Cold storage

Abstract

To provide a cold storage in which a temperature in a cold storage chamber reaches a desired temperature more quickly without increasing the size of a refrigerator unit.SOLUTION: A cold storage 10 includes: a body 16 having an outer casing 12, an inner casing 14 arranged inside the outer casing 12 and having a cold storage chamber 18 therein, and an entrance 26 formed so that an object to be cooled can be stored in the cold storage chamber 18; and a door 30 for opening and closing the entrance 26. An air layer 36 is provided between the outer casing 12 and the inner casing 14. A holder 42 of a cold storage material 40 and cooling piping 50 through which a cooling medium for cooling the cold storage material 40 held by the holder 42 flows are provided in the inner casing 14. A refrigerator unit is provided for supplying the cooling medium into the cooling piping 50.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerator. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, as disclosed in the following Patent Document 1, a cooler for keeping items cooled is known. The cooler disclosed in Patent Document 1 is configured to include an insulated box having an opening and an insulated door capable of opening and closing the opening of the insulated box, and is configured to store items in a cooler compartment partitioned by the insulated box. The insulated box is provided with a cold storage material embedded in the insulated box so as to face the inside of the cooler compartment, and a heat exchange plate that contacts the back surface of the cold storage material inside the insulated box and has a refrigerant flow passage formed integrally therewith. The refrigerant flow passage is connected to a refrigerator unit including a compressor, a condenser, and an expansion means, and the refrigerant discharged from the compressor and condensed in the condenser flows through the expansion means at a low temperature. The cold storage material is cooled by the low-temperature refrigerant, and the inside of the cooler compartment is kept cooled. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 4-14982 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant flow passage cools the refrigerant, the heat-insulating box body is also cooled. Therefore, the refrigeration unit needs to be able to exert a cooling capacity according to the heat capacity of the refrigerant and the heat capacity of the heat-insulating box body itself. On the other hand, increasing the size of the refrigeration unit that supplies the refrigerant to the refrigerant flow passage to exert a larger cooling capacity increases the cost of the cooler.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned conventional technology, and an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator in which the temperature inside the refrigerator chamber reaches the desired temperature more quickly without increasing the size of the refrigeration unit. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the cooler according to the present invention comprises an outer housing made of a thermally insulated wall, an inner housing made of a thermally insulated wall and having a cold storage chamber arranged inside the outer housing, a main body portion formed with an entrance to allow an object to be cooled to be placed in the cold storage chamber, and a door portion made of a thermally insulated wall for opening and closing the entrance. An air layer is provided between the outer housing and the inner housing. The inner housing is provided with a cold storage material holding portion and a cooling pipe for circulating a cooling medium for cooling the cold storage material held in the holding portion. A refrigerator unit is provided for supplying the cooling medium to the cooling pipe.

[0007] In the refrigerator according to the present invention, the cooling medium supplied from the refrigerator unit flows through the cooling pipe provided in the inner housing, thereby cooling the cold storage material held in the holding section. Therefore, even after the flow of the cooling medium in the cooling pipe is stopped, the cold storage chamber can be kept cooled by the cold storage material. In addition, since an air layer is provided between the outer housing and the inner housing provided with the cooling pipe, the same heat insulating performance can be obtained with a thinner main body portion compared to a main body portion having a configuration in which the outer housing and the inner housing are integrated. This reduces the heat capacity of the main body portion, so that the amount of cold heat supplied when the cooling medium is supplied from the refrigerator unit to cool the inside of the cold storage chamber can be reduced. Therefore, the inside of the cold storage chamber can be cooled to a desired temperature more quickly without increasing the size of the refrigerator unit for supplying cold heat to the cooling pipe.

[0008] The cooling pipe and a vacuum insulation material disposed at a position away from the cooling pipe toward the outer housing may be provided in the inner housing. In this case, the inside of the inner housing may be filled with insulation material between the vacuum insulation material and the cooling pipe.

