The present embodiments relate to apparatus and methods to transport perishable products such as for example food products which must remain chilled or frozen for delivery to recipient locations.
Delivery of products, such as for example home delivery of grocery products, has many challenges in order to deliver the food in a non-perishable state. One challenge is to provide a cost effective, nonreturnable container for the food product capable of maintaining same in a chilled or frozen state when the container with groceries will be exposed to external or ambient temperatures during transport to and at the recipient location, such as a home or business.
The present embodiments address this challenge and provide a delivery container designed for inexpensive construction and which can be mass produced at low cost, and which can be reuseable, non-returnable, and/or recyclable.
There is therefore provided a bag for dry ice, which includes a container having a chamber therein for receiving the dry ice; a first layer of insulation at the chamber constructed and arranged to provide a first heat transfer rate; and a second layer of insulation at the chamber spaced apart from the first layer of insulation, and constructed and arranged to provide a second heat transfer rate greater than the first transfer rate.
There is also provided a dry ice bag for transporting groceries, which includes a flexible pouch having a space therein for containing dry ice; a plurality of insulation liners in the space, each of said insulation liners providing a separate and distinct heat transfer rate; and at least one hole in the flexible pouch proximate one of the plurality of insulation liners having a lowest heat transfer rate and through which vapor from the dry ice may be exhausted from the space.
There is further provided a method of providing heat transfer for products to be transported, which includes positioning the product for transport; providing a container having a chamber therein for receiving the dry ice, a first layer of insulation at the chamber constructed and arranged to provide a first heat transfer rate, and a second layer of insulation at the chamber spaced apart from the first layer of insulation, and constructed and arranged to provide a second heat transfer rate greater than the first transfer rate; and orientating the container with one of the first and second layers facing the product.
Other features of the present embodiments are set forth herein and provided in the present claims.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the following description of exemplary embodiments considered in connection with the accompanying drawing Figures, of which:
Before explaining the inventive embodiments in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, if any, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.
In the following description, terms such as a horizontal, upright, vertical, above, below, beneath and the like, are to be used solely for the purpose of clarity illustrating the invention and should not be taken as words of limitation. The drawings are for the purpose of illustrating the invention and are not intended to be to scale.
The present embodiments provide a disposable food product transport box which does not have to be returned by the recipient and is manufactured from recyclable materials.
In general and referring to
An interior space of the container is provided with an insulation material liner, such as for example bubble wrap, to line the bottom and sides of the container. The insulation liner can be a single piece precut to the interior volume of the container or alternatively, the insulation liner can be a plurality of inserts each also precut and nested inside the container at specific regions to line the bottom and sidewalls of same. If bubble wrap is used for the insulation liner, the size of the bubbles and density of same can be selected based upon the atmosphere in the container that is to be used to ship the food products, groceries, etc., providing a chilled or frozen atmosphere.
The apparatus 10 also includes a snow bag or pouch having a relatively thin profile constructed from, for example bubble wrap and in which is contained a predetermined amount of CO2 snow or pellets. That is, the snow bag, as more clearly shown in
Referring to
Referring in particular to
Referring also to
An interior surface of each one of the sides 34, 36 is provided with a Dyer of insulation material such as for example bubble wrap. Referring in particular to
The side 34 is also provided with a plurality of vent holes 54 positioned either randomly or in an arranged pattern at the side 34 shown for example in
In
During use of the disposable food product transport box apparatus 10 of the present invention, either the chilled or frozen groceries 24 are loaded into the interior space 22 within the confines of the insulation material 28. The transport box can be any size depending upon the amount or volume of the grocery products to be shipped. Construction of the transport box 12 with corrugated cardboard provides for natural ventilation from the container without adversely impacting the truck, shipping container, etc. that is transporting the apparatus 10 or a plurality of apparatus for many different recipients.
If the groceries 24 being shipped are of a chilled variety, the snow bag 32 is disposed at the top of the transport box 12 with the larger bubble wrap side without the holes facing downward exposed to and possibly in contact with the groceries when the top 16 is or the flaps are closed. This will maintain the groceries in a chilled condition. Such an arrangement allows for less heat transfer between the groceries and the snow bag 32 and keeps the groceries 24 in a chilled state. If, on the other hand, the groceries being transported are required to be frozen, the snow bag 32 will be disposed onto the top of the groceries in the container with the sidewall 34 of the bag having the smaller bubble wrap 50 and plurality of vent holes 54 facing the groceries when the top 16 is or the flaps are closed. This arrangement of the snow bag 32 with respect to the groceries provides for greater heat transfer between the groceries and the snow bag and maintains a frozen temperature for the groceries in the container.
The snow bag 32 can be sealed by mechanically crimping the top 3 at the opening 42 to the chamber 44 such as for example by using the tongue and groove construction, mechanical crimping, heat sealing, pressure sealing or any other known method of mechanical closure. The construction of the snow bag 32 permits only the escape or exhaust of CO2 vapor through the vent holes 54 and thereby prevents a user or handler of the snow bag from physically contacting the dry ice and being subjected to ice burn.
The transport box 12 can be constructed of inexpensive, readily available shipping materials such as for example cardboard and bubble wrap as described above. This will lower costs considerably of the apparatus 10 over existing systems which employ plastic totes and plastic shipping boxes. Such plastic constructions are expensive and must be returned for reuse. In contrast, the corrugated cardboard and bubble wrap can be disposed of for being subsequently recycled, such as after home delivery. Alternatively, it is possible to infuse or incorporate into the cardboard other substances to make the cardboard biodegradable, thereby further reducing the footprint of disposable materials with respect to the environment.
The transport box 12 may also be constructed of plastic components with same being sized and shaped to permit stacking for easy storage and recycling of same for use as constructed.
It will be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely exemplary, and that a person skilled in the art may make variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as described and claimed herein. It should be understood that the embodiments described above are not only in the alternative, but can be combined.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62259670 | Nov 2015 | US |