Patent Application
20200352357
The present invention generally relates to a produce display for displaying fresh produce such as flowers, vegetables, fruit or other botanical products or fungi such as mushrooms.
The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.
Florists display flowers for sale. The flowers are typically located in buckets to keep them fresh. However, environmental conditions such a dry air, hot air and direct sunlight can be particularly damaging to blooms.
AU 2013 206 779 discloses a fixed produce display to mitigate detrimental environmental effects on the produce. In practice, it is awkward to move the produce display between a cool room at the beginning and end of each day, and the produce must instead be transported in individual containers.
The environment created by the device disclosed in AU 2013 206 779 may provide some increased shelf life however the shelf life may still create significant wastage on the part of a produce retailer. In a typical supermarket scenario, up to 30% of fresh flowers may be withdrawn from sale due to spoiling below merchantable quality.
A preferred embodiment may increase the useful merchantable life of produce on display in a retail setting.
Another significant move amongst retailers is the use of open boxes on their original pallets from transportation in a retail setting. Produce is displayed in the open boxes that form the delivery package to the retailer with the pallet itself maneuvered to a position on the retail floor by, for example, a small forklift or pallet jack.
A preferred embodiment also provides an improved means for moving produce between display and a cool room at the beginning and end of each day.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a produce display system including:
Advantageously, the produce to be displayed can be conveniently carried between the display station and the cool room, without the need to transport the produce individually.
The preferred embodiment improves shelf life over that of AU 2013 206 779 by creating a unique environment and air flow over the produce.
The display station may include an environmental control system for controlling the environment of the assembly. The environmental control system may include electrical equipment located behind the carriage. The environmental control system may include solenoid valves (e.g. SMS valves). The environmental control system may be fully self-contained in the display station requiring only external electricity to power.
The environmental control system may include a cooling system for cooling the assembly. The cooling system may utilise an ozone friendly refrigerant. The refrigerant may include 8290 hydrocarbon refrigerant. The cooling system may cool a rear wall of the display station.
The environmental control system may include a humidifier for humidifying air passing to the carriage. The humidifier may be an ultrasonic humidifier. The humidifier may include an ozone generator.
The environmental control system may include a fogger for providing a fog to the carriage to protect the produce from harsh light.
The carriage may include a trolley. The display station may include an air outlet configured to provide air from the environmental control system to the carriage. The carriage may include at least one air inlet to receive the air which, in turn, is passed back to the environmental control system. The carriage may include stepped holders for holding the produce, each holder including an inlet. Each holder may include a series of receptacles for receiving buckets.
The assembly may further include a light assembly for lighting the produce. The light assembly may include at least one arm extending from the display station, and a light supported by the arm. The light may be located above and beyond the produce.
The display station may be substantially U-shaped and form an open cabinet with the produce still remaining well refrigerated. The display station may have transparent or translucent sides between which the carriage is located. The display station may include wheels to facilitate relocation.
The assembly may include an outlet for a temperature controlled air stream positioned above an outlet for a humidity controlled air stream so the cold air forces the humidified air into a mix and tumbles over the face of the produce. The temperature controlled stream may have a temperature between 15° C. and 1° C., and preferably below 7° C. (say between 4° C. and 2° C.).
The trolley may include a pallet trolley. The carriage may include a pallet upon which the produce is loaded. The display station may be wide enough to receive two side-by-side pallets.
The display station may include a coupler for coupling to an external environmental control system for controlling the environment of the assembly.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a produce display station for a produce display assembly, the station configured to receive a carriage carrying produce to be displayed
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a produce display station for receiving and displaying produce in which the environment is controlled to provide an air stream over the produce having a temperature of between 15° C. and 1° C., humidity of greater than 90% and including ozone.
According to a yet further aspect of the invention, there is provided a produce display system having a display portion for the display of produce and two outlets for environmentally controlled air streams above the display portion, the two air streams comprising one temperature controlled stream having a temperature between 15° C. and 1° C. and another air stream having humidity of greater than 90%.
Preferably, the outlet for the temperature controlled air stream is positioned above the outlet for the humidity controlled air stream.
Preferably the humidified air stream includes ozone.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention there is provided a produce display station including: a top wall; a back wall; side walls spaced apart by at least the width of a standard pallet; an open front for receiving a pallet of produce; at least one outlet for a temperature controlled air stream included at a front edge of a top wall for directing said air stream over the front and into said display station; and at least one air inlet to draw air from said display cabinet positioned in or adjacent a lower edge of said back wall and configured to align with the open channels of a standard pallet positioned in the display cabinet.
According to a yet further aspect of the invention, the invention may comprise a method of displaying produce including containing the produce on display in an environmentally controlled atmosphere in which the temperature is retained at between 15° C. and 1° C., the humidity is greater than 90% and ozone is present.
Any of the features described herein can be combined in any combination with any one or more of the other features described herein within the scope of the invention.
Preferred features, embodiments and variations of the invention may be discerned from the following Detailed Description which provides sufficient information for those skilled in the art to perform the invention. The Detailed Description is not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the preceding Summary of the Invention in any way. The Detailed Description will make reference to a number of drawings as follows:
According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a produce display station assembly 100 as shown in
Advantageously, the produce 104 to be displayed can be conveniently carried between the display station 106 and a cool room, without the need to transport the produce 104 individually.
The display station 106 includes an environmental control system 108 for controlling the environment of the assembly 100. The environmental control system 108 includes electrical equipment located behind the carriage 102 and is fitted with solenoid valves (e.g. SMS valves). Further, the environmental control system 108 is fully self-contained in the display station 106, requiring only external electricity to power it.
