CN216432147U - Refrigerating device and cold insulation box comprising same - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a refrigerating device, which comprises a device body and a pressure control assembly. The device body comprises an accommodating space for accommodating a refrigerant; the pressure control assembly is used for controlling evaporation/sublimation pressure and is connected with the device body so as to enable the accommodating space to be communicated with the fluid outside the device body; the pressure control assembly includes a shut-off valve for opening or closing communication of the accommodating space with the outside of the device body. Thus, the temperature around the device can be kept constant. The utility model also provides a cold insulation box, which comprises a box inner space and is provided with the refrigerating device, wherein the refrigerating device is communicated with the accommodating space of the refrigerating device and the outside of the cold insulation box through the pressure control assembly.

Description

Refrigerating device and cold insulation box comprising same

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a refrigeration device and a refrigerator including the same, and more particularly, to a refrigeration device capable of controlling an evaporation/sublimation pressure to maintain a temperature around the refrigeration device or in the refrigerator and a refrigerator including the same.

Background

Many raw materials and products need to be placed in an environment with proper temperature for effective storage. As the global environmental temperature changes more and more, maintaining the temperature of the storage space becomes more important.

For example, in tropical and subtropical regions, food needs to be kept at a lower temperature than the outdoor temperature, and in order to maintain the low temperature, a freezing/refrigerating unit (including a compressor and related accessories) is often installed on a transportation vehicle to maintain the low space temperature for a long time. Accordingly, a large amount of space is required, a large amount of power is used, and a small amount of operating noise is generated.

In recent years, as people seek convenience and prevention of epidemic diseases, delivery of small-sized food is increasingly prevalent in addition to transportation of large-sized food.

Since smaller portions of food are more easily transported, a vehicle (e.g., a locomotive) that holds smaller portions of food is difficult, does not have a freezer/refrigerator unit, and instead uses insulation to wrap the food or places the food along with ice and dry ice to absorb heat from the space. However, the cold-keeping effect of such a method cannot be maintained for a long time, the temperature of the placing space cannot be kept constant as required, it is difficult to ensure the flavor of the food, and other problems may occur, such as: a lot of waste heat insulation material is generated, carbon dioxide gas in the space cannot be discharged and/or the cooling cannot be temporarily stopped to maintain the cooling power for a longer time, and the like.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a refrigeration apparatus and a refrigerator including the same, which can control an evaporation/sublimation pressure to maintain a temperature around the refrigeration apparatus or in the refrigerator, while not using additional power, occupying a large space, temporarily stopping refrigeration, and/or generating no noise, etc.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a refrigeration device including a device body and a pressure control assembly. The device body comprises an accommodating space for accommodating a refrigerant. The pressure control assembly may be configured to control the evaporation/sublimation pressure and is coupled to the apparatus body such that the containment space is in fluid communication with an exterior of the apparatus body. The pressure control assembly includes a shut-off valve that opens or closes communication between the receiving space and the exterior of the device body.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention further provides a cold insulation box, which includes an inner space, wherein a refrigeration device is disposed in the inner space, and the refrigeration device can communicate the accommodating space of the refrigeration device with the outside of the cold insulation box through the pressure control assembly.

In an embodiment, the refrigerant of the refrigeration device and the cold insulation box comprising the same provided by the utility model is liquid carbon dioxide.

In one embodiment, the pressure control assembly of the refrigeration device and the cold box comprising the same comprises a back pressure regulating valve and is configured to control the evaporation or sublimation pressure to be between 0.1 and 72.9 barG.

In an embodiment, the refrigeration device and the refrigerator including the same provided by the utility model further include an evaporation tube, an upper tube and a lower tube. The upper pipe is arranged above the evaporating pipe and is communicated with the evaporating pipe in a fluid mode. The lower tube is disposed below the evaporation tube and is in fluid communication with the evaporation tube. The upper tube is connected with the pressure control assembly.

In an embodiment, the evaporation tube of the refrigeration device and the cold insulation box comprising the refrigeration device provided by the utility model comprises at least one cooling fin.

In an embodiment, the evaporation tube of the refrigeration device and the cold insulation box comprising the refrigeration device provided by the utility model comprises a cross section shape, and the cross section shape is six stars, eight stars or snowflakes.

