Refrigeration – Cooler utilizing solidified gas – Means dispersing sublimed gas into cooled enclosure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-16
2001-04-03
Capossela, Ronald (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Cooler utilizing solidified gas
Means dispersing sublimed gas into cooled enclosure
C062S293000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06209341
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dry-ice container in the form of a casing at least partially filled with dry ice, as well as to a process and a plant for manufacturing a dry-ice container.
(ii) Description of Related Art
It is known that frozen or deep-frozen products, especially foodstuffs that have to be kept at low temperature (about −20° C. or less) without interrupting their refrigeration system from the time they are frozen or deep-frozen until the time they are used, require warehouses, means of transport and shops provided with refrigeration plants which at the present for example in the case of non-motorized transport, it is impossible to transport the products without removing them from the refrigeration plant where they are stored, and the risks of a significant temperature rise are considerable if the environmental conditions are unfavorable; in order to prevent such a temperature rise when transporting them, for example after their sale “in bulk,” it is usual to place the frozen or deep-frozen products in an ice environment, the ice being given to the person acquiring the products by the supplier, generally free of charge. A certain lack of appreciation of refrigeration techniques on the part of suppliers and customers, together with the fact that the refrigerating power of ice is known to be relatively low, usually results in them intentionally overestimating the amount of ice necessary, as a precaution, and this results in significant unnecessary expense for the supplier. One could try to replace the ice with a relatively inexpensive product having a better refrigerating power, but it turns out that the pure and simple replacement of ice with such products may be dangerous because of the very low temperature at which these products would have to be used (approximately −80° C. in the case of dry ice) and because of the risk of skin lesions that their use would occasion, unless further precautions are taken.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to remedy these drawbacks and to create a product in the form of a dry-ice container comprising a casing and a dose of dry ice placed inside this casing, which is inexpensive, in particular because of the simplicity of its process and its manufacturing plant, and because of the possibility of automating this process and this plant in the immediate vicinity of the site of use.
For this purpose, the invention relates to a dry-ice container, which comprises a casing and, in this casing, carbon dioxide, part of which is in the solid state and another part of which is in the gaseous state, wherein the casing has at least one passage for the spontaneous escape of carbon dioxide in the gaseous state.
The container may also have one or more of the following characteristics:
the casing has at least one passage for the insertion of a carbon dioxide injection device suitable for transferring carbon dioxide contained in a carbon dioxide supply into the casing;
the passage for inserting the injection device is unidirectional;
the passage for the spontaneous escape of carbon dioxide in the gaseous state also forms the passage for inserting a carbon dioxide injection device;
the casing has several passages formed from perforations for the spontaneous escape of carbon dioxide in the gaseous state;
the casing is made of a porous material, this material having pores forming passages for the spontaneous escape of carbon dioxide in the gaseous state.
The invention also relates to a process for manufacturing a dry-ice container comprising a casing and, in this casing, carbon dioxide, part of which is in the solid state, wherein a casing defining an internal space is housed in a housing in which the casing is held, so as to face a device for the injection of carbon dioxide in the liquid state, the device being connected to a supply of carbon dioxide under pressure in the liquid state, the casing and the injection device are made to come together by moving at least one of them, the movement then continuing until at least one end region of the injection device is in the internal space of the casing, the injection device passing through the casing in a passage of the latter, the coming-together movement is stopped, carbon dioxide in the liquid state is transferred through the injection device from the supply to the internal space where the carbon dioxide in the liquid state is made to pass partly into the pulverulent solid state and partly into the gaseous state, and, as the internal space is gradually filled with the pulverulent solid, the gas phase escapes, then the transfer of carbon dioxide in the liquid state is stopped, the end region of the injection device is removed from the internal space, the casing and the injection device are moved apart, and the casing containing carbon dioxide in the solid state, forming the dry-ice container, is discharged and the excess gas phase is allowed to escape via at least one passage in the casing.
The process may also include one or more of the following characteristics:
in order to continue the movement until at least one end region of the injection device is in the internal space of the casing, the injection device is inserted into a passage in the casing;
in order to continue the movement until at least one end region of the injection device is in the internal space of the casing, the casing is cut into by means of the injection device in order to create a passage in the casing and the injection device is inserted into this passage.
The invention also relates to a plant for the manufacture of a dry-ice container comprising a casing and, in this casing, carbon dioxide, part of which is in the solid state, wherein it comprises a device for the injection of carbon dioxide in the liquid state into the casing and this injection device comprises a tubular body along which a channel extends, a head carried by the body, in order to pass through a passage in the casing, and holes suitable for making the channel communicate with the inside of the casing when the head is at least partially in the casing.
The plant may also include one or more of the following characteristics:
the injection device includes a cutting tool for cutting into the casing, for the purpose of producing a through-passage therein, and a channel for gaseous carbon dioxide to escape;
the plant includes a box, one wall of which carries the injection device, and a drawer that can move between an open position for putting in the casing, for the purpose of filling it, and a closed position for filling the casing, in which at least part of the head of the injection device is inside the casing;
the plant includes a panel suitable for forming a bottom for a sliding drawer, the panel itself sliding independently of the drawer;
the plant includes a well for discharging the containers, an upper part of which well is selectively closed off or exposed by a pivoting panel;
the plant includes a hopper for feeding casings, and the drawer carries a cover fastened to the back of the latter and having an approximately horizontal wall which extends level with the top of the drawer and is suitable for closing off the base of the hopper, except when the drawer is in the open position;
the carbon dioxide injection device is connected to a carbon dioxide supply via a solenoid valve, the residual gaseous carbon dioxide in the plant is extracted therefrom via an extractor and the containers are sent to a pan from a discharge well via a counting apparatus.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the description which follows of embodiments and methods of implementing the invention, these being given by way of nonlimiting examples, illustrated by the appended drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1903171 (1933-03-01), Cordley
patent: 3561226 (1971-02-01), Rubin
patent: 3971231 (1976-07-01), Derry
patent: 4404818 (1983-09-01), Franklin, Jr.
patent: 4916922 (1990-04-01), Mullens
patent: 196 29 034 (1998-01-01), None
patent: 2 518 237 (1983
Benedetti Xavier
Buil Jose
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Capossela Ronald
L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'
LandOfFree
Dry-ice container, and process and plant for manufacturing a... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Dry-ice container, and process and plant for manufacturing a..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Dry-ice container, and process and plant for manufacturing a... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2539142