EP1860391A2 - Refrigerating applicance with sanitization device - Google Patents
Refrigerating applicance with sanitization device Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP1860391A2 EP1860391A2 EP20070010123 EP07010123A EP1860391A2 EP 1860391 A2 EP1860391 A2 EP 1860391A2 EP 20070010123 EP20070010123 EP 20070010123 EP 07010123 A EP07010123 A EP 07010123A EP 1860391 A2 EP1860391 A2 EP 1860391A2
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- compartment
- refrigerating appliance
- air flow
- appliance according
- refrigerating
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
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Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F25D17/00—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces
- F25D17/04—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection
- F25D17/042—Air treating means within refrigerated spaces
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F25D2317/00—Details or arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Details or arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces, not provided for in other groups of this subclass
- F25D2317/04—Treating air flowing to refrigeration compartments
- F25D2317/041—Treating air flowing to refrigeration compartments by purification
- F25D2317/0416—Treating air flowing to refrigeration compartments by purification using an ozone generator
Definitions
- the present invention concerns a refrigerating appliance with sanitization device.
- the refrigerating appliance in question is intended to be used advantageously for containing foodstuffs of any kind and is therefore classifiable within the industrial sector relating to the production of electric household appliances, cabinets and counters of the refrigerating type provided with devices for sanitizing the internal compartment including the surfaces which delimit it and, therefore, where necessary, also the products contained inside it.
- the patent JP 2005-134075 envisages deodorizing and sterilizing the environment of a refrigerating appliance by means of an ion generator and a fan which are both fixed to the inner upper wall of the storage compartment of the refrigerating appliance.
- the fan sucks in via a front opening an air flow and then, once it has been enriched with the electrostatic charges produced by the ion generator, it directs it towards the inside of the compartment to be sanitized via a discharge opening situated in the rear wall of the appliance.
- the main object of the present invention is therefore to eliminate the drawbacks of the solutions of the known type mentioned above, by providing a refrigerating appliance with a sanitization device which allows sanitization of the internal compartment thereof, improving the conservation of the foodstuffs which can be kept inside it.
- Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerating appliance, the sanitization device of which is perfectly efficient also where walls made of dielectric material are present.
- a further object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerating appliance which is safe and operationally entirely reliable.
- the furniture unit in question may advantageously be made in any style and of any material, in particular of the type commonly used for the manufacture of electric household appliances or refrigerated cabinets and counters.
- the refrigerating appliance may consist both of a door-type refrigerator as well as a food storage buffet with suitable display shelves and a refrigerated food display cabinet.
- a door-type refrigerating appliance for example of the type for domestic use, it being understood, however, that it may also consist of the other abovementioned appliances without thereby departing from the scope of protection of the present patent.
- the furniture unit comprises in particular a support structure - denoted generically by 2 - resting on the ground for example by means of legs and defining internally a storage compartment 4.
- the latter is intended to contain any type of foodstuff which requires refrigeration for correct conservation over time and in particular for storing products for domestic use such as meat, cheese, drinks, fruit and vegetables or similar products which, as is known, require a carefully controlled conservation temperature.
- the refrigerating appliance 1 consists of a machine for domestic use provided at the bottom with a freezing section and at the top with an actual refrigerating section.
- the term "refrigerating appliance” must be understood as meaning not only a refrigerator for domestic use in the conventional form, shown by way of example in the accompanying figures, but also any other type of refrigerator for domestic or industrial use and of any shape or size.
- the inside of the compartment 4 is provided, in a manner which is entirely conventional per se, with guides 5 supporting shelves 3, only some of which have been shown, for storing the food which is to be preserved.
- the shelves will have the function of displaying the products.
- the refrigerating appliance 1 also comprises a refrigerating device which is mechanically and functionally connected to the compartment, for refrigerating the products contained inside it.
- the refrigerating device may for example be formed, in an entirely conventional manner, by evaporation coils which are arranged inside the walls or by a compressor and by a condenser which are housed on the support structure 2 in the bottom and rear part of the refrigerating appliance.
- the compartment 4 has a substantially box-shaped form and is delimited by insulating walls, comprising two side walls 6 and 7, a bottom 8, a rear wall 9, an upper wall 10 and one or more doors which are pivotably mounted on hinges (not shown in the figures). All of the abovementioned walls and doors are insulated or thermally isolated so as to preserve the products without loss of heat to the external environment. For this purpose, they preferably consist of plastics which behave in terms of electrical properties in the manner of dielectric materials which are able to absorb with extreme ease electrostatic charges.
- the refrigerating appliance is provided with a sanitization device 20 which is fixed onto the upper wall 10 of the compartment 4, underneath a shaped cover 12.
- Ventilation means 11 able to produce an air flow and cause it to circulate inside the compartment 4 and for example consisting simply of a low-power electric motor connected to a propeller or a centrifugal fan.
- Intake and emission of air is performed via openings bounded by the cover 12 and denoted by the numbers 14 and 15, respectively, or by means of frontal direct flow towards the end wall 9.
- a duct 13 is provided adjacent to the rear wall 9 of the compartment 4 and connected directly to the cover 12 (or protective housing) so as to convey the air flow by means of diffusers 16 at different heights, for example situated opposite the shelves 3.
- an electrostatic filter 17 is also provided, being arranged so as to intercept the air flow in order to capture most of the particles and the micro-organisms present in the air sucked in together with the dust.
- the electrostatic filter 17 is able to introduce inside the said air flow a quantity of ozone, which is of a limited amount, so as to avoid in any case exceeding the levels which are permitted by the existing regulations, for example an amount advantageously less than 0.2 ppm.