[0009] In this embodiment, the vacuum insulation material is disposed inside the inner housing so as to be located closer to the outer housing than the cooling pipe, so that the cold heat released from the cooling pipe is prevented from being transferred from the inner housing to the air layer. Moreover, since the insulation material is present between the vacuum insulation material and the cooling pipe, even if the refrigerator is vibrated during transportation, etc., the vacuum insulation material is prevented from coming into contact with the cooling pipe. Therefore, damage to the vacuum insulation material can be prevented, and deterioration of the insulation performance of the inner housing can be prevented.

[0010] The inner housing may have a peripheral wall connected to a bottom wall of the outer housing, and the bottom wall of the inner housing may be shared with the bottom wall of the outer housing.

[0011] In this embodiment, the cost can be reduced while maintaining the thermal insulation performance of the main body. In other words, since cold air tends to accumulate at the bottom inside the cold storage chamber, even if the thermal insulation performance of the bottom wall of the main body is lower than that of the top wall, the temperature of the bottom part inside the cold storage chamber is prevented from becoming high. Therefore, while the thermal insulation performance of the main body is maintained, the bottom wall of the inner housing and the bottom wall of the outer housing are shared, and the cost can be reduced accordingly.

[0012] The door portion may include an outer door provided in the outer housing and an inner door provided in the inner housing. In this case, an air layer may be formed between the outer door and the inner door.

[0013] In this embodiment, an air layer is also formed between the outer door and the inner door, so that the same insulation performance can be obtained with a thinner door section compared to a door section in which the outer door and the inner door are integrated. This reduces the thermal capacity of the door section, so that the amount of cold energy supplied when a cooling medium is supplied from the refrigerator unit to cool the inside of the cold storage compartment can be reduced.

[0014] A pressing means may be provided for bringing the cold storage material held by the holding portion into close contact with the inner casing.

[0015] In this embodiment, the cold storage material is held in the inner housing by the holding part provided in the inner housing. At this time, the pressing means presses the cold storage material against the inner housing, so that the cold storage material adheres closely to the inner housing. Therefore, even if the holding part for holding the cold storage material is not precisely controlled to the dimensions of the cold storage material, the cold storage material can be closely attached to the inner housing. For example, when the holding part is disposed on the lower surface of the top wall of the inner housing, if the shape of the holding part does not precisely match the dimensions of the cold storage material, a gap may be generated between the upper surface of the cold storage material placed on the holding part and the lower surface of the top wall of the inner housing. Therefore, by providing the pressing means so that the cold storage material adheres closely to the inner housing, the cold storage material can be closely attached to the inner housing even if the dimensions of the holding part are not precisely controlled. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a configuration in which the cold generated from the cooling piping is effectively transferred to the cold storage material while suppressing an increase in the manufacturing cost of the cool storage box. The pressing means is not limited to the holding part disposed on the top wall of the inner housing, and may be provided on the holding part disposed on the peripheral wall of the inner housing. Effect of the Invention

[0016] As described above, according to the cooler of the present invention, the temperature inside the cooler chamber can be brought to a desired temperature more quickly without increasing the size of the refrigeration unit. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention when viewed from the front. [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention when viewed from above. [Diagram 3] 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cooler according to a modified example of the embodiment, as viewed from above. FIG. [Figure 4] 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cooler according to a modified example of the embodiment, as viewed from above. FIG. [Diagram 5] 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an enlarged view of the vicinity of a holding portion of a cold storage material. FIG. [Figure 6] 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an enlarged view of the vicinity of a holding portion when a pressing means is provided on the holding portion; FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. [Figure 8] 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining modified examples of the spacer. [Figure 9] 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining modified examples of the spacer. [Figure 10] 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cooler according to a modified embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the front. FIG. [Figure 11] 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cooler according to a modified example of the embodiment, as viewed from above. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0019] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the cooler 10 according to this embodiment is a cooler having a main body 16 with a double-wall structure including an outer housing 12 and an inner housing 14 located inside the outer housing 12. Of the space inside the outer housing 12, a room partitioned by the inner housing 14 functions as a cooler chamber 18 for storing cooled items (objects to be cooled W). The inside of the cooler chamber 18 is cooled to a desired temperature by cold energy supplied from a refrigerator unit 20 provided outside the outer housing 12, and is maintained in a cooled state even after the refrigerator unit 20 is stopped. The specific configuration of the cooler 10 will be described in detail below.

