Refrigerating/heating device, and analysis device

Abstract

The present invention provides a refrigerating/heating device that efficiently refrigerates and heats while suppressing device costs. This refrigerating/heating device for efficiently heating and refrigerating is provided with: a refrigeration chamber; a Peltier-type cooler for supplying cold air to inside the refrigeration chamber; a heat radiation member for radiating Peltier heat; fans for air-cooling the heat radiation member; an exhaust duct through which waste heat from the fans and the heat radiation member passes; and an installation part to which a subject to be heated can be installed. The subject to be heated is installed in the waste heat flow path of the exhaust duct and heated.

Claims

1. A refrigerating/heating device comprising: a refrigeration chamber; a Peltier-type cooler that supplies cold air to an inside of the refrigeration chamber; a heat radiation member for radiating Peltier heat; a fan for air-cooling the heat radiation member; a temperature measurement unit that measures a temperature of waste heat from the fan and the heat radiation member; an exhaust duct to which a subject to be heated is installed; and a flow path switching part that switches between a first exhaust route capable of heat exchange between the subject to be heated installed to the exhaust duct and the waste heat and a second exhaust route not performing heat exchange between the waste heat and the subject to be heated, wherein the flow path switching part switches between the first and second exhaust routes based on a measurement result of the temperature measurement unit, the first and second exhaust routes respectively include a first and second exhaust duct, and the flow path switching part includes a flow path switching plate that switches the flow path to any of the first and second exhaust ducts.

2. The refrigerating/heating device according to claim 1, wherein the fan, the heat radiation member, the temperature measurement unit, and the flow path switching part are disposed in this order, from an upstream side along an air flow direction.

3. The refrigerating/heating device according to claim 1, wherein the flow path switching part includes a stepping motor that causes the flow path switching plate to pivot on a flow path switching shaft.

4. The refrigerating/heating device according to claim 1, wherein the flow path switching part includes a spring and a solenoid or a thermoelement that causes the flow path switching plate to pivot on the flow path switching shaft.

5. An analysis device comprising: the refrigerating/heating device according to claim 1 mounted on the analysis device, wherein a reagent to be refrigerated is refrigerated in the refrigeration chamber, and a reagent to be kept warm is installed to the exhaust duct.

6. A refrigerating/heating device including a refrigeration part and a heating part that heats a subject to be heated, the device comprising: a single Peltier element; wherein a heat absorbing part of the single Peltier element and the refrigeration part are joined together, a heat generating part of the single Peltier element and the heating part are joined together, a Peltier element control unit that controls the single Peltier element only based on temperature information of the refrigeration part; and the heat generating part of the single Peltier element being provided with a heat radiation member and a fan for air-cooling and is connected to an exhaust duct of the subject to be heated via the exhaust duct, a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature inside the exhaust duct and a flow path switching part that changes a flow path inside the exhaust duct to the exhaust duct of the subject to be heated are included between the single Peltier element and the exhaust duct of the subject to be heated, the flow path switching part being configured to divide waste heat from the heat generating part of the single Peltier element and to supply a part of the waste heat to the exhaust duct of the subject to be heated.

7. The refrigerating/heating device according to claim 6, wherein the flow path switching part turns ON/OFF supply of the waste heat from the heat generating part of the single Peltier element to the exhaust duct of the subject to be heated.

8. An analysis device comprising: the refrigerating/heating device according to claim 6 mounted on the analysis device, wherein a reagent to be refrigerated is refrigerated in the refrigeration part, and a reagent to be kept warm is installed to the heating part.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a configuration example of a refrigerating/heating device according to Example 1.

(2) FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating a modification example of the refrigerating/heating device according to Example 1.

(3) FIGS. 3A through 3E are diagrams illustrating a flow path example of waste heat of the refrigerating/heating device according to Example 1.

(4) FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a room temperature and waste heat-room temperature of the refrigerating/heating device according to Example 1.

(5) FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating a configuration example of a refrigerating/heating device according to Example 2.

(6) FIGS. 6A through 6C are diagrams illustrating a configuration example of a flow path switching part of the refrigerating/heating device according to Example 2.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(7) Hereinafter, various examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Example 1

(8) Example 1 is an example of a refrigerating/heating device including a refrigeration chamber, a Peltier-type cooler that supplies cold air to an inside of the refrigeration chamber, a heat radiation member for radiating Peltier heat, a fan for air-cooling the heat radiation member, and an installation part which is installed to a flow path through which waste heat from the fan and the heat radiation member passes, and to which a subject to be heated can be installed, wherein the subject to be heated is installed to the installation part and heated.

(9) FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a refrigerating/heating device according to Example 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a refrigerating/heating device 21 according to the present example is configured to include a control unit 18, a refrigeration part 19, and a heating part 20. (a) of FIG. 1 shows a refrigerating/heating device using heat transfer and heat conduction, (b) of FIG. 1 shows a refrigerating/heating device using heat conduction.

