FR2699894A1 - Insulated container for liquid and solid food products - Google Patents

Abstract

The container consists of a body (2) closed by a sealed lid. Either the body or the lid is equipped with a tap (13) through which a liquid can be withdrawn, and an air intake (15) to let in air replacing the extracted liquid. The outer aperture (17) of the air intake has a nuclear, bacteriological and chemical filter (18) of dimensions which suit the total volume of the container.The container and lid have a corrosion-free and food-grade metal lining (4, 4') and an outer layer (5) of an impact-resistant plastics, with a layer of thermal insulation (6) between. The container and lid are without external projections, and buoyant.

Description

Isothermal container
The present invention relates to an insulated container specially intended for the transport and distribution of liquid and solid food products in polluted or contagious areas, that is to say in areas affected by disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes. land, epidemics, wars ... where it is necessary to supply populations in distress with food, but especially with drinking water and hot or cold drinks.

 This container is, in known manner itself, constituted by a container body capable of being closed in a sealed manner by a cover.

 To allow the withdrawal of the liquids which it contains, such a container is provided on its external face with a tap cooperating with an air intake, in particular constituted by a meatus provided with a valve pierced either vertically or obliquely.

 It should be noted that both the valve and the air intake can be mounted either on the container body or on the cover.

 The presence of the air intake is essential to allow the liquid to be drawn off under satisfactory conditions: as the drawing is made, the volume of liquid extracted from the container is, in fact, replaced by outside air drawn in. by the air intake.

 Such penetration inside the air container from the outside can have serious consequences, especially in the event of significant pollution or in countries affected by nuclear, bacteriological or chemical wars.

 The object of the present invention is to remedy this drawback by proposing an insulated container which can be protected against any external contamination.

 According to the invention, this container is characterized in that the external opening of the air intake is equipped with a nuclear, bacteriological and chemical protection cartridge (NBC cartridge) capable of filtering the polluted air entering the inside the container body to replace the withdrawn liquid.

 Such protective cartridges correspond to elements known in themselves since they are mounted on the gas masks with which soldiers are called to fight in infected areas, or which are offered to civilian populations exposed to risks of chemical or bacteriological nuclear wars.

 The idea underlying the invention consists in adapting such NBC cartridges to the external opening of the container air intakes so as to allow them to be closed in a sealed manner to any pollution.

 For a container thus equipped to be entirely satisfactory, it is of course essential that the NBC cartridge is dimensioned so as to be able to completely filter the maximum volume of external air that can enter the container body which corresponds to the entire internal volume of the latter.

 The invention is particularly advantageous for an insulated container of the type described in document FR-A-86 10 337 in which the container body and the cover have a stainless steel internal wall of food grade intended to be in contact with food products, and an impact-resistant external wall made of a resistant plastic material, these two walls being separated by a layer of thermal insulation.

 Such a mixed container (plastic exterior - metal interior) has the advantage of being lighter and more resistant to impact deformation than an all-metal container. In addition, compared to articles made entirely of plastic, the presence of an internal metallic envelope, in particular made of 18/10 stainless steel guarantees the good behavior of the food from the point of view of odors and oxidation and also facilitates cleaning.

 Furthermore, given its particular destination, the container according to the invention is clearly called upon to undergo handling which can be extremely brutal, such as for example a parachuting at the place of its use: it is therefore essential that 'it is very shock resistant.

 To meet this requirement, it is necessary that the surface of the container does not have projections corresponding to points of least resistance which can cause damage, or even piercing, therefore destruction of the container in the event of a fall to this level.

 To this end, and according to a preferred characteristic of the invention, the valve as well as the external opening of the air intake fitted with the NBC cartridge are respectively housed in their entirety in shoulders of the container body or of the cover.

 According to another characteristic of the invention, the valve as well as the air intake are mounted on the cover of the container.

 Such a configuration, already described in document FR-A-88 11 001, in accordance with which the container is movable between a normal storage position in which it rests on its bottom and a dispensing position in which it is essentially tilted 90 "so as to lean on its side walls, has proved to be particularly satisfactory given, in particular, that for a given external volume, it makes it possible to have a maximum internal volume, which is essential in the case of containers essentially intended for the supply of populations in distress, for which the costs linked to storage and transport must be reduced as much as possible.

 Given its above-mentioned configuration, the insulated container according to the invention can clearly be filled in an uninfected area protected from any contamination, and equipped with the NBC cartridge before its shipment to a polluted area, so as to guarantee the health status of food products contained.

 I1 is advantageous that the container according to the invention can float so as to allow it to be parachuted into lakes or on coasts.

 It should be noted that, in order to be able to obtain complete satisfaction, it is necessary to equip the container with the NBC cartridge before shipment to a polluted area to avoid any contamination at the level of the external opening of the air intake, even in the absence of any previous racking.

