Claims
- 1. An apparatus for cooling and containing a material, said apparatus comprising:
- a container having an interior, a top portion, and an opening provided in said top portion;
- a covering means for at least partially covering said opening, said covering means including
- an interior cavity,
- a wall, and
- a port provided through said wall; and
- a cooling means, securable to said covering means, for cooling said interior of said container, said cooling means comprising
- a housing,
- an air cooling and circulating means, secured to said housing, for cooling and circulating air, and
- a coolant condensing means, secured to said housing, for condensing a coolant used in said cooling means,
- wherein, when said cooling means is secured to said covering means, a first portion of said housing is inserted through said port such that said air cooling and circulating means is positioned inside said interior cavity of said covering means and said coolant condensing means is positioned adjacent to and outside of said covering means.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said air cooling and circulating means comprises a cooling element and a fan.
- 3. the apparatus of claim 2 wherein said coolant condensing means comprises a condenser coil.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cooling means is a freezing unit which is operable for providing freezing conditions in said interior of said container.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:
- said container includes an interior wall and an interior bottom and
- said apparatus further comprises circulation facilitating means, positioned in said interior of said container, for facilitating air circulation across said interior wall and over said interior bottom.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said circulation facilitating means comprises:
- a false wall secured in said interior of said container adjacent to said interior wall such that an air circulation gap is provided between said false wall and said interior wall and
- a false bottom secured in said interior of said container adjacent to said interior bottom such that an air circulation gap is provided between said false bottom and said interior bottom.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said covering means further comprises:
- a hatch for delivering said material into said interior of said container and
- a hatch covering means for opening and closing said hatch.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of forklift pockets provided on said container such that a forklift can be used to lift and rotate said container whereby said material, when contained in said interior of said container, will fall out of said opening in said top portion of said container.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:
- said covering means is removably positionable on said top portion of said container and
- said apparatus further comprises handling means for handling said covering means such that said covering means can be placed on and removed from said top portion of said container.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said handling means comprises a plurality of forklift pockets provided on said covering means.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising securing means for securing said housing to said covering means such that said air cooling and circulating means is thereby positioned inside said interior cavity of said covering means and said coolant condensing means is positioned adjacent to and outside of said covering means.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said covering means can be selectively placed on and removed from said top portion of said container without retracting said first portion of said housing from said port provided through said wall of said covering means.
- 13. An apparatus for cooling and containing a material, said apparatus comprising:
- a container having an interior, a top portion, and an opening provided in said top portion;
- a cooling means for cooling said interior of said container; and
- container handling means, provided on said container, for handling said container so that said container can be lifted and rotated in a manner whereby said material, when contained in said interior of said container, will fall out of said opening.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said container handling means comprises a plurality of forklift pockets.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said apparatus further comprises a cover positionable over said opening, said cover including a hatch through which said material can be delivered into said interior of said container and a hatch covering means for opening and closing said hatch.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein:
- said cover is removably positionable on said top portion of said container and
- said apparatus further comprises cover handling means, provided on said cover, for handling said cover such that said cover can be placed on and removed from said top portion of said container.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said cover handling means comprises a plurality of forklift pockets.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein:
- said apparatus further comprises a cover positionable over said opening, said cover including a wall and a port provided through said wall and
- said cooling means is associatable with said port such that said cooling means is operable for circulating cooled air within said interior of said container.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein:
- said cover is removably positionable on said top portion of said container and
- said apparatus further comprises cover handling means, provided on said cover, for handling said cover such that said cover can be placed on and removed from said top portion of said container.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said cover handling means comprises a plurality of forklift pockets.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising securing means for securing said cooling means to said cover.
- 22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said cover can be selectively placed on and removed from said top portion of said container using said cover handling means while said cooling means is secured by said securing means to said cover.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein:
- said cover further includes an interior cavity;
- said cooling means comprises
- a housing,
- an air cooling and circulating means, secured to said housing, for cooling and circulating air, and
- a coolant condensing means, secured to said housing, for condensing a coolant used in said cooling means; and
- when said cooling means is secured by said securing means to said cover, a first portion of said housing is received through said port such that said air cooling and circulating means is positioned inside said interior cavity of said cover and said coolant condensing means is positioned adjacent to and outside of said cover.
- 24. An apparatus for cooling and containing a material, said apparatus comprising:
- a container having an interior, a top portion, and an opening provided in said top portion;
- a cooling means for cooling said interior of said container;
- a container cover removably positionable on said top portion of said container over said opening; and
- handling means, provided on said container cover, for selectively placing said container cover on and removing said container cover from said top portion of said container using a forklift.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein said handling means comprises a plurality of forklift pockets provided on said container cover.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein said container cover includes a hatch for delivering said material into said interior of said container and a hatch cover for opening and closing said hatch.
- 27. The apparatus of claim 26 further comprising securing means for securing said cooling means to said container cover.
- 28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said container cover can be selectively placed on and removed from said top portion of said container using said handling means while said cooling means is secured to said container cover by said securing means.
- 29. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein:
- said container cover further includes an interior cavity, a wall, and a port provided through said wall;
- when said container cover is placed on said top portion of said container, said interior cavity of said container cover is thereby placed in fluid communication with said interior of said container; and
- said securing means is operable for securing said cooling means in association with said port such that said cooling means is operable for circulating cooled air through said interior cavity of said container cover and through said interior of said container.
- 30. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising container handling means, provided on said container, for lifting and rotating said container using a forklift such that said material, when contained in said interior of said container, will fall out of said opening.
- 31. An apparatus for freezing and containing a material, said apparatus comprising:
- a container having an interior, a top portion, and an opening provided in said top portion;
- a container cover removably positionable on said top portion of said container over said opening, said container cover including
- a hatch for delivering said material into said interior of said container,
- a hatch cover for opening and closing said hatch,
- an interior cavity which is positioned in fluid communication with said interior of said container when said container cover is placed on said top portion of said container,
- a wall, and
- a port provided through said wall;
- a freezing unit comprising
- a housing,
- an air cooling and circulating means, secured to said housing, for cooling and circulating air, and
- a coolant condensing means, secured to said housing, for condensing a coolant used in said freezing unit;
- securing means for securing said freezing unit to said container cover such that a first portion of said housing is received through said port, said air cooling and circulating means is thereby positioned inside said interior cavity of said container cover and is operable for circulating cooled air through said interior cavity of said cover and through said interior of said container, and said coolant condensing means is positioned adjacent to and outside of said container cover;
- container handling means, provided on said container, for handling said container such that said container can be lifted and rotated in a manner whereby said material, when placed in said interior of said container, will fall out of said opening; and
- cover handling means, provided on said container cover, for handling said container cover such that said container cover can be selectively placed on and removed from said top portion of said container.
- 32. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein:
- said container handling means comprises a plurality of forklift pockets and
- said cover handling means comprises a plurality of forklift pockets.
- 33. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein said container cover can be removed from said top portion of said container while said freezing unit is secured by said securing means to said container cover.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/188,964 filed on Jan. 27, 1994, now abandoned.
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
188964 |
Jan 1994 |
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