(10) In (a) of FIG. 1, the refrigeration part 19 is configured of a Peltier 1 configuring a Peltier-type cooler, a refrigeration chamber 11, a refrigeration chamber door 12, a temperature measurement unit 13, a cover 14, a fan 15, and a cooling member 16, and the heating part 20 is configured of a fan 2, a heat radiation member for radiating Peltier heat, an exhaust duct 4, an installation part of a subject to be heated, and a fan 7. Here, as the temperature measurement unit 13, a thermocouple, a thermistor, a resistance temperature detector, an integrated circuit (IC) temperature sensor, or the like is used.

(11) Cooling in the refrigerating/heating device 21 according to the present example is performed by controlling a current or a voltage flowing from the control unit 18 to the Peltier 1 such that a temperature of the temperature measurement unit 13 in the refrigeration chamber 11 becomes within 5° C.±2° C. When the Peltier 1 starts cooling control, a temperature of the cooling member 16 decreases and a temperature of the heat radiation member 3 increases. The cooling part 19 causes air 17 in the refrigeration chamber 11 to be circulated by the fan 15, and the temperature in the refrigeration chamber 11 to be cooled and refrigerated. Access to the inside of the refrigeration chamber 11 is performed by the refrigeration chamber door 12.

(12) In addition, since cooling efficiency of the Peltier 1 is better as a temperature difference (Δt) between a heat absorbing surface and a heat radiating surface is smaller, the heat radiation member 3 is air-cooled by the fan 2. The air 8 which is sucked by fan 2 absorbs the heat of the heat radiation member and becomes waste heat 9, and is supplied through the exhaust duct 4 which constitutes a flow path thereof to the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated, which is installed on the flow path, via the exhaust duct 4 serving as the flow path thereof, and heats the subject 6 to be heated. The waste heat 9 which has lost energy by the subject 6 to be heated becomes waste heat 10 and is discharged to an outside of the refrigerating/heating device. In the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1, two fans 2 and 7 are shown; however, only one of them may be installed.

(13) In the configuration of the refrigerating/heating device using heat conduction, illustrated in (b) of FIG. 1, the Peltier 1 and the refrigeration chamber 11 are brought into contact with each other to cool and refrigerate the inside of the refrigeration chamber through the heat conduction. Other configurations are the same as the configuration of (a) of FIG. 1, and a current or a voltage flowing from the control unit 18 to the Peltier 1 is controlled such that the temperature of the temperature measurement unit 13 in the refrigeration chamber 11 becomes within 5° C.±2° C.

(14) FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration of a modification example of the refrigerating/heating device according to Example 1. In (a) of FIG. 2, in order for the waste heat 10 to be discharged from a specific outlet, an exhaust duct 201 serving as a flow path is further included on a downstream of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated. In (b) of FIG. 2, an installation site 202 of a subject to be heated and a subject 203 to be heated, which are added to the exhaust duct 201 on the downstream of the installation site 5 of a subject to be heated, are further included.

(15) As the configuration of the modification example illustrated in (a) and (b) of FIG. 2, in the configuration of the refrigerating/heating device of FIG. 1, there may be more than one exhaust ducts, installation sites of a subject to be heated, and the subjects to be heated may be 2 or more.

(16) FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the flow path of waste heat of the refrigerating/heating device according to the present example. (a) and (b) of FIG. 3 show plan views of the exhaust duct 4, the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated, the subject 6 to be heated, and the exhaust duct 201. (c), (d), and (e) of FIG. 3 show vertical sectional views of the exhaust duct 4, the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated, the subject 6 to be heated, and the exhaust duct 201.

(17) In (a) of FIG. 3, a positional relationship of the exhaust duct 4 and the exhaust duct 201 which are the flow paths is on a straight line, that is, 0° and the waste heat 9 is positively brought into contact with the subject 6 to be heated to perform heat exchange. In (b) of FIG. 3, the exhaust duct 4 and the exhaust duct 201 which are the flow paths are disposed in a position of a right angle, that is, 90°. In the above configuration examples, positions of 0° and 90° were shown, but the connection may be made in a preferable position between 0° and 180°.

(18) In (c) of FIG. 3, the exhaust duct 4 and the exhaust duct 201 which are the flow paths are disposed linearly in a gravity direction. The subject 6 to be heated is installed from aside face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated and becomes in a state of floating in the air. However, the subject 6 to be heated may be installed on a bottom face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated, as long as the subject 6 to be heated does not block a vent hole of the exhaust duct 201. In (d) of FIG. 3, the exhaust duct 4 is connected to a top face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated and the exhaust duct 201 is connected to a side face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated. The subject 6 to be heated is installed from the side face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated, and becomes a state of floating in the air or of being in contact with the bottom face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated. A hole may be drilled in the bottom face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated, and the subject 6 to be heated may be installed from the bottom face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated.