- the electrostatic filter 17 consists of a positive ionization section and a capturing section, the latter being formed by means of an alternating arrangement of positively charged earth plates arranged facing each other, or a capturing section formed by an alternating arrangement of positively or negatively charged earth plates arranged facing each other.
- Ionization means 18 are also envisaged for introducing a concentration of positive and/or negative charges into the air flow, able to produce, together with the ozone, a mixture having a microbicidal sanitizing action.
- the air treated by the ventilation means 11 and sucked in by the volume of the compartment 4 is therefore subjected to the microbicidal and filtering action of the electrostatic filter 17 and only then is introduced again into the compartment 4, preferably via the diffusers 16 so as to produce the circulation of an air flow which is able to convey the microbicidal mixture such that it passes over the surfaces of the walls and, if present, the products contained inside the compartment 4, sanitizing them. Therefore, advantageously the ventilation means treat exclusively the air present inside the compartment causing the flow to pass over the surfaces of the walls and, where present, the products contained inside the compartment. This may substantially also occur in the case of a buffet owing to the stratification of air which occurs inside it and even though the compartment is not physically closed off from the external environment.
- the ionization means comprise electrodes of different polarity consisting of charge emitters situated at a distance from each other with preferably first emitters 18A, for example for negative charges, arranged on the first side wall 6 of the compartment 4 and second emitters 18B, for example for positive charges, which are arranged on the second side wall 7 of the compartment 4 facing the first wall.
- the emitters are arranged opposite the diffusers 16, whereas, if the distribution duct 13 is not present, the ionization means may be arranged along the side walls and/or in the delivery air flow as schematically indicated by the numbers 18 A, B and C in Figure 6.
- the device 20 is suitable for being installed also in refrigerators of the conventional type and advantageously both those of the type with a duct 13 for circulating air so as to prevent condensation (so-called "no-frost" fridges) and those which do not have this duct.
- the emitters 18 will be arranged opposite the diffusers 16, while in the case of the latter they are arranged in the region of the emission opening 15 or in both cases in the opposite walls. In this latter case it may also be envisaged providing first emitters in the region of the first emission opening and second emitters along one or both the walls.
- the emission of charges by the electrodes is advantageously performed by taking advantage of the corona effect of the emitters 18 which for this purpose are suitably shaped with a pointed form and preferably are printed in circuits provided on strip-like supports which are mounted on the side walls of the compartment 4. Alternatively, only one emitter will have a pointed shape while the other emitter will have a plate-like form simply in order to attract the charges produced by the other pointed emitter.
- the microbicidal mixture causes a reduction in the bacterial and microbial content in general, not only in the treated air of the volume of the compartment 4 but also over all the surfaces with which it comes into contact.
- the refrigerating appliance according to the present invention has proved to be surprisingly effective in preventing the development of microbial species which are of interest from a hygienic/sanitary point of view and which may contaminate the food preserved in the compartment 4.
- Numerous comparative tests carried out on refrigerating appliances of the known type and on refrigerating appliances according to the invention have, for example, shown that there is a surprising reduction, even after only a few hours, of the micro-organism cells (for example surfaces populated with the micro-organisms "Listeria innocua” and "Escherichia coli" were tested) only in refrigerators with the sanitization device according to the invention. This reduction proved to be of the order of two logarithms already after 24 hours.
- the utility of the refrigerating appliance 1 according to the invention lies in the capacity of the sanitization device 20 installed on it to create an environment which is constantly sanitized, preventing contamination between contact surfaces and food.
- the invention therefore achieves the predefined objects.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Thermal Sciences (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Cold Air Circulating Systems And Constructional Details In Refrigerators (AREA)
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| ITPD20060205 ITPD20060205A1 (it) | 2006-05-23 | 2006-05-23 | Apparecchio frigorifero con dispositivo di sanificazione |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| EP1860391A2 true EP1860391A2 (en) | 2007-11-28 |
Family
ID=38462447
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| EP20070010123 Withdrawn EP1860391A2 (en) | 2006-05-23 | 2007-05-22 | Refrigerating applicance with sanitization device |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| EP (1) | EP1860391A2 (it) |
| IT (1) | ITPD20060205A1 (it) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2014033641A3 (en) * | 2012-08-29 | 2014-05-30 | Indesit Company S.P.A. | Refrigerating appliance, in particular for household use, comprising at least one device for generating ozone and/or ionized air |
| EP3409371B1 (de) * | 2017-05-31 | 2020-02-26 | BSH Hausgeräte GmbH | Haushaltsgerät mit filtereinheit, verfahren zur bestimmung der sättigung einer filtereinheit eines haushaltsgerätes |
-
2006
- 2006-05-23 IT ITPD20060205 patent/ITPD20060205A1/it unknown
-
2007
- 2007-05-22 EP EP20070010123 patent/EP1860391A2/en not_active Withdrawn
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2014033641A3 (en) * | 2012-08-29 | 2014-05-30 | Indesit Company S.P.A. | Refrigerating appliance, in particular for household use, comprising at least one device for generating ozone and/or ionized air |
| EP3409371B1 (de) * | 2017-05-31 | 2020-02-26 | BSH Hausgeräte GmbH | Haushaltsgerät mit filtereinheit, verfahren zur bestimmung der sättigung einer filtereinheit eines haushaltsgerätes |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| ITPD20060205A1 (it) | 2007-11-24 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUAI | Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012 |
|
| AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A2 Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR |
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| AX | Request for extension of the european patent |
Extension state: AL BA HR MK YU |
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| STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN |
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| 18D | Application deemed to be withdrawn |
Effective date: 20101201 |