FR2572252A1 - Container for preserving food products, particularly for keeping live aquatic animals such as crustacea - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a container for preserving food products, particularly for keeping live aquatic animals such as crustacea. This container is characterised in that it comprises water-spraying nozzles 21, a water-permeable lower horizontal support 22 on which may be placed perforated boxes 23 containing the food products, such as aquatic animals, a water-pumping circuit 17, 18, 19 for supplying pressurised water to the spraying nozzles 21, and means 25 for permanently maintaining the leaktight chamber at a temperature below approximately 10 DEG C.

Description

 The present invention relates to a container for the preservation of food products, in particular for the maintenance of life of aquatic animals such as crustaceans.

 We already know, as described in the European patent application NO 0072 334 of the applicant, a procedure for the conservation in life of aquatic animals, such as crustaceans, during their transport, in which we permanently maintain, in a sealed space in which the aquatic animals are housed, a humid atmosphere, at a temperature ranging from + 50C to + 130C, obtained by spraying water at the top of the space in which the aquatic animals are housed, l condensed water being immediately recovered, after its condensation, in the lower part of the space to be recycled to the upper part, and thus to avoid any formation of a layer of permanent water in the sealed space.

 The fact of being able to keep aquatic animals in "wet" air instead of keeping them in 1 e to "aerated" according to the prior art, undoubtedly has the advantages, in the case of transporting aquatic animals, to gain in payload and to be able to use multi-purpose vehicles thanks to dismountable and space-saving installations. If this process has therefore proved to be particularly advantageous for the transport of aquatic animals, it has subsequently appeared, in the course of various experiments carried out, that in addition to the abovementioned advantages this process makes it possible to eliminate the hazards of the current storage of aquatic animals and in particular crustaceans, namely that dead crustaceans do not seem to bother those who are still alive. On the contrary in current tanks it is necessary to make regular visits, one to two per day, to remove dead crustaceans to avoid excessive mortality, dead crustaceans rapidly polluting live crustaceans.

 The present invention therefore aims to provide a storage container implementing the above method and which lends itself particularly well in particular for the conservation of food products and especially aquatic animals, both at sea, on fishing grounds , only on land and during air transport.

To this end, this container for the conservation of food products, in particular for keeping aquatic animals such as crustaceans alive, comprising a
sealed refrigerated enclosure having, in one of its faces, an access opening closed by a door, is characterized in that it comprises spray nozzles to permanently maintain, in the enclosure, a humid atmosphere, a water pumping circuit for supplying pressurized water to the spray nozzles, at least one horizontal water-permeable support on which food products such as aquatic animals can be placed, means for discharging or r-cyel - '' condensed water flowing through the permeable support and its means to permanently maintain, in the sealed enclosure, a temperature below about 100C .:
The water spray nozzles can be mounted at the top of the container, in order to spray the water from top to bottom, or alternatively they can be arranged at each storage level, spraying the water towards the products. This last provision must be adopted in particular during the storage or transport of certain species of aquatic animals which require to be moistened individually in a more intense manner as is the case for example of live fish.

 The container according to the invention can operate in a closed or open circuit. In the first case, it has a bottom, located under the support, for channeling the condensed water towards a removable collecting tank which can be drawn outwards through an opening closed by a door, and a water pumping circuit. collected in the removable collecting tank, to supply pressurized water to the upper spray nozzles.

 According to a complementary characteristic of the invention, the removable collecting tank is constituted by a horizontally sliding drawer, which comprises several compartments, namely an anterior compartment close to the opening and into which the collected water falls, an intermediate filtration compartment. separated from the front compartment by a permeable partition and a rear compartment communicating with the lower part of the intermediate compartment, collecting the filtered water and into which plunges the suction pipe of a pump forming part of the pumping circuit of the water, when the container operates in a closed circuit.

 Depending on whether the container is used for transport or storage on site, the filtration mode and the collecting tank may however be different. If the container is used for storage and is therefore fixed, then it is necessary to ensure excellent filtration to keep the water in the best conditions for as long as possible while in the case where the container is transported, it is it is necessary that the collecting tank does not lose its water during handling or traveling.

 The container according to the invention can be used at a fixed station as a permanent storage facility on the ground, which saves the very large locations required by current fishponds, which are expensive by the sea and take up a lot of space at ground.

Furthermore, the relatively low temperature maintained inside the container allows a long conservation of crustaceans because their vital activity is indeed slowed down.

