Refrigeration – With indicator or tester
Patent
1997-02-03
1999-07-20
Sollecito, John M.
Refrigeration
With indicator or tester
116217, F25B 4900
Patent
active
059242949
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a means of checking for temperature deviations beyond the limits acceptable by regulations during transportation of perishable goods of the foodstuffs type or hygiene, pharmaceutical or diagnostic products.
When transporting perishable goods it is necessary to ensure that the standards governing the allowed temperature deviations for each product will in no case be exceeded during the transportation.
This type of check has been made mandatory in European countries, especially by Directive 92/1/EEC of Jan. 13, 1992, relating to deep-frozen food, which stipulates in its Article 2 that "while being used, the means of transportation and the local warehousing must be equipped with suitable instruments for the automatic recording of temperature in order to measure, frequently and at regular intervals, the temperature of the air to which deep-frozen goods intended for human consumption are subjected". Furthermore, Directive 93/43/EEC of Jun. 14, 1993 stipulates in its Article 3 that companies in the food sector must especially "demonstrate" the levels and moments (points) in the operation when there may be risks to the food, establish which points among those demonstrated are key for the safety of the food (critical points), and define and implement effective verification and monitoring procedures at these critical points. In this directive, it is strongly recommended that guides be put into place for good hygiene practices which should contain the measures necessary to guarantee the safety and wholesomeness of perishable goods.
In the light of this directive, those responsible for distribution and catering establishments and for traveling and occasional activities must carry out regular checks to verify that the goods conform to the provisions of the legislation in force. The checking means must then be put into place by the member states by directly following the directives or by using other scientifically valid methods on condition that the products and their transportation meet the regulations in force.
If a major risk associated with meeting the maximum temperature exists during transportation itself, the same risk exists before and after transportation, that is to say during loading, unloading, holding and storage periods.
The various checking and recording means made mandatory by Directive 92/1 in its Article 2 are the equipping of the transportation means and of the local warehousing with automatic temperature recorders which measure at regular intervals the temperature of the air to which the deep-frozen or refrigerated goods intended for human consumption are subjected; however, these apparatuses are often expensive and sophisticated and do not operate instantaneously, which makes their use and the checking of this use particularly difficult given the conditions of this type of goods and especially its geographical dispersion.
Throughout the foregoing and hereafter, the term "goods" will be used to mean any perishable foodstuff at a controlled temperature, especially deep-frozen products or refrigerated products, as well as products intended for human or animal health which also require being maintained at a controlled temperature for their proper preservation, especially therapeutic and diagnostic products; more generally, the term goods, to which mention will be made in this patent application, will refer to any type of product which it is mandatory to maintain at a certain temperature for regulatory reasons or for technical reasons associated with the preservation of an activity or integrity of said goods or for health reasons.
The device described hereinbelow and forming the subject of the present invention corresponds to the approach which is to comply with the requirements that may possibly arise in applying the European directives mentioned hereinabove, especially the HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) system.
The remainder of the description will be made with reference to the figures appended hereto, the descriptions of which are the following:
FIG. 1
REFERENCES:
patent: 3063235 (1962-11-01), Winchell
patent: 4114443 (1978-09-01), Clark
Premark FEG L.L.C.
Sollecito John M.
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