In an embodiment, the upper tube of the refrigeration device and the refrigerator including the same further includes a filling port for filling a refrigerant.

In an embodiment, the refrigeration device and the refrigerator including the same further include a protective casing, the protective casing surrounds the device body and is made of a metal material.

In an embodiment, the refrigeration device and the refrigerator including the same provided by the utility model have a protection shell including a plurality of holes.

In one embodiment, the refrigeration device and the cold insulation box comprising the same provided by the utility model have device bodies made of aluminum alloy.

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages more comprehensible, preferred embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a conceptual schematic of a refrigeration unit of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the refrigeration unit of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of an evaporator tube of the refrigeration unit of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4a to 4c are schematic views of evaporating tubes of the refrigerating apparatus of FIG. 2 having different cross-sections;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a refrigeration unit of the present invention provided with a protective housing;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the cold box of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a graph showing a comparison between the temperature inside the refrigerator and the cooling power of the refrigerating apparatus according to the present invention; and

fig. 8 is a comparison between the inside temperature and the cruising power of the cold box of the present invention.

Description of the symbols:

1. 1' refrigerating plant

10 device body

11: shell

12: upper pipe

12D longitudinal extension direction

13, a containing space

14 evaporating tube

14a upper end

14b lower end

14D length extension direction

15 fluid connector

16: lower tube

16D length extension direction

18: carbon dioxide

20 pressure control assembly

22 shut-off valve

24 evaporation pressure regulating valve

26 exhaust pipe

30 protective shell

31 holes

100 cold insulation box

110 opening of

121: filling port

122 filling valve

123 pressure gauge

142 heat sink

142D length extension direction

b length

c length

T is thickness

Td difference

Te-evaporation temperature

To the temperature in the cold insulation box

L is liquid

G is gas

Detailed Description

Specific embodiments according to the present invention will be specifically described below; as the present invention may be embodied in many different forms of embodiments without departing from the spirit thereof, it should not be construed that the scope of the utility model is limited by the description set forth herein.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, and the orientations (e.g., upper, lower, inner, outer, etc.) described are relative orientations and may be defined according to the use of the refrigeration apparatus or cold box and do not indicate or imply that the refrigeration apparatus or cold box requires a particular orientation for construction or operation nor should it be understood as limiting the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a refrigeration device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the refrigeration device 1 includes a device body 10 and a pressure control assembly 20. The apparatus body 10 may have a housing 11 to define an accommodating space 13, and the accommodating space 13 may accommodate a refrigerant. The refrigerant is optionally solid carbon dioxide, liquid carbon dioxide or other environmentally friendly refrigerant. The housing 11 may be made of one or more of an aluminum alloy, a copper alloy, an iron alloy, or other thermally conductive material. The pressure control assembly 20 controls an evaporation or sublimation pressure and is connected to the apparatus body 10 such that the receiving space 13 is in fluid communication with the outside of the apparatus body 10 to discharge the phase-changed refrigerant to the outside of the apparatus body 10. In this way, the refrigeration effect is achieved by the physical property that the refrigerant in the apparatus body 10 absorbs heat (latent heat required for phase change) during evaporation/sublimation, and the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant can be further maintained in a fixed range by controlling the evaporation or sublimation pressure.

In detail, referring to fig. 2, the housing 11 of the device body 10 of the refrigeration device 1 of the present invention can be divided into an upper tube 12, an evaporation tube 14 and a lower tube 16. The upper tube 12, the evaporation tube 14, and the lower tube 16 are a single tube-shaped container (may be any other container capable of enclosing a refrigerant), the upper tube 12 is provided above the evaporation tube 14, and the lower tube 16 is provided below the evaporation tube 14. In the present embodiment, the longitudinal extension direction 12D of the upper pipe 12 and the longitudinal extension direction 16D of the lower pipe 16 are substantially parallel to each other, and the longitudinal extension direction 14D of the steam pipe 14 is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal extension directions 12D, 16D of the upper pipe 12 and the lower pipe 16. The upper tube 12, the evaporator tube 14, and the lower tube 16 may be integrally formed and manufactured; or separately manufactured and connected to each other, for example, the upper end 14a and the lower end 14b of each evaporation tube 14 may be provided with a fluid connector 15, respectively, so that the evaporation tube 14 can be in fluid communication with the upper tube 12 and the lower tube 16, and together define a receiving space 13. When the refrigeration apparatus 1 is placed in such a manner that the longitudinal extension direction 14D of the evaporation tubes 14 is substantially perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the placement plane and the refrigerant in each evaporation tube 14 is fluid (for example, liquid L), the refrigerant can be kept at the same height in the evaporation tubes 14 by the arrangement of the lower tube 16, and the heat transfer capacity can be uniformly distributed among the evaporation tubes 14. The upper tube 12 may include a charging port 121 for a user to charge the refrigerant into the receiving space 13 of the device body 10, and when the refrigerant is fluid, the charging port 121 may be provided with a charging valve 122, such as a pilot-operated charging valve or a spring-return charging valve, to facilitate the charging. In order to increase the heat transfer area, the apparatus body 10 may be provided with a plurality of evaporation tubes 14, five evaporation tubes 14 are shown in fig. 2, but not limited thereto.

