JPH049579A - Transportation container for perishable plants - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To transport perishable plants, such as vegetables, flower vases, and fruits without degrading their quality by installing a cold storage material in an upper space formed of an inner box and an insulation box in double structure, laying out a ventilation port having a permeable film, and further installing a liquid spray device in the space formed by the inner box. CONSTITUTION:When collected perishable plants A are housed in a transportation container 23, if a door is closed after a liquid spray device 33 is driven by manipulating an actuator 33a, pure water or a freshness retention solution containing mineral substances such as calcium or magnesium housed in an inner box 25 is sprayed for a fixed time, withered vegetables will be brought back to life. The moisture which exceeds the absolute humidity will be gradually permeated from a film module 27 installed to the top of the inner box 25 to a frozen cold storage material side 26 which serves as a cooling source by a partial pressure difference of vapor so that the inner box 25 may keep a high humidity (80 to 90% RH) which is suitable to perishable plants A, such as vegetables.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a container for transporting fresh plants such as vegetables, flower petals, fruits, etc. in a fresh state.

Conventional technology As a method for transporting fresh plants such as vegetables, flower petals, and fruits in a fresh state, containers equipped with a vacuum cooling device and a gas-selective permeable membrane have recently been developed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-70386. A method of transporting fresh plants using

An example of the conventionally proposed container for transporting fresh plants and a transport method using the container will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a conventionally proposed method for transporting fresh plants. Reference numeral 1 indicates a plurality of vacuum containers distributed at the end of harvesting fresh plants, and 2 indicates a vehicle equipped with a vacuum cooling device 3 and patrolling each vacuum container 1. The vacuum container 1
As shown in FIG. 3, it is equipped with an exhaust port 5 provided with an exhaust pulp 4, an opening/closing door 6, and a gas introduction lower part for suppressing the breathing of fresh plants. The connection port 8 of the vacuum cooling device 3 is connected, and the transport container 9 is taken in and taken out by opening and closing the opening/closing door 6.

Further, pulp 10 and 10b are installed in the gas introduction lower part.

Carbon dioxide gas cylinder 11 and nitrogen gas cylinder 1 via 10c
2 is connected, the pulp 10a is opened, and the pulp 10
By adjusting the opening degrees of b and 10c, a mixed gas of carbon dioxide gas and nitrogen gas at an arbitrary mixing ratio can be introduced into the vacuum container 1.

The vacuum cooling device 3 includes a cold trap 13 connected to a connection port 8 and a vacuum pump 16 connected to the trap 13 via a valve 14, and supplies refrigerant to a heat exchanger 17 of the cold trap 13 by a power source 16 such as a battery. A refrigerator 18 and a vacuum pump 15 that circulate the water are driven. Further, 19 is a drain valve of the cold trap 13. The transport container 9 has a vent 21 covered with a gas-selective permeable membrane 2o such as polyethylene, and an opening/closing door 2.
It has 2. Next, the operation will be explained.

