of the compressor reaches a predetermined value, the operation of the compressor and the fan 8 is stopped, while the ON signal Son is output from the timer circuit 19, and the relay switch 23 is turned on based on this, thereby defrosting. The heater 13 is energized to generate heat. Due to the heat generated by the defrosting heater 13, the cooler 6 is heated to perform defrosting, and the deodorizing body 15 is also heated. At this time, since the surface of the deodorizer 15 is covered with the wire net 18, the heat transfer of the wire net 18 allows the deodorizer 15 to be heated as uniformly as possible. In the heated deodorizer 15, the odorous components adsorbed by the adsorbent of the adsorbent layer 15a are desorbed,
At the same time, the odorous component is oxidatively decomposed and removed in the catalyst layer 15b. And deodorant body 1
The heating function of 5 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 also allows the deodorizing body 15 and the defrosting heater 13 to defrost from the cooler 6. Prevents water from splashing. The heat insulating material 16 suppresses the heat of the deodorizing body 15 from being radiated from the cover 14, and also prevents heat shock of the deodorizing 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 temperature detection circuit 23 detects this and the timer circuit 1
The reset signal Sr is output to 9. Then, the timer circuit 19 stops the output of the ON signal Son, and the relay switch 23 is turned OFF based on this, whereby the defrost heater 1
3 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 air in the refrigerator are adsorbed and removed by the deodorant body 15 as described above.

According to the above-described embodiment, the deodorizer 15 is the defrost heater 13
Since the deodorizing function is regenerated by heating, the deodorizing function has a long life, unlike the one that simply adsorbs with an adsorbent, and this deodorizing device has a simpler structure than the one using an ozone generator. Needless to say. Moreover, according to this, since the heating for regenerating the deodorizing function of the deodorizing body 15 is performed by the defrosting heater 13 during the defrosting of the cooler 6, the defrosting is performed as a heater for heating the deodorizing body 15. There is an advantage that the heater 13 can be used. Also,
By using the defrosting heater 13, there is also an advantage that a special control circuit for heating the deodorant body 15 can be omitted. Furthermore, since the deodorizing body 15 is also attached to the cover 14 of the defrost heater 13, the defrosting heater 13 can be assembled to the refrigerator body 1 at the same time as the defrost heater 13 is assembled, and the assembling work is separately performed. There is no need.

In addition, during defrosting of the cooler 6, the heat of the defrost heater 13 can directly heat the cooler 6 through the periphery of the deodorizing body 15 and the cover 14, so that the deodorizing body 15 heats the cooler 6. Therefore, the defrosting efficiency of the cooler 6 is not reduced.

The deodorizer 15 does not have to have a two-layer structure, but may have a single-layer structure in which, for example, an adsorbent and a catalyst are mixed and bonded and solidified.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the deodorizing apparatus of the present invention, when the deodorant is heated, the odorous components are oxidatively decomposed and removed by the catalyst, and the adsorption function is regenerated. Therefore, the life of the deodorizing function is long, and the structure is simple as compared with that using an ozone generator. Moreover, since the deodorant body is provided with the catalyst, the odorous components can be reliably and efficiently decomposed when the deodorant body is heated. Furthermore, since a defrost heater is used as a means for heating the deodorant body, the number of parts can be reduced correspondingly, and the structure can be further simplified, and special control is performed to control the heating of the deodorant body. It can be unnecessary. In addition, the deodorant is
Since the defrost heater is attached to the lower surface of the cover that covers from above, the deodorizer does not spin the cooling device during defrosting of the cooler, and does not reduce the defrosting efficiency of the cooler. It has an excellent effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 is a vertical side view of the upper part of the refrigerator, Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical side view of the main part, Fig. 3 is a front view of the same, and Fig. 4 shows the main part. It is a figure which shows an electric constitution. 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, 14 is a cover, 15 is a deodorizer, 15a is an adsorbent layer, 15b is a catalyst layer, 19 Is a timer circuit (control circuit), 22 is a relay coil, 23 is a relay switch, and 24 is a temperature detection circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A defrost heater which is provided in a circulation path in which air in a refrigerator such as a refrigerator having a cooler circulates, and which defrosts the cooler by heating the cooler, and a defrost heater for removing the defrost. A cover provided so as to cover the frost heater from above, and an adsorbent that adsorbs an odor component and is attached to the lower surface of the cover in a state of being located between the cover and the defrost heater, and the odor component by being heated. A deodorizing device such as a refrigerator comprising a deodorizing body having a catalyst for oxidizing and decomposing the deodorizing material, and a control circuit for energizing the defrosting heater during defrosting of the cooler.