Thermal energy storage member and storage container using the same, and refrigerator using the same

A storage container comprising:

• a main container;
• an opening and closing door capable of opening and closing a space within the main container;
• a cooling chamber provided within the space, that cools goods at a temperature lower than an ambient temperature during operation;
• a cooler that cools an inside of the cooling chamber from above within the cooling chamber by natural convection;
• a thermal energy storage disposed below the cooler within the cooling chamber, that stores latent heat from cold air from the cooler that is provided above the thermal energy storage;
• and
• a holder that holds the thermal energy storage within the cooling chamber and is provided on an inner wall of the cooling chamber, wherein
• the thermal energy storage includes:
• a hollow package material including an opposing upper face and a lower face, and
• a thermal energy storage material filled in the package material, the thermal energy storage material stores latent heat and exhibits a reversible phase change between a liquid phase and a solid phase at a predetermined phase-change temperature,
• the package material has a wider surface area at an upper face side than a surface area at a lower face side,
• the upper face side of the package material that receives the cold air from the cooler directly is corrugated and the lower face side of the package material is flat,
• the thermal energy storage divides the cooling chamber into an upper space including the cooler and a lower space, and
• the thermal energy storage is partially overlapped with the cooler in a vertical direction such that a total area of overlap parallel to a horizontal plane of the thermal energy storage with the cooler is smaller than a total area of the cooler parallel to the horizontal plane.