EP2336684B1 - Filling device for filling a coolant container compartment attached to a coolant container with a cryogenic coolant - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a filling device for filling a refrigerant receiving compartment associated with a cooling container for cooling products with a cryogenic refrigerant, with a supply device equipped with a decompression nozzle for supplying the cryogenic refrigerant in the liquid state, a discharge device opening out at a discharge opening for discharging during the filling process vaporized cryogenic refrigerant and a retainer, by means of which the non-evaporated at the time of filling cryogenic refrigerant is retained at least predominantly in the refrigerant receiving compartment.

Such a device is from the US-A-5,657,642 known.

For transporting heat-sensitive products, in particular food, such as fresh or frozen products, isothermal cooling containers are used, with which a complete cold chain from production to the end customer should be ensured even if a permanent cooling by an electrically operated cooling unit not possible is. Such cooling containers have a product receiving compartment for the storage of the products to be cooled and a spatially separated from this, but with this thermally connected refrigerant receiving compartment for a cryogenic refrigerant. By means of a filling gun, the receiving compartment with the cryogenic refrigerant, such as dry ice, filled. For example, the filling takes place by taking advantage of the Joule-Thomson effect in that a liquefied under pressure cryogenic refrigerant is introduced, relaxed in the supply to the refrigerant receiving compartment to form cold gas and snow and the snow remains as a cold storage in the refrigerant receiving compartment , The refrigerant storage compartment is thermally connected to the product storage compartment and absorbs heat therefrom, resulting in the gradual sublimation of the snow. By a suitable choice of the heat transfer rate between the product receptacle and the refrigerant storage compartment, the product can be kept in this way for many hours at a certain low temperature, without the need for a permanent external energy supply.

Such a container is used for example in the EP 0 942 244 A1 described. The container has a drawer-like receptacle for dry ice, which is thermally and fluidically connected to a product receiving compartment arranged thereunder. By means of a filling device, the refrigerant receiving compartment is charged with liquid carbon dioxide, which relaxes when entering under strong cooling and passes into a mixture of Trockeneisteilchen with a temperature of -78 ° C and also cold carbon dioxide gas. Due to a corresponding adjustment of the heat transfer to the storage area, the products can be reliably maintained at a temperature of, for example, 0 ° C to 5 ° C (for fresh produce) or -15 ° C to -25 ° C (frozen) for more than 24 hours. For supplying the liquid carbon dioxide and simultaneously removing the gaseous carbon dioxide, the refrigerant receiving compartment of the in EP 0 942 244 A1 described container with a in the EP 1 088 191 B1 connected filling device. Refrigerant receiving compartment and filling device have corresponding to each other connection fittings, which allow an at least substantially gas-tight connection and ensure that escapes during the filling as possible, no carbon dioxide in the environment of the container. For this purpose, the container has a feed opening and a discharge opening spaced therefrom, which can be connected to the corresponding feed and discharge connections of the filling device. Suitable security systems ensure that a filling is only possible if both the supply line and the discharge device of the filling device is connected in a substantially gas-tight manner to the receiving compartment.

A very similar built-up cooling tank is in the WO 2007/036656 A1 described. Also, this cooling container has a separable from the container receptacle for a cryogenic refrigerant and a separate from this by a thermal barrier storage area. The supply of the cryogenic refrigerant and the discharge of the refrigerant evaporating during the filling takes place in this article by means of lateral openings, by means of which a particularly good distribution of the cryogenic refrigerant in the receiving compartment should take place. To fill the receiving compartment, a filling gun is used; for sucking off the resulting gas, the discharge opening is simultaneously connected to a suction device.

The cooling containers in question are usually sized so that they can be easily moved by means of attached to them wheels by a person. Typical insulated containers have, for example, based on the European Palletenstandard base of 600 mm x 800 mm to 1200 mm x 800 mm and a height between 1000 mm and 2000 mm, with a useful volume of between 200 liters and 1500 liters. Since even a small amount of dry ice is sufficient to maintain a sufficiently low cooling temperature over a period of several hours, the receiving compartment for the refrigerant is much smaller dimensioned than the compartment for receiving the products and has for example a volume between 5 liters and 50 liters. When filling the refrigerant storage compartments by means of carbon dioxide snow, which is generated locally by expansion of liquid carbon dioxide, such a small dimensioned refrigerant storage compartments has the problem that the carbon dioxide snow entrained at least partially by the resulting carbon dioxide gas and withdrawn together with this from the receptacle becomes. To prevent this, the refrigerant storage compartments known from the prior art containers are equipped with dividing elements in the form of screens or filters, whose task is to retain the carbon dioxide particles in the refrigerant receiving compartment during the filling, while the gas can pass unhindered. These separators must be designed to be very large area, since in the relaxation of the interior of the refrigerant receiving compartment, a large volume of gas is dissipate and the permeability of the separating elements is reduced by the retained carbon dioxide particles. For this reason, the refrigerant receiving compartments have an elaborate structure which considerably increases the manufacturing costs of the cooling containers. In addition, the special design of the refrigerant storage compartments requires a mimic of the filling device corresponding to this, so that cooling containers and filling devices from different manufacturers are generally incompatible with one another.

