JP2547080Y2 - Cooling container with intake and exhaust valves - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container for storing fresh foods such as agricultural products and marine products, pharmaceuticals, confectionery, and other items that need to be kept cool such as frozen products. The present invention relates to a container provided with an intake / exhaust valve having a telescopic plunger utilizing air pressure in its vent hole.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the cold transport of fresh food products, pharmaceuticals, frozen products, etc., pre-cooling treatment is performed on harvested or shipped products in order to maintain quality and enable shipment to remote locations. It is being done.

[0003] As a cooling method, for example, a method of spraying crushed ice or spraying cold water on an article is known. In recent years, contents have been packed in an open container such as a cardboard box, and the like.
A method of pre-cooling by blowing low-temperature air (cold air) through the holes of a cardboard box, or a so-called vacuum that uses boxed contents in a vacuum tank and uses latent heat cooling accompanying evaporation of moisture from the contents Since the cooling method has a feature that cooling can be performed in a short time without deteriorating the quality of the contents, the cooling method has been spread nationwide.

[0004] By the way, as a container for accommodating the contents, a cardboard box or a container made of a foamed resin is usually used. However, after the contents are accommodated in these and pre-cooled, the contents are not exposed to the outside temperature. In order to prevent this, a method of covering with a lid, packing and shipping is widely adopted. However, in such a method, the container is put into a pre-cooling box without a lid for pre-cooling treatment, taken out from the pre-cooling box after pre-cooling, covered with a lid for cooling, and further banded, so that much labor is required. Therefore, the development of a container capable of efficiently performing pre-cooling processing such as vacuum pre-cooling and ventilation pre-cooling of the contents while the lid is kept on the container, and capable of carrying out cold preservation without requiring labor for packing after the pre-cooling processing has been expected.

In order to meet such a demand, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-92978, a notch is provided at a corner of a lid, and a small lid which can be fitted and removed is attached to the notch. Has been proposed. It also consists of synthetic resin foam
Insulated container consisting of a container body and a lid fitted to it
In this case, the lid is provided with a vent hole communicating with the inside and outside of the container.
And glue a part to the outside of the ventilation hole,
Leaf that can be opened and closed elastically with respect to pores
With a valve body (for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-132)
No. 273) has been proposed. In this conventional example
Leaf valve, an important component, does not operate properly during pre-cooling.
And the valve is exposed outside the container.
The refrigerated crop is produced or shipped to
Until it arrives at the consumption area via various distribution channels
In addition, foreign matter such as dust adheres to the leaf valve from outside and
It is easy to cause troubles (failures) between them. Sou
In this conventional example, a valve body, which is a separate part, is
The structure is designed to be adhesively bonded and exposed,
Avoid contact with people or objects during handling at all times
The contact area may be peeled off due to the contact,
Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the valve itself can be removed. Moreover
The appearance was also poor .

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the case of a cold storage container having a notch at the corner of the lid and a small lid which can be fitted and removed, the small lid is removed before the pre-cooling process, and the pre-cooling is performed. The lid must be closed after processing. That is, if the small lid is removed, it is possible to perform the pre-cooling process with the lid closed, but when taking out from the pre-cooled refrigerator, the high temperature outside air will enter if the small lid is not manually reattached to the notch and closed. There was a risk that the inside would heat up. As described above, the conventional container requires a remarkably complicated operation since the small lid is inserted and removed each time before and after the pre-cooling treatment, and therefore, there is a danger that the small lid is left closed or opened due to carelessness or erroneous operation. And the container cannot be automatically sealed after cooling.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. The pre-cooling process of the contents can be efficiently performed while the lid is kept, and after the pre-cooling is completed, the container is automatically sealed and the inside of the container is kept at the outside air temperature. An object of the present invention is to provide a cold storage container that can be protected from the cold. Also, the present invention uses air pressure for the ventilation holes.
Cooler equipped with an intake / exhaust valve with a telescopic plunger
The purpose is to provide a vessel .

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a side wall of a container body or a side lid provided at an appropriate position on the side wall, which is provided with a ventilation hole for both intake and exhaust which extends in the depth direction. A blocking portion is provided in the ventilation hole, a sphere that can be opened and closed is provided on the blocking portion, an external communication port is provided at a lower end of the ventilation hole, and the blocking portion is removed. A container provided with a communication port communicating with the inside of the container at a position opposite to the external communication port, and a compression elastic deformation under atmospheric pressure at a position below a closing portion provided in the vent hole. Apparently, the length is reduced to the minimum length, and in a state where the pressure is lower than the atmospheric pressure, the length is extended and the air pressure-based telescopic plunger capable of pushing up the sphere to open and close the closing portion is provided between the air hole and the vent. By arranging concentrically while maintaining the air gap, the desired intake and exhaust valve It is obtained so as to obtain a cold container.

