UNILEVER NV (Weena 455, AL Rotterdam, NL-3013, NL)
HINDUSTAN LEVER LIMITED (Hindustan Lever House, 165/166 Backbay Reclamation Maharashtra, Mumbai 0, 400 02, IN)
VOS, Roland, Thijs (Unilever Italia s.r.l, Division Ice Cream & Frozen Food Via Paolo di Dono 3/a, Rome, I-00142, IT)
Claims
1. Refrigerator vehicle comprising at least one refrigeration compartment comprising at least one cooling means, characterised in that at least one food storage thermally insulated container comprising a thermostat and heating means is located in said refrigeration compartment.
2. Refrigerator vehicle according to claim 1 wherein cooling means comprise a frozen eutectic solution.
3. Process for transporting and delivering food using a refrigerator vehicle according to claim 2, comprising the steps of: i. freezing the eutectic solution into a frozen eutectic solution then ii. loading food products to be delivered in the refrigeration compartment iii. delivering food products iv. freezing the eutectic solution characterised in that before step ii) a thermally insulated container is loaded with food products to be delivered and heated to a temperature above the temperature of the frozen eutectic solution and this thermally insulated container is placed inside the refrigeration compartment.
4. Process according to claim 3 wherein the thermally insulated container is inside the refrigerated compartment before being loaded with food products and heated. |
Refrigerator Vehicle and Process for Distributing Food Products
Field of the invention
The present invention relates to refrigerator vehicles for the transport of food products. The present invention more particularly relates to refrigerator vehicles wherein refrigeration is realised by frozen eutectic solutions.
The present invention also relates to a process for distributing food products.
Background of the invention
Refrigerator vehicles, such as motor trucks and the like, today play a large part in the delivery of meats and other perishable items from one location to another. The widespread use of such vehicles makes possible the delivery of frozen food products such as ice cream.
One of the commonly used types of refrigerator vehicles is that which utilizes plates mounted along the ceiling and possibly the side wall of the body near the ceiling to maintain the low temperatures desired in transit. These plates are filled with a suitable eutectic solution which is usually a brine solution of varying density according to the requirements.
The eutectic solution can be frozen at the plant where the vehicle loads up and then acts to absorb heat from the interior of the refrigerated body during the transportation of the perishable cargo to its destination.
A conventional system for freezing the eutectic solutions contained in the plates of refrigerator vehicles is to have a refrigerating liquid or gas circulating through coils mounted inside the plates.
It the past, the ammonia refrigeration system of the plant from which the truck loads out was used for freezing the eutectic solution. More recently, vehicles have been equipped with a compressor, connected to a power supply when the truck is not in operation, circulating a refrigerating gas such as R22, R404a, R517 through the coils inside the plates.
The whole process of freezing the eutectic typically takes some few hours.
The refrigerated body of the vehicle is normally split into separate compartments individually accessible from outside but it can also be a single compartment.
These refrigerator vehicles are simple to use and easy to maintain. On the other hand, these vehicles, because of the use of eutectic solutions which melt at a determined temperature can store only a limited range of products for which this temperature is acceptable. There is a need for a system which, while keeping the simplicity and resilience of eutectic refrigeration systems, allows for the storage of products at different temperature.
It has now been found that, without having to use heat exchangers between two compartments in order to change the temperature of said compartments, and without having to use different eutectic solutions depending on the storing temperature of the compartment, it is nonetheless possible to achieve different storing temperatures.
Tests and definitions
Eutectic solution
A chemical formulation which changes state (ie. freezes and thaws) without changing temperature. Eutectic solution has a property to hold the temperature for a longer duration which results in increase of temperature holding time of the freezers. Eutectic plate (plate filled with eutectic solution) releases a constant cooling capacity previously accumulated during the freezing process, due to the latent melting heat from the eutectic mixture.
Heating means
An artificial system designed to provide heat. The heating is provided by means of an electrical resistance generating in the range of 50 to 300 Watt, preferably 150 to 220 Watt, controlled by a thermostat
"Thermally Insulated container"
A container with insulated walls, said insulated walls containing an insulating material having a thermal conductivity in the range of 0.015 to 0.042 Watt/m°C. The insulated material can be, for example.polyurethane foam, polystyrene, fibreglass, vacuum insulated panels."
Brief Description of the Invention
It is a first object of the invention to provide a refrigerator vehicle comprising at least one refrigeration compartment comprising at least one cooling means, characterised in that at least one food storage thermally insulated container comprising a thermostat and heating means is located in said refrigeration compartment.
Preferably, cooling means comprise a frozen eutectic solution.
Preferably also, the thermally insulated container comprises air circulating means.
It is a second object of the invention to provide a process for transporting and delivering food using a refrigerator vehicle comprising at least one refrigeration compartment comprising at least one cooling means, said cooling means containing a eutectic solution, comprising the steps of:
1. freezing the eutectic solution into a frozen eutectic solution then 2. loading food products to be delivered in the refrigeration compartment
3. delivering food products
4. freezing the eutectic solution characterised in that
- A -
before step 2, a thermally insulated container is loaded with food products to be delivered and heated to a temperature above the temperature of the frozen eutectic solution and this thermally insulated container is placed inside the refrigeration compartment. Typically for a temperature of the thermally insulated container of - 18C, the eutectic temperature needs to be around -32C .
This provides for a process which does not require any temperature control during the deliveries and more particularly does not require any energy supply during said deliveries.
Preferably the thermally insulated container is inside the refrigerated compartment before being loaded with food products and heated.
Detailed Description of the Invention
The present invention will be further described with reference to the sole figure which represents a side view of a refrigerator vehicle according to the invention.
As represented on the sole figure, a refrigerator vehicle according to the invention includes a compartmented storing unit 1 divided by partition walls 2 into separate refrigeration compartments 3. Each refrigeration compartment is accessible from the outside through a door 4.
Arranged within the ceiling 5 of the compartmented storing unit 1 are located cooling means 6. These cooling means are in the form of panels containing a eutectic solution and have mounted therein a refrigerant coil connected to a compressor not represented.
The vertical outside walls of the compartmented storing unit are thermally insulated
Inside a refrigeration compartment 3 can be located a thermally insulated container equipped by a thermostat and heating means. This thermally insulated container can be opened through a door, giving access to an internal storing volume. Preferably,
there are air circulating means, more preferably one or two fans, inside the thermally insulated container in order to speed up the thermal exchange with the products stored inside it, when the heating means are switched on.
This thermally insulated container is movable and is therefore dimensioned so as to be able to pass through the refrigeration compartment door.
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