Object of the present invention is therefore to simplify the filling of cooling containers of the aforementioned type and to provide a applicable for different containers filling system.

This object is achieved in a filling device of the type mentioned in that the expansion nozzle of the feeder, the suction of the discharge device and the retainer is integrated in a filling head, with a sealing element for substantially gas-tight coupling to the refrigerant receiving compartment in the region of a filling opening of the refrigerant receiving compartment is equipped.

According to the invention thus the entire facial expressions for the supply of the liquefied cryogenic refrigerant, the relaxation of the cryogenic refrigerant, the separation of the resulting in the relaxation solid before gaseous phase with retention of the solid refrigerant in the refrigerant receiving compartment and for the removal of the gaseous refrigerant in the filling head of Filling device housed. Thus, it can be dispensed with, on or in the coolant receiving compartment special connections for the supply or discharge of the refrigerant or complex separation devices for separating the solid to provide the gaseous refrigerant, whereby the structure of a fillable with the filling device according to the invention the cooling container can be considerably simplified. The coupling of the filling head is no longer via the corresponding ports for supplying and discharging the gas, but via a single connection opening (filling opening) of the coolant receiving compartment, wherein for filling the refrigerant receiving compartment a mouthpiece against the refrigerant receiving compartment in the region of the filling opening is pressed or otherwise connected to produce the production of an at least substantially gas-tight connection with the refrigerant receiving compartment. A controller ensures that the amounts of the supplied cryogenic refrigerant and the discharged gaseous refrigerant is coordinated such that due to the expansion inside the refrigerant receiving compartment no strong overpressure arises, but the excess gaseous refrigerant substantially simultaneously with the supply of the liquid Cryogenic refrigerant dissipated or sucked by a suction device.

The retaining device is preferably a screen or filter arrangement which spans the discharge opening of the discharge device. The entire gas stream drawn off via the filling head of the evaporated cryogenic refrigerant is thus guided through the sieve or filter arrangement in the filling head. As a result, the gas phase is reliably separated from the solids content of the cryogenic refrigerant; the particles are retained in the coolant holding compartment while the gas phase is withdrawn or drawn off.

An advantageous development of the invention provides that the expansion nozzle of the feed device is received within the discharge opening and opens out substantially in a plane defined by the discharge opening of the discharge device on the filling head. A plurality of expansion nozzles accommodated within the discharge opening are also conceivable. The retaining device extends over the entire discharge opening and saves only the mouth opening of the expansion nozzle or the mouth openings of the expansion nozzles. The expansion nozzle (s) is thus not in the interior of the refrigerant receiving compartment during filling. In this way, the dependence of the filling system is reduced by the internal structure of the refrigerant receiving compartment and the expansion nozzle (s) is also or are better protected.

A preferred sealing element comprises sealing lips made of an elastic material, by means of which the filling head in the region of the filling opening is pressed onto the refrigerant receiving compartment in such a way that a substantially gas-tight connection is produced. Elaborate fasteners such as screws or flanges are required in this embodiment neither the filling head nor the receiving compartment.

Alternatively or in addition to the vorgenanten sealing lips, the sealing elements advantageously comprise a pneumatic or hydraulic sealing element which produces a substantially gas-tight connection with the filling opening of the refrigerant receiving compartment by filling with a gaseous or liquid medium. Preferably, the pneumatic or hydraulic sealing element is arranged on the outer circumference of the filling head and the filling head can be pushed into the filling opening at least with its front portion. By filling liquid or gaseous medium in the pneumatic or hydraulic sealing element whose volume is increased and made in this way a substantially gas-tight connection with the filling opening, without a fixed mechanical connection between the filling head and refrigerant receiving compartment is required. The limited increase in volume of the sealing element also allows a secure connection even if there is a certain amount of play between the filling opening and the filling head. In order to minimize the risk that the sealing element freezes at the filling opening, the gaseous or liquid medium can also be heated before being fed to the sealing element.

