JPH0647824Y2 - Cooling container for vacuum precooling - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial field of application] The present invention makes it easy to evacuate the inside of the vacuum chamber with the lid closed during vacuum precooling, and at the same time, after completing the vacuum precooling, the vacuum chamber Also when the inside returns to normal pressure,
The inside of the container can be easily returned to normal pressure, and there is no need for exhausting and valve opening / closing operations for returning to normal pressure.
After that, the present invention relates to a cold pre-cooling container for vacuum pre-cooling, which can exhibit the same cold insulating performance as a sealed container.

[Conventional technology]

Usually, when shipping fruits and vegetables to the market, etc., the objects to be kept cold are brought into contact with cold air in order to keep them in a fresh state, or they are exposed to reduced pressure in a vacuum chamber to remove the fruits and vegetables from the surface. It is often practiced to keep the freshness of fruits and vegetables by cooling by evaporating water to remove latent heat.

Among these cooling methods, the method of utilizing latent heat of vaporization of water due to reduced pressure is a vacuum precooling method. This vacuum pre-cooling method,
When using an airtight heat-insulating container such as a polystyrene foam container to house the object to be cooled, if the container is housed in the vacuum chamber in an airtight state during vacuum precooling, the container will not be depressurized and the object to be cooled can be precooled in vacuum. It may not be possible, or the container may be pre-cooled due to vacuum burst due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container.

For this reason, in the past, when vacuum precooling an object to be cooled using an airtight heat insulating container made of foamed synthetic resin, etc., the container is placed in the vacuum chamber with the lid removed, and after vacuum precooling, the vacuum chamber A method in which the inside is returned to normal pressure and then closed, or a ventilation valve and window for opening and closing are provided at appropriate places in the container, and the valve and window are opened and loaded into the vacuum chamber. A method has been adopted in which vacuum precooling is performed, and after precooling, the inside of the vacuum chamber is returned to normal pressure and then the valve body and window are manually closed.

Then, when vacuum precooling is performed using these airtight insulated containers, by depressurizing the inside of the vacuum chamber, the air in the cool container is released from the container in which the lid has been removed in advance or the valve body or window that has been opened in advance. By evacuation and reducing the pressure in the container, water is evaporated from the surface of the object to be cooled, and the object to be cooled is cooled to a constant temperature by the latent heat of vaporization at the time of this evaporation. When the pre-cooling operation is completed in this way, the inside of the vacuum chamber is returned to normal pressure again, and then the cooled object to be cooled is carried out from the inside of the vacuum chamber together with the container, and the lid work or valve operation is promptly performed outside the vacuum chamber. After the work of closing the body and windows is carried out, they are shipped in cold storage cars or the like.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

In the conventional cold storage container as described above, in any case, although it is possible to precool the object to be kept cold such as fruits and vegetables in the cold storage container in the vacuum chamber, in these containers, after precooling,
It is necessary to take out the cold storage container from the vacuum chamber and perform the lid closing operation and the valve body or window closing operation while changing the stacking order, and the labor and time for this operation are considerable. is there. Moreover, this work for closing the lid and closing the valve body, etc. requires a long time (for example, 1 hour to several hours) until the operation from the first container to the final container is completed, and during this period, the pre-cooled object is carefully cooled. It often happens that the temperature of the cold-reserved material rises and the effect of pre-cooling disappears.

Therefore, in view of such problems of the related art, the present invention can be used as a cold pre-cooling container for vacuum pre-cooling, which can be vacuum pre-cooled in a closed state, and does not require opening / closing operation of a valve or the like.
After that, a cold preserving container for vacuum pre-cooling which can exhibit the same cold keeping performance as an ordinary sealed container is provided.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the cold pre-cooling cold container according to the present invention has a proper number of vent holes at appropriate places of the container body and the lid body made of foamed synthetic resin, and the vent holes have continuous pores. Being blocked by a breathable porous shielding plate having, when there is a pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container, it is possible to ventilate the continuous pores of the porous shielding plate to the inside and outside of the container against its ventilation resistance, When there is almost no pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the container, the ventilation resistance of the continuous pores substantially blocks the ventilation inside and outside the container.

