KR820001472B1 - Container for storage of articles and device for utilization of solid carbon dioxide - Google Patents

Abstract

Device holds solid carbon dioxide for transfer of heat between the solid carbon dioxide and a heat transfer surface upon which the device is in use stood. It comprises a heat insulated body having an opening at one end and an interior cavity, member presenting an inwardly directed support surface and adjustment means being provided for moving said member to vary the spacing between the support surface of the member and base surface.

Description

Goods storage containers with solid carbon dioxide

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerating container and a dry ice container made in accordance with the present invention.

2 is a vertical sectional view of the container and apparatus of FIG.

3 is a sectional view taken from the line 3-3 of FIG.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG.

The present invention relates to a device for using solid carbon dioxide as a device that can be used with a container and a container for storing articles at a different temperature than the ambient atmosphere.

For many years, condensed CO ₂ or "dry ice" has been used extensively in a variety of industrial manufacturing processes and as a convenient refrigerant in transporting frozen foods such as ice cream. Carbon dioxide, in dry ice form, contributes as a good coolant when sublimated into gas at −109 ° F., equivalent to 574 Kj (274 BTU) per Kg (lb). This rate of absorption is 71% greater than that of ordinary ice with a heat absorption of 336 Kj / Kg (144 BTU / 1b) and, for example, is relatively high when used to cool the interior of a portable, insulated, food or beverage container. Since a small volume is filled with dry ice, the volume of most containers may be used for food or beverage storage. Also, since it is directly sublimated from solids to inert, harmless gases, there is no water damage or drainage problems such as that associated with ordinary ice, and the very low temperature of -109 ° F can be used for frozen foods and ice creams for outdoor use. Suitable for portable storage

Conventionally, the general public could freely obtain dry ice directly from manufacturers and it was economically suitable for ordinary ice, but it was inconvenient to use due to many practical difficulties with regard to its distribution. Even uncomfortable.

These problems in this case are directly related to the very low temperatures at which the state of dry ice changes, so very sophisticated and expensive cooling equipment is required to keep them solid. This makes the vending machine unusable. However, distribution may be facilitated if dry ice is transported unpacked using a container that is very well insulated. The consumption of dry ice with gentle sublimation is commercially acceptable. Increased demand for dry ice is anticipated, and manufacturers are planning for widespread distribution. In the commercial sector, solid CO ₂ has been found to be a convenient and economical coolant and various techniques and expertise have been developed to fully exploit its properties. However, ordinary people who have not experienced and are not aware of the cryogenic properties of dry ice treat it as normal ice, resulting in excessive cooling of food and beverages, resulting in glass containers bursting and shortening the life of dry ice. do.

Since it is such a low temperature, contact with it for a certain amount of time will damage the skin, so be careful when handling dry ice. If children indiscriminately put dry ice in their mouths as if they were putting ice in their mouths on a hot day, they would be seriously injured. These aspects and the supply shortages encouraged by manufacturers have delayed the general use of solid CO ₂ .

The easiest way to make dry ice is to make it into small grains. These granules are different from normal crushed ice and can be easily handled, dry and not lumped. However, although these grains occupy a very large space, this aspect is desirable to quickly absorb heat when applied in many places. This rapid absorption rate significantly shortens the life of dry ice.

If dry ice grains begin to sublime slowly at -109 ° F, even food frozen at -30 ° F will be cooled further. The insulation of the container should be sufficient to prevent loss to the outside.

One object of the present invention is to provide a container which is relatively simple in structure and efficient in use.

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a thermally insulated container for storing articles at a temperature different from the ambient air, the container having a device therein for storing solid carbon dioxide for cooling the articles. The device is supported on the inner surface of the container so that it can be moved freely in the container and removed from the container. The container has a bottom and a vertical peripheral wall extending therefrom. The bottom part and the vertical wall part are thermally insulated. A high thermal conductivity bottom plate is disposed in the bottom portion of the vessel such that the high thermal conductivity surface forms the inner surface. The device has an opening at one end and has a thermally insulating body having an internal cavity connected to the opening. The one end of the body forms an annular bottom surface around the opening in contact with the heat transfer surface. The cavity extends from the bottom surface and has a member therein that extends at least partially across the cavity to sufficiently close the cavity between the member and the opposite end of the body away from the end. do. The member provides an inwardly supporting surface for the solid to support carbon oxide thereon in the closure of the cavity. By moving the member so that the resistance to heat flow from the heat transfer surface to the solid carbon dioxide supported on the support surface can change in accordance with the gap change by varying the distance between the support surface of the member and the heat transfer surface. There is an adjusting device.

Preferably, the body has a transverse wall at the opposite end and a peripheral support skirt of an annular transverse cross section. The inner surface of the skirt portion forms the side of the cavity and the inner surface of the transverse wall forms the inner end of the cavity. The skirt portion defines the opening at its end opposite the horizontal wall and the bottom surface is provided by the end surface of the skirt portion surrounding the opening.