[0020] 2, the cooler 10 includes a hollow main body 16 having an opening. The main body 16 includes an outer housing 12 and an inner housing 14 disposed inside the outer housing 12.

[0021] The outer housing 12 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped or cubic shape with an opening 12a formed on one side. Specifically, the outer housing 12 has a rectangular ceiling wall 12b (FIG. 1), a rectangular bottom wall 12c (FIG. 1) arranged to face the ceiling wall 12b, and an outer peripheral wall 12d connecting three sides of the outer peripheral edge of the ceiling wall 12b and three sides of the outer peripheral edge of the bottom wall 12c to each other. Therefore, one side (front side) of the outer housing 12 is the opening 12a.

[0022] The ceiling wall 12b, the bottom wall 12c and the outer peripheral wall 12d are all formed of a heat insulating wall body 22. The heat insulating wall body 22 is composed of an outer plate 22a assembled into a hollow flat plate shape and a heat insulating material 22b filling the space inside the outer plate 22a. The heat insulating material 22b is formed of, for example, foamed resin.

[0023] The inner housing 14 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped or cubic shape with an opening 14a formed on one side. Specifically, the inner housing 14 has a rectangular top wall 14b (FIG. 1) and an inner peripheral wall 14c, which is a peripheral wall whose lower end is connected to the bottom wall 12c of the outer housing 12 and whose upper end is connected to the outer peripheral edge of three sides of the outer peripheral edge of the top wall 14b. That is, the inner housing 14 is provided so as to stand on the bottom wall 12c of the outer housing 12. In other words, the bottom wall of the inner housing 14 is shared with the bottom wall 12c of the outer housing 12. The inner peripheral wall 14c has a left side wall 14d, a rear side wall 14e, and a right side wall 14f, and one side (front side) is the opening 14a.

[0024] The inner housing 14 has a cold storage chamber 18. In this embodiment, the cold storage chamber 18 is partitioned by the inner housing 14. That is, the space surrounded by the top wall 14b, the inner peripheral wall 14c, and the bottom wall (i.e., the bottom wall 12c of the outer housing 12) of the inner housing 14 becomes the cold storage chamber 18 for storing the object W to be cooled.

[0025] Both the top wall 14b and the inner peripheral wall 14c are made of a heat insulating wall 24. The heat insulating wall 24 is made of an outer plate 24a assembled into a hollow flat plate shape, and a heat insulating material 24b filling the space inside the outer plate 24a. The outer plate 24a is made of a material with good heat conductivity at least in the portion located on the cold storage chamber 18 side, where the cold storage material 40 comes into contact as described later. The heat insulating material 24b is made of foamed resin, for example.

[0026] The openings of the main body 16, i.e., the opening 12a of the outer housing 12 and the opening 14a of the inner housing 14, function as an entrance / exit 26 for putting items in and taking them out of the cold storage compartment 18. In the illustrated example, the entrance / exit 26 is formed to a size that covers the entirety of one side portion (one lateral surface) of the outer housing 12, but this is not limited thereto, and the entrance / exit 26 may be formed in a part of the side portion.