A particularly simple handling promises an embodiment in which the supply device is connected to a supply line to a source of liquid carbon dioxide and the discharge device is connected to a discharge line for gaseous carbon dioxide, wherein the supply line and the discharge line is at least partially made of a flexible material. Particularly advantageous is the flexible supply line received within the flexible discharge line. In this case, the transported through the supply liquid cryogenic refrigerant is pre-cooled by the cold gaseous refrigerant, which is sucked in countercurrently through the discharge line or escaping through them.

Conveniently, the filling head is equipped with a detector for detecting a gas-tight connection with the refrigerant receiving compartment.

A yet again advantageous filling device is characterized in that the supply device has at least two supply lines spaced apart from each other, preferably separately controllable, each equipped with expansion nozzles or injectors. With this configuration, not only the filling process can be significantly accelerated, but it can also be filled independently of each other refrigerant receiving compartments, which are arranged either on the same cooling tank or on different cooling tanks.

An advantageous development of the invention provides that the refrigerant receiving compartment with subcooled cryogenic refrigerant, for example, supercooled liquid carbon dioxide is charged. By supplying supercooled refrigerant, the proportion of the resulting solid cryogenic refrigerant can be increased compared to the proportion of the gaseous refrigerant during the expansion of the liquid cryogenic refrigerant. For this purpose, the feeder associated with a means for generating supercooled liquid cryogenic refrigerant. Such a device is for example from the EP 1 097 343 B1 known. This object is subject to subcooling of liquid carbon dioxide using a compression refrigerator. By controlling the compression refrigeration machine, the temperature of the liquid carbon dioxide and thus the proportion of the carbon dioxide snow formed during the expansion of the liquid carbon dioxide can be adjusted precisely. By switching the mode of operation of the compression chiller, this can also be used for heating the carbon dioxide-carrying lines and, where appropriate, the associated with these refrigerant receiving compartment for the purpose of deicing.

The filling device according to the invention allows the use of cooling containers, which have a comparison with refrigerated containers according to the prior art greatly simplified construction. Thus, such a cooling container, which is suitable for filling by means of a filling device according to the invention for cooling products with a cryogenic refrigerant, a refrigerant receiving compartment, and a thermally connected thereto product receiving compartment for receiving the products to be cooled, wherein the refrigerant storage compartment has a filling opening into which the filling device with its filling head can be inserted. The preferred cooling container thus comprises a refrigerant receiving compartment with a filling opening, which is designed such that the filling head of the filling system according to the invention can be introduced at least with its front portion in the filling opening. As a result, both the supply of liquid cryogenic refrigerant, in particular feeding of liquid carbon dioxide and the removal of gaseous cryogenic refrigerant can take place via the same filling opening. The refrigerant receiving compartment requires neither special coupling fittings for coupling the filling device, nor a separator arranged in the refrigerant receiving compartment. The existing from the filling device according to the invention and one or more of this can be filled cooling container (s) existing cooling system is compared to corresponding, consisting of filling and cooling tank cooling systems according to the prior art, because of the filling device according to the invention fillable cooling container in the construction much simpler and therefore are cheaper.

The refrigerant receiving compartment can be fixedly arranged in the cooling container and be designed, for example, in one piece with the product receiving compartment of the cooling container. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, however, the refrigerant receiving compartment is detachably arranged on the cooling container and can be inserted, for example, in the manner of a drawer into the product receiving compartment of the cooling container. In this embodiment, moreover, the cooling tank has no (permanently installed) refrigerant storage compartment. In this way, it is possible to fill the refrigerant accommodating compartment separately from the refrigerating tank, or a refrigerant accommodating compartment can be exchanged with a refrigerant accommodating compartment having other cooling parameters (cooling temperature and / or cooling time) as needed.

An advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that the refrigerant receiving compartment has a substantially cuboid or cylindrical structure, wherein the filling opening occupies at least a large part of a side surface or even almost a complete side surface of the refrigerant receiving compartment. Due to the large filling opening in comparison to filling systems according to the prior art, a particularly rapid filling can be achieved.

The refrigerant receiving compartment preferably has a filling opening with a round, oval or rectangular cross section which extends over a large part of a side surface of the refrigerant receiving compartment. Since the filling device according to the invention requires no special connection mimic in the form of feeds or flange connections, the filling opening can therefore extend over at least almost the entire area visible in the cooling container in the installed state of the refrigerant receiving compartment. In this way, a particularly fast filling of the refrigerant receiving compartment succeeds.

