The present invention also relates to a number of improvements for refrigerated lorries used in transport and delivery of all types of foods.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION At present, frozen confections such as ice creams are distributed and stored in units comprising a compressor, a condenser and an evaporator. The evaporator is either directly in contact with air or is fitted inside a shell defining a space filled with liquid which is frozen and which, through its melting process, absorbs heat.

The present invention relates to the case wherein the evaporator is in contact with a liquid within a shell. These shells are referred to as eutectic plates in the rest of the description. They consist of a closed space inside which is a cooling coil (the evaporator), the plate being filled up by a liquid, which is generally no more than water with salts such as common salt, nitrites, potassium chloride and sodium hydroxide dissolved, in order to obtain a very low freezing point. These liquids which typically have melting

temperatures in the range of-25 C to-35 C are generally called eutectic liquid whereas they are nevertheless not always strictly speaking eutectic. The cooling coil exchanges heat between the eutectic composition inside the plate and the refrigerating medium inside the coil and therefore lowers the temperature of the liquid down to its freezing point.

These units are expensive to produce and expensive to maintain. Therefore, the break even point for deciding whether a point of sale is going to be equipped with a cabinet prevents the distribution of ice cream in places wherein the expected volume of sales cannot justify the investment. There is therefore a need for coming with a new distribution process which will allows for a cheaper distribution of frozen confection to consumers without any detrimental effect on the quality of the products.

An object of the present invention is therefore to provide an improved method for distributing frozen products which enables frozen products to be delivered to consumers at a much lower cost than currently without any detrimental effect on the quality of said products.

Another object of the present invention is to provide refrigerated lorries used in transport and delivery of all types of foods and particularly frozen confections.

Generally said refrigerated lorries consist of a driver's cab and the refrigerated storing unit or container itself, so that these containers comprise an outside structure which makes up the resistant structure, insulation panels of

considerable thickness and eutectic plates which provide cold to the inside of the refrigerated container.

The problems and inconvenience of conventional refrigerated vans or vehicles lie in that due to vibrations, circulation on streets and roads, knocks, etc. they undergo loss of cooling fluid throughout the year, since the seals tend to loosen and because of this the cooling fluid is lost, so that aside from this loss and the corresponding periodic replacement, another problem lies in the fact that the fluid is generally harmful to the ozone layer, with a large "greenhouse effect".

In addition, since the door or doors of these vehicles are constantly being opened and closed, considerable frost accumulates on the eutectic plates resulting in serious problems, the first being the increased weight added by the layer of ice created, and secondly that this layer of ice or frost hinders a good radiation of cold towards the inside of the refrigerated container, affecting the quality of the products transported.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It is a first object of the present invention to provide a process for distributing edible products below ambient temperature wherein . said edible product is in a storing compartment comprising; an outer shell defining an inner space and, mounted within said shell an evaporator, the evaporator being, at least partially, situated within a space filled with a eutectic composition,

. the eutectic composition being frozen, characterised in that the eutectic composition is, when necessary, refrigerated after connecting the evaporator with a freezing unit comprising a compressor and a condenser, the evaporator being disconnected from the freezing unit after the eutectic composition has been refrigerated.

Preferably, when products are stored in the storing compartment, the frozen eutectic composition is at a temperature of between-25C and-35C, preferably between-30 and-35C, typically at about-32C.

By having the freezing unit connected to the evaporator by disconnectable means, it is possible to leave the freezing unit in a remote place, thereby leaving the expensive and vulnerable refrigeration components away from the vibrations and shocks for example caused by the vibrations and shocks resulting from transport. An additional benefit is that it allows for an increase of the payload since for a mobile bicycle powered system, the mobile weight can be reduced by some 25 kg.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a storing compartment is transported to a place where a freezing unit is located, the evaporator is then reconnected to the freezing unit and the eutectic composition is refrigerated.

In a second preferred embodiment of the invention, the freezing unit is located on a road carrier such as a truck or a car which circulates from one point of sale to another and is connected at said point of sale to an evaporator of a

storing unit which eutectic composition is then cooled down to a required temperature.

It is a second object of the invention to provide a storing unit comprising a freezing unit and a storing compartment, said freezing unit comprising a compressor and a condenser, said storing compartment comprising: an outer shell defining an inner space and, mounted within said shell, an evaporator, the freezing unit being connected to the evaporator by disconnectable means, the evaporator being at least partially situated within a space filled with a eutectic liquid.

It is a third object of the present invention to provide refrigerated vans having a refrigerated container for transport and delivery of any type of food product which requires refrigeration, and where said refrigerated container comprises an external resistant structure, insulation panels and eutectic plates, an evaporator being at least partially situated within said eutectic plate, characterised in that the evaporator is connected to a freezing unit comprising a compressor and a condenser by disconnectable means.

More specifically, one of the improvements object of the invention consists of the cold producing compressor or condensing unit on the van is eliminated, and therefore it will not suffer vibrations, failures, loss of gas, etc. during the vehicle's circulation. That is, the vehicle shall only carry the corresponding cooling circuit consisting of the feeding conducts and the cooling coil inside the eutectic plates, with the characteristic that

said refrigeration circuit is equipped with quick connection valves so that feeding is done from a cold centre, which may be set in the parking base for the night or the non- operational periods of the vehicle.