The inner surface of the skirt portion is non-circular at the cross section. The member is in the form of a plate extending across the cavity disposed parallel to the transverse wall and in the form of a peripheral structure complementary to the cross-sectional structure of the inner surface such that the plate extends from the opening into the transverse wall in its extension direction. It is possible to move from. But rotation in its plane is suppressed. The adjusting device has an axially rotatable, elongate element that passes through the transverse wall from the outside of the body into the cavity. The axial rotating element extends in the moving direction. The axial rotating element and the plate are interlocked with the screw element such that when rotated the screw element carried by the plate moves along the length of the rotating element to change the gap.

Also preferably, the vertical peripheral wall portion extends from the bottom to the inlet of the container. The container also has a lid and a fixture for securing the lid to the container. The lid is movable in a first state allowing the inlet to be connected into the vessel and in a second state in which the lid is secured to the vessel by the fastener so that the lid covers the inlet and is substantially parallel to the inner surface but spaced apart. The inner surface is provided to provide the inside of the container. The device is at a height substantially equal to the gap and is between the inner and inner surfaces so that both ends thereof are contacted by these surfaces and fixed between them when the lid is in the second state.

The invention also provides a device for holding solid carbon dioxide for thermal transfer between the solid carbon dioxide and the heat transfer surface when the device is in use.

The device has a thermally insulated body having an opening at one end and having an internal cavity connected to the opening.

One end of the body forms a generally annular bottom surface around the opening to contact the heat transfer surface when the device is standing.

The cavity has one member extending from the bottom surface and extending at least partially across the cavity to sufficiently close a portion of the cavity between the member and the opposite end of the body away from the end.

The member provides an inwardly supporting surface for supporting solid carbon dioxide thereon in a closed portion of the cavity.

There is an adjusting device for moving the member to change the distance between the support surface of the member and the bottom surface, so that the device can be moved from the heat transfer surface to the solid carbon dioxide supported on the support surface when the device is erected on the heat transfer surface in use. The resistance to heat flow can change with the change in the spacing.

The invention is explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The container 10 shown in the figure is formed of a top-opening box structure 12 which can be covered by a lid 14 fitted over it. Structure 12 has a square bottom 16 and a seamless peripheral vertical wall 18. The bottom and walls form an inner and outer layers of plastic material, with a hollow interior filled with thermal insulation 20, such as foamed polyurethane foam. The lid 14 is likewise formed from a plastic material having a space filled with foamed polyurethane 22. The upper rim of the wall 18 may thus have a suitable sealing strip 23 to ensure effective sealing when the lid is placed on the structure 12.

The upper surface of the bottom 16 is provided with upward protrusions 24 so that the metal plate 26 is supported thereon and is spaced apart on the bottom 16. The plate 26 is formed of a material having good thermal conductivity such as aluminum.

The device 28 formed in accordance with the present invention, upon use, rests on the plate 26 as shown in FIG. 1.

The device generally has a body 25 having a cylindrical peripheral wall 30 of square cross section. The peripheral wall 30 is closed at the top by the upper wall 32 so that the cavity 35 is formed in the body. The cavity 35 is open from below and is surrounded by walls 30 and 32 on the sides and top. The wall 32 has a peripheral annular strip 34 of rubber-like sealant located on its upper surface, the height of the device 28 being the bottom of the lid 26 when the lid 14 is in place. It is adapted to press the strip 34 to hold the device 28 between the lid and the lid.

A device for supporting the lid in place on the structure 12 for this purpose can be provided to securely hold the lid and the device 28 in place. In the container 10 shown, the lid is connected at one edge to the structure 12 by hinges 33 and the locking elements 20, 31, which are made of connecting clips, have the lid and structure 12. Each is equipped with).

The walls 30, 32 are hollow and filled with thermal insulation 37, such as foamed polyurethane. The inner and outer surfaces of the two walls 30, 32 are preferably formed of a sheath 36 made of a relatively high density plastic material to give rigidity to the body 25.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, only the lower peripheral edge 38 of the body 25 rests on the plate 26 when the device is placed on the plate 26. Solid CO ₂ 40 is located in cavity 35. Solid CO ₂ is placed on the lower support plate 42 in the cavity and the plate 42 extends generally parallel to the plate 26.

The handle 44 is located above the wall 32 and is connected to a downwardly extending rod 46 that passes through the wall 32 and into the cavity 35. The bottom of the rod 46 is located below the cavity 35 and has a threaded end 49.

The plate 42 has an indented central portion 42a and is fixed therein so that the nut 51 is engaged with the plate. The opening 42b is drilled through the central portion 42a of the plate 42 and extends therethrough so that the threaded end 49 of the rod 46 is screwed with the nut 51. The rod 46 and the handle 44 can rotate together such that when the handle is rotated the nut 51 moves along the rod 46 to vertically move the plate 42. As shown in FIG. 4, the plate 42 has a rectangular cross section supplementing the internal cross sectional structure of the body 25 so that rotation of the plate 42 does not occur during the movement.