 By way of example, Norway lobsters kept for 72 hours in a container according to the invention, although they died before loading, remained in the same state of freshness at the end of this period, whereas in a conventional refector lobster heads turn black even with ice.

 The container according to the invention can be used on all the elin4nc going from the places of fishing to the points of sale to the d t a j through the storage and the transport.

 In the case of use on a fishing boat, the container according to the invention constitutes a space in which are stored with the greatest care, as per the measurement of the perch, the aquatic animals which, once conditioned for this. way, no longer have to suffer from too many changes in temperature and environment.

 Likewise for areas leaving aquaculture, this conditioning allows them to be transported to consumers or to another stage of farming. Storage can take place elsewhere than in the immediate vicinity of the sea, for species living in salt water.

 Naturally for containers located by the sea it is not essential that they operate in a closed circuit. It is the same on boats.

 Although the container according to the invention has been designed more particularly for keeping aquatic animals such as crustaceans alive, it can also be used for other non-living food products such as fruit and vegetables, dead fish etc because the low temperature prevailing inside the container and the constantly renewed humidity are perfectly suitable for keeping the freshness.

 Thanks to the refrigeration system that it includes the container according to the invention can also be used to transport frozen or deep-frozen foodstuffs, which makes it possible to avoid the return of a vacuum transport truck when there is no, all along the way, fresh food or live aquatic animals can't be transported. For the return transport of frozen or deep-frozen foodstuffs, the container is suitable for this transport by draining the device ensuring the spraying of water in order to protect it, and the mixing of air can then be increased inside the container. container.

fln will describe below, by way of nonlimiting examples, various embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the appended drawing in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container for storing and / or transporting food products and live aquatic animals such as crustaceans.

 FIG. 2 is a view in vertical and longitudinal section of the container of FIG. 1.

 Figure 3 is a perspective view of the lower part of the container of Figures 1 and 2, the drawer having the filtering compartments being shown by tiement out.

 Figure 4 is a vertical and longitudinal sectional view of an alternative embodiment of a container.

 Figure 5 is a schematic vertical sectional view of another variant of a container.

Figure 6 is a front view of a cell storage medium for transporting fish separated from each other. +
FIG. 7 is a view of a storage level of the storage medium b individual cells of FIG. 6.

 Figure 8 is a plan view of the individual cell storage medium.

 Figure 9 is a perspective view of the individual cell storage medium.

 The container shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a rectangular enclosure 1, waterproof, having, in one of its faces, an access opening closed by a door 2. Inside the enclosure 1 has a bottom 3 located some distance above the floor 4 of the container. This bottom 3, in the shape of an inverted pyramid trunk, is composed of inclined side plates 3a, 3b, 3c which are connected to a lower horizontal plate 3d, forming the small base of the pyramid trunk which does not extend over the the entire length of the bottom, as can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. Below this bottom 3 is housed a water collecting tank constituted by a filtration drawer 5 with several compartments, which is movable longitudinally. f drawer 5 has a front compartment 6 itself subdivided by vertical partitions 7, then an intermediate compartment 8 and finally a rear compartment 9. The front compartment 6 is separated from the intermediate compartment 8 by a permeable partition 11. In the intermediate compartment .S are successively arranged, from top to bottom, for example a layer of plastic foam 12, then a layer of glass wool 13, then a layer of active charcoal 14 and finally a layer of gravel 15. This compartment intermediate 8 is separated from the rear compartment 9 by a vertical partition 16, which is pierced with one or more orifices at its lower part to communicate the two compartments 8 and 9. In the rear compartment 9 plunges a suction pipe 17 d a pump 18 which is connected to a discharge line 19 supplying water spray nozzles 2l which are exposed at the top of the enclosure 1 These nozzles can be arranged along lateral and / or central ramps or in any other way.

 Above the bottom 3 is disposed a horizontal grating 22 on which are placed crates 23 containing the aquatic animals to be stored or transported such as crustaceans 24.

 At the upper part, the enclosure 1 comprises one or more refrigeration units 25 ensuring a circulation of cold air intended to keep the interior of the enclosure 1 at a low temperature, below 10oC.

