ES2613135T3 - Isothermal Container - Google Patents

Abstract

Isothermal container, composed of a container (1) opened by its upper base and a closing lid (2), characterized in that the wall of the container (1) and the lid (2) are composed of an inner layer (8) and an outer layer (9) of food grade polyethylene, and by an intermediate filling (10) of polyurethane foam; whose container (1) has 2 sections of different contour, one lower (3) of smaller contour, of slightly decreasing section in a downward direction and endowed in its base of support legs (4), and another upper (6) of greater contour and approximately constant section, which incorporates 4 handles (7) adjacent to the free edge of the walls, the lower section (3) having a maximum external section equal to or less than the internal section of the upper section (6); and whose lid (2) has a peripheral step (12) that delimits a lower portion (13) of contour equal to the inside of the upper section (6) of the container (1), and an upper portion (14) of contour equal to external of said upper section of the container, protruding from this second upper section (14) of the lid 4 lateral handles (15) coinciding with the handles (7) of the container, as well as a series of upper projections (16), whose lateral surface internal is located in coincidence with the external lateral surface of the support legs (4) of the container.

Description

Isothermal Container

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an isothermal container that is composed of a container, opened by its upper base, and a closing lid, and that is specially designed to transport fish caught by fishing vessels, from capture to the fish market. or distribution point.

Background of the invention

The containers currently used for the exposed purpose present certain problems, derived from their constitution and configuration.

On the one hand, due to its constitution, the isothermal capacity of the containers is reduced, which requires a high consumption of ice, to maintain fish conditions, all due to the nature of the walls of the container, based on a Single layer of plastic material.

On the other hand, due to its configuration, it is not possible to reduce the volume occupied by the containers when they are transported empty. Nor do they have means that facilitate their handling, either by hand or with lifting devices.

Description of the invention

The present invention aims to provide a container with high isothermal characteristics, which also allows its application in a vacuum and which has means that facilitate its handling.

The container of the invention is of the type composed of a container and closure lid and according to the invention the wall of each of the aforementioned components has a "sandwich" structure, with an inner and an outer layer of plastic material, preferably of food grade polyethylene, and an intermediate filling of high thermal insulation polyurethane foam, which guarantees the high isothermal capacity of the container.

With this constitution, placing a little flake ice on the base of the container to act as a “base” or “bed”, a cold atmosphere is achieved inside the container and once the captures have been introduced directly and accompanied by ice , these will receive a thermal shock that will keep them an eye and a correct brightness. In addition they will be transported to the market at a controlled temperature, so they will maintain their organoleptic properties and freshness with guarantee until they are put up for sale, once they reach port.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the container has two sections of different contour above, a lower section of smaller contour and a slightly decreasing section in descending direction, and an upper section of greater contour, the lower section having an external section smaller than the internal of the upper section. In this way, when the containers are empty they can be stacked, introducing the lower section of a container into the upper section of another container.

The fact that the containers are nestable allows their transport on board to be very “efficient” from a space organization point of view, both on deck and in the hold. Keep in mind that being able to fit one unit into another allows us to transport several units in a small space. Likewise, the crew may have the number of containers required depending on the catches of each day, without needing to saturate the hold and the empty container cover.

The upper section of the container incorporates 4 handles adjacent to the free edge of the wall, which facilitate the handling of the container and serve as secure anchorage points to move the containers from warehouse to deck, from warehouse to ground or from deck to ground, by means of devices of elevation and transport.

The lower section of the container has externally on the base of support legs that will be shaped to allow the manipulation of the container with manual transpallet and / or with forklift.

As for the lid, it is of a flat configuration, of the same contour as the container, and has a peripheral step that delimits a lower or internal contour portion equal to the interior of the upper section of the container, and an upper or external contour portion equal to outer contour of the upper section of the container. From the upper portion of the lid 4 lateral handles protrude vertically in position and contour with the handles of the container. From the upper surface of the lid, protrusions protrude whose internal lateral surface is located in coincidence with the external lateral surface of the support legs of the container. In this way the highlights of the lid delimit supports

for the legs of the container, which ensure the stacking of the closed containers.

According to a preferred embodiment, the container is approximately rectangular in shape, the legs being of the container configured as walls that run in coincidence with two of the opposite walls of the container, preferably of the major walls. These legs will be equipped with 2 openings each, facing each other on both legs, to allow the entry of the arms of a fork lift.

The container can have at the bottom of a drain for the emptying of liquids, which will be provided with a stopper of hermetic closure

The walls of the container are completely smooth, internally and externally, to prevent them from depositing in them any type of bacteria difficult to eliminate, also allowing cleaning with great ease and speed, due to in addition to the existence of the drain in the bottom of the receptacle.

The improvement of hygienic qualities with respect to existing containers in the market is evident in that There will never be a contact between the handling medium and the internal cavity of the container, thus avoiding any type of contamination with external agents that are in the ground.

