WO2006121255A2

WO2006121255A2 - Method and system for preventing dew condensation in storage room

Info

Publication number: WO2006121255A2
Application number: PCT/KR2006/001671
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sung Taee Lee
Original assignee: Sung Taee Lee
Priority date: 2005-05-09
Filing date: 2006-05-03
Publication date: 2006-11-16
Also published as: WO2006121255A3

Abstract

The system of for preventing dew condensation in storage room is comprised of: building a storage room having the restricted space, an air conditioning apparatus (30) connected to the storage room, and an air conditioning room (20) having the air conditioning apparatus (30) in the other space; transforming the air in the air conditioning room (20) into the dry air under a predetermined humidity by the air conditioning apparatus (30); flowing the transformed dry air in the air conditioning room (20) into the storage room through the dry air flow slot (25); and discharging a humid air existing in the storage room through an one way discharge slot, by the density difference between the dry air blown in the storage room and the humid air exiting in the storage room. The system can be used to effectively remove the vapor in the storage room even if the system operates intermittently, not continuously, thus avoiding completely dew condensation.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PREVENTING DEW CONDENSATION IN STORAGE ROOM

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a method and system for preventing dew condensation in storage room by which humidity can be removed from a restricted space, such as a shot locker, achieves, an underground facility, underground library and crypt, dew condensation condition of the storages rooms can be solved, and, more specifically, for a method and system for preventing dew condensation in storage room in which the air conditioning apparatus separated from a storage room is provided, characteristic of the air of the air processing room is transformed, by the air conditioning apparatus, as the condition having temperature and humidity where no dew can be formed, and then the transformed air of the air processing room is pushed into the storage room, and the air of the storage room can be exhausted, thereby avoiding dew condensation in the storage rooms both economically and completely. Background Art

[2] Air contains a little amount of water vapor (about 1 %), and the water vapor is in a gas state, and mixed with the air, thereby easily floats in the space. The maximum amount (saturation state) of water vapor being contained in the air, that is, volume of water vapor, is changeable depending on temperature under same pressure. The higher temperature, the more volume the saturation water vapor has. The lower temperature, the less volume the saturation water vapor has.

[3] The relative humidity of the air (normally called "humidity") is expressed as a percentage of the ratio of the amount of water that is present in the air to the saturation amount that would be possible for the air to hold at that temperature. When the relative humidity reaches saturation point (100 %), no more water can be added to the air.

[4] If the amount of vapor that is present in the air increases above the saturation level at the same temperature or the temperature of the vapor is reduced at the saturation state, no more surplus vapor can be contained in the air, and it is condensed to convert into water. The temperature at which relative humidity reaches to 100% is called as the dew point, and this phenomena is called as dew condensation.

[5] The condensation condition has often been noticed around our circumstances, causing many problems. For instance, we got a lot of water on the walls in the winter due to the temperature difference between the inside and the outside. The vapor in the air contacts the cool wall, thus vapor's temperature drops below the dew point, and the vapor is converted to water. It makes the wall contaminated and mildew is formed. Especially, the dew condensation seriously arises at where there is poor air circulation such as the back side of a cabinet.

[6] Of course, good insulation can be adapted at the wall so that the temperature of the wall' s surface increases above the dew point of the indoor humid air. Proper circulation can be employed to avoid stagnation of the humid air. Constrains of the humidity inside can prevent dew condensation from forming to some extent. Despite the fact that active ventilation can hardly obtain the characteristics of a storage room, or that many stock is densely stored, it is very hard to prevent the dew condensation from occurring by using only insulation and ventilation.

[7] Especially, under the condition that the inside state meets with the dew formation circumstance, the air circulation using only ventilation makes more contact with humid air. It brings a very serious condition, at which water drops on the floor.

[8] At the place where high security and more storability are required, such as a shot locker, achieves, an underground facility, underground library and crypt, preventing dew is very important in nature.

[9] Here is provided the explanation about a shot locker where the serious problem of the dew condensation exists.

[10] The shot locker, generally, is covered by soil wherever it is located under a ground or on the ground. Only the front area which has an explosion proof door "D" is exposed. A vent is provided at the lower portion of the explosion proof door for internal ventilation. A non power exhaust fan is provided at the rear on the roof.

[11] Therefore, an inside space's temperature of the shot locker has a relatively lower temperature in the summer, and is relatively higher in the winter compared to the outside, thus having big difference of temperature between the inside space and the outside. Fig. 1 shows temperature distribution of the inside space of a shot locker "C" in the summer according to the prior art. As shown in the Figure, air near the discharging hole "S" has a high temperature, but the farther it moves away from both the discharging hole "S" and an exhaust fan "F", the lower the temperature becomes. It has a distinguished temperature difference against an outside (about 30⁰C).

[12] It shows that there is a poor efficiency of ventilation in a conventional shot locker

"C". When the high humid and high temperature air of the outside comes into the shot locker "C" in the summer, the dew condensation has been formed in many areas of the shot locker "C" as illustrated by an oblique line.

[13] Fig. 2 shows a storage state of ammunition, a formation layer of air, and an air flow at the shot locker according to a prior art. To get easy access, ammunition is not stored near the front area of the shot locker "C", but is densely stored at the rear area of the shot locker "C" in layers. Air passing through the discharging hole "S" is blocked by the accumulation of ammunition "A" and receives high flow resistance, thus no air can reach to the back space of the shot locker "C". [14] Therefore, there is flow congestion at the rear and bottom space of the shot locker

"C". The densely stored area of ammunition has an air layer "A " formation having low temperature and high humidity. [15] The air layer "A " of the shot locker "C" has a heavier density than the outside air having high temperature and high humidity, and also than the air layer "A " of the shot

H locker "C" having high temperature and high humidity, thus staying near the floor area of the shot locker "C".

[16] Even if the outside air flows into the shot locker "C" through the discharge hole

"S", no convention occurs at the lower bottom of the shot locker. The outside air is not supplied into the air layer "A " having low temperature and high humidity, and goes up to be exhausted through the exhaust fan "F". The air layer "A " is not exhausted from the shot locker "C", while the humidity of the outside air is supplied into the shot locker "C".

[17] In the summer, the outside air having high temperature and high humidity flows into the shot locker and meets with the low temperature air, the dew condensation occurs due to the drop of the saturated vapor pressure. Especially, air having high temperature and high humidity contacts the surface of ammunition "A" having high the rmal conductivity and relative lower temperature, the temperature of the air abruptly drops. The amount of vapor is condensed so that much water "M" appears on the surface of ammunition "A". The dew condensation continues in the summer, and the surface of ammunition has always water thereon, which causes ammunition to be eroded.

[18] In the winter, the outside dry air having low temperature comes into the shot locker, and the humid air having high temperature near ammunition "A" goes up due to a density difference between the dry air and is exhausted out from the shot locker "C". Dew condensation at least occurs on the surface of ammunition in the winter. At this time, it means that the humid air having high temperature near ammunition "A" is higher compared to the outside air. Actually, the humid air having high temperature near ammunition "A" is same as the air layer "A " having low temperature and high humidity which has been explained above.

[19] However, the surface of ammunition having water "M" thereon has started to erode in the summer, corrosion has continued even in the winter. As time goes by, the rusted ammunition must be scrapped. Otherwise, all ammunition should be taken out to shave rust from the surface of ammunition and an additional painting operation should be performed, which must be done periodically.

[20] On the other hand, to solve these problems, many plans have been sought.

Typically, the following methods have been studied: increasing the temperature of the storage room and reducing relative humidity; installing de-humidifier in the storage room; and distributing dew condensation with providing additional metal material at a storage room.

[21] First, in the method of increasing the temperature of the storage room and reducing relative humidity, no effect can be obtained at storage room. It is why the temperature of heavy material stored in the storage room should be increased in order to increase temperature of the storage room. In case of slightly increasing temperature of heavy material, some amount of energy must be required, thus being non-economical.

[22] For example, when hundreds of tonnages of ammunition are kept in the shot locker, and air must be in contact with ammunition, it is impossible to increase the temperature of only the air, not ammunition. It needs a great amount of energy to increase the temperature of ammunition as well as the air in the shot locker. Therefore, no effect is achieved in methods such as installing heater at the shot locker, and laying electrical coil on a floor of the shot locker.

[23] Second, in a method of installing a de-humidifier in the storage room, it also does not change the effect. The reason is that the thin density air can not push out the thick density air from a conventional storage room.

[24] That is, the air flowing into the de-humidifier contacts with the material having a low temperature, and the wet vapor is converted into water by the above mentioned dew condensation, thus reducing a level of humidity. However, as the air is discharged from the de-humidifier, the air must pass through radiant fins and thus the temperature of the discharging air is higher than that of the air flowing into the de-humidifier, which brings a problem.