(19) In (e) of FIG. 3, the exhaust duct 4 is connected to a side face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated and the exhaust duct 201 is connected to the bottom face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated. The subject 6 to be heated is installed from a side face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated and becomes in a state of floating in the air. However, the subject 6 to be heated may be installed on a bottom face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated, as long as the subject 6 to be heated does not block a vent hole of the exhaust duct 201. In (e) of FIG. 3, the subject 6 to be heated is installed in the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated. However, a hole may be drilled in the top face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated and the subject 6 to be heated may be in a state of protruding from the hole of the top face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated. In this case, for installing the subject 6 to be heated, it is possible to access from the hole of the top face of the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated.

(20) FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating an example of a relationship between a room temperature and waste heat-room temperature, in the refrigerating/heating device according to the present example. The temperature of the waste heat is a temperature obtained by measuring a temperature of the waste heat 9 on a downstream of the heat radiation member 3. A horizontal axis of the same figure shows a room temperature (° C.) and a vertical axis shows the relation of waste heat-room temperature (° C.). The data of FIG. 4 is data during a steady state of the cooling control of the refrigeration chamber. It is possible to supply waste heat of room temperature+approximately 2.6° C. under an environment of room temperature of 18° C. to 25° C.

(21) In the data shown in FIG. 4, waste heat has a temperature of room temperature+approximately 2.6° C. However, depending on a shape and a material of the heat radiation member and selection of Peltier 1, it is possible to further increase the temperature of waste heat to be supplied. As the materials of the cooling member 16 and the heat radiation member 3, aluminum, copper, gold, silver, other synthetic metals, heat conduction resin, and the like can be used. As the shape thereof, a pinholder shaped object, an object with many fins, an object with pillars side by side, and the like can be used.

(22) According to the present example, it is possible to provide a refrigerating/heating device which is capable of performing refrigerating and heating with a simple configuration of one Peltier and is low in costs.

(23) According to the present example, an operation of the Peltier element is controlled based on the temperature of the refrigeration chamber, and only by the control, it is possible to heat a subject to be kept warm approximately from 21° C. to 28° C. (room temperature (18° C. to 26° C.)). It is possible to configure the refrigerating/heating device with one Peltier element and one control device, and it is possible to reduce the size and costs. In addition, it was confirmed that the temperature of the heat generating part of the Peltier element was higher than the temperature of the heating part and by using this heat as it is for the heating part, it is possible to secure the sufficient heating performance. By using the heat of the heat generating part for the heating part, it is possible to construct a heating part which is simple and low in costs.

Example 2

(24) Example 2 is an example of a refrigerating/heating device having a configuration further including a flow path switching part capable of switching exhaust routes based on the measured temperature of the temperature measurement unit provided in the exhaust duct, in addition to the configuration of Example 1, in which it is possible to switch an exhaust route capable of heat exchange between the waste heat and the subject to be heated and an exhaust route not performing heat exchange between the waste heat and the subject to be heated. In FIG. 5, a configuration of the refrigerating/heating device related to the present example is shown.

(25) In FIG. 5, a refrigeration part 19 is configured of a Peltier 1, a refrigeration chamber 11, a refrigeration chamber door 12, a temperature measurement unit 13, a cover 14, a fan 15, and a cooling member 16, and a heating part 20 is configured of a fan 2, a heat radiation member 3, an exhaust duct 4, an installation site 5 of a subject to be heated, a fan 7, a temperature measurement unit 302 that measures the temperature of waste heat, a flow path switching part 303, an exhaust duct 201, an exhaust duct 304, an exhaust duct 306, and waste heat dissipating unit 305. As in the temperature measurement unit 13, a thermocouple, a thermistor, a resistance temperature detector, an IC temperature sensor, or the like is used as the temperature measurement unit 302.

(26) Cooling and refrigerating are the same as in Example 1, and a current or a voltage flowing from the control unit 18 to the Peltier 1 is controlled such that the temperature of the temperature measurement unit 13 in the refrigeration chamber 11 becomes within 5° C.±2° C. When the Peltier 1 starts cooling control, a temperature of the cooling member 16 decreases and a temperature of the heat radiation member 3 increases. The refrigeration part 19 causes air 17 in the refrigeration chamber 11 to be circulated by the fan 15, and the temperature in the refrigeration chamber 11 to be cooled and refrigerated. Access to the inside of the refrigeration chamber 11 is performed by the refrigeration chamber door 12.

