Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60P—VEHICLES ADAPTED FOR LOAD TRANSPORTATION OR TO TRANSPORT, TO CARRY, OR TO COMPRISE SPECIAL LOADS OR OBJECTS
  • B60P3/00—Vehicles adapted to transport, to carry or to comprise special loads or objects
  • B60P3/20—Refrigerated goods vehicles

Definitions

• a method for freezing goods brought to a regional cold store and a system for use with the method is provided.
• the present invention relates to a method for handling and transportation of foodstuffs, especially pork, which from a production locality, i.e. especially a slaughterhouse or meat cutting plant are to be brought to a cold store.
• the production in any slaughterhouse can be rather fluctuating, and notably the sale may fluctuate, so that a need naturally appears to operate with a buffer stock of products, which should be kept in a frozen condition.
• the single slaughterhouses may therefore have a freezing storage, but it common that such a storage is dimensioned with a relatively mo ' dest capacity since it has proven economically more advantageous that several or many slaughterhouses use a central or. regional cold store plant having a very large capacity.
• w th a capacity which certainly is large, but not nearly as large as the combined required freezing storage capacity for all the single slaughterhouses, inasfar as the storage need fluctuates constantly in a manner which is not the same from one slaughterhouse to another.
• the rapid freezing is essential notably for pork, as substantial amounts of meat juice may otherwise have time to extrude, and by the freezing process it is thereby an aim that an iceshell is formed as quickly as possible around the goods, for prohibiting further juice extruding.
• the goods may thereafter be transferred to the cold storage without being frozen -tb the .core at the extremely low freezing temperature, provided only that the outer freezing shell has been formed, and that a core temperature of approximately -8°C has been attained.
• the transportation of the meat from the slaughter- house to the freezing plant can approp iately take place in usual refrigerating vans, in which there is a temperature only slightly above freezing level, so that the meat is already somewhat refrigerated before being handed over to the freezing plant.
• refrigerating vans in which there is a temperature only slightly above freezing level, so that the meat is already somewhat refrigerated before being handed over to the freezing plant.
• the invention provides for an entirely different solution, namely by proposing that the single slaughterhouses should not have to increase their freezing capacity, while on the other hand care is taken that the vans which «.c. ar*ry the meat to the cold store plant are not just ordinary lorries or refrigerated vans, but are specialized "freezing vans", in which the temperature is considerably lower than in ordinary
• cooling vans and which are equipped such that during the transportation the goods may be subjected to a real freezing effect or influence ins de the van box.
• the freezing treatment may be initiated immediately by the loading in of the goods into the freezing van, i.e. practically without any delay at all.
• the goods are loaded into the stationary quick freezing system of the plant, where they may remain during the required, now reduced time period until the freezing is completed.
• the goods may be loaded directly into the cold storage if they, during the transportation, have become entirely frozen.
• the invention shows two essential main advantages, viz. partly that the freezing can be initiated with a mini.mum of delay, and partly that the advantage of using large regional cold store plants wi ll be increased due to the fact that the radius of act on of such a plant will be increased, because it will now be less important if the time of transportation to the plant is increased considerably.
• the invention manifests itself in that a part of the freezing capacity of the cold store plant is laid out in mobile units, or, respectively, that the capacity is increased by means of the mobi le units.
• mobile units with their associated advantages are concerned, these units are optionally usable directly as a supplement to the stationary freezing equipment.
• the units are usable in the way that they may be parked at the production site and act as a receiving freezing storage for products, which arrive in a more.
• the related !'freezing storage may be driven to the central cold store plant, in w ich it may be considered that the products as firstly loaded into the van will already be frozen more than the lastly loaded products.
• freeze drying is a technically well defined expression referring to a strong cooling or chilling, whereby a given product is cooled, by intensive oversweeping with a freezing medium, normally air, from a temperature slightly above 0°C to a core temperature of between -12 C and -30 C during a certain period of time, which is for meat about 30-36 hours.
• a freezing medium normally air
• extra cold energy should be supplied for the freezing, i.e. for the phase shift between non- frozen and frozen condition of the product; hereby high amounts of heat should be removed, this situation being highly different from “cooling”.
• the relatively short duration of the presence of the products in the mobile-freezing unit will not amount to an initiated general freezing, but owing to the fact that the unit is designed for effecting a "freezing" the already dicsussed advantage of the products being rapidly “shell-frozen” will be obtained, and this is very i mportant .
• the mobi le unit should be equipped with a refrigeration system having a cooling capacity which is of the magnitude 2-4 times ' the capacity as usual for cef ⁇ " ge ' rated vans.
• the invention even comprises the said mobile unit or units, i.e. freezing vans designed particularly for being usable as freezing units, this requiring a forced circulation of freezing air having a temperature of some -40 C.
• FIG. 1 being a schematic lateral ew, partly in section, while
• Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the freezing box of the unit
• Fig. 3 is a graphic representation of a freezing course.
• the van shown has a well heat insulated freezing box 2 having at its front end a refrigeration system 4, which is designed to have a considerably higher cooling capacity than normal for refrigerated vans, inasfar as the temperature inside the box 2 should be considerably lower than normally, viz. down to some -40 C. Thus, the temperature should be kept low, but additionally the air should be brought to flow rather strongly through the product piles 6 as deposited on the freezing box. It is customary that products to be frozen are piled w th horizontal partitions which are air permeable in the horizontal direction, e.g. constituted by corrugated plates or sandwich plates having flow-through channels designated 8, and such piles should be insertable into the box 2 and be freezable therein just as they would otherwise be insertable and freezable in a stationary freezing system.
• a thin intermediate ceiling 10 which stretches from the front end of the box 2 to adjacent the rear end thereof, such that a flat channel 12 is formed between the intermediate ceiling 10 and the ceiling of the freezing box.
• this channel is connected to the refrigeration system 4 through a fan 14, while at its rear end tffe channel is in open connection with the underlying cargo compartment of the box.
• compartment is connected with the refrigeration system 4 through an opening 16, such that the air, as shown by arrows, may circulate rearwardly through the cargo compartment in the box 2, forwardly -through the channel 12, and down through the refrigeration system 4.
• the opening 16 may be shaped as a row of slot openings distributed all over the end surface of the cargo compartment.
• the fan equipment 14 should be rather heavily designed, such that a strong wind is created rearwardly in the cargo compartment. If the products are not piled fully up to the intermediate ceiling 10 a free flow channel will occur along the underside of th s element, whereby the air flow through the piled products will be weakened. For this reason a number of so-called tape curtains 18 are suspended in the ceiling element 10 so as to be lowerable to a posi ion just above the top sides of the piles, whereby the said free flow channel will be broken.
• the refrigeration system should have a cooling capacity of at least 20 kW and preferably even 30-40 kW, while for refrigerated vans the usual capacity is some ⁇ -9 kW, in both instances for an evaporation temperature of some -30 C and a condensation temperature of some 45 C.
• the cooling capacity should, generally, amount to some 1/2 - 1 kW per cubic meter of effective freezing space. From the beginning, at ambient temperature, the air temperature should be lowerable to -20 C during some 10-20 minutes. In Fig.
• the curve A illustrates the progress of the freezing in a unit according to the invention
• the curve B shows the corresponding progress in a regional freezing store plant, in w ich the quite similar course takes place with a delay which may be considerable all according to the time of transportation from the production site.
• the curves represent the temperature in an arbitrary measuring point in the products, and since the formation of the said freezing shell is initiated and concluded inside the temperature range between 0 C and -2 C it will be noted that particularly this important formation wi ll be promoted considerably.
• the evaporator part of the refrigeration system is designed for cooling down the circulating air to some -40 C, and the associated condenser is laid out to be cooled partly by the speed wind in a usual manner and partly by a non-illustrated, extra fan equipment of sufficient capacity for being effective during stillstand of the van or the van box, e.g. if it is required, upon arrival to the cold store plant, to wait some time for vacant capacity in the stationary freezing station, as well as dyring loading on the production site.
• the van is built as a semi-trailer, whereby van box 2 with the refrigeration system 4 may be parked at the production site or at the entrance to the stationary freezing system, while the tractor part may be used for transportation of other cooling or freezing boxes.
• the complete mobile system may suitably comprise a plurality of freezing van boxes and a lower number of traction units, whereby a high capacity can be achieved in an economical manner.
• the height of this channel should be minimized optimally, but also that the- height of the- cargo piles should be optimized.
• there are some limits for the piling height of palletized butchery goods or other goods because the pressure on the lowermost goods of a high pile may be unacceptably high; if the pi ling height as available in the box 2 is igher than the allowable piling height, then care may be aken to modify the box by a special mounting for carrying both a lower and an upper layer of cargo piles, e.g. with the use of carrier railings at an intermediate height.
• the channel space 12 may be established otherwise than in the manner shown; the width of the channel may be smaller than the width of the box, and the channel may be arranged on the top of the box or generally outside the box.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Devices That Are Associated With Refrigeration Equipment (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8124976

Family Applications (1)

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Family Cites Families (8)

• 1985
  • 1985-08-09 DK DK362285A patent/DK362285D0/da not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1986
  • 1986-08-11 EP EP19860905231 patent/EP0233263A1/en active Pending
  • 1986-08-11 AU AU62822/86A patent/AU6282286A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1986-08-11 WO PCT/DK1986/000086 patent/WO1987000808A1/en not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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