[25] Therefore, the method of employing a de-humidifier can obtain less effective where materials are stored. Especially, worst when many materials should be densely stored at a certain place- such as a shot locker.

[26] Since the air being discharged from the de-humidifier is lighter weight and higher temperature than the air surrounding the de-humidifier, the discharge air goes up in the storage room. Furthermore, the air being supplied into the storage room is composed with a relatively flow free air having a high temperature, and the air passes directly through the upper portion of the storage room, not through the lower portion thereof. There is no circulation of the humid air having a low temperature staying at the lower portion of the shot locker, where the dehumidifying and an avoidance of dew condensation should be achieved. Thus, no dehumidifying can be obtained.

[27] If the de-humidifier sucks the wet air between the stored material and then the dry air discharges toward the space between the stored material, a blower having a larger capacity must be required, depending on the space between stored material. Also, it needs the energy for operating both the blower and the de-humidifier. Eventually, it is efficient.

[28] Finally, there is a study in that metal having a high level of heat conductivity is provided in the storage room, and dew condensation appears first on the additional metal. This method works well when no humidly is on the metal, but the efficiency significantly decreases when a humid state continues on the metal.

[29] Once the dew condensation exists on the surface of the metal, the heat conductivity of the metal decreases. As the water is condensed, the metal absorbs the heat generated to increase the temperature of the metal. At last, the temperature of the metal is equal to the temperature of the stored material, thus arriving at a heat equilibrium.

[30] In this method, as time passes by, the efficiency of de-humidifying decreases.

Finally, the additional metal has sustained the dew generation condition under the same condition as the stored part in the storage room. The effect has been achieved only that the total volume of dew condensation is divided by the volume of both the stored material and the stored metal. The level of condensation is almost the same as the case when no metal is provided.

[31] In the case of this method, as many metal materials as possible should be placed in the storage room compared with the volume of the stored product. It does not fall in with the intrinsic purpose of the storage room that must store particular products. For instance, if less volume of ammunition is stored in the shot locker and large volumes of metal material is placed in the shot lacker, the total amount of dew condensation formed on the ammunition can be reduced. As time goes by, the degree of dew condensation formed on each ammunition can equal to the state that does not adapt the metal material.

[32] Also, another method was considered, in which the space between each stored material in the storage room can be made wide. However, in proportion as the space widens, increase rent and construction cost should be required to build more shot lockers, thus it is virtually not impossible. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[33] Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for preventing dew condensation in storage room by which it won't be impeded by the storage density of material in the storage room, and even if the system operates intermittently, not continuously, the vapor in the storage room can effectively be removed, and dew condensation in the storage room can be avoided completely.

[34] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for preventing dew condensation in storage room in which it is not necessary that additional metal material for dew condensation or de-humidifier can be installed, and the temperature in the storage room increases; by which avoiding dew condensation in the storage rooms both economically and completely.

[35] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for preventing dew condensation in storage room in which the air in the storage room can be transformed into the air having a condition where no dew can be formed; by which avoiding dew condensation in the storage rooms effectively.

[36] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for preventing dew condensation in storage room in which dew condensation can be effectively avoided by the underground low temperature; by which the high energy efficiency system can be gained.

[37] Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for preventing dew condensation in storage room for embodying the methods described above.

[38] In order to accomplish the above object, method for preventing dew condensation in storage room is comprised of the following processes: building a storage room having the restricted space and an one way fan, an air conditioning apparatus connected to the storage room, and an air conditioning room having the air conditioning apparatus in the other space; transforming the air in the air conditioning room into the dry air under a predetermined humidity where it is difficult to form dew, by the air conditioning apparatus; flowing the transformed dry air in the air conditioning room into the storage room through the dry air flow slot; and discharging a humid air existing in the storage room through an one way discharge slot, by the density difference between the dry air blown in the storage room and the humid air exiting in the storage room.

[39] Further, in accordance with a preferred feature of this invention, the air in the air conditioning room is transformed into an humid low temperature air having high density, and the transformed air is flown in a low portion of the storage room, the new flowing air in the storage room pushes up the humid high temperature air existed in the storage room by the density difference between the new air and the existed air, and the humid high temperature air is discharged through an one way exhaust means disposed on a roof of the storage room, which is operated by pressure difference in the one way exhaust means.

[40] Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred feature of this invention, the air in the air conditioning room is transformed into the dry high temperature air having low density, and the transformed air is flown in an upper portion of the storage room, the new flowing air in the storage room pushes down the humid low temperature air existed in the storage room by the density difference between the new air and the existed air, and the humid low temperature air is discharged through an one way exhaust means disposed on a low portion of a wall of the storage room, which is operated by pressure difference in the one way exhaust means.

[41] Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred feature of this invention, method for preventing dew condensation in storage room is comprised of the following processes: building a storage room having the restricted space and an one way fan, and covering all exterior of the storage room except the gate by soil; installing an air conditioning passage having a zigzag form, and the passage buried under the soil, and being at a predetermined angel with respect to the horizontal to connect to the storage room; transforming the humid high temperature air in the outside or the inside of the storage room into a dry low temperature air, after being passed through the air conditioning passage by a fan; blowing the transformed dry low temperature air in the air conditioning passage into the storage room by a fan installed at the inside of the air conditioning apparatus; and discharging the humid high temperature air through the one way exhaust means by density difference between the dry low temperature air flowing in the storage room and the humid high temperature air existed in the storage room.

[42] Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred feature of this invention, the temperature and the humidity of the air passing through the air conditioning passage can be detected, and the air is supplied to the storage room when the detected value is under a predetermined value, and if the detected value is above a predetermined value, an outlet/inlet of the air conditioning passage are closed, and the air is transformed by the air conditioning apparatus into the condition in which the transformed air has under a predetermined value, and the transformed air is supplied to the storage room.

[43] In order to accomplish the above object, system for preventing dew condensation in storage room is comprised of a storage room having an one way exhaust hole provided on a roof or a wall, and a gate provided at a wall, thereby forming a restricted space; an air conditioning room that is interconnected with the storage room, and that temporarily reserves air to be transformed into dry condition being difficult to form dew; an air conditioning apparatus transforming air in the air conditioning room into dry air having below predetermined humidity; a dry air inflow apparatus forcedly flowing the transformed dry air in the air conditioning room into the storage room; and an exhaust means that exhausts the high humidity air in the storage room by the dry air which is taken by the dry air inflow apparatus.

[44] Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred feature of this invention, the air conditioning room is comprised of a cooling housing having a restricted space, a freezer for cooling an inner space of the cooling housing under predetermined temperature, a de-humidity unit that is disposed in the cooling housing for taking the air in the air conditioning room into the unit and excluding vapor and salt contained in air by heat- exchange process, and a fan for blowing the air into the de-humidity unit, thereby transforming the air into the dry low temperature air having predetermined humidity. [45] Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred feature of this invention, the air conditioning room is comprised of a cooling housing having a restricted space, a freezer for cooling an inner space of the cooling housing under predetermined temperature, a de-humidity unit that is disposed in the cooling housing for taking the air in the air conditioning room into the unit and excluding vapor and salt contained in the air by heat-exchange process, a heating unit disposed at an outer surface of the cooling housing for heating the air that goes through de-humidity unit, and a fan for blowing the air into the de-humidity unit and the heating unit, thereby transforming the air into the dry high temperature air having predetermined low humidity.

[46] Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred feature of this invention, the dry air inflow apparatus is comprised of a piston plate placed in the air conditioning room, an actuator for giving a reciprocating motion to the piston plate, and a check valve installed on the piston plate for being closed when the inflow of dry air, and for being opened when the closed circuit.

[47] Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred feature of this invention, the exhaust means is comprised of a pressure operating check valve means, when pressure of the storage room is higher than atmospheric pressure cause by pressure increase dry air flows into the storage room from the air conditioning room, the valve means opens to discharge an inner air, while when the pressure of the storage is lower than atmospheric pressure, the valve means closes to block an outer air flow. Technical Solution

[48] In order to accomplish the above object, system for preventing dew condensation in storage room is comprised of a storage room having a gate provided at a wall, forming a restricted space, and covering all exterior of the storage room except the gate by soil; an air conditioning passage that is installed under the soil covering and is interconnected with the storage room by an end of the air condition passage, and having a zigzag form in an up and down direction, thereby transforming an outer air having high temperature and high humidity into air having low temperature and low humidity so as to make cooling and de-humidifying operation; a fan for blowing an outer air into the air conditioning passage; an apparatus for closing/opening the air conditioning passage; and an exhaust means that exhausts the high humidity/temperature air in the storage room by the density difference with the low temperature dry air which is taken through the air conditioning passage.

[49] Furthermore, in accordance with a preferred feature of this invention, the air conditioning apparatus is comprised of a cooling housing having a restricted space; a freezer for cooling the cooling housing below predetermined temperature; a de- humidity unit housed in the cooling housing for removing vapor and salt embedded in air of the air conditioning passage by heat exchange; and a fan for blowing the air of the air conditioning passage to the de-humidity unit.

