Patent Application
20240068734
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The technical field relates generally to food preparation, food storage/transport, and, more specifically, to a systems for temperature-controlled transport of food.
A food cart or a serving cart is a mobile device set up to hold and bring food and beverages to consumers. Food carts usually have one or more shelves or surfaces and four wheels, which allows the server to transport the food and beverages from the kitchen or food preparation area to the consumers. Various different types of food carts are available for satisfying the needs of different uses and industries. For example, an airline service trolley, also known as an airline catering trolley, airline meal trolley, or trolley cart, is a small serving cart supplied by an air carrier for use by flight attendants inside the aircraft for transport of beverages, airline meals, and other items during a flight. An airline service trolley is usually a rigid box form with caster wheels at each corner that can be braked to hold the trolley in position. The front and rear of an airline service trolley has doors, and handles are provided at the top. Yet another type of food cart is a catering trolley, which is similar to an airline service trolley, except that the catering trolley is used to quickly transfer equipment, food, and beverages at catered events. In this document, the term food cart will be used to refer to any wheeled devices used for transporting food over small distances to consumers, including serving carts, airline service trolleys and catering trolleys.
A well-known problem associated with food carts involves temperature control during storage and/or transport. Food carts are often filled with perishable food and beverages before the food carts are transported to their final destination. Catering trolleys, for example, are filled with food and beverages at the food preparation location before said trolleys are transported by truck in a refrigerated container to an event space where the food is consumed. Airline service trolleys are also filled with food before they are transported by refrigerated container to an airplane. The structure of food carts and refrigerated containers, however, do not allow for efficient temperature control of the food within food carts.
A refrigerated container or reefer is an intermodal container (or shipping container) used in intermodal freight transport that is capable of refrigeration for the transportation of temperature-sensitive, perishable cargo such as fruits, vegetables, meat, and other similar items. Refrigerated containers are capable of controlling temperatures within a particular range. Current refrigerated containers, however, simply cool the ambient air within the container. When a container is filled with food carts and other equipment, said cooled air can stagnate will not circulate in an optimal manner, thereby decreasing its ability to cool the food being transported. This is compounded by the fact that food carts are often enclosed, which further inhibits the cooling of air within the food carts themselves. This leads to inefficiencies in controlling the temperature of food within food carts within refrigerated containers.
Therefore, a need exists for improvements over the prior art, and, more particularly, for more efficient systems and methods for transporting food in food carts in a temperature-controlled manner.
A vehicle refrigeration system for food carts is provided. This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of disclosed concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description including the drawings provided. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter. Nor is this Summary intended to be used to limit the claimed subject matter's scope.
In one embodiment, a system for temperature-controlled transport of food on a vehicle includes a plurality of food carts, wherein each food cart includes a first opening for ingress of air and a second opening for egress of air and a refrigeration system. The refrigeration system includes a refrigeration unit located within a cargo area of the vehicle, the refrigeration unit comprising a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, and a power connector for connecting the refrigeration unit to a power source, a first plurality of air ducts configured to convey pressurized air from the refrigeration unit to the plurality of food carts within the cargo area, the first plurality of air ducts including a plurality of air outlets configured to interface with the plurality of food carts, a second plurality of air ducts configured to convey air from the plurality of food carts to the refrigeration unit, the second plurality of air ducts including a plurality of air inlets configured to interface with the plurality of food carts, wherein each of the plurality of air outlets and air inlets includes a spring-loaded valve configured for automatically opening when a food cart of the plurality of food carts rests against the valve, and for automatically closing when said food cart no longer rests against the valve, one or more fans configured for circulating air within the first and second plurality of air ducts, and, an ultraviolet (UV) light sterilization system located within the first and second plurality of air ducts.
Additional aspects of the disclosed embodiment will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosed embodiments. The aspects of the disclosed embodiments will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosed embodiments, as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the claimed subject matter and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosed embodiments. The embodiments illustrated herein are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown, wherein:
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While embodiments herein may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the claimed subject matter. Instead, the proper scope of the claimed subject matter is defined by the appended claims.
