JPH0764372B2 - Container for storage of vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a storage container that can be used for storing vegetables, fruits, flowers and the like in a distribution process.

[Prior Art] Since it is difficult to maintain the freshness of vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc., at present, the method of shipping the vegetables the next day after harvesting them is generally used. The transportation method at that time is to transport vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. in a cardboard box, plastic case, etc. by a transportation means such as a truck, a ship, or an airplane, and to transport vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. in a cardboard box or plastic. There is known a method of packing in a case or the like, storing it in a cool container or a container with a refrigerator, and transporting it by transportation means such as a truck, a ship, or an airplane.

The former method cannot be expected to have any freshness-preserving effect. In the latter method, a heat insulating material is provided on the wall surface of the container to maintain freshness, and pre-chilled vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. are loaded and transported. In either method, the freshness retention period of the contained items such as vegetables, fruits, and flowers is extremely short, and the fact is that they are sold in the market immediately after harvesting. Therefore, the amount of vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. shipped to the market fluctuates greatly depending on the time of year and the weather, and as a result, the balance between supply and demand is upset.
Price collapses and soars are often occurring.

In order to prevent such price collapse and soaring, traditionally, fresh food is temporarily stored after harvesting and before transportation. The storage method is to lower the temperature in a refrigerator (cold storage) to prevent the metabolism of fresh food. The method of restraint is taken. However, even with such a storage system, physiological actions such as respiration proceed, and phenomena such as aging and withering occur during long-term storage.

As a solution to such a drawback of the conventional technology, Japanese Patent Application No.
In the inventions described in the specifications of 61-76689 and Japanese Patent Application No. 61-82328, a selective gas permeable membrane is attached to the container body, vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. are housed therein, followed by vacuum cooling and then carbon dioxide. A container was proposed so that gas and nitrogen gas could be enclosed and transported up to atmospheric pressure.

If you store fresh food in this container and store it in a cool box, the gas concentration in the container will be kept at the optimum concentration to suppress respiration, and the inside of the container will be kept at high humidity, It has been confirmed that there are no obstacles caused by dryness such as wilting and withering of perishable food, that the cold air sent from the cooler of the cool box is not directly received, and the inside of the container is in a windless state, and the temperature distribution and temperature fluctuation are small It was

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, according to the container provided with a part of the selective gas permeable membrane proposed above, the shelf life is certainly extended, and it is effective for keeping the freshness of vegetables, fruits, flowers and the like. It has the advantage of being. However, in its actual use, a large number of containers are usually placed in a relatively large cold storage box or stacked and stored in a cold storage. Therefore, the opening to which the selective gas permeable membrane is attached is substantially closed by the adjacent container, and the gas cannot be sufficiently exchanged through the selective gas permeable membrane, which causes a problem such as shaving. Also, in order to ensure sufficient gas exchange and good flow of cold air in the cool box, each container itself must be placed a required distance from the adjacent container, but such a device has not been devised in the container itself. Therefore, when carrying it into a cool box for cold storage, especially when stacking containers, open a sufficient ventilation space not only for horizontally adjacent containers but also for vertically adjacent containers. As described above, a special spacer member must be used, and the loading and unloading work is troublesome. In particular, the larger the container, the more difficult the handling operation becomes.

Therefore, the present invention solves the problems of the conventional container as described above, and utilizes the advantage of the container partially provided with the selective gas permeable membrane, and further, it is moved or handled as a storage in the middle of the distribution process. It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage container for vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. that can be easily prepared and can maintain sufficient gas exchange even when they are arranged or stacked.

[Means for Solving Problems] In order to achieve the above object, vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. are housed, and after vacuuming, carbon dioxide gas and nitrogen gas are enclosed up to atmospheric pressure. In a container for storing vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc., provided with an opening having a certain area in a part of the container body and having a selective gas permeable membrane attached to the opening, according to the present invention, One of the features is that a space-holding projection is provided on each outer surface having an opening to which a selective gas permeable membrane is attached.

In the present invention, preferably, the spacing maintaining projection provided on the top outer surface of the container body is configured as a hanging jig when moving the container, and the spacing maintaining projection provided on the bottom outer surface of the container body is a container. It may be configured as a jig for lifting when moving.

Further, in the container according to the present invention, the hanging jig and / or the lifting jig for moving the container may be provided in the upper portion and the lower portion of the container main body, separately from the protrusions for holding the space.