Advantageous Effects [50] The present invention effectively solves the problem of dew condensation due to the temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the storage room where high security and more storability are required, such as a shot locker, achieves, etc. Furthermore, the system can be operated intermittently according to humidity level of the storage room, and dew condensation can be completely avoided, thus giving large effect on reliability, economical efficiency, and safety.

Brief Description of the Drawings [51] The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[52] Fig. 1 is a temperature distribution diagram of a conventional shot locker;

[53] Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view and a schematic view illustrating an air flow in the conventional shot locker; [54] Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the first embodiment of system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to the present invention; [55] Fig. 4 is a partial cut off view taken along arrow IX of Fig. 3 ;

[56] Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line V-V of Fig. 3;

[57] Fig. 6 is a schematic partial cut off front view showing a first air conditioning apparatus; [58] Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a first check valve taken along line VII-VII of

Fig. 5;

[59] Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the exhaust means of Fig. 3;

[60] Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the first embodiment; [61] Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the second embodiment of system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to the present invention; [62] Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of Fig. 10;

[63] [64] Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the third embodiment of system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to the present invention; [65] Fig. 13 is a schematic partial cut off perspective view taken along line VIE of Fig.

10;

[66] Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XIV-XTV of Fig. 12;

[67] Fig. 15 is a schematic partial cut off front view showing a second air conditioning apparatus;

[68] Fig. 16 is a cross-sectional view of a second check valve taken along line XVI-XVI of Fig. 14;

[69] Fig. 17 is a cross-sectional view showing an exhaust hole of Fig. 14;

[70] Fig. 18 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the fourth embodiment of system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to the present invention;

[71] Fig. 19 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XIX-XIX of Fig. 18;

[72] Fig. 20 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the fifth embodiment of system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to the present invention; and

[73] Fig. 21 is a schematic partial cut off side view of Fig. 20.

Mode for the Invention

[74] This invention will be described in further detail by way of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[75] Figs. 3 to 9 show the first embodiment of system for preventing dew condensation in a storage room according to the present invention. This configuration is that the dry air having low temperature is taken into a storage room 10, and the humid air having high temperature in the storage room 10 can be discharged using density difference between the dry air and the humid air.

[76] The system, as shown in Figs. 3 to 5, is comprised of the storage room 10 having a restricted space inner room, an air conditioning room 20 that is provided in a different room from the storage room 10, an air conditioning apparatus 30 for transforming the humid air of the air conditioning room 20 into the dry air in which it is difficult to form dew, a dry air inflow apparatus 40 to force the transformed dry air of the air conditioning room 20 into the storage room 10, and an exhaust means 50 that exhausts the high humidity air from the storage room 10 by the dry air which is taken in from the air conditioning room 20.

[77] The storage room 10 has a gate (not shown) provided at the wall to allow goods to access. An exhaust hole 13 is provided at a roof 12 of the storage room 10. Furthermore, under the roof 12 a humidity sensor 15 and a temperature sensor 16 are installed for detecting humidity and temperature of the inner room 11 and for having control of the air conditioning apparatus 30 and the dry air inflow apparatus 40.

[78] The air conditioning room 20 may be configured as a single cavity separated from the storage room 10. Preferably, the air conditioning room 20 can be configured in the storage room 10 partitioning the inner room 11 with an insulation wall 21. It does not matter that only one air conditioning room 20 is provided, but an air conditioning room 20 can be provided at both end of the storage room 10 so that the humid air of storage room 10 can be rapidly pushed out through the two storage rooms 10. [79] The air conditioning room 20 is divided into a processing room 23 and a machine room 24 by the insulation partition 22. In the processing room 23, the dry air can be transformed, and in the machine room 24, the air conditioning apparatus 30 is installed. Volume of the processing room 23 is larger than that of the machine room 24 so as to store more air in the processing room 23.

[80] A dry air inflow slot 25 is formed in a horizontal manner at the lower portion of the processing room's 23 insulation wall 21. A check valve plate 26 is provided at the insulation wall 23 facing the inner room 11 so that the check valve plate 26 closes the dry air inflow slot 25.

[81] The check valve plate 26 can be shaped as various configurations. For instance, the size of the check valve plate 26 is bigger than the dry air inflow slot 25. The top edge of the check valve plate 26 is hinged to the insulation wall 21. Normally, the check valve plate 26 closes the dry air inflow slot 25 so as to block the air flow from the inner room 11 to the processing room 23. The check valve plate 26 can be opened by the inflow air pressure whenever the air flows into the inner room 11 from the air conditioning room 20.

[82] The check valve plate 26 is in a vertical position due to it' s own weight, and attaches closely onto the insulation wall 21 so as to close the dry air inflow slot 25. The check valve plate 26 opens when the pressure of the processing room 23 is larger than the pressure (atmospheric pressure) of the inner room 11.

[83] An outside air inlet pipe 27 is provided at the upper area of the processing room 23 for taking outside air into the processing room 23. One end of the outside air inlet pipe 27 is located above the upper dead end of the piston plate 41 of the dry air inflow apparatus 40 which will be explained later. Another end of the outside air inlet pipe 27 is extended through the machine room 24 to a wall of the storage room 10.

[84] The processing room 23 is partitioned into an upper chamber 23a and a lower chamber 23b by the piston plate 41, in which both chambers 23a, 23b have a variable volume, respectively. The one end of the outside air inlet pipe 27 is interconnected with the upper chamber 23a. When the piston plate 41 drops and the dry air of the processing room 23 is taken into the inner room 11, which makes a pressure difference between the outside and the processing room 23, thus the air outside can be taken in.

[85] Furthermore, at the processing room 23, a humidity sensor 28 and a temperature sensor 29 are installed for detecting humidity and temperature of the processing room 23 and having control of the air conditioning apparatus 30 and the dry air inflow apparatus 40. It is preferable that the humidity and temperature sensor 28, 29 are installed at the piston plate 41 so as not to hinder an up/down movement of the piston plate 41.

[86] Other directional movement for the piston plate 41 is not illustrated in an individual drawing, but it is sure that a forward/backward or right/left movement of the piston plate 41 can be available. In the case, the configuration of the air conditioning room 20 can be determined according to the movement of the piston plate 41.

[87] The air conditioning apparatus 30 that is installed in the machine room 24 can circulate the air in the processing room 23, and can transform the air into a dry low temperature air having predetermined humidity and temperature.

[88] As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the air conditioning apparatus 30 is comprised of a cooling housing 31 having a restricted space, a freezer 39 for cooling the inner space of the cooling housing 31 below a predetermined temperature, a de-humidity unit 32 that is disposed in the cooling housing 31 for introducing the air from the air conditioning room 20 into the de-humidity unit 32 and excluding vapor and salt contained in the air by a heat-exchanging process, and a fan 33 for blowing the air into the de-humidity unit 32. An inlet 31a and an outlet 31b of the cooling housing 31 are connected to the freezer 39, and the freezer 39 circulates the air of the cooling housing 31 continuously to cool down below predetermined temperature.

[89] The de-humidity unit 32 is comprised of a lower drain chamber 34 and an upper condensation chamber 35 that are distanced in an up/down manner, a plurality of condensation pipe 36 that are arranged between the chambers 34, 35 to connect two chambers 34, 35 and a wiper 37 for removing sweat on an inner surface of the condensation chamber 35.

[90] The drain chamber 34 is configured as a hopper to easily drain the condensate water, and a discharge valve 34b is provided at a discharge port 34a to control the discharge of the condensate water. It needs a proper discharge control since the drain chamber 34 is connected to an air duct 33a, and the air of the processing room 23 can be flowed in by the fan 33. Various control method for the drain valve 34b can be employed. More preferably, a water level sensor 34c can be employed, by which the water level of the drain chamber 34 can be detected.

[91] The condensation chamber 35 is shaped into a thin hexahedron, each having a predetermined width. Thus, vapor of the processing room 23 is easily condensed on the inner wall of the condensation chamber 35. Each wiper 37 can contact the mating walls. A modular filter 38 is provided at an outlet 35 of the condensation chamber 35, by which foreign substance e.g. dust, embedded on an air of the processing room 23 can be caught.

[92] The condensation pipe 36 has a coil or zigzag shape so that the air of the processing room 23 can pass through the condensation pipe 36 and can exchange enough heat with the cool air of the cooling housing 31. It is for the consideration that the condensation water removed from the exterior of the condensation pipe 36 and the upper condensation chamber 35 can easily flow down into the lower condensation chamber 34.