[Action]

In order to vacuum pre-cool fruits and vegetables using the cold pre-cooling container for vacuum pre-cooling of the present invention, the fruits and vegetables to be pre-cooled are stored in this container, and this container is loaded into the vacuum chamber with the lid closed. When the pressure in the vacuum chamber is reduced, the air inside the cold insulation container is forced out of the continuous pores of the porous shield plate that shields the ventilation holes due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container, against the ventilation resistance. As a result, the inside of the container is decompressed, and the fruits and vegetables are cooled by removing latent heat from the surface of the vegetables due to water evaporation. After that, when the inside of the vacuum chamber is returned to normal pressure, air is forcibly supplied again into the container against the ventilation resistance of the continuous pores of the porous shield plate, and the inside of the container is also returned to normal pressure. The container carried out from the inside of the vacuum chamber is substantially blocked from the free air flow inside and outside the container due to the ventilation resistance of the continuous pores of the porous shielding plate that shields the ventilation hole, and the outside air temperature. Without being affected by
The cooling state in the container is maintained.

〔Example〕

The vacuum pre-cooling container of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiment. In this cold-preserving container for vacuum precooling, the container body and lid are made of foamed synthetic resin in the same manner as in the conventional cold-preserving container in the usual manner. Usually, the container body and the lid are preferably made of expanded polystyrene resin such as expanded polystyrene, but may be made of expanded polyolefin such as expanded polyethylene or expanded polypropylene, or other expanded synthetic resin such as expanded polyurethane. It is possible. Further, various containers and the like in which a heat insulating material, an aluminum vapor deposition film, or the like is laminated or inserted into the inside or inside of the foam synthetic resin container to improve the heat insulating property and airtightness are also adopted.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a cold pre-cooling container for vacuum precooling according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 in the drawing indicates a container main body, and reference numeral 2 in the drawing indicates a container formed inside the upper end of the container main body 1. It is a lid body provided with a concave groove 4 which can be fitted to the protrusion 3 on the lower surface, and an appropriate number of lid bodies are provided at appropriate places of the container body 1, for example, as shown in the figure, the upper side wall 5 is opened upward. Various holes such as the air holes 6 are provided in the lower portion of the side wall 5, and the air holes 6 are provided in the lower portion of the side wall 5. A breathable porous shield plate 7 having continuous pores is attached to the opened vent hole 6 in a state of blocking the vent hole 6. As the porous shielding plate 7, preferably, hard or soft polyurethane foam is adopted, but in addition, a synthetic resin laminated plate,
Animal and plant fiber laminates, sponges, sintered pottery, sintered metal,
Various breathable porous materials having continuous pores such as non-woven fabric such as felt are adopted.

The porous shield plate 7 is attached to the vent hole 6 by an appropriate method. For example, the one shown in FIG. 1 has a fitting groove 8 continuous to the side surface and the bottom surface of the vent hole 6 opened upward.
Is formed, and the fitting groove 8 is made of foamed polyurethane having open cells, and is capable of forced exhaust during vacuum precooling in a vacuum chamber and air supply into the container when returning to atmospheric pressure. Rigidity that has breathability and can be self-supporting,
Alternatively, a plate body having a self-shape maintaining function, for example, a plate body made of hard foamed polyurethane is inserted. In the container of FIG. 1, the upper portion of the porous shielding plate 7 is positioned and supported by the inner surface of the groove 4 when the lid 2 is fitted onto the container body 1 as shown in FIG. Good to do. As a result, when the porous shielding plate 7 as shown in FIG. 1 is used, if the lid body 2 is externally fitted and closed on the container body 1, the cross sectional state of FIG. 2 is obtained.

Then, when the object to be kept cold is housed in this container and loaded in the vacuum chamber, and the pressure in the vacuum chamber is reduced, the air in the container resists the pressure reduction in the vacuum chamber and the ventilation resistance of the continuous pores of the porous shielding plate 7. Then, the air is forcedly exhausted to the outside of the container through the continuous pores, and the inside of the cool container is also depressurized.
By this pressure reduction, the fruits and vegetables in the container are cooled in vacuum by utilizing latent heat of vaporization. After the vacuum precooling, if the vacuum chamber is returned to normal pressure, the air in the vacuum chamber is forcibly supplied again into the cold insulation container through the continuous pores of the porous shielding plate 7,
The inside and outside of the container have the same atmospheric pressure. Then, after taking out the cold insulation container accommodating the vacuum precooled object to be kept outside the chamber, the free air flow inside and outside is substantially caused by the ventilation resistance of the continuous pores of the porous shielding plate 7. Since it is shut off automatically, the outside air with a high temperature does not enter the cold insulation container through the continuous pores of the porous shield plate 7 and the cooling state in the cold insulation container is maintained, and the cold insulation performance equivalent to that of the sealed container is exhibited. To do.