A plurality of vacuum containers 1 and transportation containers 9 are arranged in required numbers at a harvesting area for fresh plants, and when vegetables, fruits, etc. are harvested, they are packed in boxes and stored in the transportation containers. When a car 2 equipped with a vacuum cooling device 3 visits the vacuum container 1, the vacuum cooling device 3 is connected to the exhaust port 6 of the vacuum container 1, and the transportation container 9 containing fresh plants is transferred to the vacuum container 1. The vacuum pump 15 and cold trap 13 are sequentially operated. As a result, the interiors of the vacuum container 1 and the container 9 are evacuated, and ethylene gas, which ages and ripens the fresh plants, is removed, and water is evaporated from the fresh plants, resulting in a lower temperature and vacuum cooling. After this vacuum cooling, a mixed gas of carbon dioxide gas and nitrogen gas at an arbitrary mixing ratio is introduced into the vacuum container 1 from the gas introduction lower shown in 11.sub.1 to bring it to atmospheric pressure, and the container 9 is transported at room temperature or low temperature. During this transportation, by the action of the gas selective permeable membrane 20 provided at the vent 21 of the container 9, carbon dioxide gas inside the container 9 is exhausted and oxygen from the outside is introduced. Since the concentration is kept constant, fresh plants can be transported to the market while maintaining their freshness without causing carbon dioxide gas damage during transportation.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with the above configuration and method, since the shipping container 9 does not have a cooling device, a separate low-temperature transport vehicle is required for low-temperature transport. Further, the shipping container 9
CA (cont
Since the container 9 is stored in a storage state (rolledatmosphere), it has poor water vapor permeability, and when vegetables are stored, the inside of the container 9 becomes overhumidified, and the cardboard box in which the vegetables are stored becomes wet and becomes soft, and asparagus Leafy and stem vegetables that are sensitive to water, such as gas and daisies, become stuffy and deteriorate in quality. Conventionally proposed containers and methods for transporting fresh plants have had the above-mentioned problems.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a transportation container with a cooling function, eliminates the need for a special low-temperature transport vehicle for low-temperature transport, and allows the water vapor evaporated from vegetables to escape within the container. The purpose is to transport fresh plants such as vegetables, flowers, and fruits without degrading their quality by keeping the humidity at a level suitable for vegetables and spraying liquid such as fresh water to revive wilted fresh plants. That is.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the container for transporting fresh plants of the present invention stores cold in the upper space of the space formed by the inner box and the insulation box within the double-walled insulation box. A vent hole with a moisture permeable membrane is provided on the top surface of the inner box, and a liquid spraying device is further provided in the inner box space.

According to the above-described structure, when fresh plants such as vegetables are stored in a container, the present invention first sprays a liquid such as fresh water or a freshness-preserving liquid containing minerals with a liquid spraying device to spray the fresh plants. The inside of the inner box is indirectly cooled from the surrounding area using a cold storage agent, and the vegetables are cooled through a ventilation hole with a moisture-permeable membrane provided in the inner box by using the water vapor partial pressure difference between the inside of the inner box and the outside space. By gradually transmitting excess water vapor that evaporates from the inside of the container, the inside of the inner box is maintained at an appropriate humidity, making it possible to easily transport soft fresh plants such as vegetables while maintaining their freshness. It is something to do.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, a container for transporting fresh plants according to an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a container 23 for transporting fresh plants according to the present invention, in which 24 is an insulated box, 26 is an inner box, and 25 is a container for transporting fresh plants.
The bottom plate 26 of the inner box 26 having pores 2sb is a cold storage material placed on the top surface of the heat insulating box, and 27 is a moisture permeable membrane module. The insulation box 24 is made of Nutenrenu spring) V 24
The inner box 25 is made of a heat insulating material 24b in which hard urethane is injected and foamed into the hollow portions of the inner box 24 and the inner box 25, and the top surface of the inner box 25 has a flat membrane module A/27. The membrane module 1v27 consists of a moisture-permeable membrane 27& made of a thin film of polydimethylsiloxane or the like, and a flat plate 27b made of Branutik having openings to support the membrane. Further, 28 is a fan for circulating cold air around the inner box 26, 29 is a drain hole, 29a is a drain cap that blocks the drain hole, 3
o is a door made of stainless steel neck #30a and urethane foam insulation material 30b, 31 is a handle, and 32 is a frame.
It is an underframe having a fork insertion hole 32a of "-crit".Furthermore, 33 is a liquid spraying device attached to the inside of the door 30, and 33a is a timer-controlled driving part of the liquid spraying device. The cold storage material 26 is freely attachable and detachable.
Before using the shipping container 23, it is frozen in a freezer (not shown) and placed inside the container 1.

With the above configuration, when the harvested fresh plants A are stored in the transport container 23, the liquid spraying device 33 is first driven by operating the drive unit 33a, and then the door is closed. The inner box 25 is filled with fresh water or a freshness-preserving liquid containing mineral substances such as calcium and magnesium (for example, Daikyo's bio-liquid "CLM-2").
89J) etc. is sprayed for a predetermined period of time, even wilted vegetables are revived. Moisture with a humidity higher than the saturated humidity gradually permeates from the membrane module 27 provided on the top surface of the inner box 25 to the frozen cold storage material 26, which serves as a cooling source, due to the water vapor partial pressure difference. The interior of the inner box 25 can be maintained at a high humidity (80 to 90% RH) suitable for fresh plants A such as vegetables. However, in order to maintain this high humidity, the water drainage pores 2sb provided in the bottom plate 25a of the inner box 25 are approximately 1
It is better to set it to φ. In addition, as mentioned above, water with a humidity higher than the saturated humidity escapes from the membrane module 27, so there is no chance of condensed water adhering to the top surface of the inner box 25, and there is no chance of condensed water dripping when the container is simply sealed. Damage to soft fresh plants such as spinach and asparagus due to stuffiness can be prevented. Furthermore, the shipping container 23 has a double structure, and the fresh plants A can be indirectly cooled without the cold air directly entering the inner box 26, so that the fresh plants A can be transported in a fresh state without being dried. be able to.