[93] The wiper 37 is arranged in a vertical position, so there is no interruption of flow of the air from the drain chamber 34 to the condensation chamber 35. The wiper 37 can be reciprocated in a horizontal manner by an actuator 37b. The wiper 37 must move against two inner wall of the condensation chamber 35. Thus, a blade 37a is provided at respective side of the wiper 37 (only one blade is shown in the drawing).

[94] The lower drain chamber 34, the upper condensation chamber 35 and the condensation pipe 36 are made of copper or aluminum having excellent thermal conductivity.

[95] The dry air inflow apparatus is comprised of a piston plate 41 being able to move up/down in the air conditioning room 21, thereby pushing the dry low temperature air into the inner room 11 (Fig. 4), an actuator 42 for moving the piston plate 41, and the first check valve 43 provided at the piston plate 41 and for venting the air of the processing room 23 only downward.

[96] The actuator 42 may have any form if the piston plate 41 can be moved up/down.

For instance, the actuator 42 can be comprised of a forward-reverse driving motor 44 having a reel 45 on its shaft, a plurality of wires 46 that are wound on the reel 45, each free end of respective wires being connected on the piston plate 41 in an even distance so as to hang the piston plate 41 in evenly level. Furthermore, the actuator 42 is comprised of a plurality of pulleys 47 that are provided in the upper chamber 23a at a predetermined interval in a horizontal manner and give guidance to a winding or unwinding of each wire 46. Each pulley is provided on the side wall 14 or the insulation wall 21.

[97] The first check valve 43, as shown in Fig. 7, is comprised of a tubular valve body

48 having valve opening 48a, 48b provided at the upper and an lower portion of the valve body 48, respectively, and the valve body 48 being provided at the installing opening 48, and an valve poppet 49 being housed in the valve body 48 and selectively closing each valve opening 48a, 48b. Around the circumference of the valve body 48 are provided a plurality of discharging holes 48c, through which the air of the upper chamber 23a flows into the lower chamber 23b when the piston plate 41 moves up.

[98] The valve poppet 49 is shaped like a funnel, and has a clearance between the valve poppet 49 and the valve body 48 so as to allow the valve poppet 49 to move smoothly during the upward movement of the piston plate 41.

[99] The exhaust means 50, as shown in Fig. 3, may be configured as any shape.

Preferably, as shown in Fig. 8, the exhaust means 50 can be made as pressure control valve being automatically opened/closed according to the amount of internal pressure of the storage room 10, by which the air inside of the storage room 10 can discharge, but the air outside can not flow into the storage room 10. [100] To perform the operation, the exhaust means 50 is comprised of a tubular valve body 51 tightly secured in the exhaust hole 13, a valve plate 52 for closing/opening the inflow opening 51a according to the pressure of the valve body 51, and a protection layer 54 having mesh shape, preventing the valve plate 52 from separating from the valve body 51 and preventing the insect or scud from flowing into the valve body 51.

[101] The valve plate 52 has smaller diameter than the inner diameter of the valve body

51 so as to form a discharge channel of the air. The valve plate 52 is placed on the rim 53 being formed along the inflow opening 51a. The valve plate 52 is made by a thin light plastic or rubber, and a round shape can be employed to be easy to use, but a rectangular can be used, by which any shape may be utilized.

[102] At the top of the valve body 51, a protection roof 55 is provided, which prevents the drain means 50 from being malfunctioned from heavy rain or snow, or prevents the water from flowing into the storage room 10. A plurality of exhaust holes 51b are formed around the circumference of the valve body 51.

[103] On the other hand, the system for preventing dew condensation in storage room is under the control of the central control apparatus (not shown). To achieve the control, each sensor 15, 16, 28, 29 and the air conditioning apparatus, and the dry air inflow apparatus can be connected to the central control apparatus through a circuit. In the central control apparatus, basic data are stored, in which contains humidity level of the storage room 10 and the humidity and temperature of a dry air to be supplied into the storage room 10.

[104] The operation of the first embodiment of he system for preventing dew condensation in storage room will be explained with reference to the attached drawings.

[105] First, the humidity sensor 15 and the temperature sensor 16 installed in the storage room 10 monitor the condition of the inner room 11 and the detected value is directed to the central control apparatus. The central control apparatus compares the data from the sensors 15, 16 with the stored basic data. If the detected humidity has a possibility for a dew formation, running signal is sent to the air conditioning apparatus 30.

[106] The air conditioning apparatus 30 starts to run, and circulates the air of the processing room 23 so as to transform it into the dry low temperature air.

[107] To explain this process in detail, according to the signal of the central control apparatus, the freezer 39 starts to run (Fig. 4). The air of the cooling housing 31 circulates to cool below a predetermined temperature (Fig. 6). At the same time, the fan 33 of the air conditioning apparatus 30 circulates the air of the lower chamber 23b through the de-humidity unit 32. The air circulation of the processing room 23 flows in the following direction: the air is taken from the upper portion of the upper chamber 23b and is discharged to the lower portion of the upper chamber 23b. It is because cool air is denser than the hot air, and the cool air always remains in the lower portion. [108] The air coming from the processing room 23 passes through the de-humidity unit

32, and heat exchanges with the cool air of the cooling housing 31. The vapor of the air is condensed on each inside surface of the condensation pipe 36 and the upper condensation chamber 35 due to the temperature drop of the air. At the same time, the salt from the air is removed along with the condensate water.

[109] In addition, the wiper 37 continuously removes the condensate water from the upper condensation chamber 35, thus the inside surface of the upper condensation chamber 35 always keeps a clean surface. The vapor of the air can be condensed easily, which gets a sure de-humidity.

[110] The condensate water runs down to collect in the lower drain chamber 34. Upon reaching a predetermined level, the water level sensor 34c opens the drain valve 34b to drain the condensate water out.

[Ill] The operation continues for a predetermined period, and the air of the processing room 23 is transformed into the dry low temperature air desired. The humidity sensor 28 and the temperature sensor 29 monitor the condition of the processing room 23. The detected signal is sent to the central control apparatus. The operation stop signal of the air conditioning apparatus 30 is actuated and the operation start signal of the dry air inflow apparatus 40 is sent out.

[112] The forward-reverse driving motor 44 rotates in a forward direction, and the driving wire 46 wound on the reel 45 is released. The piston plate 41 hanging from the driving wires 46 drops down due to its own weight.

[113] Volume of the lower chamber 23b decreases due to the drop of the piston plate 41 , which gives the pressure to the dry low temperature air. The valve poppet 49 of the first check valve 43 moves upward, which blocks the valve opening 48a of the valve body 48. The steady pressure is applied to the dry low temperature air confined in the lower chamber 23b, which has not been discharged to the upper chamber 23a.

[114] As the piston plate 41 moves down steadily, the air of the lower chamber 23b give pressure to the check valve 26 that has closed the dry air inflow slot 25. After a while, the check valve 26 opens and the air of the lower chamber 23b flows into the lower portion of the inner room 11.

[115] The dry low temperature air rushing to the inner room 11 has more weight than the humid high temperature air of the inner room 11. Volume from the dry low temperature air in the lower portion of the inner room 11 increases steadily, the humid high temperature air in the higher portion of the inner room 11 must be moved upward, eventually being discharged out through the exhaust means 50 disposed in the roof 12.

[116] That is, the air pressure in the storage room 10 increases, the dry low temperature air in the air conditioning room 20 comes in. The humid high temperature air goes up due to the difference in density against the dry low temperature air, thus pushing up the light valve plate 52.

[117] The valve plate 52, that is closely placed on the rim 53 by its weight, moves up apart from the rim 53 to open the inflow holes 51a (Fig. 8). The humid high temperature air pushed up by the dry low temperature air can be discharged through the exhaust hole 51b.

[118] After the humid high temperature air is discharged completely, the pressure of the storage room 10 drops to the atmospheric pressure. The valve plate 52 drops on the rim 53 by the weight of the valve plate. The inflow holes 51a close, thus blocking the inflow of the outside air.

[119] On the other hand, as the piston plate 41 moves down, the volume of the upper chamber 23a partitioned by the piston plate 41 (Fig. 4) increases so that the pressure of the upper chamber 23a decreases. Due to the relative low pressure of the upper chamber 23a, the air outside the storage room 10 flows into the upper chamber 23a via the outside air inlet pipe 27.

[120] The piston plate 41 reaches to the bottom of the processing room 23 and the dry low temperature air remaining at the lower chamber 23b is discharged completely to the inner room 11. The forward-reverse driving motor 44 rotates in a reward direction, and the released driving wire 46 is wound on the reel 45. The piston plate 41 moves up to the initial position.

[121] The relatively lower pressure is applied to the lower chamber 23b, and the open check valve plate 26 rotates along the hinge by its own weight (Fig. 3). The dry air inflow slot 25 closes so that it prevents the air in the inner room 11 from flowing into the air conditioning room 20.

