Refrigerating and freezing device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refrigeration technologies, such as vacuum fresh keeping and nitrogen-making equipment, are inconvenient, costly, and not suitable for home use due to high energy consumption, rigidity requirements, and difficulty in maintaining a controlled atmosphere for effective food preservation.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerating and freezing device with a controlled atmosphere membrane component and air extracting device that creates a nitrogen-rich, oxygen-depleted gas atmosphere by selectively removing oxygen from the storage space, reducing aerobic respiration and preventing anaerobic respiration in fruits and vegetables, while ensuring airtightness and preventing condensation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If vacuum storage compartment fresh keeping is used, then food fresh keeping is improved, but energy consumption increases and sealing performance requirements become very high
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the oxygen component from air using selective membranes, rather than maintaining complete vacuum. This reduces energy consumption while still achieving the goal of preserving food freshness by removing the harmful oxygen that causes deterioration.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the approach from maintaining zero pressure (vacuum) to maintaining controlled oxygen concentration. By using selective membranes that allow oxygen to pass through while retaining nitrogen, the system achieves fresh keeping with much lower energy requirements and relaxed sealing requirements.
2Reliability
If vacuum environment is created, then food fresh keeping is improved, but food receives cold poorly and user operation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the storage environment from complete vacuum to nitrogen-rich controlled atmosphere. This allows food to receive cold effectively through normal heat transfer while still preventing deterioration. The atmosphere remains at normal pressure, making door opening and closing easy for users.
3Reliability
If vacuuming system is used for controlled atmosphere fresh keeping, then oxygen removal is achieved, but system volume is large and cost is high
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces mechanical vacuuming systems with a membrane-based oxygen separation system. The selective membranes passively separate oxygen from nitrogen based on their different permeability properties, eliminating the need for large vacuum pumps and complex mechanical equipment, thus reducing system volume and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces selective membranes as an intermediary between the storage space and the external environment. These membranes selectively allow oxygen to pass through while retaining nitrogen, achieving oxygen removal without requiring mechanical vacuum systems.
4Reliability
If long vacuum time is used, then oxygen removal is improved, but refrigerator casing deforms seriously
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes from maintaining negative pressure (vacuum) to maintaining normal pressure with controlled composition. The selective membranes allow oxygen to be removed while keeping the internal pressure equal to external pressure, eliminating the deforming force on the casing while still achieving effective oxygen removal for food preservation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device achieves long-term fresh keeping of fruits and vegetables with reduced energy consumption, lower rigidity and strength requirements, and lower costs, making it suitable for home use with improved noise reduction and airtightness.
Implementation Method 1
The controlled atmosphere membrane component is configured to allow more oxygen gas in an airflow in the space around the controlled atmosphere membrane component than nitrogen gas in the airflow in the space around the controlled atmosphere membrane component to pass through the controlled atmosphere membrane to enter the oxygen gas-enriched collecting cavity
Data Source
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AI summary
A refrigerating and freezing device, the refrigerating and freezing device comprising: a casing (20) including an inner container (61), a housing (67) and a heat preservation layer, the inner container (61) being internally provided with a storage space (611), a storage container being disposed in the storage space (611), and the storage container being provided with a controlled atmosphere fresh-keeping space therein; and a controlled atmosphere membrane component (30) configured to allow more oxygen gas of air flows in a space around the controlled atmosphere membrane component (30) than nitrogen gas of air flows in the space around the controlled atmosphere membrane component (30) to pass through a controlled atmosphere membrane (31) to enter an oxygen gas enriched collecting cavity. The storage space consists of a top cover (21) and a bottom box (22); a concave cavity is disposed in a lower surface of the top cover (21), and the controlled atmosphere membrane component (30) is disposed in the concave cavity. A space for amounting the controlled atmosphere membrane component (30) is not needed to be configured separately, and an opening for communicating the controlled atmosphere membrane component (30) and the controlled atmosphere fresh-keeping space is not needed to be formed in a top surface of the storage container; therefore, the storage container of the refrigerating and freezing device has an integrated surface substantially without a slot, and the air tightness of the storage container is guaranteed.