An advantageous development of the invention provides that the cooling container has a refrigerant receiving compartment, which is subdivided into at least two separate compartments, which are each connected via thermal bridges with different thermal resistance with the product receiving compartment. By subdividing the refrigerant receiving compartment, different cooling tasks can be handled with the same refrigerant receiving compartment. For example one of the compartments has a very good heat conduction, the other part compartment, however, a poorer heat conduction to the product receiving compartment. If only the partial compartment with the good heat conduction is filled with carbon dioxide, the products are cooled to a lower temperature for a shorter time. If, on the other hand, the partial compartment is filled with the poorer heat conduction, the products are cooled to a less low temperature, which, however, lasts for a longer period of time.

The individual compartments each have separate filling openings, via which both the supply of the liquefied cryogenic refrigerant takes place and the removal of the gasfömigen refrigerant. In this case, the filling device with its filling head either the individual filling openings part compartments designed adaptable, or the filling extends during the filling with its discharge opening over several or all filling openings of the compartments and is equipped with several separately controllable expansion nozzles, which in the filling with each one of the compartments are fluidly connected. When filling takes place in the latter case, a separate supply of cryogenic refrigerant in each sub-compartment via the appropriately driven nozzle, and the removal of the gaseous refrigerant via the discharge opening.

• Fig. 1: Einen Kühlbehälter mit einer erfindungsgemäßen Befüllvorrichtung in einer Schnittansicht,
• Fig. 2: Einen vergrößerten Ausschnitt des Kühlbehälters mit angeschlossener Befüllvorrichtung aus Fig. 1 im Bereich des Kältemittel-Aufnahmefachs,
• Fig. 3: Einen Querschnitt der Anordnung aus Fig. 2 längs der Linie A-A.
• Fig. 4a und 4b: Zwei Ausgestaltungen für mit der erfindungsgemäßen Befüllvorrichtung befüllbare Kühlbehälter, jeweils in einem frontalen und einem seitlichen Querschnitt,
• Fig. 5: Ein Kühlbehälter mit angeschlossener Befüllvorrichtung in einer anderen Ausführungsform im Bereich des Kältemittel-Aufnahmefachs,
• Fig. 6: Einen Querschnitt der Anordnung aus Fig. 5 längs der Linie B-B
• Fig. 7a und 7b: Zwei Ausgestaltungen für Kältemittel-Aufnahmefächer, jeweils in einer Schrägansicht.

Reference to the drawings, an embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail. In a schematic view shows:

• Fig. 1 : A cooling container with a filling device according to the invention in a sectional view,
• Fig. 2 : An enlarged section of the cooling tank with connected filling device Fig. 1 in the area of the refrigerant receiving compartment,
• Fig. 3 : A cross section of the arrangement Fig. 2 along the line AA.
• Fig. 4a and 4b Two embodiments for filling with the filling device according to the invention, each in a frontal and a lateral cross-section,
• Fig. 5 A cooling container with a connected filling device in another embodiment in the region of the refrigerant receiving compartment,
• Fig. 6 : A cross section of the arrangement Fig. 5 along the line BB
• Fig. 7a and 7b : Two embodiments for refrigerant storage compartments, each in an oblique view.

The in Fig. 1 shown cooling container 1 comprises an inner container with a product receptacle 2 for receiving the products to be cooled and separated from the product receptacle 2 by a thermally conductive partition wall 3 refrigerant receiving compartment 4. The intermediate wall 3 and the product receptacle 2 and the refrigerant Receptacle 4 surrounding inner shell is made of a thermally conductive and low-temperature resistant material, such as stainless steel. The intermediate wall 3 may be formed gas-tight, so that the heat transfer between the product receiving compartment 2 and the refrigerant receiving compartment 4 takes place only via the thermal line via the intermediate wall 3, or it may be formed so that a gas flow between the compartments 2, 4 is allowed to allow convective heat transfer. In the latter case, the intermediate wall can also be made of a thermally insulating material. The refrigerant receiving compartment 4 is formed approximately cuboid and opens with the door open with a filling opening 6 to the outside, which extends in the embodiment over an entire side surface of the approximately cuboid-shaped refrigerant receiving compartment 4. The refrigerant receiving compartment 4 has no fittings or other means for connecting a special filling system. In the Fig. 1, 2 and 3 not shown is a thermally insulating door, which is articulated on the front side 5 of the cooling container 1 with which the product receiving compartment 2 and optionally the refrigerant receiving compartment 4 during transport of the cooling container 1 can be closed. However, the filling opening 6 can also be closed separately with its own door or with a lid, not shown here, made of an insulating material which is articulated, for example, to the cooling container 1. Furthermore, the entire inner container of the cooling tank 1 is equipped with a thermally insulating outer shell 7, which in the Fig. 1, 2 and 3 just is indicated. For filling the refrigerant receiving compartment 4 with a cryogenic refrigerant, in particular dry ice, a filling device 10 described in more detail below is used.