[0027] The opening of the main body 16, i.e., the entrance 26, is opened and closed by the door 30. The door 30 includes an outer door 30a for opening and closing the opening 12a of the outer housing 12, and an inner door 30b for opening and closing the opening 14a of the inner housing 14. Both the outer door 30a and the inner door 30b are made of a heat insulating wall 32. The heat insulating wall 32 is made of an outer plate 32a assembled in a hollow flat shape, and a heat insulating material 32b filling the space inside the outer plate 32a. The heat insulating material 32b is made of, for example, foamed resin. The inner door 30b is provided with a vacuum heat insulating material 32c so as to be in contact with the heat insulating material 32b. The vacuum heat insulating material 32c may be disposed inside the inner door 30b, and in that case, it may be disposed on the inner surface side (the cold storage chamber 18 side) or the outer surface side (the outer housing 12 side). The vacuum heat insulating material 32c may be disposed on the surface of the inner door 30b.

[0028] An air layer (door-side air layer 34) is formed between the outer door 30a and the inner door 30b. That is, the outer door 30a is separated from the inner door 30b, and a space is formed between the outer door 30a and the inner door 30b.

[0029] The door section 30 that opens and closes the entrance 26 is not limited to a configuration including the outer door 30a and the inner door 30b that are separate from each other. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, the door section 30 may be attached to the outer housing 12 and configured as an integrated door body that opens and closes the opening 12a of the outer housing 12 and the opening 14a of the inner housing 14. In this case, the door-side air layer 34 is omitted.

[0030] An air layer (main body side air layer 36) is formed between the outer housing 12 and the inner housing 14. That is, the outer housing 12 is separated from the inner housing 14, and a space is formed between the outer housing 12 and the inner housing 14. When the inner door 30b and the outer door 30a are closed, the main body side air layer 36 is blocked from the outside of the outer housing 12 (or the atmosphere). On the other hand, when the outer door 30a is opened, the main body side air layer 36 communicates with the outside of the outer housing 12. That is, the main body side air layer 36 is blocked from the outside of the outer housing 12 at least when the door section 30 closes the entrance / exit 26.

[0031] The main body side air layer 36 may be always in a state of being blocked from the outside of the outer housing 12, regardless of the state of the door section 30. For example, as shown in Fig. 4, a connecting member 38 made of a heat insulator that connects the inner housing 14 and the outer housing 12 may be provided at the end of the inner housing 14 on the entrance / exit 26 side.

[0032] The inner housing 14 is provided with a holding section 42 for holding the cold storage material 40. The cold storage material 40 has a configuration including a case and a substance contained in the case. The freezing point of the substance contained in the case varies depending on the type and composition of the substance. Therefore, the desired cold storage temperature can be realized by selecting a cold storage material 40 that can provide a desired cold storage temperature and having the cold storage material 40 held in the holding section 42. Also, the cold storage material 40 may be replaced as necessary. Therefore, the cooler 10 can be used for both refrigeration and freezing purposes.

[0033] The holding portion 42 is provided on the outer plate 24a on the inner surface side (the cold storage chamber 18 side) of the top wall 14b and the inner peripheral wall 14c of the inner housing 14 so as to be located inside the cold storage chamber 18. On the inner peripheral wall 14c, the holding portion 42 is provided on each of the left side wall 14d, the back side wall 14e, and the right side wall 14f.

[0034] As shown in Fig. 5, the holding portion 42 has a pair of holding members 44 arranged to support both ends of the cold storage material 40. In Fig. 5, the holding portion 42 provided on the top wall 14b is shown, but the holding portion 42 provided on the inner peripheral wall 14c is also configured in a similar shape.

[0035] Each of the holding members 44 has a shape that extends in one direction (depth direction in FIG. 5). The holding member 44 of the top wall 14b extends in the front-rear direction (direction from the opening 14a of the inner housing 14 toward the rear side wall 14e). On the other hand, the holding member 44 of the inner peripheral wall 14c extends in the up-down direction (depth direction in FIG. 2). The holding members 44 of the left side wall 14d and the right side wall 14f may extend in the front-rear direction.

[0036] Each holding member 44 integrally has a base end 44a joined to the inner housing 14, an extension 44b bent from the base end 44a and extending in the thickness direction of the cold storage material 40, and a tip end 44c bent from the extension 44b. The cold storage material 40 is sandwiched between the inner housing 14 and the tip end 44c of the holding member 44.