Next, FIG. 3 shows another embodiment in which the porous shielding plate 7 is attached to the ventilation hole 6. Here, a step portion 9 is formed on the outer peripheral edge of the vent hole 6 provided at a proper position of the container body 1, and the step portion 9 has a porous shielding plate having the same air permeability as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 is attached with double-sided adhesive tape 10 or the like. By using the porous shielding plate 7 having such air permeability, it is possible to perform vacuum precooling in the closed state and forced air supply into the container at the time of returning to the normal pressure, and the vacuum precooling is effective. Vent hole 6 at the same time
The porous shield plate 7 can be easily attached to the above.

Next, FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively show further other embodiments of the attached state of the porous shield plate 7.

First, as shown in FIG. 4, the protrusion 3 is formed inside the upper end of the side wall 5 of the container body 1, and the protrusion 3 is formed on the lower surface of the lid 2.
In addition to providing a downwardly opening concave groove 4 that can be fitted to
A ventilation hole 6 is formed vertically through the lid body 2 at approximately the center of the short side so that the ventilation hole 6 communicates with the inside of the groove 4, and the ventilation hole 6 has continuous pores as shown in FIG. . It is shielded by a hard or soft porous shield plate 7.

As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the vent hole 6 expands the opening width of the concave groove 4 portion inward, and at the same time, the opening width is expanded to the inside, that is, the depth is increased to a large opening. A small opening 6 ″ is formed by forming the portion 6 ′ and further reducing the opening widths in the vertical and horizontal directions from the upper surface of the lid body 2 so as to communicate with the large opening 6 ′. It is provided in communication.
Then, the porous shielding plate 7 is fitted in the portion corresponding to the bottom of the large opening 6'above the concave groove 4.

In this case, the porous shield plate 7 is previously attached to the ventilation hole 6 of the lid 2.
If it is fitted into the large opening 6'of the container, the porous shielding plate 7 does not become an obstacle when the lid 2 is fitted on the container body 1, and when the lid 2 is closed, the Quality shield 7
Is held by the upper end of the ridge 3 and the rim of the small opening 6 ″, so that there is no risk of falling off even if consideration is not given to adhesion or the like.

Such a vent hole 6 is not provided so as to vertically penetrate the lid body 2 as shown in the drawing, but is provided so as to look into the container body 1 from the side surface of the lid body 2 when the lid body 2 is closed, for example. Is also possible.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the container body 1 is basically provided with a protrusion 3 on the inner side of the upper end and is opened upward on the side wall 5 as in the case shown in FIGS. The ventilation hole 6 is provided, and the fitting groove 8 is provided continuously on the side surface and the bottom surface of the ventilation hole 6. On the other hand, the lower surface of the lid body 2 is provided with a concave groove 4 which can be fitted into the protrusion 3 formed on the upper end of the container body 1. Further, in this embodiment, in the concave groove 4 on the lower surface of the lid body 2, a portion corresponding to the vent hole 6 of the container body 1 is further recessed inward, and an elastically deformable soft foam composite is formed in the concave portion 4 '. A breathable plate made of resin having continuous pores, for example, a porous shielding plate 7 made of a soft polyurethane foam plate is inserted into the upper part of the porous shield plate 7 to be adhered or adhered to the lower part, and the bottom face of the concave groove 4 The protruding length l ₁ of the porous shielding plate 7 is
The depth l ₂ from the upper end of the protrusion 3 to the bottom surface of the fitting groove 8 of the ventilation hole 6 is equal to or larger than the depth l ₂ . Thereby, when the lid body 2 is externally fitted to the container body 1, the lid body 2 is fitted into the ventilation hole 6 of the porous shielding plate 7 as it is or in a state of being compressed and deformed.

