WO2002056677A1

WO2002056677A1 - Waterless thermoelectric container system for live fish transport

Info

Publication number: WO2002056677A1
Application number: PCT/KR2001/000100
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chong-Bo Kim; Young-Jin Kim
Original assignee: Jindo Corporation
Priority date: 2001-01-19
Filing date: 2001-01-19
Publication date: 2002-07-25

Abstract

A low temperature waterless container for transporting live fish comprises an outer box (24), an inner box (1), and a cabinet (25) having a seawater box (17) and a seawater pump (11). Transfer of heat is isolated by a heat insulator (23) installed between the outer box (24) and the inner box (1). Thermoelectric modules (4, 9) and cooling fans (5, 10) are installed in the inner box (1) and the seawater box (17), respectively, temperature control is performed by an air temperature sensor (6) and a seawater temperature sensor (8). Additionally, a proper amount of moisture and oxygen is supplied to the inner box (1) by a seawater sprayer (14) and an oxygen supplier (53). Accordingly, live fish can be transported without water in an optimal state by a small-sized and light-weighted container.

Description

WATERLESS THERMOELECTRIC CONTAINER SYSTEM FOR LIVE FISH TRANSPORT

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to low temperature waterless containers for live fish transportation, and more particularly to a low temperature waterless container for live fish transportation, in which the temperature of the interior of the container is controlled by thermoelectric modules and appropriate amounts of moisture and oxygen are supplied to the live fish, so that live fish can be transported at a temperature, which can slow the metabolisms of live fish, in a high density state without the utilization of seawater, and additionally the container can be miniaturized and lightened.

Background Art

Currently, with the elevation of the standard of living, sliced raw fish, health food performing various physiological functions, is increasingly consumed. Consumers want live fish to have the taste, aroma and freshness similar .to those of live fish in a fishing area. Of currently utilized live fish transportation techniques, a technique using a fish cistern apparatus is most general. The fish cistern apparatus is designated by reference numeral 101 in Fig. 1, and is made of fiberglass reinforced plastic. The fish cistern apparatus is comprised of a fish cistern 103 having an inlet 105 for inputting seawater 107 and fish through, and an oxygen tank 109 for supplying oxygen into the seawater.

The fish cistern apparatus 101 is mounted on the loading deck of a truck with the fish cistern 103 containing about 80% seawater and about 20% live fish and the oxygen tank 109 supplying oxygen to the fish cistern 103. In this case, while the temperature of the fish cistern is controlled by ice in summer, or by atmospheric air in winter, live fish are transported, thus causing the following problems. That is, the conventional fish cistern apparatus is problematic, in that live fish easily die owing to transportation regardless of the metabolic characteristics of live fish, the density of transportation is decreased to prevent the easy death and so the costs of transportation is increased, the quality of live fish is deteriorated due to the delay of transportation by traffic jam, and traffic accidents may be caused by the leakage of the fish cistern.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional fish cistern;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a waterless container in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 3 is a front view of the waterless container of the present invention; and

Fig. 4 is a side view of Fig. 3.

^Description of reference numerals*

1 : inner box 2 : live fish basket

3, 7: temperature controller 4: thermoelectric module

5, 10: cooling fan 6: air temperature sensor 8 : seawater temperature sensor 11 : seawater pump 12 : seawater valve 13 : timer

14: spray 15: drain hole

16: seawater filter 17: seawater tank

18: oxygen tank 19: oxygen valve 20: oxygen flow meter 21: circulation fan

22: fan motor 23: insulating material

24: outer box 25: cabinet

26: inner box upper door 27: inner box lower door 28: cabinet door 29: inner box air temperature indicator 30 : seawater tank seawater temperature indicator 31 : power switch 32: support projection 33: seawater circulating conduit 34: oxygen supply conduit 50: waterless container 51: electric circuit

52 : seawater circulating unit 53 : oxygen supply unit Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a low temperature waterless container for live fish transportation, which is capable of being miniaturized and lightened, being utilized in both short and long distance transportation, maintaining the freshness of live fish, increasing the survival rate of live fish and the density of live fish transportation, and reducing the costs of transportation.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a low temperature waterless container for live fish transportation that is comprised of an inner box, an outer box, and a cabinet in which a seawater tank and a seawater pump are mounted. The space between the inner box and the outer box is filled with an insulating material to stop the movement of heat . Thermoelectric modules and cooling fans are mounted to the inner box and the seawater tank to be controlled using an air temperature sensor and a seawater temperature sensor. A seawater purifying filter is provided to filter circulated seawater.