The display station 106 includes an upper air outlet 110 configured to provide conditioned air 112 from the environmental control system 108 over the face of the carriage 102. The carriage 102 includes at least one air inlet 114 to receive the downward flowing air 112 which, in turn, is passed back to the environmental control system 108. In one embodiment, an outlet for a temperature controlled air stream is positioned above an outlet for a humidity controlled air stream so the cold air forces the humidified air into a mix and tumbles over the face of the produce 104 on display. The temperature controlled stream has a temperature between 15° C. and 1° C., and preferably below 7° C. (say between 5° C. and 1° C.). This is the temperature as it leaves the upper air outlet 110. In this embodiment, the cooled air will mix with some air around the display creating a temperature within the cabinet approximately between 4° C. and 8° C.
Turning to
In one embodiment, the display station 106 can be connected to an external source of cool air. In this configuration, the display may not utilise its own cooling system but instead source cool air from a building or cool store system. For example, in some retail outlets, the store uses a centralised cooling system for multiple refrigerated cabinets and the display station 106 of the present invention may utilise that centralised cooling system rather than provide a stand alone self contained system,
The environmental control system 108 also includes an ultrasonic humidifier 202 for humidifying the air 112 passing to the carriage 102. The air 112 is saturated and can contain 95% relative humidity. The humidity controlled stream is kept at above 90%, preferably between 93 and 98%, more preferably 94-95% The humidifier 202 includes an ozone generator for providing less than 1% ozone.
The environmental control system 108 also includes a fogger 204 for providing a fog to the carriage 102 with the air 112 and to protect the produce 104 from harsh light.
The assembly 100 further includes an upper light assembly 206 for lighting the produce 104. The light assembly 206 includes a pair of arms 208 extending from the display station 106, and a light 210 supported by the arms 208. The light 210 is located above and beyond the produce 104.
The display station 106 is substantially U-shaped and forms an open cabinet. The display station 106 has transparent or translucent sides 212 between which the carriage 102 is located. The display station 106 also includes castor wheels 214 to facilitate relocation.
Turning to
The 100 assembly can hold produce 104 in a fresher state and up to four times longer than that of AU 2013 206 779.
The carriage 102′ includes a pallet 400 upon which the produce 104 is loaded.
As can best be seen in
As can be seen in
The outlet for the air provided by the environmental control system is typically provided by an upper outlet 110′ similar to that shown as outlet 110 in
An air inlet 404 to draw the cooled air back through the environmental control system may be provided at the base of the rear panel of the display unit 106′.
The air inlet 404 is aligned at a suitable height and position in the rear panel of the display unit 106′ to substantially align with the channels through a pallet 400 for the forks of a lift 402. Typical pallets 400 are deposited into the unit 106′ by a lift 402 that will approach the unit 106′ with the forks of the lift 402 aligned to extend from the front of the unit 106′ to the back. This is the only manner in which the pallet 400 can be positioned by a lift 402 into the unit 106′. Hence positioning of the air inlet 404 can be determined by the position of the fork channels in the pallet 400 to allow the cooled air from the outlet 110′ above to be drawn back into the environmental control system through the pallet 400 itself. This improves the exposure of the produce 104 to the cooled air.
The display unit 106′ shown in
In a variation of the apparatus of
Alternatives encompass all, some or none of the atmospheric controlled airstreams being generated within the dimensions of the cabinet display 106. The distinction being the variants being determined by efficiency for the particular retail location.
A person skilled in the art will appreciate that many embodiments and variations can be made without departing from the ambit of the present invention.
The dimensions of the produce display station assembly in
The display station 106 in which the carriage 102 snugly docks can include locks for locking the docked carriage 102 securely in place.
The holders 300 can be varied and can, for example, be configured to hold RPC crates rather than buckets. The produce can include any one or more of flowers, vegetables, fruit or other botanical products or fungi such as mushrooms
The lower shelves extend further forward than the upper ones to allow the cold humidified air to tumble down the exposed surfaces of the produce. In another embodiment, the shelves may be in vertical alignment.
In one embodiment, the valves controlling the air streams may be programmable over an internet, wireless or similar system to allow control off site.
A trial of an embodiment of the invention including the display station 106 shown in
Referring to Appendix I, the results show that the produce 102 kept in the display station 106 generally lasted the 12 days of the trial for the vast majority of produce 102. Only 2 of 12 exquisite roses were considered to have deteriorated to a quality to suggest they were not suitable for use in a vase over an extended 13 day trail for that variety.
In contrast, the trail data for the produce 102 held in the ambient warehouse conditions suggested a significant number of many varieties had a limited vase life of between 7 and 12 days (i.e. lesser than the produce in the display station 106).
In no instances in the trial did the controlled atmosphere of the display station 106 perform worse than the ambient conditions of the warehouse.
The display unit 106 provided for the trial controlled the atmosphere suggests the following desirable parameters for production units 106 for most retail settings:
All of these foregoing parameters are controlled by a control unit to accommodate the variable settings.
In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect.
Reference throughout this specification to ‘one embodiment’ or ‘an embodiment’ means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearance of the phrases ‘in one embodiment’ or ‘in an embodiment’ in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more combinations.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017902299 | Jun 2017 | AU | national |
| 2018901316 | Apr 2018 | AU | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/AU2018/050554 | 6/5/2018 | WO | 00 |