[0037] In this embodiment, a plurality of cold storage materials 40 are held by a pair of holding members 44. That is, in the top wall 14b, a plurality of cold storage materials 40 arranged in the front-rear direction are held by the pair of holding members 44. On the other hand, in the inner peripheral wall 14c, a plurality of cold storage materials 40 arranged in the up-down direction are held by the pair of holding members 44. However, this is not limited to this, and one cold storage material 40 may be held by the pair of holding members 44.

[0038] Since the extension portion 44b of the holding member 44 is formed to have a size corresponding to the size of the cold storage material 40 to be used, the cold storage material 40 is inserted between the inner housing 14 and the tip portion 44c of the holding member 44, so that the cold storage material 40 adheres closely to the inner housing 14. However, in this case, the work of inserting the cold storage material 40 between the holding members 44 may be troublesome, or strict dimensional control may be required during the manufacture of the holding member 44. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 6, the extension portion 44b may be formed to be slightly larger than the size of the cold storage material 40, and in that case, a pressing means 46 for adhering the cold storage material 40 to the inner housing 14 may be provided. In particular, in the holding portion 42 of the top wall 14b, if the extension portion 44b is slightly larger than the size of the cold storage material 40, a gap is likely to be formed between the upper surface of the cold storage material 40 and the lower surface of the top wall 14b. For this reason, it is desirable to provide the pressing means 46 in the holding portion 42 of the top wall 14b.

[0039] The pressing means 46 may be constituted by a spacer 46a as shown in Fig. 7. The spacer 46a is a member having a U-shaped cross section and a pair of clamping portions, and is configured to be fitted onto the respective tip portions 44c of the pair of holding members 44. As a result, the spacer 46a (one of the clamping portions) enters the gap between the tip portions 44c and the inner housing 14, narrowing the gap of the space for arranging the cold storage material 40. The cold storage material 40 is clamped between the tip portions 44c and the inner housing 14 via the spacer 46a (one of the clamping portions).

[0040] The spacer 46a is attached to the tip 44c after the cold storage material 40 is inserted into the space between the pair of holding members 44. This makes it easy to insert the cold storage material 40 into the space between the pair of holding members 44. That is, the cold storage material 40 on the top wall 14b side is inserted between the holding members 44 from the opening 14a side, but the spacer 46a is not attached when inserting the cold storage material 40 from the opening 14a side. This allows the cold storage material 40 to be smoothly inserted between the holding members 44. Then, the spacer 46a is attached to the holding members 44 with the cold storage material 40 positioned between the holding members 44.

[0041] The spacer 46a (pressing means 46) is not limited to the holding part 42 arranged on the top wall 14b of the inner housing 14, and may also be provided on the holding part 42 arranged on the inner peripheral wall 14c. The cold storage material 40 on the inner peripheral wall 14c side is temporarily fixed in a predetermined position before the holding member 44 is attached to the inner peripheral wall 14c, and in this state, the holding member 44 is fixed to the inner peripheral wall 14c. At this time, a spacer 46a may be attached to increase the degree of adhesion between the cold storage material 40 and the inner peripheral wall 14c.

[0042] The spacer 46a may be configured to have the same thickness at all portions as shown in Fig. 7, but is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in Fig. 8, at least one of the clamping portions 46b may be formed in a U-shape with a thickness that decreases toward the tip, or as shown in Fig. 9, one of the clamping portions 46b may be formed in a U-shape with a thickness greater than that of the other clamping portion 46b.

[0043] 2, a cooling pipe 50 and a vacuum insulation material 52 are arranged inside the inner housing 14. The cooling pipe 50 is configured of a metal pipe made of a material with high thermal conductivity, and a cooling medium supplied from the refrigerator unit 20 shown in FIG. 1 flows through the cooling pipe 50. As a result, the cooling pipe 50 emits cold heat for cooling the cold storage material 40 held in the holding portion 42.