[122] On the other hand, as the piston plate 41 moves up, the valve poppet 49 receives the pressures from the upper chamber 23a (Fig. 7) and moves down to close the lower valve opening 48b and close the upper valve opening 48a.

[123] During the upward movement of the piston plate 41, the air in the upper chamber

23a flows to the lower chamber 23b through the upper valve opening 48a and the discharging hole 48c. There is no pressure difference even if the volume of the upper chamber 23a decreases. It is the same as the lower chamber 23b, volume of which increases. The air does not seem to be moved, only piston plate 23 seems to have moved toward the upper portion of the processing room 23.

[124] The discharged air volume of the processing room 23 to the inner room 11 is filled with the air outside the storage room 10.

[125] Furthermore, the discharged air volume of the inner room 11 to the outside is the same as the supplied air volume of the inner room 11 from the lower chamber 23b. Since the dry low temperature air supplied to the inner room 11 from the air conditioning room 20 has different density to the air previously occupied in the inner room 11, the dry low temperature air remains in the lower portion of the inner room 11 with a border to the air previously occupied in the inner room 11.

[126] In an ideal case, the volume of the lower chamber 23b is the same as the volume of the inner room 11, and all air in the inner room 11 can be completely discharged by single up/down movement of the piston plate 41.

[127] However, in a practical case, or in the restricted size of the air conditioning room 20 for best space use, a border may form between the dry low temperature air flowing to the inner room 11 from the air conditioning room 20 and the air previously occupied in the inner room 11. The efficiency can be lowered due to the possible convention in the inner room 11. That is, since the humid high temperature air previously occupied at the inner room 11 coexists with the dry low temperature new air that flows into the inner room 11, the duration of time to reach the condition for a dew formation is relatively shortened.

[128] In this case, the humid high temperature air remained in the inner room 11 can be discharged completely by more than one repeated operation. It can be numerically controlled depending on the ratio of the volume of the inner room 11 to the volume of the lower chamber 23b. Otherwise, it can be controlled by the humidity sensor 15 and the temperature sensor 16 that monitor the condition of the inner room 11.

[129] The above mentioned procedure - air conditioning and air supplying - can be repeated until the amount of humidity in the inner room 11 measures up to the basic data stored at the central control apparatus. Thus, the humid high temperature air of the inner room 11 should be discharged steadily, and when the predetermined humidity is reached, the operation stops by the signal received from the humidity sensor 15.

[130] Considering the quality of the air and the humidity of the inner room 11 , the amount of energy needed has been calculated about the following two cases; one is that relative humidity of the inner room 11 can be lowered by raising temperature, another is that the air inside the inner room 11 can be pushed and exhausted using the inflowing dry low temperature air. It has confirmed that the pushing and exhausting method saves energy, thus being more economical.

[131] The operation of the air conditioning apparatus 30 can generate the heat. The heat can be exhausted outside, but to get more effective energy use, it is preferable that the heat returns to the inner room 11 to increase the temperature of the inner room 11.

[132] Fig. 9 illustrates a modified example of the first embodiment. The components of this embodiment are different from the first embodiment in that a dry air inflow apparatus 60 is further provided. The dry air inflow apparatus 60 is comprised of an outer air intaking tube 61 interconnecting the processing room 23 with the outside, a fan 62 for blowing the outside air into the processing room 23, and a means for closing off or opening the inner end of the outer air intaking tube 61. The outer air intaking tube 61 can adapt the outside air inlet tube 27 that was used in the first embodiment. [133] The close/open means may be configured in various shapes. For instance, the close/ open means is installed on the insulation partition 22 facing the processing room 23. The check valve plate 63 can be employed, a size of which is larger than a diameter of the outer air intaking tube 61. The check valve plate 63 is hinged to the insulation partition 22 using its top edge. The check valve plate 63 closes the out air intaking tube

61 by its own weight when no process is employed, while opens when in the outer air intaking process.

[134] In this embodiment, the air of the air conditioning room 20 is transformed into the desired dry low temperature air by the air conditioning apparatus 30. When the dry low temperature air flows into the inner room 11 through the dry air inflow slot 25, the fan

62 starts working to flow the outer air into the processing room 23 and then the air of the processing room 23 flows into the inner room 11.

[135] The outer air is forced into the processing room 23, and the check valve plate 63 opens due to the inflow pressure of the outer air. The relative high temperature fills the upper portion of the processing room 23 to increase the pressure of the processing room 23. The dry low temperature air occupied in the processing room 23 is pushed out, and flows to the dry air inflow slot 25 and opens the check valve plate 26, and finally flows into the inner room 11. At the same time, the outer air fills the processing room 23.

[136] Considering the volume of the processing room 23 and the air volume of the fan 62, the operating time of the fan 62 is controlled. Only dry low temperature air can be flown into the storage room 10.

[137] This embodiment has a simpler configuration than the first embodiment. Since there is no piston plate 41 in the processing room 23, all volume of the processing room 23 can be utilized, and more volume of the dry air can be supplied into the processing room 23.

[138] Figs.10 and 11 illustrate the second embodiment of the system for preventing dew condensation in a storage room according to the present invention. The components of this embodiment are different from the first embodiment in that the outside air inlet pipe 27 of the first embodiment is removed. The second embodiment is comprised of an upper/lower slot 25a, 25b and an upper/lower check valve reed 26a, 26b. The upper slot 25a is provided at the upper portion of the insulation partition 21 and the lower slot 25b is provided at the lower portion of the insulation partition 21, by which the upper chamber 23a and the lower chamber 23b of the processing room 23 can interconnect to the inner room 11. The upper/lower check valve reed 26a, 26b are provided at the insulation partition 21 for closing/opening the upper/lower slot 25a, 25b, respectively. Thus, the inner air of the storage room 10 can be circulated to be transformed into the dry low temperature air.

[139] The upper check valve reed 26a is installed at the insulation partition 21 facing the processing room 23, while the lower check valve reed 26b is installed at the insulation partition 21 facing the inner room 11. The second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment in that the exhaust means 50 that discharges the humid high temperature air out of the inner room 11 is installed at the upper portion of the insulation partition 21 so as to interconnect to the upper chamber 23a.

[140] In the air conditioning apparatus 30, the air of the lower chamber 23b can be transformed into the dry low temperature air. The dry air inflow apparatus 40 starts working. As the piston plate 41 lowers, the first check valve 43 provided at the piston plate 41 is closed. The pressure of the dry low temperature air in the lower room 23b becomes higher as the volume thereof decreases. The high pressure air pushes the lower check valve reed 26b through the lower slot 25b. The air flows into the lower portion of the inner room 11 through the open lower check valve reed 26b.

[141] At the same tine, the volume in the upper room 23a increases, and the upper room

23a has the lower pressure. The humid high temperature air already occupied inside the inner room 11 goes up due to the density between the new dry low temperature air that flows into the inner room 11. The humid high temperature air turns to high pressure and opens the upper check valve reed 26a through the upper slot 25a, and finally flows into the upper chamber 23a.

[142] The volume of the dry low temperature air that flows into the inner room 11 is the same as the volume of the humid high temperature air that is discharged into the upper chamber 23a.

[143] As the downward movement of the piston plate 41 stops, there is a pressure balance between the upper chamber 23a, the lower chamber 23b and the inner room 11. The upper/lower check valve reed 26a, 26b rotate on the top edge of the respective check valve reeds due to its own weight, and close the respective slots 25a, 25b.

[144] After finishing the inflow of the dry low temperature air, the piston plate 41 moves up to the initial position to open the first check valve 43. Next, the humid high temperature air in the upper chamber 23a flows into the lower chamber 23b through the first check valve 43. The humid high temperature air that is discharged from the inner room 11 fills both the upper chamber 23a and lower chamber 23b.

[145] In this case, the humid high temperature air stored in the inner room 11 can be discharged completely by more than one repeated operation. It can be numerically controlled depending on the ratio of the volume inside the inner room 11 to the volume inside the lower chamber 23b. Otherwise, it can be controlled by the humidity sensor 15 and the temperature sensor 16 that monitor the condition of the inner room 11.

[146] The above mentioned procedure - air conditioning and air supplying - can be repeated depending on the result monitored by the humidity sensor 15 and the temperature sensor 16 that are installed inside the inner room 11. The inner room stays in a dry condition by which it is hard to form dew.

[147] Figs. 12 and 17 illustrate the third embodiment of the system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to the present invention. This structure, the light dry high temperature air is supplied to the inner room 11, thus discharging the humid high temperature air from the inner room 11.

[148] The components of third embodiment are the same as the components of first embodiment except some, therefore, the detailed description will be omitted for brevity's sake, denoting the same reference numerals of the same components described in the first embodiments. Hereafter, the air of the inner room 11 is described as the humid high temperature air, in which the air is low and humid in temperature and the humidity in compared to the dry high temperature air that is taken from the air conditioning room 20. The air explained as the humid high temperature air is the same as in the previous embodiment.