In addition, as another way of using the liquid spraying device 33, if an aqueous solution diluted before sterilization is used as the freshness-preserving liquid, it can be used for sterilizing and cleaning the transportation container 23, thereby improving the hygiene of the container 23. You can. Therefore, the shipping container 23 does not require a special truck for low-temperature transportation like the previously proposed transportation method using the shipping container 9, and can be easily transported by an ordinary truck, and can be transported using a vacuum as in the conventional method. Since the container 1 and vacuum cooling device 3 are unnecessary, transportation can be carried out at low cost. Currently, in many production areas of fresh plants that require pre-cooling (asparagus, lettuce, spinach, etc.), vacuum pre-cooling equipment or differential pressure pre-cooling equipment are installed in the production areas, and fresh plants after pre-cooling are transported into the above-mentioned transport containers. If the food is transported at 23, freshness can be achieved. In addition, while the moisture permeable membrane 27a allows water vapor to pass through well, the water vapor permeability of the conventional calyx-selective permeable membrane 2o is generally low due to the use of a membrane material (polyethylene, etc.) for creating a CA storage atmosphere. This is considerably worse than the moisture permeable membrane 27a. Therefore, in the conventional example, the humidity is too high and stuffiness occurs, but in the transportation container 23, there is no stuffiness and the freshness of fresh plants can be maintained. In addition, most fresh plants are transported by truck from the production area to the market.
Within 4 hours, within this length of transportation period, maintaining an appropriate temperature and humidity has a higher contribution rate than the effect of the CA storage atmosphere, so as with conventional methods, vacuum cooling is performed using expensive equipment. Even if carbon dioxide or nitrogen gas is introduced to create a CA atmosphere, it can be transported at low cost using the transport container 23.

The moisture permeable film 27a may be a thin film of polyalkylmethylsiloxane or polyamino acid urethane.

As described above, the container for transporting fresh plants of the present invention has the following effects:
It is composed of an insulating box with an opening/closing door, has an inner box with a double structure inside the insulating box, and the front side of the door is open, and a cold storage material is arranged in the upper space formed by the insulating box and the inner box. However, since a membrane module having a moisture permeable membrane made of a thin film of polydimethylsiloxane or the like is disposed on the top surface of the inner box, and a liquid spraying device is further provided in the inner box space, the inside of the container cannot be sprayed. In addition to keeping it at a low temperature and moderately high humidity, it is also possible to revitalize wilted vegetables etc. by spraying fresh water or a liquid such as a freshness preservation solution, so fresh plants, especially soft fresh plants such as spinach, can be kept fresh. Can be transported in good condition. Furthermore, relatively simple and inexpensive transportation can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a container for transporting fresh plants according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional method for transporting fresh plants, and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the operating state of the conventional embodiment. It is a diagram. 23...Transportation container, 24...Insulation box, 26...Inner box, 26...Cold storage material, 27...Membrane module , 27a...
Moisture permeable membrane, 33...Liquid spray device. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano and 1 other person 1 figure Ryodan Netsubar [6 11Itton Atsushi Rei container box punching Joule injection 4 Kang equipment Figure 2! 3 diagrams

Claims (1)

[Claims] It is composed of an insulating box with an opening/closing door, has an inner box with a double structure inside the insulating box, and the front side of the door is open, and a cold storage material is arranged in the upper space formed by the insulating box and the inner box. A container for transporting fresh plants, wherein a membrane module having a moisture-permeable membrane made of a thin film of polydimethylsiloxane or the like is disposed on the top surface of the inner box, and a liquid spraying device is further provided in the inner box space.