In the Fig. 2 For this purpose, the filling head 11 has a front portion 12 which is adapted in shape to the approximately rectangular filling opening 6 of the refrigerant receiving compartment 4, but a slightly smaller cross-section than this and thus can be easily pushed into the filling opening 6. The front portion 12 has a mouth opening 13 extending over almost its entire cross section, which allows efficient discharge of the refrigerant gas generated in the refrigerant storage compartment 4. Furthermore, the front portion 12 of the filling head 11 is equipped with a balloon seal 14. The balloon seal 14 comprises an inflatable sealing element 15 extending around the entire outer circumference of the front section 12 made of a material which maintains a certain flexibility even at lower temperatures and which is supplied via a pressure feed line 16 to a source of pressure medium, such as a gas, not shown here or a liquid is connected. In order to prevent the pressure medium from freezing during filling of the sealing element 15, the pressure supply line 16 can also be preceded by a heater, also not shown here. Instead of the pneumatic / hydraulic sealing element 15 shown in the drawings, a sealing element made of solid material may be provided, for example sealing lips made of rubber or silicone, which are pressed by mechanical pressure on the refrigerant receiving compartment 4 and so around the filling opening 6 a substantially establish a gas-tight connection.

Approximately in the horizontal center plane of the front portion 12 are several - in the embodiment three - horizontally arranged side by side supply lines 18 for a liquefied cryogenic refrigerant, in particular liquid carbon dioxide, is provided. The supply lines 18 each open at expansion nozzles 19 whose mouth openings extend approximately in a plane with the mouth opening 13. Furthermore, the front portion 12 is fluidly connected to a gas discharge line 21. The entire surface of the mouth 13 of the Front portion 12, with the exception of the expansion nozzles 19, is covered by a retainer 22 in the form of a sieve or a filter whose task is to be explained in more detail below, the separation of the solid components generated during the expansion of the medium gaseous components also generated.

For filling the refrigerant receiving compartment 4 with a cryogenic refrigerant, hereinafter by way of example with carbon dioxide snow, the front portion 12 of the filling head 11 is inserted into the filling opening 6. Via the pressure feed line 16, a pressure medium is pressed into the sealing element 15, whereby the volume of the sealing element 15 is increased, and a gas-tight or at least largely gas-tight and also frictionally-strong connection between the front portion 12 and the filling opening 6 is produced. Via the supply lines 18, liquid carbon dioxide is introduced under pressure and released at the expansion nozzles 19. During the expansion, carbon dioxide snow 24 and carbon dioxide gas, both of which are deeply introduced into the refrigerant receiving compartment 4, are formed. The gaseous carbon dioxide flows back to the mouth opening 13 of the front portion 12 of the filling head 11, through it and is discharged via the gas outlet 21 or sucked by means of a suction device not shown here. In this case, the retaining device 22 prevents that carbon dioxide snow particles entrained with the carbon dioxide gas can likewise be removed via the gas discharge line 21. The resulting during the relaxation carbon dioxide snow therefore accumulates in the refrigerant receiving compartment 4 and forms there a dry ice supply 25 from. In the refrigerant receiving compartment 4 itself no means for separating the two carbon dioxide phases is required. After completion of the filling process, the supply of liquid carbon dioxide is stopped, the pressure medium discharged via the pressure supply line 16, the volume of the sealing element 15 decreases again and the front portion 12 can be pulled out of the filling opening 6. By closing the door, not shown here, on the front side 5, the product receptacle 2 or, if the door also closes the refrigerant receptacle 4 or a lid provided on the refrigerant receptacle 4, the entire container 1 is thermally insulated to the outside. Due to the thermal compound hiss the refrigerant receiving compartment 4 and the product receptacle 2 from the latter heat to Refrigerant storage compartment 4 transports. The dry ice supply 25 sublimates gradually and the resulting carbon dioxide gas escapes at the non-pressure-tight closing door or the lid or via an outlet not shown here on the container 1. The thermal conductivity of the intermediate wall 3 determines so significantly the temperature to which in the product Storage compartment 2 stored products can be cooled. In the event that the product receiving compartment 2 and the refrigerant receiving compartment 4 are not separated from each other in a gas-tight manner, part of the carbon dioxide gas also flows into the product receiving compartment 2 and provides additional direct cooling there. It is also conceivable within the scope of the invention that a modified atmosphere is maintained in the product receptacle 2 or in a container disposed within the product receptacle 2 and filled with the products to be cooled container whose composition is different from the outside atmosphere and in the Sublimation of the carbon dioxide in the refrigerant receiving compartment 4 is not changed.