[149] In this embodiment, the dry air inflow slot 25 and the check valve plate 26 for supplying the dry air into the storage room 10 are placed at the top portion of the insulation partition 21 facing the processing room 23. The piston plate 41 is located at the lower portion of the processing room 23, which is near to the bottom of processing room 23. The one end of the outside air inlet pipe 27 is interconnected with the lower chamber 23b which is formed by the piston partition 41.

[150] It is very effective when the other end of the outside air inlet pipe 27 is installed near the top portion of the side wall 14, so the pipe has a down- ward bend to connect to the lower chamber 23b.

[151] As shown in Fig. 15, in the air conditioning apparatus 30, the fan 33 is provided at the lower portion of the upper chamber 23a. The de-humidity unit 32 housed in the cooling housing 31 is comprised of a lower drain chamber 34 and a condensation pipe 36. The air passes through the de-humidity 32 instead of the condensation chamber 35 (Fig. 6) to become a low temperature, after which the vapor and the salt are removed from the air. The air conditioning apparatus 30 also has further a heating unit 70 for heating the air to a predetermined temperature.

[152] The heating unit 70 is comprised of a heating chamber 71 provided above the cooling housing 31 and connected to the upper end of the condensation pipe 36, a heating wire 72 provided in the heating chamber 71 and heating the dry cool air, and an instillation plate 73 provided at the bottom of the heating chamber 71 and preventing the heat emitted from the heating wire 72 from conducting to the condensation pipe 36.

[153] At the upper end of the heating chamber 71, an exhaust hole 74 is formed to supply the heated air to the upper chamber 23a (Fig. 14). A removable filter 75 is provided in the entrance of the exhaust hole 74 to catch foreign material in the air passing through.

[154] As shown in Figs. 13 and 16, a second check valve 80 is provided on the piston plate 41 to vent the air of the lower chamber 23b to the upper chamber 23a. The second check valve 80 opens when the piston plate 41 moves downward, and closes when the piston plate 41 moves upward.

[155] The second check valve 80 has almost the same configuration as the exhaust means

50 except that a roof 55 is provided at the exhaust means 50. The second check valve 80 is comprised of a tubular valve body 81 having a rim 82 being formed along the valve hole 83, a light weight valve plate 84 placed on the rim 82 for closing/opening the valve hole 83, and a protection layer 85 having mesh shape, provided above the valve plate 84 and placed in the valve body 81.

[156] The exhaust means 50 is placed on the side wall 14 so as to vent the humid air having low temperature of the inner room 11 pushed down by the dry air having high temperature. To get more active ventilation, a connection pipe 56 can be further provided at the exhaust hole 13 in a horizontal manner, and the valve body 51 can be extended upward.

[157] In this embodiment, once it is detected that the air of the inner room 11 should be exhausted by the detected signal from the humidity sensor 15 (Fig. 12), the air in the upper chamber 23a directs through the de-humidity unit 32 and the heating unit 70, and is transformed to the dry air having a high temperature. The air is heated to more than the temperature of the inner room 11 that is detected by the temperature sensor 16. The temperature of the air is controlled by a temperature sensor 29 that detects the temperature of the air controlling room 20 (Fig. 13).

[158] The air in the processing room 23 reaches the humidity and the temperature needed, and the forward/reverse driving motor 44 starts running to lift the piston plate 41. At this time, the second check valve 80 receives the pressure from the dry/high temperature air in the upper chamber 23a, and the valve plate 84 closes the valve hole 83.

[159] As the piston plate 41 moves up, the volume of the dry/high temperature air in the upper chamber 23a decreases, and the air pressure of the upper chamber 23a increases. The high pressure air pushes the check valve plate 26 through the dry air inflow slot 25, and flows into the inner room 11.

[160] On the other hand, as the piston plate 41 moves up, the volume of the air in the lower chamber 23b increases, and the pressure of the lower chamber 23b decreases to lower than atmospheric pressure. Due to the low pressure in the lower chamber 23b, the air outside is sucked into the lower chamber 23b through the outside air inlet pipe 27. [161] While, comparing with the air previously occupied in the inner room 11, the new air taken into the inner room 11 has a relatively high temperature and lower humidity. The new air has a relatively lower density than the previous occupied air.

[162] In the inner room 11, the dry high pressure air pushes the humid low temperature air up. Since the inner room 11 has restricted space, the previous occupied air having a humid low temperature is being pressed by the new air having a dry high temperature that continuously comes into the inner room 11 from the upper chamber 23a. Finally, the humid low temperature air is discharged through the exhaust means 50.

[163] The piston plate 41 reaches to the top dead point of the processing room 23. There is pressure equilibrium between the upper chamber 23a and the inner room 11. The check valve plate 26 hinges down by its own weight and closes the dry air inflow slot 25. The air outside fills in the lower chamber 23b.

[164] After that, the forward-reverse driving motor 44 rotates in a reverse direction, and the piston plate 41 moves down to the initial position by its own weight. The movement of the piston plate 41 gives the valve plate 84 of the second check valve 80 an upward pressure, thus opens the valve hole 83.

[165] The air in the lower chamber 23b moves to the upper chamber 23a through the second check valve 80. There is no pressure difference even if the volume of both the upper and lower chamber 23a, 23b is changed. The air does not seem to be moved; only the piston plate 23 seems to be moved toward the lower portion of the processing room 23.

[166] After completing the down movement of the piston plate 41 , the operation of the system stops or the above mentioned steps are repeated depending on the volume of the dry high temperature air that is taken or the humidity level of the inner room 11.

[167] Figs. 18 and 19 illustrate the fourth embodiment of the system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to the present invention. The components of fourth embodiment are different from the third embodiment in that the exhaust means 50 and the outside air inlet pipe 27 of the third embodiment are removed, which is almost the same as the second embedment. The fourth embedment is comprised of an upper/lower slot 25a, 25b and an upper/lower check valve reed 26a, 26b. The upper slot 25a is provided at the upper portion of the insulation partition 21 and the lower slot 25b is provided at the lower portion of the insulation partition 21, by which the upper chamber 23a and the low chamber 23b of the processing room 23 can interconnect to the inner room 11. The upper/lower check valve reeds 26a, 26b are provided at the insulation partition 21 for closing/opening the upper/lower slot 25a, 25b, respectively. Thus, the inner air of the storage room 11 can be circulated to be transformed into the dry low temperature air. But, being opposite to the second embodiment, the upper check valve reed 26a is provided at the insulation partition 21 facing the inner room 11, while the lower check valve reed 26b is provided at the insulation partition 21 facing the processing room 23.

[168] The fourth embodiment is the same as the third embodiment in that the exhaust means 50 that discharges the humid high temperature air out of the inner room 11 is installed at the lower portion of the insulation partition 21 so as to interconnect to the lower chamber 23b.

[169] The pressure of the dry low temperature air of the lower room 23b becomes lower as the volume thereof increases. The high pressure air pushes the lower check valve reed 26b through the lower slot 25b. The air flows into the lower portion of the inner room 11 through the open lower check valve reed 26b.

[170] As the downward movement of the piston plate 41 stops, there is the pressure balance between the upper chamber 23a, the lower chamber 23b and the inner room 11. The upper/lower check valve reeds 26a, 26b rotate on the top edge of the respective check valve reeds due to its own weight, and close the respective slots 25a, 25b, respectively.

[171] After finishing the inflow of the dry low temperature air, the piston plate 41 moves up to the initial position to open the first check valve 43. Next, the humid high temperature air of the upper chamber 23a flows into the lower chamber 23b through the first check valve 43. The humid high temperature air that is discharged from the inner room 11 fills both the upper chamber 23a and lower chamber 23b.

[172] Figs. 20 and 21 illustrate the fifth embodiment of the system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to the present invention.

[173] The system is comprised of a storage room 10 having a gate 17 provided at the wall, having restricted space, and covering the entire exterior of the storage room 10 except the gate 17 by soil "E", and an air conditioning passage 90 that is installed under the soil "E" covering and is interconnected with the storage room 10 by the end of the air condition passage 90, and having a zigzag form in an up and down direction, thereby transforming the outer air having high temperature and high humidity into air having low temperature and low humidity so as to make cooling and de-humidifying operation. The system is further comprised of a fan 100 for blowing the outer air into the air conditioning passage 90, an apparatus for closing/opening the air conditioning passage 90, and a means 50 that exhausts the high humidity/temperature air in the storage room 10 by the density difference of the low temperature dry air which is taken through the air conditioning passage 90.

[174] The humidity sensor 15 and the temperature sensor 16 are provided at the ceiling 12 of the storage room 10 and to detect the humidity and the temperature in the storage room 10. The detected signal is sent to a central control apparatus (not shown) and controls the operation of the fan 100 and an air conditioning apparatus 30 which will be explained later.

