Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D81/00—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents
  • B65D81/38—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents with thermal insulation
  • B65D81/3825—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents with thermal insulation rigid container being in the form of a box, tray or like container with one or more containers located inside the external container

Definitions

• the present invention generally relates to the field of insulating containers for the transport of goods and in particular to a disposable insulating container for the transport of perishable products that need to be stored within a given temperature range.
• containers which are made of insulating materials such as expanded polyethylene (EPE), expanded polypropylene ( EPP), polystyrene foam (EPS) or expanded polyurethane (EPUR).
• EPE expanded polyethylene
• EPP expanded polypropylene
• EPS polystyrene foam
• EPUR expanded polyurethane
• Insulating containers are generally manufactured by molding employing a suitable equipment having remarkable plant and operating costs that result in high costs of the individual insulating containers. Such costs can only be amortized by using the containers repeatedly over time. In the case of disposable containers, plant and operating costs can be amortized based on the amount of manufactured items.
• the technical problem solved by the present invention is therefore to provide a disposable insulating container allowing to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above with reference to the prior art.
• An idea of solution underlying the invention is to make an insulating container by using an inner casing and an outer casing fitted into one another and separated by a plurality of spacers defining one or more cavities between their respective walls.
• Cardboard for example smooth or corrugated, is used to make the casings. Cardboard is an extremely cheap and small size material, thereby well suited for the manufacturing of a disposable container.
• the air present in the cavities acts as an insulating means between the inner casing and the outer casing.
• the disposable insulating container according to the invention allows to easily and effectively solve the problem concerning the manufacturing costs.
• the two casings that form the insulating container can be stored in a flat shape such as common cardboard boxes, which results in remarkable space savings, as well as storage cost savings.
• the spacers needed to form the cavities between the two casings of the disposable insulating container can be independent elements made of an insulating material suitable to avoid formation of thermal bridges.
• the spacers may advantageously be formed integrally with one between the inner casing and the outer casing or with both of them.
• the spacers are obtained integrally with the inner casing, which is manufactured starting from a suitably shaped die-cut cardboard blank.
• FIGS. 1 to 4 are perspective transparent views schematically showing embodiments of the disposable insulating container according to the invention
• figure 5 is a perspective exploded view showing a preferred embodiment of the disposable insulating container according to the invention
• figure 6 is a perspective view showing a die-cut cardboard blank that can be used to make the inner casing of the insulating container of figure 5;
• figure 7 shows a variant of the disposable insulating container of figure 5.
• a disposable insulating container according to the invention is generally indicated by reference numeral 100 and is shown in a three- dimensional reference system wherein a first direction X and a second direction Y, which are perpendicular to each other, represent a horizontal supporting plane of the container 100, while a third direction Z, perpendicular to the first direction X and to the second direction Y, represents a vertical direction along which the force of gravity acts.
• the insulating container 100 comprises an outer casing 110 that has a parallelepiped shape and is made of an insulating packaging material, an inner casing 120 also having the shape of a parallelepiped and similarly made of an insulating packaging material.
• the inner casing 120 is housed in the outer casing 110.
• the insulating container 100 further comprises a plurality of spacers 130 that are arranged between the inner casing 120 and the outer casing 110 and define one or more cavities 140 between them.
• the air present in the cavities 140 acts as an insulating material between the inner casing 120 and the outer casing 110.
• the 110 and the inner casing 120 are for example cellular polypropylene, polystyrene and cardboard.
• the outer casing 110 and the inner casing 120 are preferably made of cardboard, for example smooth or corrugated cardboard, because this is an extremely cheap material that can be recycled and is biodegradable, thereby well suited for the manufacturing of a disposable container.
• cardboard has a low thermal conductivity, thus allowing to achieve adequate heat insulation performances synergistically with the cavities 140 over the limited time the disposable container 100 will be used.
• the outer casing 110 and the inner casing 120 can be formed by folding starting from suitably shaped die-cut blanks. This feature of the invention allows to minimize the size of the insulating container 100 when it is not used and therefore to remarkably reduce storage costs.