In order to further increase the safety during filling, a control unit 26 via the control of corresponding valves 27, 28, 29 ensures that the influx of liquid cryogenic refrigerant via the supply line 18 takes place only when at least manually or via a suitable detector largely gas-tight connection between the front portion 12 and the filling opening 6 has been found. A largely gas-tight connection is likely in the embodiment after Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 In particular, be prepared when the sealing element is inflated to a certain value of its internal pressure and with its envelope tight against the inner wall of the filling opening 6. In the case of a malfunction, for example in the case of a leakage in the sealing element 15, the supply of liquid carbon dioxide is stopped immediately by the control unit 26. Incidentally, the control unit 26 can also be integrated in the filling head 11.

Advantageously, the filling head 11 is designed as a handheld device and / or mounted in three dimensions movable on a support arm, not shown here and built so lightly that it can be connected by an operator with only one hand with the refrigerant receiving tray 4, operated and removed again , The filling head may also be designed to be with two or more cooling tanks simultaneously connected and can be used to fill the respective refrigerant storage compartments.

In Fig. 4a and 4b two examples of cooling containers 30a, 30b are shown, which can be filled with a filling device according to the invention. The cooling containers 30a, 30b each have an inner container 31a, 31b of a thermally conductive material, for example stainless steel, which is surrounded by an insulating outer casing 32a, 32b. The outer shell 32a, 32b comprises a layer of a thermally well insulating material, for example Styrofoam or plastic. The inner container 31a, 31b, for example, made from one piece, comprises a product receiving compartment 34a, 34b for receiving the products to be cooled. Furthermore, the cooling tanks 30a, 30b have refrigerant storage compartments 35a; 35b, 36 on. While the cooling tank 30a only has such a refrigerant accommodating compartment 35a, the cooling tank 30b is equipped with two refrigerant storage compartments 35b, 36b. The refrigerant storage compartments 35b, 36 are separated from the product storage compartment 34b by different thick wall sections. As a result, the heat transfer from the refrigerant accommodating compartment 36 is slower than that at the refrigerant accommodating compartment 35b. Depending on the respective cooling task, either the refrigerant receiving compartment 35b or the refrigerant receiving compartment 36 is used. For filling one of the refrigerant receiving compartments 35b, 36, for example, a filling device is used, the filling head of the clear width of the filling opening of the respective refrigerant receiving compartment 35b, 36 is adjusted. Alternatively, a filling device is used whose mouth opening extends over both filling openings of the refrigerant receiving compartments 35b, 36. In this case, the filling device is preferably equipped with a plurality of supply lines which can be controlled separately by means of corresponding valves, in which, depending on the choice of the refrigerant receiving compartment 35b, 36, liquid cooling dioxide is supplied via the corresponding supply line. On the front side of the respective cooling tank 30a, 30b, a door 37a, 37b is provided, which is thermally well insulating and in the - shown in the drawings - closed state simultaneously both the product receiving compartment 34a, 34b and the refrigerant receiving compartment 35a and ., The refrigerant storage compartments 35b, 36 closes thermally insulating. However, as mentioned, separate doors for the product receptacle 34a, 34b and for the area of the refrigerant receiving compartments 35a, 35b, 36 conceivable within the scope of the invention.

In the Fig. 5 to 7 another embodiment of a with a filling 10 'fillable cooling tank is shown. The filling device 10 'faces the filling device 10 Fig. 1 to 3 merely an altered geometry at the mouth opening 13 'of the front portion 12' and is otherwise the same as the filling device 10 constructed. The in Fig. 5 However, shown cooling container 39 differs from the previously described cooling containers in that it has only one of a thermal insulating outer shell 40 surrounded inner compartment 41 into which a refrigerant receiving compartment 42 is inserted in the manner of a drawer. The bottom 43 of the inserted refrigerant receiving compartment 42 divides the inner compartment 41 into a refrigerant area 44 for receiving the refrigerant and a product receiving area 45 whose function corresponds to that of the product receiving compartment 2, 24a, 34b described above. On the bottom 43, a front plate 47 is mounted at its front in the installed state front area perpendicular to the bottom 43, in which a filling opening 48 is arranged and at its - the bottom 43 opposite - the upper edge of a sealing element 49, for example, a sealing lip provided by means of Installed state of the refrigerant receiving compartment 42 is a substantially gas-tight connection to the upper inner wall 50 of the inner compartment 41 is made. Such an embodiment is particularly suitable for installation in existing cooling tank, which are indeed designed for a specific, existing on the market filling system and therefore have a corresponding refrigerant storage compartment, but this can be expanded. In this way, it is possible to retrofit already existing on the market container for filling with dee filling device according to the invention.