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. FIG. 1 shows a refrigerating container main body 1 made of a heat insulating material such as a styrene-based foamed plastic, and an upper lid 2 made of a heat insulating material having the same effect as the main body detachably formed on the container main body. FIG. The illustrated upper lid 2 is adapted to be fitted to the container body in the form of a seal lid.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of the main part. As shown in the drawing, a bulging portion 3a protruding toward the inner surface of the container is formed at an appropriate position on the side wall portion 3 of the container body 1 in the depth direction of the container 1. Then, a ventilation hole 4 for both intake and exhaust as described below is formed vertically. As shown in FIG. 2, the ventilation hole 4 is formed such that the diameter of the through hole increases from below to above. A stepped closing portion 5a is formed in the ventilation hole 4.
An intake / exhaust valve 7a comprising a sphere 6a which can be moved up and down by a telescopic plunger provided in the vent hole as described below is provided.

Hereinafter, the structure and operation of the intake / exhaust valve will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As is clear from this drawing, the present invention arranges a pneumatic telescopic plunger that mechanically and directly regulates the position of the intake and exhaust valve in the vent hole,
The opening and closing operation of the vent before and after the pre-cooling process can be performed automatically and reliably.

In the drawings, reference numeral 30 denotes a pneumatic telescopic plunger. This air pressure type telescopic plunger 30
Is formed of an elastic material such as plastic so that the whole has a closed hollow cross section. A shaft 33 having a retractable bellows portion 31 at a lower portion and a receiving portion 32 for supporting a ball type intake / exhaust valve formed at an upper portion extends vertically from the upper end of the bellows portion. This pneumatic telescopic plunger 3
Numeral 0 designates a concentrically arranged space below the intake / exhaust valve 7a while maintaining a gap between the plunger 31 and the vent hole 4, as shown in FIG. The entire stroke length is apparently reduced to a minimum length, and the intake / exhaust valve 7a is locked on the closing portion 5a. When the plunger is left in an atmosphere having a pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure, the air inside the plunger expands, and the bellows portion 31 extends, whereby the stroke of the shaft portion 33 increases, thereby closing the intake / exhaust valve 7a. It is configured so that it can be pushed up to move upward from 5a.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, after articles (for example, vegetables) that need to be kept cool are stored in the container body 1, the lid 2 is fitted to the opening surface of the container. Then, in this state, the container is quickly degassed with a pre-cooled refrigerator, for example, a vacuum pump using a vacuum pump. is there. That is, the container is covered, the container is accommodated in a vacuum tank, and the container is evacuated from the atmospheric pressure to a required pressure by a vacuum pump. Shaft part 3
3, the receiving portion 32 provided above the shaft portion mechanically directly pushes up the sphere 6a as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 2 to open the closing portion 5a. As a result, the air inside the container is reliably exhausted from the external communication port 8b through the communication port 10 formed at the upper end of the ventilation hole with the inside of the container, whereby the contents in the container can be cooled in vacuum. .

When the vacuum cooling process is completed and the inside of the vacuum tank is returned to the atmospheric pressure, the plunger 30 is deformed by the external pressure and the bellows portion 31 is reduced. In that case,
First, the sphere 6a is floated by the air flowing from the external communication hole 8b, and the intake / exhaust valve 7a is opened to allow the air to flow into the container. However, thereafter, both the inside and the outside of the container have substantially the same pressure, so that the sphere 6a returns to the closing portion 5a and closes it. Therefore, the ventilation hole 4 is automatically closed, and the inside of the container can be protected from the outside air temperature.

[0015]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the insulated container according to the present invention efficiently vacuum-cools the contents even when the container is covered or when the containers are stacked in a vacuum precooling process. After the vacuum cooling, the vent can be automatically closed to protect the inside of the container from the outside air temperature. Accordingly, there is an advantage that the cold transport can be performed without troublesome packing.

[0016]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a container body and a lid according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a main part structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cooler container main body 2 Top lid 3 Side wall part 3a bulge part 4 Vent hole 5a Closed part 6a Sphere 7a Intake / exhaust valve 8b External communication port 10 Internal communication port 20 Side lid 30 Pneumatic-type telescopic plunger 31 Bellows part 32 Receiving part 33 Shaft

Claims (3)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] An air vent for both suction and exhaust extending in the depth direction is provided in a side wall portion of the container body or a side lid provided at an appropriate position on the side wall portion.
A blocking portion is provided in the ventilation hole, a sphere that can be opened and closed is provided on the blocking portion, an external communication port is provided at a lower end of the ventilation hole, and the blocking portion is sandwiched. A container provided with a communication port communicating with the inside of the container at a position opposite to the external communication port, the compression elastic deformation under the atmospheric pressure under the blocking portion provided at the ventilation hole, the length of the container is reduced. Apparently, it is reduced to the minimum length, and in a state where the pressure is lower than the atmospheric pressure, the length is extended and the air pressure-based telescopic plunger capable of pushing up the sphere and opening and closing the closing portion is formed with a gap between the plunger and the ventilation hole. A cold storage container with an intake / exhaust valve, characterized by being kept and concentrically arranged. 2. The suction device according to claim 1, wherein the extensible plunger has an elastic bellows portion having a closed hollow cross-sectional shape at a lower portion and a shaft portion extending vertically from the bellows portion at an upper portion. Insulated container with exhaust valve. 3. The cold storage container with an intake / exhaust valve according to claim 1, wherein the intake / exhaust ventilation hole is formed so that its diameter increases from below to above.