The containers can be made of polyethylene walls by the rotational molding process, avoiding the Unlike the injection, the accumulation of tensions in the material, which favors that the containers have a Very high impact resistance and significantly its useful life.

The material of the containers is easily weldable, which allows the customer's own facilities to be repaired. containers that could suffer some damage, such as the usual perforations of the fingernails of the trucks elevators The repair of the walls by welding means that after a perforation, the walls are completely waterproof again.

Brief description of the drawings

The attached drawings show, by way of non-limiting example, a container constituted in accordance with the invention, being:

-Figure 1 a perspective view of the container, with the closure lid attached thereon. - Figure 2 a vertical section of the container that becomes part of the container of Figure 1. -Figure 3 a longitudinal section of the lid that closes the container. -Figure 4 a front elevation of a set of containers without lid in stacked position. -Figure 5 a set of closed containers in stacked position. -Figure 6 a side elevation of a set of stacked caps.

Detailed description of one embodiment

The container shown in figure 1 is constituted by a container (1) that is opened by its upper base, on the that a closing cover (2) is arranged. As can be seen in Figures 1 and 2, the container (1) includes 2 sections of different contour, one lower (3) of smaller contour, which is of slightly decreasing section in descending direction and that has, from the bottom, of legs (4), as an extension of the major walls, each equipped with two openings (5), facing both extensions (4), to allow the introduction of a forklift or similar. The upper section (6) is of greater contour than the lower section (3) and of practically constant section. This section upper (6) incorporates 4 handles (7) adjacent to the free edge of the walls, which are located in coincidence with the corners of the section (6). The lower section (3) has a maximum external contour equal to or less than the internal contour of the upper section (6). This configuration allows to arrange a series of empty containers (1) and without lid in stacked position, as shown in figure 4, with the lower section (3) of each container fitted in the upper section (6) of the container located immediately below. As can be seen in Figures 2 and 3, both the container (1) and the lid (2) are composed of a layer internal (8) and an outer layer (9) of food grade polyethylene, and by an intermediate padding (10) of foam polyurethane. As can be seen in Figure 2, the container (1) has a drain hole (11) at the bottom. As shown in Figure 3, the cover (2) has a peripheral step (12) that delimits a lower portion (13), which is equal to the internal contour of the upper section (6) of the container (1), and an upper portion (14) of equal contour to the outside of the upper section (6) of the container (1). This configuration allows the lid (2) to be attached on the open base of the container (1), fitting the step (12) on the upper edge of the wall of the container (1), thus ensuring the airtight container closure (1). As can also be seen in Figure 3, 4 upper handles (15) protrude from the upper section (14) of the cover (2). matching, in configuration and position, with the handles (7) of the container.

In the lid (2) and container (1) the handles (15 and 7) are located in coincidence with the corners of the container. From the upper free surface of the cover (2), there is an upper projection (16), coinciding with the edges. longitudinal of the cover, which are located in coincidence with the external lateral surface of the support legs (4) of the container (1). In this way the projections (16) of the cover delimit lateral stops for the support legs 4 of the

5 container, thus allowing several closed containers to be stacked, as shown in Figure 5, supporting each of them through the legs (4) of the container on the lid (2) of the container (1) located immediately below, supporting laterally against the projections (16) of the cover. The described configuration also allows several caps (2) to be stacked together, as shown in Figure 6. In the example described both the container (1) and the lid (2) are rectangular in shape, but as can

10 understood could adopt any other configuration, maintaining the characteristics described.

Claims (2)

1.-Isothermal container, composed of a container (1) opened by its upper base and a closing lid (2), characterized in that the wall of the container (1) and the lid (2) are composed of an inner layer ( 8) and an outer layer (9) of food grade polyethylene, and by an intermediate padding (10) of polyurethane foam; whose 5 container (1) has 2 sections of different contour, one lower (3) of smaller contour, of slightly decreasing section in a downward direction and endowed in its base of support legs (4), and another upper (6) of greater approximately constant contour and section, which incorporates 4 handles (7) adjacent to the free edge of the walls, the lower section (3) having a maximum external section equal to or less than the internal section of the upper section (6); and whose lid (2) has a peripheral step (12) that delimits a lower portion (13) of contour equal to the interior of the upper section 10 (6) of the container (1), and an upper portion (14) of equal contour to the outside of said upper section of the container, protruding from this second upper section (14) of the lid 4 side handles (15) coinciding with the handles (7) of the container, as well as a series of upper projections (16), whose internal lateral surface is located in coincidence with the external lateral surface of the support legs (4) of the container. 15 2. Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the container (1) has a drain hole (11) at the bottom, with a sealing cap. 3. Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the legs (4) of the container (1) run in coincidence with two of the opposite walls of the container and have 2 openings (5) each, facing on both legs. 20 4. Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the handles (7) of the container and the handles (15) of the lid are formed as lateral projections of the container and lid, located at the corners in coincident positions.