[175] The air conditioning passage 90 is preferably made from copper pipe due to its excellent heat conductivity, and has a zigzag form in an up and down direction. One end of the air conditioning passage 90 is connected with the inner room 11. A U- shaped elbow socket 92 is employed at each joint where each straight pipe 91 should be connected. Since vapor from the air outside is condensed on each metal pipe 91, it is preferable that each metal pipe is installed at a predetermined angle (α) with respect to the horizontal so as to easily discharge of the condensed water.

[176] The inner space of the air conditioning passage 90 has to be large enough in volume to perform the similar function of the air conditioning room 20 which has been mentioned in the previous embodiments. A discharge pipe 93 is branched at the outlet end of the air conditioning passage 90 to discharge the condensed water. A discharge valve 94 closes and opens the discharge pipe 93. The discharge valve 94 can be controlled by a sensor (not shown) that detects the water level in the discharge pipe 93.

[177] The fan 100 is provided at the inlet end of the air conditioning passage 90. An apparatus for closing/opening the air conditioning passage 90 can be configured as a check valve plate that is not shown in figures. The check valve plate is hinged at the upper edge of the side wall 14 facing the inner space to close the upper end of the air conditioning passage 90. The check valve plate can be opened only by the flowing pressure of the air outside that is created by the fan 100. The exhaust means 50 is provided at the exhaust hole 13 formed at the ceiling 12, and its configuration and function are the same as the exhaust means 50 that has been explained before, thus the detailed description will be omitted for brevity.

[178] In this embodiment, if it is determined that the air in the storage room 11 should be discharged by the humidity sensor 15 and the temperature sensor 16, the fan 100 starts to run, and the air outside is supplied in the air conditioning passage 90. High pressure air is present in the air conditioning passage 90, and opens the close/open means to flow into the storage room 10. The air outside flown by the fan 100 into the air conditioning passage 90 is cooled and humidified, and is continuously supplied to the storage room 10.

[179] The air taken to the storage room 10 has already completed the de-humidifying and cooling process through the air conditioning passage 90 buried under the soil "E" having a relative lower temperature, which being in the dry and low temperature condition. The air blown by the fan 100 makes a heat-exchange while going through the air conditioning passage 90, by which the vapor embedded in the air is condensed to be removed from the air, and the air is transformed into the dry lower temperature state.

[180] The dry low temperature air rushing to the storage room 10 has more weight than the humid high temperature air of the storage room 10, thus the dry low temperature air stays at the lower portion of the storage room 10. The humid high temperature air goes up due to the difference in density against the dry low temperature air, thus increasing the pressure of the storage room 10.

[181] As the pressure increases in the storage room 10, the exhaust means 50 opens, and the humid high temperature air pushed up by the dry low temperature is exhausted though the open exhaust means. The dry low temperature air fills the inner space of the storage room 10, which prevents the inner space from being condensed.

[182] Considering the volume of the air conditioning passage 90 and the air volume of the fan 100, the operating time of the fan 100 can be controlled. Only dry low temperature air in the conditioning passage 90 can be flown into the storage room 10, and also the humid high temperature air in the storage room 10 can be completely exhausted.

[183] With these configurations, no condensation in the storage room can be achieved, but to get a more effective condition, the air conditioning apparatus can be further adapted. The air outside passes though the air conditioning passage 90 to be treated again the air having proper humidity and temperature, and is supplied into the inner space of the storage room 10.

[184] The air conditioning passage 90 is buried under the soil "E", and each end of the air conditioning passage 90 have a three way valve 110, respectively. At the lower outlet end of the air conditioning passage 90, the humidity and temperature sensor 120, 130 are installed to detect the humidity and temperature of the air. The detected data are sent to the central control apparatus.

[185] The means for closing/opening the air conditioning passage 90 can not be additionally installed and either one of two three ways valves 100 can substitute the closing/opening means. The air conditioning apparatus 30 has the same configuration and function as the first embodiment, thus the detailed description will be omitted for brevity.

[186] In the case that the air conditioning apparatus 30 coexists, the humidity sensor 120 and the temperature sensor 130 monitor the condition of the air that is blown into the air conditioning passage 90 by the fan 100, and the detected value is directed to the central control apparatus. The central control apparatus compares the data from the sensors 120, 130 with the stored basic data. If the data meets the basic data, the operation of the air conditioning apparatus 30 stops, and the air is supplied into the air conditioning passage 90 continuously.

[187] If the data does not meet the basic data after finishing the comparison, that is, the value of the humidity and the temperature is under the value targeted, both three way valves 110 are closed, thus the air conditioning passage 90 makes a closed circuit with the air conditioning apparatus 30. The air conditioning apparatus 30 starts to run, and the air in the air conditioning passage 90 is circulated to reach the set value of the humidity and the temperature of the air.

[188] If the condition of the air though the air conditioning apparatus 30 meets with the condition desired, the fan 100, the air conditioning passage 90, and the storage room 10 are interconnected through the open three way valves 110. The fan 100 starts to run to supply the air outside into the air conditioning passage 90. Also, the dry low temperature air remaining in the air conditioning passage 90 is blown into the storage room 10.

[189] The above mentioned procedure can be repeated, and the dry low temperature air completely fills the storage room 10.

[190] Since the inner room 11 of the storage room 10 stores many kinds of objects, such as ammunition, the gate 17 will be frequently opened to take out/in the objects. At this time, if the system for preventing dew condensation is still running, energy is lost.

[191] Therefore, a door open/close sensor 140 is provided at the gate 17, by which a detected value is sent to the central control apparatus so as to stop the operation of the system. There is no problem that this door open/close sensor 140 can be adapted on the other embodiments like the first to the fourth.

[192] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purpose, the invention is not restricted to only the present embodiment. For instance, conventional de-humidifying, freezer and refrigerator, and thermo- hygrostat can be employed as individually or in a group.

[193] Furthermore, the system for preventing dew condensation in storage rooms is good especially for a shot locker. The system can be adapted to the newly constructed shot locker, and it can also be adapted to an existing shot locker with easy additional installation. Industrial Applicability

[194] As described above, according to the system for preventing dew condensation in storage rooms of this invention, it is possible that the problem of the dew condensation, forming in the conventional shot locker and achieves, can be solved. Using the additional air conditioning room and the air conditioning apparatus, the air in the storage room is completely discharged by the difference in air density depending on the temperature. Therefore, the problem of dew condensation can be removed effectively and economically with less energy, rather than needing to increase the temperature of the storage room.

[195] Furthermore, once the dry air is supplied into the storage room, the pressure operating valve absolutely closes to prevent the wet air outside from being condensed in the storage room. The sealing of the storage room can be maintained, which brings the operation to a stop for a long period. Operation costs burden, which is caused by the frequent stopping/starting of the system, can be minimized. Since only the inner air of the storage room can be controlled so as to de-humidify, more objects can be stored under the same volume of the storage room, and can avoid dew condensation economically. Especially, in the case of storing many objects, the volume of the air to be controlled can be reduced, which brings more effect. Therefore, this system is best adapted to the shot locker that has serious dew condensation and requires large storage volumes.

Claims

[1] 1. Method for preventing dew condensation in storage room comprising the following processes: building a storage room having the restricted space and an one way fan, an air conditioning apparatus connected to the storage room, and an air conditioning room having the air conditioning apparatus in the other space; transforming the air in the air conditioning room into the dry air under a predetermined humidity where it is difficult to form dew, by the air conditioning apparatus; flowing the transformed dry air in the air conditioning room into the storage room through the dry air flow slot; and discharging a humid air existing in the storage room through an one way discharge slot, by the density difference between the dry air blown in the storage room and the humid air exiting in the storage room.

[2] 2. Method for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim

1, wherein the air in the air conditioning room is transformed into an humid low temperature air having high density, and the transformed air is flown in a low portion of the storage room, the new flowing air in the storage room pushes up the humid high temperature air existed in the storage room by the density difference between the new air and the existed air, and the humid high temperature air is discharged through an one way exhaust means disposed on a roof of the storage room, which is operated by pressure difference in the one way exhaust means.

[3] 3. Method for preventing dew condensation hi storage room according to claim

1, wherein the air in the air conditioning room is transformed into the dry high temperature air having low density, and the transformed air is flown in an upper portion of the storage room, the new flowing air in the storage room pushes down the humid low temperature air existed in the storage room by the density difference between the new air and the existed air, and the humid low temperature air is discharged through an one way exhaust means disposed on a low portion of a wall of the storage room, which is operated by pressure difference in the one way exhaust means.

[4] 4. Method for preventing dew condensation hi storage room according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the air outside is taken in the ah" conditioning room, and the air conditioning apparatus transforms the taken air to the dry air having characteristic needed.