[0044] The vacuum insulation material 52 is attached to the rear surface of the outer plate 24a located on the outer housing 12 side of the insulation wall 24. The vacuum insulation material 52 is configured such that an insulation material is contained within an outer film, and a vacuum is drawn within the outer film.

[0045] The cooling pipe 50 is arranged so as to contact the rear surface of the outer plate 24a located on the cold storage chamber 18 side of the insulating wall body 24. On the other hand, the vacuum insulation material 52 is arranged on the main body side air space 36 side with respect to the cooling pipe 50. Therefore, the vacuum insulation material 52 can suppress the cold heat released from the cooling pipe 50 from being released from the inner housing 14 toward the main body side air space 36.

[0046] The vacuum insulation material 52 is disposed at a position separated from the cooling pipe 50, and the space between the cooling pipe 50 and the vacuum insulation material 52 is filled with the insulation material 24b. That is, the resin is foamed with the cooling pipe 50 and the vacuum insulation material 52 disposed in the hollow outer plate 24a, so that the space inside the outer plate 24a is filled with the insulation material 24b. Therefore, even if the cooler 10 is shaken during transportation, the cooling pipe 50 does not come into contact with the vacuum insulation material 52, so that the outer shell film of the vacuum insulation material 52 can be prevented from being damaged.

[0047] The cooling pipe 50 extends along the outer plate 24a while meandering. The cooling pipe 50 has a portion provided on the left side wall 14d of the inner housing 14, a portion provided on the back side wall 14e, a portion provided on the right side wall 14f, and a portion provided on the top wall 14b, and these portions are connected to form one pipe. However, the configuration of the cooling pipe 50 is not limited to this, and the portions may be connected to each other so that the cooling medium is diverted to these portions. The cooler 10 may include a plurality of refrigerator units 20 and a plurality of refrigerant pipes 50, and in this case, the refrigerator 10 is configured so that the corresponding refrigerant pipes 50 are connected to each of the plurality of refrigerator units 20. The inner housing 14 is then cooled by the plurality of refrigerant pipes 50.

[0048] The refrigerator unit 20 is attached to the outer housing 12 as shown in Fig. 1. The refrigerator unit 20 has refrigerant piping 20a to which a compressor, a condenser, and an expansion mechanism (not shown) are connected, and this refrigerant piping 20a penetrates the ceiling wall 12b of the outer housing 12 and is inserted into the top wall 14b of the inner housing 14. In this top wall 14b, the refrigerant piping 20a is connected to a cooling piping 50 arranged in the top wall 14b. It is not necessary that the refrigerator unit 20 is placed on the outer housing 12, and it may be arranged adjacent to the outer housing 12, or it may be arranged below the outer housing 12.

[0049] In the cool storage 10 configured in this manner, the cold storage material 40 corresponding to the desired cold storage temperature is selected and held in the inner housing 14 by the holding part 42. When the object W to be cooled and stored is stored in the cold storage chamber 18 and the power switch of the refrigerator unit 20 is turned on, the refrigerator unit 20 operates. As a result, the low-temperature refrigerant cooled in the refrigerator unit 20 flows through the refrigerant pipe 20a and flows through the cooling pipe 50 in the inner housing 14. As a result, the cooling pipe 50 is cooled, and the cold heat released from the cooling pipe 50 is transferred to the cold storage material 40 through the outer plate 24a of the inner housing 14, and the cold storage material 40 is cooled. At this time, a part of the cold heat is transferred to the vacuum insulation material 52 through the insulation material 24b, and the outer shell film of the vacuum insulation material 52 is cooled, but due to the presence of the vacuum insulation material 52, the cold heat is unlikely to be transferred to the main body side air layer 36. Furthermore, due to the presence of the main body side air layer 36, the transfer of heat to the outer housing 12 is further suppressed.