• the outer casing 110 may advantageously be a standard transport cardboard, new or even secondhand, container.
• the inner casing 120 is instead configured and dimensioned so as to be fitted and housed in the outer casing 110.
• the insulating container 100 includes for example eight spacers 130 that are so shaped as to be fitted at each vertex of the inner casing 120.
• a single cavity 140 is present between the outer casing 110 and the inner casing 120. This cavity surrounds the inner casing completely but at its vertexes.
• spacers 130 are instead used. These spacers are so shaped as to be mounted along opposite edges of the inner casing 120, for example the edges that form its smaller faces. Also in this case, a single cavity 140 is formed between the outer casing 110 and the inner casing 120. The cavity completely surrounds the inner casing 120 but the edges along which the spacers 130 are arranged.
• the container 100 instead includes only two spacers 130 having the shape of a frame that is fitted on the vertexes, some or all the edges, and rests on two opposite faces of the inner casing 120, e.g. the base and the cover.
• a number of cavities 140 are formed between the outer casing 110 and the inner casing 120.
• the frame structure of the spacers 130 has a higher compressive strength and allows the inner casing 120 to receive heavier loads.
• the spacers 130 are arranged in contact with all the faces of the inner casing 120 so that there is at least one cavity 140 between each face of the inner casing 120 and the corresponding face of the outer casing 110. This allows to avoid the formation of thermal bridges as a consequence of a direct contact between the two casings of the insulating container 100.
• Insulation materials are used to make the spacers 130 so as to prevent formation of thermal bridges between the outer casing 110 and the inner casing 120.
• Preferred materials are, for example, cardboard, expanded polystyrene, expanded polyethylene, cellular polypropylene and felt.
• the thickness of the spacers determines the height of the cavities 140 and is in the range between 1 mm and 50 mm. The thickness may vary according to the shape of the spacers and to the material of which these are made.
• the spacers can be formed integrally with the inner casing 120 and/or with the outer casing 110 of the insulating container 100, thus making assembly faster.
• the outer casing 110 and the inner casing 120 are formed by folding starting from die-cut cardboard blanks.
• a die-cut blank B is described, starting from which it is possible to obtain the inner casing 120 of the insulating container 100.
• the die-cut blank B is configured so as to form an inner casing 120 having integrally formed spacers 130.
• the die-cut blank B comprises a base 121, for example having a rectangular shape, and four flaps 122 extending from the four edges of the base outwards and intended to form the side walls of the inner casing 120.
• U-shaped slits are formed along the periphery of the base 121 so as to define respective extensions 123 of the flaps 122 intended to form first spacers, as it will be explained below.
• Each flap 122 comprises a first portion 122a adjacent to the respective edge of the base 121 wherein at least one through opening 124 is formed.
• each flap 122 includes e.g. two through-openings 124.
• each flap 122 comprises a second portion 122b that is separated from the first portion 122a by a folding edge 122c parallel to the corresponding edge of the base 121.
• a tongue 122d is formed at a free end of each flap 122. The tongue is used during assembly in order to make the walls of the inner casing 120, as it will be described below.
• one or more U-shaped slits define respective extensions 125 of the flaps 122 intended to form second spacers, as it will be explained below.
• the second portions 122b of the flaps 122 are rotated about their respective folding edges 122c by 180° and therefore superimposed to the first portions 122a.
• the tongues 122d are attached to the base 121 by way of glue or equivalent means.
• the flaps 122 so configured are then rotated by 90° relative to the base 121 about its peripheral edges so as to make the walls of the inner casing 120.
• the first spacers 123 and the second spacers 125 formed as extensions of the flaps 122 protrude respectively downwards and upwards in the vertical direction Z.
• This allows to space the base 121 of the inner casing 120 away from a bottom wall of the outer casing 110 and also to assemble a cover 126 of the inner casing 120 and/or a tray 127 adapted to receive a cooling mass.
• the tray 127 is shown in the embodiment of figure 7 and is configured to be mounted atop the inner casing 120.
• edge portions 122e that surround the through openings 124 contact the peripheral walls of the outer casing 110 and, thanks to their thickness, serve as spacers that allow to create insulating cavities 140 between the outer casing 110 and the inner casing 120.
• the tray 127 is made of cardboard and can be obtained by folding starting from a die-cut blank.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=59078113

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (1)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 2017
  • 2017-03-21 IT IT102017000031087A patent/IT201700031087A1/it unknown
  • 2017-05-04 EP EP17731276.6A patent/EP3601095B1/de active Active
  • 2017-05-04 WO PCT/IB2017/052599 patent/WO2018172824A1/en active Search and Examination

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events