By doing this, even if the porous material is elastically deformed,
It can be used as a porous shielding plate 7 without hindrance when accommodating an object to be kept cold in the container body 1, and when the porous shielding plate 7 is compressed and deformed into the ventilation hole 6, it is porous. The shielding plate 7 is more reliably held in the ventilation hole 6, and the ventilation resistance is increased by partially crushing the pores, and the same effect as using a high-density porous material is exhibited. The heat insulating state inside the container can be maintained even better. As described above, when the porous shielding plate 7 made of the soft foam synthetic resin is fitted into the ventilation hole 6, the volume after the fitting is compressed by about 5% or more, preferably about 20% or more after the fitting. It is preferable to set its size and shape. What is the porosity or the open cell ratio of the porous material, whether it is hard or elastically deformable, as long as it allows the air to flow for the purpose of the present invention? However, for example, a soft foam synthetic resin having a porosity (open cell ratio) of about 50% to 90% or more is easily available, and thus is preferable. In the case of soft polyurethane foam, 70 to 90% is usually used, and that of hard polyurethane is usually 15 to 30%.
% Things are also heavily used.

Reference numeral 11 in FIG. 5 extends vertically above and below the side of the lid body 2 where it overlaps with the porous shielding plate 7, that is, when the lid body 2 is fitted on the container body 1 and closed, the vent hole 6 is formed. In a recess provided at a position communicating with the upper side of the container, by providing this recess 11, even when the side surfaces of the other container are closely attached to each other in the closed state, the inside of the container It enables air supply and exhaust to the outside of the container. Further, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in the figure, in combination with the recess 11 provided in the lid body 2, the recess 11 may be provided above and below the positional relationship communicating with the ventilation hole 6 of the side wall 5 of the container body 1. It is possible to supply air into the container and exhaust air to the outside of the container even when the side surfaces are brought into close contact with each other in the closed state to stack a plurality of layers in the vertical direction.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the bottom wall 12 of the container body 2 has an edge portion 13 at the mouth edge on the outer surface side so that the opening width on the outer surface side is smaller than that on the inner surface side.
Is provided, and a breathable porous shielding plate 7 having continuous pores formed according to its shape is fitted into the vent hole 6, or is made of an elastically deformable soft foam synthetic resin. The figure shows that the porous shielding plate 7 is compressed and deformed and then inserted. In this way, if the vent hole 6 is provided in the bottom wall 12 of the container main body 1 or in the lower portion of the side wall 5 (not shown), even if moisture is leaked from the object to be kept cool inside, Only this water can be released to the outside through the communication holes or the continuous air bubbles of the porous shielding plate 7, and there is no fear that the cold insulation will be immersed in the leaked water. Further, if the ventilation hole 6 is provided in the bottom wall 12 of the container body 1 and the porous shielding plate 7 is fitted into the ventilation hole 6, the cooled object on the bottom wall 12 causes it to fall into the inside of the porous shielding plate 7. Therefore, even if the retaining means is not provided inward, the porous shield is provided only by considering prevention of retaining to the outside such as reducing the opening width of the vent hole 6 on the outer surface side than the inner surface side. The plate 7 is prevented from falling off.

Further, in FIG. 7, a joint edge 14 that abuts against the upper end of the side wall 5 of the container body 1 is provided on the outer periphery of the lower surface of the lid body 2, and the upper end of the container body 1 is approximately at the center of the joint edge 14 in the width direction. A concave groove 4 that fits into the ridge 3 formed in is formed, and a ventilation hole 6 having an L-shaped cross section is opened from the upper surface of the lid body 2 toward the inner side surface of the joint edge 14, and the ventilation hole 6 is elastic. As shown in the figure, the porous shielding plate 7 made of a deformable soft foam synthetic resin is compressed and deformed in a state of being slightly projected toward the inner side in order to provide a retaining effect. In this way, by providing the ventilation holes 6 with an L-shaped cross section, the porous shielding plate 7 fitted inside the ventilation holes 6 can be attached so as not to fall off without providing a retaining structure. In addition, such a vent hole 6
Can also be provided on the side wall 5 and the bottom wall 12 of the container body 1.

