JPH0223583Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a cold container mainly used for shipping cold vegetables.

[Conventional technology and its problems] Generally, lettuce, spinach, broccoli
Raw vegetables such as these do not keep well at room temperature, so when shipping or transporting them to a distant place, store these vegetables in a container such as an insulated shipping box, pre-cool it with vacuum cooling, and then seal it to keep it cold. It is being maintained in the same state. When pre-cooling the vegetables, the containers containing the vegetables are stacked in a pre-cooling chamber with the lids removed, with the directions slightly shifted from top to bottom as shown in Figure 8, and in this state pre-cooling is performed by vacuum cooling. However, it was necessary to attach the lid and transport it, which was extremely troublesome work. In addition, by using containers with an opening on the upper side wall of the container body, pre-cooling is performed by vacuum cooling by opening the opening while stacked with lids, and closing the opening after pre-cooling. However, in this case as well, the lid of the small opening must be attached and removed manually, and the work required to carry it into and out of the precooling chamber is extremely troublesome. Ta.

In view of the above, the present invention eliminates the need for troublesome work such as shifting the direction of the upper and lower containers when stacking them, or manually opening and closing the openings, and allows the lids to be closed. To provide a cold storage container that can be precooled in its original state, is easy to carry into and out of a precooling room, has an extremely excellent cold insulation effect, and is suitable mainly for shipping cold vegetables.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The cold storage container of the present invention for solving the above problems consists of a container body made of synthetic resin foam and a lid that can be fitted onto the container body. A ventilation hole that communicates with the inside and outside of the container is provided in a required area of the upper part of the container, and a plate-shaped valve body made of a stretchable material capable of closing the ventilation hole is attached to one opposite side edge of the valve body on the outside of the area. It is characterized in that it can be opened and closed by the expansion and contraction action of the central part.

[Function] In the case of the cold storage container of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration, vegetables are stored in the container body and the lid is attached, and the container is transported as it is into the pre-cooling chamber and stacked, for example. If a valve body is provided on the top surface of the lid body, if the upper and lower containers are stacked with a slight gap between them, as the pressure inside the precooling chamber becomes low due to vacuum cooling, the outside of the top of the container will The plate-shaped valve body made of a stretchable material automatically expands and opens so that the center part bends outward against the elastic contraction force due to the internal pressure of the container, and as a result, the inside of the container Air is discharged from between the valve body and the upper wall through the vent, and the inside of the container is also at the same pressure as the pre-cooling chamber, creating a vacuum and pre-cooling is performed, and the inside of the container is at almost the same pressure as the pre-cooling chamber. In this case, the above-mentioned valve body returns to its original state in which the vent hole is closed due to the elastic contraction force of the material, and even if the valve body is carried out as it is, warm outside air will not enter into the container, and the container will remain intact. It is reliably kept cold due to its own insulation properties.

[Example] Next, an example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 7.

In FIGS. 1 to 5, 1 is a container body made of synthetic resin foam, and 2 is a lid made of the same material as described above, which can be fitted onto the container body 1. As the synthetic resin foam, polystyrene resin, styrene resin foam such as a copolymer mainly composed of styrene, polyolefin resin foam, polyvinyl chloride resin foam, and other synthetic resin foams can be used. In particular, it is also possible to provide a non-foamed reinforcing skin layer on the surface of the foam.

The outside of the upper wall 3 of the lid 2 is recessed in a required area approximately in the center, and a ventilation hole consisting of a relatively small-diameter through hole that communicates the inside and outside of the container is provided in the recess 4. 5 is provided in the recess 4, and a plate-shaped valve body 6 made of a stretchable material such as rubber or soft synthetic resin that can close the vent hole 5 is provided so that the upper surface thereof is substantially flush with the valve body 6. While fitted in the recess, it is fixed to the lid body 2 at one opposing side edge, and the elasticity of the material allows the central portion to bend and stretch outward and return to its original state. It is provided so that the vent hole 5 can be opened and closed by the contraction and return action. In addition to the case where the ventilation hole 5 is formed by a large number of small-diameter through holes as shown in the figure, one or several openings with a slightly larger diameter may be provided in the recess, and the total opening area is the same as that during pre-cooling. It may be set in consideration of breathability, etc.

The above-mentioned mounting means for the valve body 6 includes fixing one opposing side edge with an adhesive or an adhesive tape while the valve body 6 is fitted into the recess 4; As long as it can be installed so that it can be opened and closed by contraction, various other fixing means such as fasteners can be used.

Further, a valve body 6 is provided on the upper surface of the upper wall portion 3 of the lid body 2 and/or the lower surface of the bottom of the container body 1, which can be opened between the upper and lower containers A and A for ventilation when stacked. Practically speaking, it is desirable to provide the protrusions so as to maintain the spacing, and in the case of the illustrated embodiment, rib-like protrusions 7 that are approximately L-shaped in plan are provided at the four corners of the upper surface to support the upper container A, and Protrusions 8 that fit into the protrusions 7 are provided at the four corners of the lower surface of the bottom, so that when stacking containers, the upper container A is supported by the rib-like protrusions 7 of the lower container A and is stably stacked with the protrusions fitted. I try to keep it stocked up. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper surface of the lid body 2 may be recessed in the vertical and horizontal directions with a width corresponding to the area of the recess. In the case of containers that do not have the above-mentioned protrusions, the spacing may be maintained by some means such as interposing spacers between the upper and lower containers and stacking them during vacuum precooling.