Hereinafter, the low temperature waterless container for live fish transportation in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings. As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the low temperature waterless container for live fish transportation is comprised of a container unit for keeping live fish and a control unit for controlling the conditions of the container unit, such as the temperature of the interior of the container unit. In more detail, the container unit consists of an outer box 24, an inner box 1, a cabinet 25 and three doors 26, 27 and 28, while the control unit consists of two thermoelectric modules 4 and 9, an air temperature sensor 6 , and a seawater temperature sensor 8.

The outer box 24, as depicted in Figs. 2 and 3, is shaped in the form of a box to constitute the exterior of the container 50. The inner box 1 is interiorly situated in the vicinity of the outer box 24. The space between the inner box 1 and the outer box 24 is filled with an insulating material 23. A plurality of live fish baskets 2 are situated in the inner box 1. The inner box 1 can be selectively opened and closed by the doors 26 and 27.

Thermoelectric elements employed in the container 50 may be classified into thermoelectric modules 4 for cooling the air of inner box 1, which are attached to the side of the inner box 1, and a thermoelectric module 9 for cooling seawater, which is attached to a seawater tank 17. In this case, the thermoelectric modules 4 and 9 serve to take away heat from the contact portions of the inner box 1 and the seawater tank 17, and discharge it in the opposite direction. Accordingly, a plurality of cooling fans 5 and 10 are mounted on the wall of the outer box 24, a circulation fan 21 is mounted to the ceiling of the inner box 1 to uniformly distribute air in the inner box 1, and a fan motor 22 is mounted to the top of the outer box 24. The thermoelectric modules 4 are electrically connected. The temperature in the inner box 1, which can be sensed by the air temperature sensor 6, can be controlled by controlling the thermoelectric modules 4 using an air temperature controller 3.

A plurality of baskets 2 are vertically disposed in the inner box 1 to contain live fish. Each of the baskets 2, as shown in Fig. 2, is supported by support projections 32 radially inwardly projected from the inner surface of the inner box 1.

The air temperature sensor 6, as shown in Fig. 2, is positioned in the center of the interior of the inner box 1 to sense the temperature of cold air, and the seawater temperature sensor 8 is positioned in the interior of the seawater tank 17 to sense the temperature of seawater and to be immersed in seawater. Consequently, the temperatures of the air _^ and the seawater can be kept desirable by the thermoelectric modules 4 and 9 on the basis of the sensed temperatures of the cold air and the seawater.

A structure comprised of the outer box 24, the inner box

I and the doors 26 and 27 for selectively opening and closing the open side of the inner box is connected to a seawater pump

II and the seawater tank 17 mounted in a cabinet 25 situated beneath the inner box 1 so as to supply seawater into the inner box 1. An oxygen tank 18 is connected to the seawater tank 17, so that oxygen is dissolved into seawater and oxygen can be supplied to the inner box 1 by the seawater pump 11.

To this end, the container of the present invention is provided with a seawater circulation unit 52 and an oxygen supply unit 53. The seawater circulation unit 52 consists of a seawater circulation conduit 33, a seawater pump 11 for pumping seawater disposed on the seawater circulation conduit 33 and seawater sprays 14 situated in the inner box 1, so that seawater supplied by the seawater pump 11 is sprayed to live fish contained in the baskets 2 a little at a time. A desirable amount of water and desirable time are set by a timer 13 so as to supply an appropriate amount of water, and seawater pumped by the pump 11 is sprayed through the sprays 14 to the lower portion of the inner box 1. The sprayed seawater is collected in the lower portion of the inner box 1, and the collected seawater flows through a drain hole 15 and a seawater purifying filter 16 into the seawater tank 17.

The oxygen supply unit 53 is integrally mounted outside the outer box 24, and is comprised of the oxygen tank 18 for supplying oxygen and an oxygen flow meter 20 for measuring the amount of oxygen supplied from the oxygen tank 18. The oxygen tank 18 is connected to the seawater tank 17 through an oxygen supply conduit 34, so oxygen is dissolved into seawater and is sprayed together with seawater, thereby supplying oxygen to live fish.

Live fish are transported through the following procedure using the container 50 of the present invention.

First of all, the container 50 is powered on, and the temperature of the inner box 1 is set at a desirable temperature by the air temperature controller 3. In this case, the desirable temperature designates an optimum temperature obtained through experimentation.

The temperature of the seawater contained in a water container is set at a conventionally used temperature, live fish to be transported are put into the water container, and, thereafter, the temperature of the interior of the water container is made to reach the set temperature at a reduction rate of 2 °C per hour. In this case, the reduction rate may be different depending upon the kinds of live fish. The temperature of the water container, in which live fish are contained, is kept at the set temperature for three hours to allow the live fish to fall into a syncopic state, where this "three hours" is optional and variable (S3) .