Obviously, these cold centres, which may supply cooling liquid to several vehicles simultaneously, may be varied, i. e. they may use different cold centre systems, ranging from one centre per lorry to a centre with various units and controlled condensation, including a load control centre such as a"Moduload Inverter", etc., or even use multiple units, that is, one condensing unit per lorry, with independent intake and liquid lines, although this solution is more costly.

Another improvement of the invention consists in that the eutectic plates include automatic frost-removing mechanisms, consisting of trays, preferably made of aluminium, heated by electrical resistances, of a silicone type, reinforced, etc., these resistances reinforced on their side edges where it is hardest to remove the frost, so that these resistances will begin to act at the start of charging for a short period, but long enough to eliminate the ice created in the working day of the van or vehicle. In no way shall this heat affect the LD50 (toxic level of the eutectic fluid).

The position of the eutectic plates may be horizontal, vertical, inclined or mixed, so that for inclined or vertical plates the water resulting from the defrosting will be collected by conducts conveniently placed under the plates and carried out through a duly heated pipe and a siphon located on the outside of the refrigerated van itself, with the property that once the eutectic plates have

been defrosted the electrical resistances shall be disconnected and the condensing unit shall be activated automatically in order to feed the cooling circuit of the van.

It should be pointed out that these defrosting systems or mechanisms are complemented by a temperature sensor so that when the plate is above 0°C the heating resistances do not operate, this being a waiting time until the condensing unit is activated.

Another improvement of the invention consists of the vehicle having an ignition safety mechanism which prevents the van from being started while the corresponding feeding lines from the condensing unit to the cooling circuit are connected, this system acting on the start-up solenoid of the van or vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be further described by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1.-Shows a lateral elevation view of a refrigerated van with a cross section of the container so that the layout of the eutectic plates and the defrosting water drainage system are visible.

Figures 2,3,4.-Show views corresponding an elevation, plan and profile of the refrigerated container of a van with all the improvements object of the invention.

Figure 5.-Shows a cross section of the arrangement of a eutectic plate with respect to the roof of the corresponding refrigerated van, where an enlargement can be seen of said eutectic plate with the heating electrical resistances tray.

Figure 6.-Shows a tray with the resistances for defrosting the eutectic plates in a preferred embodiment.

Figure 7.-Shows, lastly, a schematic diagram of the ignition safety mechanism which the condensing unit has in order to avoid ignition of the vehicle while it is connected to the feeding lines of the cooling circuit of the vehicle, the feeding being carried out by the condensing or compressor unit itself.

As can be appreciated in the above mentioned figures, the improvements of the invention, as mentioned throughout the present description, are applicable to refrigerated vehicles or vans such as is represented in figure 1, which have a general frame with a cab (1) and the refrigerated container (2) itself, this being intended for transport of food products for their distribution or delivery.

This type of refrigerated container (2) for vans includes a number of eutectic plates (3) which may be located either vertically or horizontally, as shown in figure 1, but that in one improvement of the invention are mounted either vertically along the walls of the refrigerated container (2) or on the roof of the same, or in a combination of these, and in any case the aforementioned eutectic plates (3) define a closed space (4) intended for filling by a eutectic liquid, each of these plates being complemented by a tray (5) carrying a set of heating resistances (6) the function

of which will be presently explained, with the characteristic that the junction between the tray and the plate is made by bending the former, that is, by a fold (7) as shown in figure 5, or by'U'profiles, all these junctions being perfectly sealed by silicone, with the characteristic that the eutectic plates (3) of the roof (8) of the refrigerated container (2) are set with a slight inclination and with a seal (9) between the aforementioned roof and the plates (3) themselves, as is clearly shown in figures 1 and 5, seal which is repeated in the mounting of the vertical plates.

Figures 2,3 and 4 show the mounting of the eutectic plates (3) on the refrigerated container (2) with two doors (10) said eutectic plates (3) being supported from the bottom by profiles (12) acting as supports, while under these a conduct (13) is placed, inclined for collecting the water from the defrosting or de-icing resulting from the heating by the electrical resistances (6) mentioned above which belong to the set of eutectic plates (3).

Figure 1 shows the conducts (13), which are semicircular instead of having the V shape of figure 4, whose function is the same, i. e., collecting the water from the defrosting or de-icing and carrying it outside through a siphon (14) shown in figure 2.

Figure 6 clearly shows a tray (5) with the heating resistances (6) where a perimetral resistance (6') can be seen, and reinforcement resistances (6'') for vertical eutectic plates, which are intended for melting the excess ice formed by dripping.

Figure 7, finally, shows the block of a condensing or compressor unit (15) with the outlet (16) for the feeding line for the cooling liquid to the corresponding van, as well as the intake (17), a switch (18) being placed so that while the feeding lines of the cooling liquid are connected, power is cut off from the start-up solenoid (19) of the vehicle, so that it may not start while the tubes are placed in mouths (16) and (17) of the condensing unit (15) itself.

The lines which are plugged into the vehicle or van shall have a quick connection valve and another magnetic or solenoid valve so that in the event of a loss of pressure of the former the lines are shut and at worst only the cooling liquid between both valves is lost.

As mentioned above, the refrigerated container (2) of the van lacks the compressor and condenser, having only the corresponding evaporator.