 When the container 1 is used for storing or transporting shellfish 24, the pump 18 and the refrigeration units 25 are connected to an electrical power source so as to be put into operation. Therefore, a certain amount of water being housed initially in the filter drawer 5, this water is pumped, by the pump 18, into the rear compartment 9, it is discharged through the pipe 19 and through the nozzles spraying 21, to form continuously, inside the enclosure 1, a humid atmosphere. The water which is thus sprayed continuously, then flows, after having bathed the crus tact 24, '-t travers the boxes' t.- skeleton 23 t the cl he plank 22, then it falls on the three inclined plates 3a, 3b, 3c of the bottom 3 and on the horizontal plate 3b to be channeled towards the anterior compartment 6 in which deposit coarse dirt. This water then passes through the intermediate partition 11, to flow through the layer of foam 12, then the layer of glass wool 13, then the layer of activated carbon 14, then the layer of gravel 13, thus being perfectly filtered. The posterior com 9 thus receives perfectly pure water suitable for a new use.

When you want to clean the filter drawer 5, just open the door 2 and pull towards the drawer, as shown in Figure 3t you can then have access to the front compartment, 'to clean it ci, and also to the intermediate compartment 8, to possibly replace the elements
FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment in which the refrigeration unit 25 produces a stream of cold air circulating entirely around the central part of the enclosure in which the boxes 23 containing the crustaceans are housed and where the spray is sprayed. water.

 In the version of the container which is illustrated in FIG. 5, the container comprises, at its upper part, a horizontal partition wall 26 delimiting an upper compartment 27 in which is housed an evaporator 28 forming part of a system of - container cooling. This evaporator 28 is connected, by means of pipes embedded in the wall, to a compressor 29 housed in a compartment 31- provided with the lower part of the container. Fans 32 are also housed in the upper compartment 27 to circulate the cold air in the compartment 27 so as to stir it well and better distribute the cold to the entire partition 26. This separation partition thus transmits the low temperature to the humid atmosphere produced inside the storage compartment 30 of the container, thus preventing moisture from icing. Below the separating wall 26 are arranged the spray nozzles 21 which spray from the bottom down and which are connected, by the pipe 19 to the pump 18 housed in the lower compartment 31. The lower compartment 31 is delimited by grids 33 which can be opened and which allow air to pass through. A door 34 is provided in a side wall of the container, in order to allow access to the storage compartment 30 thereof, in view of '' introduce or extract food products. The main storage compartment 30 is delimited, at its lower part re, by the horizontal grating 22 below which extends an inclined collecting bottom 35. This inclined bottom 35, made up of several panels, opens out above the water collecting tank 5 which ensures the recovery, filtering and storage of the condensed water and from which this water is sucked by the pump 18 to be recycled and sprayed by the upper nozzles 21. The collecting tank 5 is housed in a compartment to which can have access through a technical inspection door 36. The container can also include, - outside, steps 37 constituting a staircase for access to door 34. Finally, the various electrical devices, that is to say the compressor 29 motor of the cooling system and the pump drive motor 18 are electrically supplied by a supply conductor 38.

 The container illustrated schematically in Figure 5 can be used to transport food products and in this case it can be used to transport frozen or deep-frozen food, as return freight, if it is not possible to find fresh or live products. For the transport of this freight of frozen or deep-frozen products, it suffices to purge the water circuit and to open, in the horizontal partition 26, 2Sa hatches then allowing the circulation of cold air in the main storage compartment. 30 which is no longer humidified.

 Figures 6 to 9 illustrate an embodiment of a support 41 with individual cells for the transport of relatively fragile living aquatic species. This support 41 comprises a set of individual cells 42 arranged one beside the other both vertically and horizontally. Each cell is intended to receive an aquatic animal, for example a trout, this trout being maintained in a vertical position by contact with the longitudinal and vertical walls 43 of each cell 42. Each cell 42 is also delimited by a bottom 44 which is slightly inclined relative to the horizontal. Each cell 42 is closed, at its front end, by a front and transverse wall 46 common to all the cells and which extends; only over part of the height of the veole, from the bottom 44. Furthermore, water spray nozzles 47 are connected to water supply pipes 48 extending horizontally and each ~ nozzle 47 is provided for spraying water in the direction of two adjacent spouts 42. The nozzles 47 and the pipes 48 which feed water are provided at the upper and anterior part of each cell 42, above the front and transverse wall 46. Furthermore, each longitudinal wall 43 stops at a certain distance from the front and transverse wall 46. In this way a nozzle 47 situated above the front wall 46 and in the axis of a longitudinal wall 43 sprays water in the direction of the anterior zones of the two adjacent cells 42. therefore sees that two trouts placed in two adjacent cells 42 permanently receive, through their wadholes, a water mist which comes from a single spray nozzle 47.

 The fact that the bottom 44 of each cell 42 is tilted up and down and from back to front has the consequence that each trout is kept tilted forward, a position which prevents it from sliding backwards.