The characteristics of the insulated container which is the subject of the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which - Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the container
isothermal in normal storage position, - Figure 2 is a view corresponding to Figure 1
but in which the insulated container is located
in the dispensing position.

 FIGS. 1 and 2 relate to the particular example of a cylindrical container in which, on the one hand, the container body and the cover have a metallic internal wall and an impact-resistant external wall made of a resistant plastic material, and on the other hand, the valve and the air intake are mounted on the cover; this configuration, although particularly advantageous, should not, of course, be considered as limiting the invention.

 According to Figure 1, the container is an element capable of floating which consists of a container body 2 as well as a cover 3. The container body 2 is essentially intended to contain a liquid food product 1 so as to allow its transport and distribution in polluted or contagious areas.

 The container body 2 is provided with a bottom 20 by which, in the normal storage position, it rests on any support xx 'as well as a side wall 21 by which, after tilting of approximately 90 "according to the arrow I, it rests on the support xx 'in the dispensing position, in a manner which will be described in more detail in the remainder of this description.

 In a manner known in itself, the container body 2 is constituted by an internal wall 4 made of food-grade stainless steel in contact with the liquid 1 and by an external wall 5 impact-resistant made of high density polyethylene. The walls 4 and 5 are separated by a layer of polyurethane foam 6 injected between them and acting as thermal insulation.

 Similarly, the cover 3 has an inner wall 4 'of food grade stainless steel and an outer wall 5' of high density polyethylene which are separated by a layer of polyurethane foam 6 'injected between these two walls.

 The cover 3 as well as the container body 2 cooperate with locking members making it possible to close the container in leaktight manner these members which are known in themselves will not be described in detail for the purpose of brevity.

 According to FIGS. 1 and 2, the cover 3 is provided, on its periphery, with two shoulders 11 and 11 'formed in polyethylene 5' and in polyurethane 6 'which are in the form of a circular sector and are essentially diametrically opposite on the cover 3.

 These shoulders 11 and 11 'define two recessed surfaces 12 and 12'.

 A tap 13 is mounted at the level of the recessed surface 12 so as to allow the distribution of the liquid 1.

To allow the implementation of this operation according to arrow A, the container body 2
is tilted from its normal storage position shown in Figure 1 into the dispensing position shown in Figure 2, in which the tap is located at the bottom of the container body 2 so as to allow the distribution of all liquid 1.

 An air intake 15 provided with a valve 16 is also mounted in the cover 3 to allow the withdrawal of the liquid according to arrow A.

The external opening 17 of this valve opens outwards at the level of the recessed surface 12 ′ when a given volume of liquid is drawn off according to arrow A by the valve 13, an equivalent quantity of air enters instead in the container by the air intake 15 according to arrow B.

 To avoid any contamination of the internal part of the container and of the liquid 1 by the air thus sucked in, the external opening of the air intake 15 is equipped with a nuclear, bacteriological and chemical protection cartridge 18 (NBC cartridge) likely to filter the air entering the container.

 This NBC 18 cartridge is sized according to the total volume of the container.

 As a result of the housing in their entirety of the cartridge 18 as well as of the tap 13 in the shoulders 11 and 11 ', the external surface of the container does not clearly have a projection corresponding to points of least resistance; the container can therefore be parachuted without risk of damage or punching in infected areas already equipped with the NBC cartridge, that is to say a horizontal and lateral protection of these two organs of primary function that are the tap and the air intake fitted with its NBC filter cartridge.

Claims (6)

 1 ") Isothermal container for transporting and distributing liquid (1) and solid food products in polluted or contagious areas and consisting of a container body (2) capable of being sealed by a cover (3), the container body (2) or the cover (3) being provided on its external face with a tap (13) allowing the withdrawal of a food liquid (1) contained in the container body (2 ) and cooperating with an air intake (15) provided on the container body (2) or the cover (3), container characterized in that the external opening (17) of the air intake (15) is equipped with a nuclear, bacteriological and chemical protection cartridge (NBC cartridge) (18) capable of filtering the polluted air entering the interior of the container body (2) to replace the liquid (l) withdrawn.  2 ") Isothermal container according to claim 1, characterized in that the NBC cartridge (18) is dimensioned according to the total volume of the container.  3) Isothermal container according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the container body (2) and the cover (3) have an internal wall (4) of food-grade stainless steel intended to be in contact with food products, and an external wall (5) anti-shock in a resistant plastic material, these two walls (4, 5) being separated by a layer of thermal insulator (6).  4 ") Isothermal container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the valve (13) and the external opening (17) of the air intake (15) equipped with the NBC cartridge (18 ) are respectively housed in their entirety in shoulders (11, 11 ') of the container body (2) or of the cover (3) so that the container does not have a projection, neither horizontal nor lateral.  5 ") Isothermal container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the valve (13) and the air intake (15) are mounted on the cover (3).  6) Isothermal container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it is capable of floating.