[0050] After the refrigerator unit 20 has been operated for a time required for the cold storage material 40 to be cooled to a desired temperature (a temperature required to maintain the interior of the cold storage chamber 18 at a desired cold storage temperature), the refrigerator unit 20 may be stopped. This stopping of the refrigerator unit 20 can be executed by a control device (not shown). After that, cold heat is not released from the cooling pipe 50, but the temperature inside the cold storage chamber 18 is maintained at a desired temperature by the cold heat stored in the cold storage material 40. Since cold air inside the cold storage chamber 18 tends to accumulate at the bottom, the vicinity of the bottom wall 12c is maintained at a low temperature even if the cold storage material 40 is not provided on the bottom wall 12c.

[0051] As described above, in this embodiment, the cooling medium supplied from the refrigerator unit 20 flows through the cooling pipe 50 provided in the inner housing 14, thereby cooling the cold storage material 40 held in the holding portion 42. Therefore, even after the flow of the cooling medium in the cooling pipe 50 is stopped, the cold storage chamber 18 can be kept cooled by the cold storage material 40. In addition, since the main body side air layer 36 is provided between the outer housing 12 and the inner housing 14 in which the cooling pipe 50 is provided, the same heat insulating performance can be obtained even with a thinner main body portion 16 compared to a main body portion in which the outer housing 12 and the inner housing 14 are integrated. This reduces the heat capacity of the main body portion 16, so that the amount of cold heat supplied when the cooling medium is supplied from the refrigerator unit 20 to cool the cold storage chamber 18 can be reduced. Therefore, the cold storage chamber 18 can be cooled to a desired temperature more quickly without increasing the size of the refrigerator unit 20 for supplying cold heat to the cooling pipe 50.

[0052] In this embodiment, the vacuum insulation material 52 is disposed so as to be located on the outer housing 12 side within the inner housing 14, so that the cold heat released from the cooling pipe 50 can be prevented from being transferred from the inner housing 14 to the main body side air space 36. Moreover, since the insulation material 24b is present between the vacuum insulation material 52 and the cooling pipe 50 within the inner housing 14, even if the cool storage box 10 vibrates during transportation, etc., the vacuum insulation material 52 can be prevented from coming into contact with the cooling pipe 50. As a result, damage to the vacuum insulation material 52 is prevented, and deterioration of the insulation performance of the inner housing 14 can be prevented.

[0053] In this embodiment, the bottom wall of the inner housing 14 is shared with the bottom wall 12c of the outer housing 12, so that the cost can be reduced while maintaining the thermal insulation performance of the main body 16. That is, since cold air tends to accumulate at the bottom in the cold storage chamber 18, even if the thermal insulation performance of the bottom wall 12c of the main body 16 is lower than that of the top wall 14b, for example, the temperature of the bottom part in the cold storage chamber 18 is prevented from becoming high. Therefore, while the thermal insulation performance of the main body 16 is maintained, the bottom wall of the inner housing 14 and the bottom wall 12c of the outer housing 12 are shared, so that the cost can be reduced accordingly.

[0054] In this embodiment, the door section 30 includes the outer door 30a and the inner door 30b, and the door-side air layer 34 is formed between the outer door 30a and the inner door 30b, so that the door section 30 can obtain the same heat insulating performance as the door section 30 having the outer door 30a and the inner door 30b integrated with each other. This reduces the heat capacity of the door section 30, so that the amount of cold energy supplied when the cooling medium is supplied from the refrigerator unit 20 to cool the inside of the cold storage chamber 18 can be reduced.