The inclination also causes the permanent formation of a small layer of water in the lower and anterior corner which allows the trout to survive during the handling of the entire support 41 which must be disconnected for unloading and transport to the next storage station (basin or room equipped to receive these storage media). The storage medium 41 is therefore connected to the water circuit by means of a quick plug and this circuit is equipped with returns to the tank to isolate the end pieces without storage media 41.

 The shelves constituting the bottoms 44 of the cells are permeable to water in places to accelerate the runoff of the latter: it is indeed necessary to reduce as much as possible the amount of water in movement. Because the front wall 46 does not extend to the top, there is a passage for air which can thus circulate freely in the entire storage medium 41. - - - In read In the if the container according to the invention is used in the hold of a boat, it can operate without recovery of water because the bilge pumps which are normally provided in boats, ensure the emptying of these holds permanently, which considerably simplifies water filtration, especially if you put dead fish in the container. In fact, some species could clog filters with their grease and other materials. In such an application, it suffices only to filter the water pumped into the sea and to conduct it for some time in the part of the air which cools the humid enclosure, before spraying it.

 In all cases of application of the container according to the invention, care must be taken to ensure minimum ventilation. This ventilation can be obtained by a fairly frequent opening of the access door to the storage compartment, such as door 34 in FIG. 5. Psr elsewhere if the pumping takes place at sea, the water is already sufficiently oxygenated.

Otherwise it is necessary to make up for a possible lack of ventilation with an adequate supply of healthy air.

Claims (9)

 1.- container for preserving food products, in particular for maintaining life in aquatic animals such as crustaceans, comprising a sealed refrigerated enclosure having, in one of its faces, an access opening closed by a door characterized in that this tool comprises water spraying nozzles (91) mounted at its upper part or at each storage level, to permanently maintain, in the enclosure, a humid atmosphere, a dP pumping circuit of the water (17,18,19), for supplying pressurized spray nozzles (21) with water, at least one horizontal support (22) permeable to water on which food products such as animals can be placed aquatic, means for discharging or recycling the condensed water flowing through the permeable support, and means (25) for permanently maintaining, in the sealed enclosure, a temperature below about 10 C.  2.- container according to claim 1 characterized in that it comprises a bottom (3), located under the support, for channeling the condensed water towards a removable collecting tank (5) which can be drawn outwards through the opening closed by the door (2).  3.- container according to claim 2 characterized in that the removable collecting tank (5) is constituted by a horizontally sliding drawer, which comprises several compartments namely a front compartment (6) close to the opening and into which falls the read water, an intermediate filtration compartment (8) separated from the front compartment (6) by a permeable partition (11) and a rear compartment (9) communicating with the lower part of the intermediate compartment (8), collecting the filtered water and in which plunges the suction line (17) of a pump (forming part of the water pumping circuit, when the container operates in a closed circuit.  4.- container according to claim 3 caractA- risA in that rians the intermediate compartment (8) are successively arranged, from top to bottom, a layer of plastic foam (12), then a layer of glass wool (13 ), then a layer of activated charcoal (14) and finally a layer of gravel (15).  5.- container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises, at its upper part, a horizontal partition (26) delimiting an upper compartment (27) in which is housed an evaporator (28) making part of a container cooling system which is connected to a compressor (29) housed in a compartment (31) provided at the bottom of the container, and at least one fan (32) housed in the upper compartment (27 ) to circulate the cold air in this compartment, in contact with 18 partition walls (26).  6.- container according to claim 5 characterized in that hatches (26a) are provided in the partition -horizontal (26) to allow, when open, the circulation of cold air in the main storage compartment (30) from the container.  7.- container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it contains at least one support (41) - with individual cells for the transport of relatively fragile living aquatic species, this support (41) comprising a set of 'individual cells (42) arranged one next to the other both vertically and horizontally.  8.- container according to claim 7 characterized in that each cell (42) of the support (41) is delastated by longitudinal and vertical walls (43), and a bottom (44) inclined relative to the horizontal and , at its front end, by a front and transverse wall (46) which extends only over part of the height of the lralveole, from the bottom (44), each longitudinal wall (43) stopping at a certain distance from the front and transverse wall (46,), and each water spray nozzle (37), connected to a supply pipe (48S, cgt situated above the front and transverse wall (46) and is oriented in the axis of a longitudinal wall (43) so as to spray water in the direction of the anterior zones of two adjacent cells.  9. Container according to claim 8 characterized in that the shelves constituting the bottoms (44) of the cells (42) are, in places, permeable to water.