The cold storage container A of the present invention configured as described above is
When used for shipping refrigerated vegetables, vegetables B such as spinach and lettuce are stored in the container body 1 and transported into the pre-cooling chamber with the lid 2 covered, and placed side by side or vertically as shown in Fig. 3. If containers A and A are stacked so as to maintain the required distance between them, as the pressure inside the room decreases due to vacuum cooling,
As the pressure inside the container increases, the plate-shaped valve body 6 made of an elastic material bends outward, and the vent hole 5 in the top wall 3 of the lid body becomes open, allowing the air inside the container to flow out. It is gradually discharged, evacuated, and cooled at the same time. Then, as the pressure inside the container becomes approximately the same as that in the precooling chamber, the valve body 6 returns to the state of closing the vent hole 5 due to the elastic force of the material. Once pre-cooling is completed in this way, if the valve element 6 is carried out and shipped as is, the valve element 6 will be pressed against the upper wall part 3 so as to be attracted to it, and a well-sealed state will be maintained.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a mouth portion 10 having a small plug 9 that can be detached from the outside is provided at the upper part of the side wall of the container body 1 in the upper part of the container, and the area of the small plug 9 is A case is shown in which a vent hole 5 is provided inside the interior and a valve body 6 is attached in the same manner as above. When checking the stored items, use the small opening 10.
If the small blocker 9 is removed, the articles stored inside can be easily checked using the small opening as a viewing window without opening the lid 2.

In addition, in any of the above cases, the valve body 6 is located in the recess 4.
A device that can close the vent hole 5 when fitted is particularly suitable in terms of sealing performance and appearance, but is not limited to this and can also be attached to the outer surface of the container. Further, the present invention is implemented by providing the vent hole 5 and the valve body 6 made of an elastic material on the top of the container, such as the top wall 3 of the lid, the side wall of the lid 2, or the top of the side wall of the container body 1, as described above. However, if it is provided on the side wall of the container as shown in FIG. 6, there is an advantage that the upper and lower containers can be stacked without any gaps during the vacuum cooling described above.

[Effects of the invention] As described above, according to the cold storage container of the present invention, the valve body provided at the top of the container opens and closes based on the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container, and the inside of the container can be evacuated during precooling. This eliminates the need to stack containers with their lids removed and stacking them in different directions, or to manually open and close the lids on the edges of the containers, as is the case with conventional methods. Vegetables can be pre-cooled by simply transporting them in a stacked state, and there is no need to put a lid on the vegetables when transporting them after pre-cooling, making it extremely easy to transport the vegetables in and out during pre-cooling. Moreover, due to the elastic contraction and return action of the valve body made of an elastic material, the valve body is pressed against the wall surface when it is removed from the pre-cooling chamber and shipped, and in particular is attached at one opposing side edge. , there is no fear that the container will open outwards naturally, and as a result, it can maintain a well-sealed state.Coupled with the fact that the container material is made of synthetic resin foam and has excellent heat insulation properties, it maintains a good cold retention state through pre-cooling. In addition, the stored vegetables can be kept fresh for a long period of time and can be well protected.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention with the lid body and container body separated, Fig. 2 is a sectional view with the lid fitted, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view in a pre-cooled state. , FIG. 4 is a sectional view after pre-cooling, FIG. 5 is a perspective view from below the bottom of the container body, FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view showing another embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a part taken along the - line in the previous figure. 8 and 9 are perspective views showing a precooling state using a conventional container. 1... Container main body, 2... Lid body, 3... Upper wall part,
4... recess, 5... ventilation hole, 6... valve body.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. Consisting of a container body made of synthetic resin foam and a lid that can be fitted onto the main body, a ventilation hole communicating with the inside and outside of the container is provided in a required area of the upper part of the container, and A cold storage container characterized in that a valve body made of a stretchable material capable of closing the vent hole is attached to the outside at one opposing side edge so that it can be opened and closed by a stretch action. 2. The required outer area of the upper part of the container is recessed,
The cold storage container according to claim 1, wherein the recess is provided with a ventilation hole, and the valve body is fitted into the recess. 3. The cold storage container according to claim 1 or 2 of the utility model registration claim, in which the ventilation holes include a large number of through holes. 4 Utility model registration claim 1, in which a small mouth part fitted with a small plug that can be freely attached and removed from the outside is provided at a proper position on the upper part of the container, and a vent hole and a valve body are provided in the area of the small plug. term, second term or third term
A cold storage container as described in any of the paragraphs. 5. The cold storage container according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein a projection is provided on at least one of the upper surface of the lid and the lower surface of the bottom of the container body. .