[0055] Furthermore, when the pressing means 46 is provided, the cold storage material 40 adheres closely to the inner housing 14. Therefore, even if the holding portion 42 for holding the cold storage material 40 is not precisely controlled to the dimensions of the cold storage material 40, the cold storage material 40 can be closely attached to the inner housing 14. For example, when the holding portion 42 is disposed on the lower surface of the top wall 14b of the inner housing 14, if the shape of the holding portion 42 does not precisely match the dimensions of the cold storage material 40, a gap may be generated between the upper surface of the cold storage material 40 placed on the holding portion 42 and the lower surface of the top wall 14b of the inner housing 14. Therefore, by providing the pressing means 46 so that the cold storage material 40 adheres closely to the inner housing 14, even if the dimensions of the holding portion 42 are not precisely controlled, the cold storage material 40 can be closely attached to the inner housing 14. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a configuration that effectively transfers the cold generated from the cooling pipe 50 to the cold storage material 40 while suppressing an increase in the manufacturing cost of the cool storage 10.

[0056] It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and should not be considered as limiting. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and improvements are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiments, the bottom wall of the inner housing 14 is shared with the bottom wall 12c of the outer housing 12, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the bottom wall 14g of the inner housing 14 may be configured separately from the bottom wall 12c of the outer housing 12. In this case, the main body side air layer 36 may also be formed between the bottom wall 14g of the inner housing 14 and the bottom wall 12c of the outer housing 12.

[0057] In the above embodiment, the vacuum insulation material 52 is disposed inside the inner housing 14, but the vacuum insulation material 52 may be omitted.

[0058] In the above embodiment, the cold storage chamber 18 is partitioned by the inner housing 14, and the cold storage material 40 is arranged so as to be exposed in the cold storage chamber 18, but this configuration is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the cold storage chamber 18 may be partitioned by a heat transfer plate 56 arranged in a space partitioned by the inner housing 14. That is, the space in the inner housing 14 is partitioned by the heat transfer plate 56 into the cold storage chamber 18 and the space outside it. Even in this case, it can be said that the inner housing 14 has the cold storage chamber 18. The heat transfer plate 56 is arranged so as to be aligned with the tip portion 44c of the holding member 44 constituting the holding portion 42 that holds the cold storage material 40. Therefore, the cold energy of the cold storage material 40 is transferred to the object W to be cooled via the heat transfer plate 56. In this case, the cold storage material 40 is arranged in a room outside the cold storage chamber 18. [Explanation of symbols]

[0059] 10: Refrigerator 12:Outer housing 12c: Bottom wall 14: Inner housing 16: Main body 18: Refrigerated room 20: Refrigeration unit 22: Insulated wall 24: Insulated wall 24b: Insulation material 26: Entrance / exit 30: Door section 30a:Outer door 30b: Inner door 32: Insulated wall 34: Door side air space 36: Air layer on the main body side 40: Cold storage material 42: Holding part 46:Pushing means 50: Cooling pipes 52: Vacuum insulation material W: Object to be cooled

Claims

1. A main body portion includes an outer housing made of a heat-insulating wall body, an inner housing made of a heat-insulating wall body arranged inside the outer housing and having a cooling chamber, and an entrance / exit formed to allow an object to be cooled to be stored in the cooling chamber; A door portion made of a heat-insulating wall body for opening and closing the entrance; Equipped with An air space is provided between the outer housing and the inner housing, The inner housing is provided with a cold storage material holding portion and a cooling pipe for circulating a cooling medium for cooling the cold storage material held in the holding portion, The cool storage is provided with a refrigeration unit that supplies the cooling medium to the cooling pipe.

2. The cooling pipe and a vacuum insulation material arranged at a position away from the cooling pipe toward the outer housing are provided in the inner housing, The cooler according to claim 1 , wherein the inside of the inner housing is filled with a heat insulating material between the vacuum heat insulating material and the cooling pipe.

3. The cooler according to claim 1 , wherein the inner housing has a peripheral wall connected to a bottom wall of the outer housing, and the bottom wall of the inner housing is shared with the bottom wall of the outer housing.

4. the door portion includes an outer door provided on the outer housing and an inner door provided on the inner housing, The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein an air layer is formed between the outer door and the inner door.

5. The cool storage box according to claim 1 , further comprising a pressing means for bringing the cold storage material held by the holding portion into close contact with the inner casing.

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