In use, the objects in the vessel 10 are cooled by heat flow to the solid CO ₂ 40. This heat flow occurs along the plate 26 and although the plate 42 is in a completely low position it is placed on the plate 26 so that most of the heat flow is actually solid directly through the plate 42. Although generated to conduct into CO ₂ 40, in part by conduction by the endothelium of the wall 30 and in part by conduction, convection or radiation across the space between the plates 25 and 42. Occurs. Rotating the handle 44 to raise the plate 42 and the solid CO ₂ 40 out of the plate 26 reduces the effective conduction of heat flow to the solid CO ₂ . Accordingly, it is possible to position the plate 42 in a position where the temperature of the contents of the container 10 can be adjusted widely by properly rotating the handle 44.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the plate 26 is about 608 mm if the length of the entire vessel is about 660 mm wide by about 470 mm high by about 434 mm high and has a size of about 30 mm insulator at about 38 mm cap at the bottom. It is made of aluminum sheet of 408mm size. The plate 26 is located about 6 mm away from the top surface of the bottom 16. The device 10 has a plate 42 of about 150 square mm with about 36 mm of insulator on its side wall and a 6 mm thick PVC thin film. It has been found that a temperature of about −50 ° F. may be obtained at plate 26 upon contact with plates 42, 26. In this arrangement, a travel range of about 60 or 70 mm allows the temperature plate to be well adjusted so that the temperature for cooling the food to be embedded in the container is normally used.

Preferably the mutual contact between the rod 46 and the wall 32 prevents gaseous carbon dioxide from leaking through it such that the gaseous carbon dioxide exits the device through the gap between the plate 42 and the inner surface of the wall 30. As it is ready to exit, the still cold gaseous carbon dioxide produced by the sublimation of solid CO ₂ is used to assist in the cooling of the device 28. In this way, the effective absorption capacity of solid carbon dioxide per pound is increased from a direct value of 247 BTU to 274 BTU. This arrangement is preferably such that the contact between the wall 32 and the rod 46 is completely in contact so as to securely hold the particular position of the handle 44 in any case. Of course, the handle can be calibrated so that the user can know whether the revolution or the interior of the vessel has reached the desired temperature.

In the arrangement described above, the thermal conduction takes place directly between them across any voids between the plates 26 and 42 and between the solid CO ₂ 40 and the plate 26 along the inner surface of the wall 30. There is this. However, of course, other heat flow paths may be used. For example, if the plate 42 is made of highly insulating material, the main heat flow path is always formed along the inner surface of the wall 30 and in some cases this may be desirable. However, it has been found that the above described arrangement is very satisfactory in use. Of course, provision is made for moving the plate 42, but this is not necessary, and if movement is required, this movement may be accomplished in a manner other than that described above. For example, a wedge or cam device may be used, in which case the plate 42 may simply be replaced by a stopper which may be partially or otherwise retained in the cavity 35 but removed from the body 25. have. Such a set of stoppers may for example be equipped to each have different heights or may be arranged to have different heat transfer properties such that different temperatures may be obtained according to the selective use of the stopper.

The separation between the plate 26 and the top surface of the bottom 16 allows to significantly reduce the direct heat transfer between them. The highly conductive plate 26 having a large surface area allows the temperature distribution to be uniform across the entire surface so that effective heat transfer is performed from the stored articles. Since the device makes the dispersion rate of solid CO ₂ fairly modest, the heat transfer from the stock to solid CO ₂ is done at a relatively high level of efficiency.

To fill the device 28, simply turn the handle 44 so that the plate 42 is removed as the rod 46 is dismantled from the nut 51. After opening, the granular solid CO ₂ is filled into the apparatus and the plate 42 is repositioned.

The devices and containers described above are especially designed for use where portable transport is required, in particular for use as food or beverage storage facilities, for example for household and / or boats. Structures filled with impermeable insulation that do not absorb water are particularly suitable for ships because they can float on water in an emergency. In addition, the structure 12 has a peripheral extension cord 60 fixed to the outer wall 18 by clips 62 so that a plurality of cord loops 60a are provided to facilitate holding the container when floating in water. have. The container may also be made of a bright color that is clearly visible in the water to aid rescue in an emergency. The plastic material forming the container 10 minimizes corrosion as occurs in the case of metal materials.

However, of course, the containers can be made differently, and the basic fabrication principle is also suitable for larger containers that can be used as containers on trucks.

While the above-described structure has been described simply, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (1)

A device for retaining solid carbon dioxide such that heat transfer occurs between the solid carbon dioxide and the heat transfer surface when the device is in use, the apparatus comprising: a thermal insulation body having an opening at one end and having an internal cavity connected to the opening; Between one end of the body forming an annular bottom surface around the opening to contact the heat-moving surface when the device is erected, and between it and the other end of the body extending from the bottom surface and distant from the one end. A member having a member at least partially extending across the cavity to sufficiently close the portion of the cavity, the member providing an inwardly supporting surface for supporting solid carbon dioxide thereon within the cavity of the cavity; The member may be changed to change the distance between the support surface and the bottom surface of the member. In that the resistance to heat flow from the heat transfer surface to the solid carbon dioxide supported on the support surface when the device is erected on the heat transfer surface in use has a control device that can be varied by varying the spacing. Characteristic device.

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