[Effect of device]

In the cold preserving container for vacuum precooling of the present invention as described above,
A proper number of ventilation holes are opened at appropriate places on the container body and the lid, and the ventilation holes are shielded by a porous shielding plate having continuous pores. It is possible to ventilate the inside and outside of the container through the continuous pores against the ventilation resistance of the continuous pores of the shielding plate, and when there is almost no pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the container, the ventilation resistance of the continuous pores substantially prevents the inside and outside of the container. Since the flow of air is cut off, the object to be kept cold can be stored in this container and vacuum precooling can be performed in the vacuum chamber with the lid closed, and opening and closing of the valve element etc. is not required. Therefore, the vacuum pre-cooling operation can be efficiently performed, and after the pre-cooling, the cold-keeping performance almost equal to that of the sealed container can be exhibited. Further, in the present invention, the ventilation holes provided in the container as described above are shielded by the porous shielding plate having continuous pores, and the ventilation of the continuous pores of the porous shielding plate is used to forcibly exhaust and supply air. It is possible, and there is no pressure difference inside and outside the container, that is,
During storage or distribution after pre-cooling, the flow resistance of continuous pores substantially blocks the flow of air inside and outside the container to keep it cool, such as when installing a valve body such as a check valve. Since there are no moving parts and therefore no failure occurs, the vacuum precooling container and the cold insulation container can be provided with high reliability and at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a cold pre-cooling container for vacuum precooling according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a container body fitted with a lid, and FIG. 3 shows a state where a porous shielding plate is attached. FIG. 4 (a) is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the attached state of the porous shielding plate, (b) is a vertical cross-sectional view thereof, and (c) is a lid body. FIG. 5 and FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are vertical sectional views showing still another embodiment of the attached state of the porous shielding plate. 1: container body, 2: lid, 3: ridge, 4: concave groove, 5: side wall, 6: ventilation hole, 7: porous shielding plate, 8: fitting groove, 9: step, 10: both sides Adhesive tape, 11: Recess, 12: Bottom wall, 13: Edge, 14: Bonding edge.

Claims (7)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A proper number of vent holes are formed at appropriate places on a container body and a lid body made of foamed synthetic resin, and the vent holes are shielded by a breathable porous shield plate having continuous pores. When there is a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the container, the continuous pores of the porous shielding plate can be vented to the inside and outside of the container against its ventilation resistance. A cold preservation container for vacuum pre-cooling in which the ventilation resistance of the pores substantially blocks the ventilation inside and outside the container. 2. A vent hole which is opened upward and is provided with a fitting groove for fitting a porous shielding plate on a side surface and a bottom surface is provided at an upper end of a side wall of a container body, and the vent hole is provided with a venting property. The cold preserving container for vacuum precooling according to claim 1, wherein a utility model registration is made by inserting a porous shielding plate. 3. A ridge is formed on an upper end of a side wall of a container body, and a lower surface of the lid body is provided with a recessed groove which is open downwardly so that the ridge can be fitted. The cold preserving container for vacuum precooling according to claim 1, wherein a ventilation hole is opened so as to communicate with a side position in a proper place, and the ventilation hole is shielded by a gas permeable porous shielding plate. 4. A utility model registration in which a vent hole having a smaller opening width on the outer surface side than the inner surface side is formed in the bottom wall of the container body, and a breathable porous shielding plate is fitted into the vent hole. The cold preservation container for vacuum precooling according to claim 1. 5. A joint edge is provided under the outer periphery of the lower surface of the lid body so as to abut against the upper end of the side wall of the container body, and a ventilation hole is opened from the upper surface of the lid body toward the inner side surface of the joint edge. The cold-preserving container for vacuum precooling according to claim 1, wherein a utility model registration in which a breathable porous shielding plate is fitted in the pores. 6. A utility model registration claim in which an elastically deformable porous porous shielding plate having continuous pores is used, and the porous shielding plate is compression-deformed and fitted into the ventilation hole. A cold storage container for vacuum precooling according to any one of 1 to 5. 7. A cold-preserving container for vacuum precooling according to claim 1, wherein a utility model registration is made by using one made of foamed polyurethane as an air-permeable porous shielding plate having continuous pores.