[5] 5. Method for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the air in the storage room is taken in the air conditioning room, and the air conditioning apparatus transforms the taken air to the dry air having characteristic needed.

[6] 6. Method for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to any one claim of claims 1 to 3, wherein the humidity in the storage room is detected continuously and the air in the air conditioning room is transformed in the dry air when only the detected humidity is above a predetermined level of the humidity, and the transformed air is flown in the storage room.

[7] 7. Method for preventing dew condensation in storage room comprising the following processes: building a storage room having the restricted space and an one way fan, and covering all exterior of the storage room except the gate by soil; installing an air conditioning passage having a zigzag form, and the passage buried under the soil, and being at a predetermined angel with respect to the horizontal to connect to the storage room; transforming the humid high temperature air in the outside or the inside of the storage room into a dry low temperature air, after being passed through the air conditioning passage by a fan; blowing the transformed dry low temperature air in the air conditioning passage into the storage room by a fan installed at the inside of the air conditioning apparatus; and discharging the humid high temperature air through the one way exhaust means by density difference between the dry low temperature air flowing in the storage room and the humid high temperature air existed in the storage room.

[8] 8. Method for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim

7, wherein the temperature and the humidity of the air passing through the air conditioning passage can be detected, and the air is supplied to the storage room when the detected value is under a predetermined value, and if the detected value is above a predetermined value, an outlet/inlet of the air conditioning passage are closed, and the air is transformed by the air conditioning apparatus into the condition in which the transformed air has under a predetermined value, and the transformed air is supplied to the storage room.

[9] 9. Method for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 7 to 8, wherein the humidity in the storage room is detected continuously and the air outside is taken when only the detected humidity is above a predetermined level of the humidity, and the air in the air conditioning room is transformed in the dry air, and the transformed air is flown in the storage room.

[10] 10. Method for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 1 or 7, wherein the storage room is a shot locker.

[11] 11. System for preventing dew condensation in storage room comprising of, a storage room having an one way exhaust hole provided on a roof or a wall, and a gate provided at a wall, thereby forming a restricted space; an air conditioning room that is interconnected with the storage room, and that temporarily reserves air to be transformed into dry condition being difficult to form dew; an air conditioning apparatus transforming air in the air conditioning room into dry air having below predetermined humidity; a dry air inflow apparatus forcedly flowing the transformed dry air in the air conditioning room into the storage room; and an exhaust means that exhausts the high humidity air in the storage room by the dry air which is taken by the dry air inflow apparatus.

[12] 12. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 11, wherein a humidity sensor is further provided, the humidity sensor detects humidity of the storage room and turns on/off the operation of the air conditioning apparatus and the dry air inflow apparatus.

[13] 13. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 11, wherein the air conditioning room is partitioned by an insulation wall.

[14] 14. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 11, wherein the air conditioning room is comprised of a cooling housing having a restricted space, a freezer for cooling an inner space of the cooling housing under predetermined temperature, a de-humidity unit that is disposed in the cooling housing for taking the air in the air conditioning room into the unit and excluding vapor and salt contained in air by heat-exchange process, and a fan for blowing the air into the de-humidity unit, thereby transforming the air into the dry low temperature air having predetermined humidity.

[15] 15. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 13, wherein a dry air flow apparatus is formed at a lower of the insulation wall, and a check valve means is provided at the installation wall for opening the dry air flow apparatus by the air pressure generated by the dry air inflow apparatus, and the exhaust means is provided at a roof of the storage room.

[16] 16. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 11, wherein the air conditioning room is comprised of a cooling housing having a restricted space, a freezer for cooling an inner space of the cooling housing under predetermined temperature, a de-humidity unit that is disposed in the cooling housing for taking the air in the air conditioning room into the unit and excluding vapor and salt contained in the air by heat-exchange process, a heating unit disposed at an outer surface of the cooling housing for heating the air that goes through de-humidity unit, and a fan for blowing the air into the de- humidity unit and the heating unit, thereby transforming the air into the dry high temperature air having predetermined low humidity.

[17] 17. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 16, wherein a dry air flow apparatus is formed at an upper of the insulation wall, and a check valve means is provided at the installation wall for opening the dry air flow apparatus by the air pressure generated by the dry air inflow apparatus, and the exhaust means is provided at a lower of a side wall of the storage room.

[18] 18. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 15 or 17, wherein the dry air inflow apparatus is comprised of a piston plate placed in the air conditioning room, an actuator for giving a reciprocating motion to the piston plate, and a check valve installed on the piston plate for being closed when the inflow of dry air, and for being opened when the closed circuit.

[19] 19. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 18, wherein the actuator is comprised of a forward-reverse driving motor having a reel on a shaft of the motor, a plurality of wires in that each end of the wires wound on the reel and respective end of the wires connected with the piston plate, and a plurality of pulleys disposed at an upper of the air conditioning apparatus in a predetermined interval for guiding winding/unwinding movement of respective wire.

[20] 20. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 18, wherein an outer air intaking pipe is furthermore provided for interconnecting an upper chamber or a lower chamber of the air conditioning room partitioned by the piston plate with an outside, thereby taking an outer air into the air conditioning room by pressure difference being formed when a dry air is taken in.

[21] 21. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 18, wherein the exhaust means is the dry air taken slots installed at the upper portion and the lower portion of the insulation wall, respectively, the upper/lower portion is partitioned by the piston plate, and the dry air is drawn into the storage room and simultaneously the air in the storage room flows into the air conditioning room depending on the movement of the piston plate.

[22] 22. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 21, wherein the exhaust hole is comprised of an exhaust hole provided at the insulation wall, and a check valve plate having larger size than the exhaust hole installed hingedly at the air conditioning room with a top edge of the check valve and closing the exhaust valve plate by unladen weight of the check valve.

[23] 23. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 15, wherein the dry air flow apparatus is comprised of an outside air inlet pipe interconnecting the air conditioning room with the outside, a fan sucking an outside air into the air conditioning room, and an open/close means provided at an outlet end of the outside air inlet pipe.

[24] 24. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claims 14 or 17, wherein a humidity sensor and a temperature sensor are provided for operating the dry air flow apparatus depending on the condition of humidity and temperature of the air conditioning room.

[25] 25. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to any one of claims 11, 15 and 17, wherein the exhaust means is comprised of a pressure operating check valve means, when pressure of the storage room is higher than atmospheric pressure cause by pressure increase dry air flows into the storage room from the air conditioning room, the valve means opens to discharge an inner air, while when the pressure of the storage is lower than atmospheric pressure, the valve means closes to block an outer air flow.

[26] 26. System for preventing dew condensation in storage room comprising of, a storage room having a gate provided at a wall, forming a restricted space, and covering all exterior of the storage room except the gate by soil; an air conditioning passage that is installed under the soil covering and is interconnected with the storage room by an end of the air condition passage, and having a zigzag form in an up and down direction, thereby transforming an outer air having high temperature and high humidity into air having low temperature and low humidity so as to make cooling and de-humidifying operation; a fan for blowing an outer air into the air conditioning passage; an apparatus for closing/opening the air conditioning passage; and an exhaust means that exhausts the high humidity/temperature air in the storage room by the density difference with the low temperature dry air which is taken through the air conditioning passage.

[27] 27. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 26, wherein a humidity sensor is further provided, the humidity sensor detects humidity of the storage room and turns on/off operation of the fan.

[28] 28. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 27, wherein an air conditioning apparatus is further provided, the air conditioning apparatus is selectively connected to an inlet and an outlet of the air conditioning passage through a three way valve to form a closed circuit depending on the value of the humidity and the temperature of the air, and the air outside through the air conditioning passage circulates to become the air having below the predetermined value of humidity and the temperature; and a humidity sensor and a temperature sensor are further provided at an outlet end of the air conditioning passage, each sensor detects the humidity and the temperature of the air through the air conditioning passage, and controls the three way valve and the air conditioning apparatus.

[29] 29. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 28, wherein the air conditioning apparatus is comprised of a cooling housing having a restricted space; a freezer for cooling the cooling housing below predetermined temperature; a de-humidity unit housed in the cooling housing for removing vapor and salt embedded in air of the air conditioning passage by heat exchange; and a fan for blowing the air of the air conditioning passage to the de-humidity unit.

[30] 30. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 26, wherein the exhaust means is comprised of a pressure operating check valve means, when pressure of the storage room is higher than atmospheric pressure by pressure increase dry air flows into the storage room from the air conditioning room, the valve means opens to discharge an inner air, while when pressure of the storage is lower than atmospheric pressure, the valve means closes to block an outer air inflow.

[31] 31. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 26, wherein the air conditioning apparatus is either one of two three way valve that are connected to the air conditioning passage.

[32] 32. The system for preventing dew condensation in storage room according to claim 26, wherein the storage room is a shot locker.