Seawater and oxygen are supplied to the waterless container 50 at a set temperature (S4) . Thereafter, live fish taken out from the water container are put into the baskets 2 of the waterless container 50, and, thereafter, the set state of the waterless container 50 is kept constant for a period of time required for live fish transportation (S5) . After a lapse of forty-eight hours in step S5, live fish are taken out from the waterless container 50 and put into the water container at a set temperature (S6) . In conclusion, a live fish transportation process is terminated by recovering live fish from the syncopic state in such a way that the temperature of the water container is made to be increased to an optimum storage temperature at a set temperature increase rate of 2 C° per hour (S7) .

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the present invention provides a waterless container for live fish transportation, which is capable of containing live fish at a high density in comparison with a conventional live fish cistern and improving the freshness of live fish by precise temperature control, thereby transporting a large amount of live fish and, therefore, considerably saving the transportation costs. Additionally, in the invention, a small and lightweight system can be constructed because of the utilization of a cooling unit employing thermoelectric modules, and the system can be environmentally friendly due to no requirements for coolant gas .

Although the present invention have been illustrated and described in connection with the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A low temperature waterless container for live fish transportation, comprising: an outer box constituting the exterior of the container; an inner box surrounded by an insulating material, in which a plurality of live fish baskets are disposed; a cabinet in which a seawater tank and a seawater pump are mounted; doors mounted to the sides of said inner box and said cabinet; a plurality of thermoelectric modules and cooling fans mounted on said inner and outer boxes, respectively; an air temperature sensor situated in the interior of said inner box; an air temperature controller for controlling said air temperature sensor; an additional thermoelectric module and a cooling fan mounted to a seawater tank situated in said cabinet; a seawater temperature sensor situated in the interior of said seawater tank and a seawater temperature controller for controlling said seawater temperature sensor; and a seawater purifying filter.

2. The low temperature waterless container according to claim 1, wherein said thermal modules keep the temperature of the interior of said inner box lower than 10°C, while said additional thermoelectric module keeps the temperature of the seawater lower than 10 °C.

3. The low temperature waterless container according to claim 2, wherein said thermoelectric modules are controlled to set temperatures by said air and seawater temperature controllers.

4. The low temperature waterless container according to claim 1, further comprising a seawater circulating unit, said seawater circulating unit consisting of one or more seawater sprays situated under ceiling of said inner box, a seawater drain hole formed through the bottom of said inner box, and a seawater pump connected to said seawater sprays .

5. The low temperature waterless container according to claim 4, wherein said seawater circulating unit further comprises a timer that controls the opening and closing of an opening valve disposed in said seawater circulating conduit.

6. The low temperature waterless container according to claim 1, further comprising an oxygen supply unit, said oxygen supply unit consisting of an oxygen tank mounted on said outer box, an oxygen supply conduit connected to said seawater tank, and an oxygen flow meter disposed on said oxygen supply conduit .

7. The low temperature waterless container according to claim 6, wherein said air supply unit is connected to said seawater tank to allow oxygen to be dissolved into seawater.

8. A method for transporting live fish using low temperature waterless container, comprising: a first step of connecting said container to a power source and adjusting the temperature of the inner box of the container to a first set temperature; a second step of adjusting the temperature of the seawater in a water container to a second set temperature, putting live fish into said water container, and, thereafter, reducing the temperature of the seawater in the water container to a first set temperature at a set temperature change speed; a third step of keeping said water container at the first set temperature for a first set time to allow the live fish to fall into a syncopic state; a fourth step of supplying seawater and oxygen to said inner box by opening valves using a timer, after confirming if the temperature of said inner box is said first set temperature or not; a fifth step of maintaining a present state for a second set time, after putting live fish taken out from said water container into the baskets of said container; a sixth step of taking out live fish from said container and putting the live fish into said water container, after said second set time passes and it is confirmed if the temperature of seawater in said water container is said first set temperature; and a seventh step of recovering the live fish from the syncopic state by increasing the temperature of the interior of said water container to said second set temperature at the set temperature change rate .

9. The low temperature waterless container according to claim 8, wherein said first set temperature of said first step is lower than 10°C.

10. The low temperature waterless container according to claim 8, wherein said second set temperature of said second step is in a range of 10 to 30°C and said set temperature change rate is 2°C per hour.

11. The low temperature waterless container according to claim 8, wherein said first set time of said third step is three hours.

12. The low temperature waterless container according to claim 8, wherein said second set time of said fifth step is forty-eight hours .

13. The low temperature waterless container according to claim 8, wherein said live fish are flatfishes or jacopever fishes .