The claimed embodiments improve upon the prior art by providing a system for efficiently controlling the temperature of food carts during storage or transport within a transport container or the cargo area of a vehicle such as a truck or cargo van. The claimed embodiments deal with the problem of inefficient cooling of food within food carts within a transport container by utilizing a system of air ducts that provide cooled pressurized air directly to openings within the food carts. Specifically, the claimed embodiments provide a system that circulates cool, pressurized air within the interior volume of food carts, thereby more efficiently cooling the food within said carts. Therefore, the claimed embodiments allow for a more efficient method and system of cooling food within food carts within transport containers during storage or transport.
The refrigeration unit comprises a compressor, which is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas (in this case, a coolant such as freon) by reducing its volume, a condenser, which is a heat exchanger used to condense the coolant into a liquid state through cooling, and an evaporator, which is a device used to turn the liquid form of the coolant into its gaseous form (a vapor), therefore changing the substance's state of matter. The refrigeration unit also includes a power connector for connecting the refrigeration unit to a power source. The power connector may be an electrical conductor and conduit (such as an electrical cord) with a plug on its end.
Each of the plurality of air outlets and air inlets includes a spring-loaded valve (discussed in more detail with reference to
A transport container is an enclosed compartment with an interior volume that may be filled with goods for transport on a vehicle, such as a truck, a ship, a train, or an airplane. A transport container may be an intermodal container, often called a shipping container or a freight container, which is a large, standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning the container can be used across different modes of transport (ship, air, rail, or truck) without unloading and reloading the cargo. Intermodal containers are used to store and transport materials and products efficiently and securely in the containerized intermodal freight transport system. Intermodal containers are also referred to as container, cargo container, freight container, shipping container, sea container, ocean container, container van, etc. Intermodal containers exist in many types and a number of standardized sizes, but most containers are general purpose containers—durable closed rectangular boxes, made of rust-retardant steel. Temperature controlled containers are either insulated, refrigerated, and/or heated containers, for perishable goods.
A cargo truck or cargo van is a type of light to heavy-duty road vehicle used for transporting goods. The typical cargo truck or cargo van has a cargo area and is bigger than a common car, a pickup truck, or an SUV. The cargo area of a cargo truck or cargo van is large enough is accommodate a plurality of goods for transport.
The UV light sterilization system 150 located within the first and second plurality of air ducts utilize the UV germicidal irradiation process, which is a disinfection method that uses short-wavelength ultraviolet (ultraviolet C or UV-C) light to kill or inactivate microorganisms by destroying nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA, leaving them unable to perform vital cellular functions. UV light is electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than visible light but longer than X-rays. UV light is categorized into several wavelength ranges, with short-wavelength UV (UV-C) considered germicidal UV. Wavelengths between about 200 nm and 300 nm are strongly absorbed by nucleic acids. The absorbed energy can result in defects that can prevent replication or can prevent the expression of necessary proteins, resulting in the death or inactivation of the organism. Germicidal UV light for disinfection may be generated by one or more mercury-vapor lamps.
The first plurality of air ducts 210a, 210b may comprise a first air duct 210a and a second air duct 210b, wherein the first air duct extends in an opposite direction from the second air duct. The first air duct may also be colinear with the second air duct, as shown in
Note that each outlet of the first plurality of air outlets 211 may comprise an opening in a duct of the first plurality of air ducts 210a, 210b, wherein said opening is configured to allow for egress of air from said duct. Also, each inlet of the first plurality of air inlets 221 may comprise an opening in a duct of the second plurality of air ducts 220a, 220b, wherein said opening is configured to allow for ingress of air from a food cart of the plurality of food carts.
However, when a food cart 110 of the plurality of food carts rests against or pushes against the shaft 510 such that the shaft moves downwards (see
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