Continuing with the above embodiment, the pressure control assembly 20 of the refrigeration unit 1 may be placed in fluid communication with the upper duct 12. The pressure control assembly 20 may include, but is not limited to, a shutoff valve 22, an evaporation pressure regulating valve 24, and an exhaust pipe 26 in that order from upstream to downstream in the direction of fluid flow. The shutoff valve 22 opens or closes the communication between the accommodating space 13 and the outside of the device body 10, and when the shutoff valve 22 is opened, the evaporated gas G can be discharged to the outside of the refrigerating device 1 through the pressure control assembly 20 and the gas discharge pipe 26; when the shutoff valve 22 is closed, the evaporated gas G cannot leave the refrigeration apparatus 1, thereby preventing the refrigerant from undergoing a phase change and extending the duration of the refrigeration capacity. The evaporation pressure regulating valve 24 is a pressure reducing and regulating valve or a back pressure type pressure regulating valve, and the evaporation or sublimation pressure can be mechanically controlled to maintain the evaporation or sublimation temperature. For example, the back pressure type pressure regulating valve may be a KPB series pressure regulating valve of world great rock (Swagelock). The discharge pipe 26 may be a long pipe shape to adjustably discharge the refrigerant to a place away from the refrigerating apparatus 1.

The evaporation temperature of-56.6 to 31.1 ℃ can be corresponded when the evaporation pressure of the liquid carbon dioxide is controlled between 4.2 to 72.9 barG; when the sublimation pressure of the solid carbon dioxide is controlled to be between 0.1 and 4.0barG, the sublimation temperature of-78 to-57 ℃ can be achieved, the expected cold insulation temperature of the expected use situation is better met, and the carbon dioxide has the advantages of no toxicity, no flammability, no damage to the ozone layer and the like, and the function of the evaporation pressure regulating valve 24 is explained in detail by taking the carbon dioxide as a refrigerant as follows:

if the refrigerant is liquid carbon dioxide, the pressure in the housing space 12 of the apparatus main body 10 is maintained at 72.9barG by the evaporation pressure adjusting valve 24, and the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant can be maintained at 31.1 ℃ in principle; if the cryogen is solid carbon dioxide, the pressure within the receiving space 12 of the body 10 of the apparatus is maintained at 0.1barG and the sublimation temperature of the cryogen can in principle be maintained at-78 ℃. The principle is that, while maintaining the evaporation pressure at 72.9barG, the critical temperature for the conversion of liquid carbon dioxide to gaseous carbon dioxide is 31.1 ℃ (i.e. the evaporation temperature at an evaporation pressure of 72.9 barG), and if the ambient temperature is greater than 31.1 ℃, the evaporation of liquid carbon dioxide will continue until the ambient temperature drops to 31.1 ℃. As long as the ambient temperature is not higher than 31.1 ℃, the liquid carbon dioxide in the device body can be maintained in a liquid state, cannot generate phase change, and cannot externally receive heat, so that the refrigerating device 1 has longer endurance. Similarly, when solid carbon dioxide is used as the refrigerant, the sublimation pressure is maintained at 4barG, the critical temperature of the critical point for converting the solid carbon dioxide into gaseous carbon dioxide is-57 ℃ (namely the sublimation temperature when the sublimation pressure is 4 barG), and as long as the environmental temperature is not higher than-57 ℃, the solid carbon dioxide in the device body is maintained in a solid state and cannot absorb heat outwards, so that the device has long endurance.