The structure of a manner of a drawer in an inner compartment retractable refrigerant storage compartment is in the Fig. 7a and Fig. 7b shown in two variants 42a, 42b. The laterally projecting bottom 43a, 43b in the exemplary embodiment in two provided in the inner compartment grooves 46 slidably guided. In the context of the invention, however, other possibilities are conceivable to connect the refrigerant receiving compartment 42a, 42b with the inner compartment 41, for example other plain bearing guides or another fixed, but detachable connection, such as a screw connection of the front plate 47a, 47b with the inner compartment 41. From the bottom 43a, 43b, a front plate 47a, 47b with filling opening 48a, 48b protrudes perpendicularly at its front region in the installed state. The front plate 47a, 47b can, as in the Fig. 7a and 7b shown mounted directly on the front edge of the floor, or reset by a small distance, corresponding to the front panel 47 in Fig. 5 , The filling opening 48 a, 48 b each occupy a large part of the area of the respective front plate 47 a, 47 b and has in the embodiment of Fig. 7a and 7b in both variants an oval cross section. Accordingly, the front portion 12 'of the filling head 11' - as in Fig. 6 shown - formed so that it has an oval mouth opening 13 ', on which a likewise oval shaped sealing element 15' and an oval shaped retaining device 22 'is arranged.

In order to variably adapt a filling device 10, 10 'to the respective filling opening, for example the front section 12, 12' of the filling head 11, 11 'can be designed as an exchangeable adapter, which is fixedly and substantially gas-tightly placed on the filling head 11, 11' and if necessary replaced by a different shaped. As a result, the filling device can be flexibly adapted to differently shaped and dimensioned filling openings of the refrigerant receiving compartments to be filled.

Fig. 7b 1 shows a variant 42b of a refrigerant receiving compartment, in which the refrigerant area divided off from the bottom 43b from the product area 41 is subdivided into two partial areas 53, 53 'by means of a partition wall 51 arranged perpendicular to the floor 43b and perpendicular to the front panel 47b. The two subregions 53, 53 'have different filling volumes. In addition, by means of an insulating layer 54 or an inserted insulating film there is a greater thermal resistance to the product receiving area 41 in the partial area 53 'than is the case in the partial area 53. For this reason, the refrigerant stored in the partial region 53 'absorbs heat from the product receiving region 41 more slowly than the refrigerant stored in the partial region 53. If only this partial area 53 'is used to hold the refrigerant, the product is thus cooled less deeply than if only the partial area 53 were filled with refrigerant. By a corresponding separate control of the expansion nozzles 19 and / or the flow associated with them Feed lines 18 of the filling device 10, 10 'can either be filled with cryogenic refrigerant either of the partial regions 53, 53' or both. Such a subdivision into subregions 53, 53 'is particularly advantageous if, with the cooling container equipped with the refrigerant receiving compartment 42b, both fresh goods which are kept cool but are not allowed to freeze successively should also be used for cooling frozen goods.

The filling device according to the invention saves considerable investment costs in the procurement of the cooling container and enables rapid, safe and reliable filling. It may be adapted to existing systems of refrigerant storage compartments, as well as allowing a simplified design of refrigerant storage compartments, such as those shown in the drawings. Accordingly, investment costs filling system, which in addition to the filling device according to the invention by this fillable cooling container comprises less than in filling systems according to the prior art.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

Cooler

2

Product receiving compartment

3

partition

4

Refrigerant receiving compartment

5

front

6

fill opening

7

outer shell

8th

-

9

-

10, 10 '

filling

11, 11 '

filling head

12, 12 '

front section

13, 13 '

mouth

14

balloon seal

15, 15 '

sealing element

16

pressure supply line

17

-

18

supply

19, 19 '

release nozzles

20

-

21

gas discharge

22, 22 '

Restraint

23

-

24

carbon dioxide snow

25

Dry storage.