(27) The heat radiation member 3 is air-cooled using the fan 2. The air 8 which is sucked by fan 2 absorbs the heat of the heat radiation member and becomes waste heat 9, and is supplied to the flow path switching part 303, via the exhaust duct 4. In addition, the temperature of the waste heat 9 is measured with the temperature measurement unit 302 in the exhaust duct 4. Based on the measured temperature, the flow path switching part 303 is controlled to switch flow paths, that is, between an exhaust route capable of heat exchange between the waste heat and the subject to be heated and an exhaust route not performing heat exchange between the waste heat and the subject to be heated.

(28) (a) of FIG. 5 shows a diagram illustrating a flow path that supplies waste heat 9 to the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated, in the configuration of the present example. In a case where the measured temperature of the waste heat 9 by the temperature measurement unit 302 is 30° C. or lower, the flow path switching part 303 connects the flow path to an exhaust duct 304 side, supplies the waste heat 9 to the installation site 5 of a subject to be heated, and heats the subject 6 to be heated. The waste heat 9 which has lost energy by the subject 6 to be heated becomes the waste heat 10 and is discharged to an outside of the waste heat dissipating unit 305. In FIG. 5, two fans 2 and 7 are shown; however, only one of them may be installed.

(29) (b) of FIG. 5 shows a diagram illustrating a flow path not supplying the waste heat 9 to the installation part 5 of a subject to be heated. In a case where the temperature of the temperature measurement unit 302 exceeds 30° C., the flow path switching part 303 is connected to the exhaust duct 306 and discharges the waste heat 9 from the waste heat dissipating unit 305 directly to the outside of the device.

(30) FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a specific configuration example of the flow path switching part of the refrigerating/heating device according to the present example. (a) of FIG. 6 shows a configuration in which a stepping motor 401 causes a flow path switching shaft 402 and a flow path switching plate 403 to pivot so as to switch the flow paths. (b) and (c) of FIG. 6 show a configuration for switching the flow paths by using a spring 404 and a solenoid 405. When supplying a power to the solenoid 405, the flow path switching plate 403 is pushed to an exhaust duct 304 side by force of the solenoid 405, and the flow path becomes a flow path of the exhaust duct 306. During non-supply, the flow path switching plate 403 is pushed to an exhaust duct 306 side by force of the spring 404, and the flow path becomes a flow path of exhaust duct 304. The mechanical elements may be reversely used and the connection destination may be reversed. In addition, thermoelement and the like may be used instead of the solenoid 405.

(31) FIG. 6 shows an example of a case of 0% and 100% switching to a subject to be heated, but by setting the flow path switching plate to an intermediate position, it is possible to be set to a certain position within 0% to 100%.

(32) According to the refrigerating/heating device of the present example, by measuring the temperature of the waste heat in the exhaust duct, it is possible to prevent a subject to be heated from unnecessarily being heated.

(33) In this example, as in Example 1, there is one Peltier element, and control thereof is performed based on the temperature of the refrigeration chamber. In addition, the control of the flow path switching part is possible to perform an operation with a simple structure and low electric power. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the size and costs.

Example 3

(34) Example 3 is an example of an analysis device in which the refrigerating/heating device of Example 1 or 2 is mounted and used. That is, the configuration and function of the refrigerating/heating device described above are installed in the analysis device, refrigerating of a reagent to be refrigerated is performed in the refrigeration chamber 11 which is the refrigeration part, and heating is performed by installing a reagent to be kept warm to the installation part 5 of the heating part. As the reagent to be kept warm in the analysis device, reagents and the like which need to be prevented from crystallizing are targeted.

(35) According to the present invention described above, it is possible to provide a refrigerating/heating device and an analysis device, which are capable of performing refrigerating and heating with a simple configuration of one Peltier and are low in costs and small in size. Further, it is possible to prevent the subject to be heated from unnecessarily being heated.

(36) The present invention is not limited to the above examples, and includes various modification examples. For example, the above examples have been described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the described configurations. In addition, it is possible to replace apart of the configuration of a certain example with the configuration of other examples, and it is also possible to add the configuration of other examples to the configuration of a certain example. In addition, it is also possible to add other configurations, delete, or replace with respect to a part of the configuration of each Example.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

(37) 1: Peltier 2, 15: Fan 3: Heat radiation member 4, 201, 304, 306: Exhaust duct 5, 202: Installation part 6, 203: Subject to be heated 7: Fan 8, 17: Air 9: Waste heat 10: Waste heat 11: Refrigeration chamber 12: Refrigeration chamber door 13, 302: Temperature measurement unit 14: Cover 16: Cooling member 18: Control unit 19: Cooling part 20: Heating part 21: Cooling and heating device 303: Flow path switching part 305: Waste heat dissipating unit 401: Stepping motor 402: Flow path switching shaft 403: Flow path switching plate 404: Spring 405: Solenoid