Therefore, the refrigeration device 1 of the present invention can have a fixed evaporation or sublimation temperature by presetting a fixed evaporation or sublimation pressure. For the convenience of users to adjust according to different requirements, the pressure gauge 123 may be disposed on the upper tube 12 to monitor the evaporation or sublimation pressure in the accommodating space 13, and then the temperature around the refrigeration device 1 is adjusted by controlling the evaporation or sublimation pressure. Alternatively, the evaporation pressure regulating valve 24 and the pressure gauge 123 may be connected to a controller (not shown), so that a user can directly set a desired temperature through the controller, and the controller can read a pressure value through the pressure gauge 123 to automatically adjust the evaporation or sublimation pressure to be maintained by the evaporation pressure regulating valve 24.

In addition, the upper tube 12 may be connected to other components, such as a spring-type safety valve, a lever-type safety valve, or a pulse-type safety valve (not shown), to avoid an accident due to overpressure.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the evaporating tube 14 of the present invention. In order to increase the contact area between the evaporation tube 14 and the air, at least one cooling fin 142 may be disposed on the outer surface of the evaporation tube 14, and the cooling fin may have a thickness T, such as about 1mm, but not limited thereto. The fins 142 may have a length extending direction 142D substantially parallel to the length extending direction 14D of the evaporation tube 14. Stated differently, the fins 142 may extend along the length extension direction 14D and may have a length c that is equal to or shorter than the length b of the evaporation tubes 14. Referring to fig. 4a to 4c, there are shown cross-sectional views of the evaporating tube 14 of the present invention. When the evaporation tube 14 has a plurality of fins 142, the fins 142 may be spaced apart from each other and arranged in different shapes, so that the cross-sectional shape of the evaporation tube 14 may be hexagram (fig. 4a), octagram (fig. 4b), snowflake (fig. 4c), etc., but not limited thereto. If the evaporation tube 14 has a sufficient heat dissipation area in a state after manufacturing (for example, in a tubular shape), the heat dissipation fins 142 may not be provided.

Referring to fig. 5, the refrigeration device 1 of the present invention further includes a protective casing 30. In the present embodiment, the protective casing 30 may have a rectangular shape to surround the upper tube 12, the evaporation tube 14 and the lower tube 16, but does not form a closed space, and the pressure control assembly 20 may be disposed outside the protective casing 30, but is not limited thereto. The protective casing 30 can prevent the refrigeration device 1 or the device body 10 from being damaged due to collision, and can also prevent the casing 11 of the device body 10 from contacting with the skin of a human body to cause an accident of frostbite. The protective casing 30 may further include a plurality of holes 31 to allow air to smoothly flow therethrough and contact the evaporation tube for heat exchange. The holes 31 may have different sizes and shapes, and may be arranged in different patterns or characters to provide various decorative effects. The protective casing 30 may also be made of metal (e.g., stainless steel) to facilitate cleaning and to aid heat conduction, and since the protective casing 30 may be spaced apart from the refrigeration device 1 or the device body 10, the temperature thereof will not cause frostbite, but not limited thereto. The material from which protective housing 30 is made may also comprise a plastic material.

Next, referring to fig. 6, a schematic perspective view of the heat insulation box 100 is shown, in which the heat insulation box 100 is provided with at least one refrigeration device 1 ', and the technical content of the refrigeration device 1' can refer to the technical content of the refrigeration device 1. In this embodiment, the cold box 100 may be a rectangular housing, which may be made of plastic, metal or foam material, and optionally provided with a vacuum interlayer. The cold box 100 may include at least one openable opening 110 for a user to place food or items to be kept cold. The refrigeration device 1' may be placed in the heat-preservation box 100 in an orientation in which the upper tube 12 is located above and the lower tube 16 is located below (which may also be referred to as an upright orientation), but this is not a limitation. According to different requirements, the device body 10 of the refrigeration device 1 'can be in the refrigeration box 100, and the pressure control assembly 20 can be exposed out of the refrigeration box 100, so as to facilitate a user to open or close the refrigeration device 1', avoid unnecessary loss of the refrigerant, or facilitate the user to adjust the space temperature of the refrigeration box 100 without opening the refrigeration box 100, and directly discharge the evaporated refrigerant to the outside of the refrigeration box 100 through the pressure control assembly 20. If the pressure control assembly 20 is located within the cold box 100, the discharge end of the discharge pipe 26 may still be disposed outside the cold box 100 to discharge the evaporated refrigerant to the space outside the cold box 100.