26

control unit

27

Valve

28

Valve

29

Valve

30a, 30b

Cooler

31 a, 31 b

inner container

32a, 32b

outer shell

33

-

34a, 34b

Product receiving compartment

35a, 35b

Refrigerant receiving compartment

36

Refrigerant receiving compartment

37a, 37b

door

38

-

39

Cooler

40

outer shell

41

inner compartment

42, 42a, 42b

Variant (of a refrigerant receiving compartment)

43, 43a, 43b

ground

44

Refrigerant area

45

Product receiving area

46

groove

47, 47a, 47b

front panel

48, 48a, 48b

fill opening

49

sealing element

50

Upper inner wall

51

partition wall

52

-

53, 53 '

subregion

54

insulating

Claims (14)

1. Filling apparatus for filling a refrigerant receiving compartment (4, 35a, 35b, 42, 42a, 42b), assigned to a cooling tank (1, 30a, 30b, 39) for cooling products, with a cryogenic refrigerant, having a feed device, equipped with an expansion nozzle (19, 19'), for feeding the cryogenic refrigerant in the liquid state, a discharge device, issuing out at a discharge opening (13, 13'), for discharging cryogenic refrigerant which has evaporated during the filling operation, and a retaining device (22, 22'), by means of which the cryogenic refrigerant which has not evaporated during the filling is retained at least predominantly in the refrigerant receiving compartment (4, 35a, 35b, 42, 42a, 42b),
   characterized
   in that the expansion nozzle (19, 19') of the feed device, the discharge opening (13, 13') of the discharge device and the retaining device (22, 22') are integrated in a filler head (11, 11'), wherein the retaining device (22, 22') provided is a sieve or filter arrangement which spans the discharge opening (13, 13'), and the filler head (11, 11') is equipped with a sealing element (15, 49) for substantially gas-tight coupling to the refrigerant receiving compartment (4, 35a, 35b, 42, 42a, 42b) in the region of a filling opening (6, 48, 48a, 48b) of the refrigerant receiving compartment (4, 35a, 35b, 42, 42a, 42b).
2. Filling apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that the expansion nozzle (19, 19') of the feed device (18) is arranged in the interior of the discharge opening (13, 13') and issues out substantially in a plane defined by the mouth plane of the discharge opening (13, 13') at the filler head (11, 11').
3. Filling apparatus according to either of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sealing elements (15, 49) comprise sealing lips made of an elastic material.
4. Filling apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sealing elements (15, 49) comprise a pneumatic or hydraulic sealing element, which, by filling with a gaseous or liquid medium, produces a substantially gas-tight connection to the filling opening (6, 48, 48a, 48b) of the refrigerant receiving compartment (4, 35a, 35b, 42, 42a, 42b).
5. Filling apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the filler head (11, 11') can be pushed into the filling opening (6, 48, 48a, 48b) of the refrigerant receiving compartment (4, 35a, 35b, 42, 42a, 42b).
6. Filling apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the feed device is connected with a feed line (18) to a source for liquid cryogenic refrigerant, and the discharge device is connected to a discharge line (21) for gaseous cryogenic refrigerant, wherein the feed line and the discharge line (21) each consist at least in certain portions of a flexible material.
7. Filling apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the filler head (11, 11') is equipped with a detector for determining a substantially gas-tight connection to the refrigerant receiving compartment (4, 35a, 35b, 42, 42a, 42b).
8. Filling apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the feed device has at least two supply lines (18) which are spaced apart from one another, can be actuated separately and are equipped with expansion nozzles (19, 19').
9. Filling apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a device for generating supercooled liquid cryogenic refrigerant is assigned to the feed device.
10. Cooling tank (1, 30a, 30b, 39) for cooling products which is suitable for filling by means of a filling apparatus (10, 10') according to one of the preceding claims, having a refrigerant receiving compartment (4, 35a, 35b, 42, 42a, 42b) and having a product receiving compartment (2, 41), connected thermally thereto, for receiving the products to be cooled, wherein the refrigerant receiving compartment (4, 35a, 35b, 42, 42a, 42b) has a filling opening (6, 48, 48a, 48b), into which the filling apparatus (10, 10') can be pushed at least with a front portion (12, 12') of the filler head (11, 11') thereof.
11. Cooling tank according to Claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the refrigerant receiving compartment (42, 42a, 42b) is connected detachably to the cooling tank (39).
12. Cooling tank according to one of Claims 9 to 11, characterized in that the refrigerant receiving compartment (4, 35a, 35b, 42, 42a, 42b) has a substantially cuboidal or cylindrical form, wherein the filling opening (6, 48, 48a, 48b) occupies at least virtually an entire side face of the refrigerant receiving compartment (4, 35a, 35b, 42, 42a, 42b).
13. Cooling tank according to one of Claims 9 to 12, characterized in that the filling opening (6, 48, 48a, 48b) has a round, oval or rectangular cross section.
14. Cooling tank according to one of Claims 9 to 13, characterized in that at least two subcompartments (35b, 36, 53, 53') separated from one another are provided in the refrigerant receiving compartment and are connected to the product receiving compartment (2, 41) in each case by way of heat bridges having a different thermal resistance.

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