[Operation] The container for storing vegetables, fruits, flowers and the like according to the present invention configured as described above can be easily carried in and out, for example, when stored in a cool box, and a large number of containers can be arranged in parallel or stacked. However, gas exchange through each selective gas permeable membrane cannot be prevented, and further, the space-holding projections ensure a good flow of cool air between the containers in the cool box, and each container can be cooled efficiently.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 show an embodiment of a container for storing vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. according to the present invention, 1 is a container body, and this container body 1 is an inner wall member 2 as shown in FIG. And an outer wall member 3 and a heat insulating member 4 that fills a space between them and is made of, for example, a foamed hard urethane material. Openings 5 are provided in the left, right, upper, and rear side wall portions of the container body 1, respectively.
As shown in the figure, a perforated plate 6 is attached to the inside, and a perforated plate 7 and a selective gas permeable membrane 8 similar to the perforated plate 6 are attached to the outside in a stacked manner via a seal member (not shown). ing. The size of each opening can be appropriately designed according to the volume of the container body 1, the number of openings to be provided, the opening ratio of the perforated plates 6, 7, and the like.

A door 9 is provided at the front of the container body 1, and the door 9 can be appropriately designed so as to maintain airtightness when closed.

At the bottom of the container body 1, a frame body 11 having an insertion port 10 that can be accessed by a lifting transfer device such as a forklift when the container is moved is attached.
Can be preferably provided on the four front, rear, left and right portions of the frame 11.

Further, the left and right end portions of the container body 1 and the four corners of the outer wall member at the rear portion are respectively provided with the spacing holding projections 12, and the heights of these spacing holding projections 12 are different depending on the size of each portion of the container body 1. However, it may be preferably 50 mm or more. The space-holding projection 12 can be provided only on the side wall portion having the opening 5 to which the selective gas permeable membrane 8 is attached. Furthermore, hanging jigs 13 that can be used when moving the container are provided at the four corners of the outer wall member above the container body 1, and these hanging jigs 13 are the same as the spacing holding projections 12. It also has a function to secure a certain space outside the selective gas permeable membrane.

The hanging jig 13 is used together with the insertion port 10 provided in the frame body 11 for unloading and unloading operations of the container, for example, when putting the container in and out of the cool box, and when transporting the container, and particularly the container. When the container is large, the container body can be handled without being distorted, and the risk of damage to the selective gas permeable membrane 8 provided in each opening 5 can be prevented.

By the way, in the illustrated embodiment, the container body has a structure in which a heat insulating member is inserted between the outer wall member and the inner wall member, but such a heat insulating member may not be inserted. In addition, although the space-holding projections are fixed to the outer wall of the container body in the illustrated embodiment, they can be of a detachable structure, and the number and shape thereof can be arbitrarily selected. Furthermore, instead of the bottom frame body with the insertion port and the upper jig for hanging, the same protrusions as the space keeping protrusions provided on the side parts are provided on the bottom and upper parts of the container body, and the protrusions are hung on these protrusions. It can also be configured to have the functions of the jig for lift and the jig for lift.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the storage container according to the present invention is provided with the selective gas provided in the opening of the container body by the protrusions for maintaining the space even when the containers are stacked in a cool box. A space can be secured outside the permeable membrane, gas exchange through the selective gas permeable membrane is ensured, and the inside of the container can always be kept at a gas concentration that minimizes physiological changes in perishables. At the same time, cool air can smoothly flow in the cool box, which can be expected to improve cooling efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an embodiment of a container for keeping freshness of vegetables, fruits, flowers and the like according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along the arrow AA of FIG. . In the figure 1: Container body 5: Opening 8: Selective gas permeable membrane 10: Insertion port 11: Bottom frame 12: Gap for maintaining spacing 13: Jig for hanging

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A container body for accommodating vegetables, fruits, flowers and the like, which has been evacuated and then filled with carbon dioxide gas and nitrogen gas up to atmospheric pressure, is provided with an opening of a certain area. , In a container for storing vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc., which has a selective gas permeable membrane attached to this opening, a space is maintained on each outer surface of the container body outer surface provided with the selective gas permeable membrane Container for storing vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. characterized by having a projection for use. 2. The vegetables and fruits according to claim 1, wherein the interval maintaining projections are provided on the outer surface of the top of the container body, and the interval maintaining projections are configured as a hanging jig for moving the container. Container for storage of flowers, flowers, etc. 3. The vegetable or fruit according to claim 1, wherein the interval maintaining projection is provided on the outer surface of the bottom of the container body, and the interval maintaining projection is configured as a lifting jig for moving the container. Container for storage of flowers, flowers, etc. 4. An opening having a certain area is provided in a part of a container body in which vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. are accommodated, and after being evacuated, carbon dioxide gas and nitrogen gas are enclosed up to atmospheric pressure. , In a container for storing vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc., which has a selective gas permeable membrane attached to this opening, a space is held on each outer surface of the container body outer surface provided with the selective gas permeable membrane Provided with a projection, and a hanging jig for moving the container at the top of the container body,
Furthermore, a storage jig for vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. is provided with a lifting jig at the bottom of the container body for moving the container.