Fig. 7 is a graph showing a comparison between the internal temperature of the heat-retaining box 100 and the cooling force of the refrigeration apparatus 1' (including five evaporation tubes 14 having a snowflake cross-sectional shape). Fig. 8 is a graph showing the comparison between the internal temperature of the heat-insulating box 100 and the cruising power of the refrigeration apparatus 1'. In the present embodiment, the cold insulation box 100 has an internal dimension of 43 cm in width, 43 cm in height, and a volume of 0.080 cubic meter, the refrigeration apparatus 1' provided in the cold insulation box 100 has a volume of 0.64 liters (L), and is filled with 0.384 kilograms (kg) of liquid carbon dioxide, and the evaporation pressure is set by the back pressure adjustment valve. The temperature difference (Td) in the table is the in-box temperature (To) -evaporation temperature (Te) of the refrigerator. If the user desires an internal temperature of the cold box 100 of-20 c, the evaporation pressure is set at 16.6barG to maintain a corresponding evaporation temperature of-26 c with a cooling capacity of 0.012 kilowatts (kW) and a cruising duration of 1.67 hours (Hrs) with a consumption of 0.147 kilograms per hour (kg/h) of liquid carbon dioxide.

In summary, the refrigeration device and the cold insulation box comprising the same of the present invention have longer refrigeration capacity, can adjust and maintain the desired space temperature, have wider controllable temperature range than the existing cold insulation mode, occupy less space than the traditional refrigeration/cold storage unit, can increase or decrease the number of refrigeration devices (easy scheduling) according to the requirement, do not need to use electric power and power, have no noise and vibration during operation, have less failure of used components, and the like, are beneficial to small-quantity goods transportation, and can be more flexibly applied to other aspects of life, industry, medical treatment, and the like.

The above-mentioned embodiments are only used to illustrate the implementation of the present invention and to explain the technical features of the present invention, and are not used to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any modifications or equivalent arrangements which may occur to those skilled in the art and which fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims should be construed as limited only by the scope of the claims.

Claims (11)

1. A refrigeration apparatus, comprising:

the device body comprises an accommodating space, a first connecting piece and a second connecting piece, wherein the accommodating space is used for accommodating a refrigerant; and

a pressure control assembly for controlling an evaporation or sublimation pressure and connected to the apparatus body to place the receiving space in fluid communication with the exterior of the apparatus body;

wherein the pressure control assembly comprises a shut-off valve for opening or closing the communication between the accommodating space and the outside of the device body.

2. A refrigeration unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the refrigerant is liquid carbon dioxide.

3. A refrigerator device according to claim 1, wherein the pressure control assembly comprises a back pressure regulating valve and is arranged to control the evaporation or sublimation pressure to between 0.1 and 72.9 barG.

4. The refrigeration unit of claim 1 wherein the unit body further comprises:

an evaporation tube;

the upper pipe is arranged above the evaporation pipe and is communicated with the evaporation pipe in a fluid mode; and

a lower tube disposed below the evaporation tube and in fluid communication with the evaporation tube;

wherein, this upper tube is connected with this pressure control subassembly.

5. The refrigeration unit of claim 4 wherein said evaporator tube comprises at least one fin.

6. The refrigeration unit of claim 5 wherein said evaporator tube comprises a cross-sectional shape that is six-star, eight-star, or snowflake.

7. The refrigeration unit of claim 4, wherein said upper duct further includes a charging port for charging said refrigerant.

8. The refrigeration unit of claim 1, further comprising a protective housing surrounding the unit body and made of a metallic material.

9. The refrigeration unit of claim 8, wherein the protective housing comprises a plurality of apertures.

10. The refrigeration unit of claim 1, wherein the unit body is made of an aluminum alloy.

11. A refrigerator comprising an in-box space provided with a refrigerating device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, the refrigerating device communicating the accommodating space of the refrigerating device with the outside of the refrigerator through the pressure control assembly.

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