TRANSPORT HOOD/COVER AND APPLICATION THEREOF

PROTECTION OU COUVERTURE DE TRANSPORT ET SES APPLICATIONS

English Abstract

A transport cover/tarpaulin is described consisting of one or more flexible
sheets of insulating material where the outer surface may have a reflective
foil or other heat-reflecting material, characterised in that the sheet(s) of
insulating material have channels or chambers for a coolant, and in the case
of frozen transport for a freezant, and also channels or chambers which can be
filled with, e.g., gas. There is further described the use of the transport
cover/tarpaulin when transporting goods which during transport require
refrigeration, freezing or segregation such as, e.g., foodstuffs and certain
types of chemicals and hazardous goods.

French Abstract

La présente invention concerne une couverture ou une bâche constituée d'une ou plusieurs feuilles souples de matériau isolant, la face externe pouvant comporter un film réflecteur ou tout autre matériau thermoréfléchissant. La caractéristique de l'invention est que la feuille (ou les feuilles) de matériau isolant comporte des canaux ou des chambres pouvant contenir un réfrigérant, ou, dans le cas d'un transport de produit congelé, un agent de congélation. En outre, les canaux ou les chambres peuvent être remplis d'un gaz par exemple. L'invention concerne également l'utilisation de la couverture ou bâche de transport pour le transport de marchandises qui, pendant le transport, nécessitent une réfrigération, une congélation ou une séparation, comme par exemple entre des produits alimentaires et certains types de produits chimiques ou dangereux.

Claims

Patent claims

1.
A transport cover/tarpaulin, consisting of one or more flexible sheets of insulating
material where the outer surface may have a reflective foil or other heat-reflecting
material, where the sheet(s) of insulating material have channels or chambers for a
coolant, and in the case of frozen transport for a freezant, characterised in that the sheet
of insulating material in addition has channels or chambers which can be filled with gas,
e.g., air or nitrogen.


2.
The use of the transport cover/tarpaulin according to the preceding claim as outer
packaging when transporting goods which during transport require refrigeration,
freezing or segregation such as, e.g., foodstuffs and certain types of chemicals and
hazardous goods.

Description

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TRANSPORT HOOD/-COVER AND APPLICATION ~ K~OF

The present application relates to the a transport cover/tarpaulin and use thereof,
especially for goods which during transport require refrigeration, freezing or segregation
5 such as, e.g., foodstuffs and certain types of çh~mic~l~ and hazardous goods.

During transport of the aforementioned product groups it is of importance that an even
and/or low telll~eldl lre is ~ ed throughout the entire duration of the transport.

10 One of the foodstuffs which is transported within, and exported from, Norway in large
quantities is fresh and frozen fish. Fish is also transported in large quantities to remote
markets such as, e.g., Japan. The invention will be described below on the basis of this
transport of fish. However, it must be stressed that this is merely intçnded to serve as an
example and that the transport cover according to the invention is equally suitable for all
15 types of goods as mentioned above.

It is desirable, of course, that it should also be possible to transport fish to remote
markets without any reduction in quality. However, on account of the fish being
reloaded several times considerable problems are involved here.
Fish is packed for LlollsllOll in cases of cardboard or polystyrene, and these cases are
loaded on pallets. The fish is then transported in thermotrucks to an air tçrrnin~l where
it is loaded into the cargo hold of a plane.

25 As mentioned above, it is desirable for the fish to be kept in an unbroken cold storage
chain throughout the journey from the producer to the retailer.

Critical points in this ll~lSpOlL chain are those where the refrigerated goods and frozen
goods pass from controlled refrigerated/deep-freeze points to new Lld~ls~olL or storage
30 places, e.g., from a refrigerated/freezer terrnin~l to the cargo hold of a plane, and where
the goods may remain on the runway, at worst for up to several hours. The telllp~l~LIlre
on the runway may be very high.

~ Previously, in some cases air freight containers of aluminium or Plexiglas have been
35 used. The problem with these, however, is that large volumes of empties must be
transported back to their place of d~pdl Lul~.

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By means of the present invention, a transport cover or tarpaulin is provided, consisting
of one or more flexible sheets of insulating material, where the outer surface may have a
reflective foil or other heat-reflecting material, where the sheet(s) of in~ ting material
have ch~nnel~ or chambers for a coolant, and in the case of frozen transport for a
S ~,eez~t, char~cteri~ed in that the sheet(s) of inclll~ting material in addition have
channels or chambers which are filled with gas, e.g., air or nitrogen.

The channels or chambers which are inten~le~ to be filled with, e.g., gas, are preferably
provided with a pressure control valve.
The transport co~ e~ aulin according to the invention may be designed as a complete
cover of the desired size. Alternatively, the tarpaulin may be closed around the load by
means of a closing device of any type whatever. One example of a simple closing
device which may be used in the present case is a Velcro f~tening. The height and the
15 diagonal of the transport cover are adjusted according to the desired type of plane/air
freight pallet and height between decks.

The sheet or sheets of inc~ ting material in the transport cover/tarpaulin according to
the invention may in principle consist of a number of, preferably soft, materials. In
20 practice, soft plastics, and for special uses also the more tel~l)e,dl lre resistant versions
of this type of m~teri~l, have shown th~m~elves to be well-suited.

Similarly, a number of materials may be used as the coolant. However, "Gel-ice" has
proven to be a favourable alternative, both with a view to availability and price.
As optional reflective foil on the outside of the sheet of incnl~ting material, alu-lliniulll
foil is a preferred material. It would be of advantage to provide clear plastic pockets on
the outside of the foil for the insertion of dispatch documents, etc.

30 The invention further comprises the use of the above-mentioned transport
co~/elll~paulin as outer p~cl~ging when transporting goods which during transport
require refrigeration, freezing or segregation such as, e.g., foodstuffs and certain types
of chemicals and hazardous goods.

35 When the transport cover is filled with air, the cover will furthermore support the load
and fit tightly around the load to m~int~in the cold, the air chamber functioning as a
"vacuum flask" on the outside of the cooling elements and the load.

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The load stands on a typical air freight pallet with an in~ ting underlay and iscompletely covered by the cover. The whole air freight pallet is transported in a
thermotruck. The tempel~ e is set at -10 to -15~C. During transport, the cooler
S element insert is frozen efficiently and rapidly as the air chambers are not filled. On
arrival at the airport, the ch~nn~l~ are infl~ted and they function as extra insulation on
the outside of the active refrigeration unit at the airport and during the journey. When
used for fro~n transport, a fi~ie~ l such as dry ice bars or blocks are put in the
chambers in the cover before the gas channels are filled. The requirement for underlay
10 insulation will be greater than it is in the case of refrigerated transport in order to
prevent loss of cold through the bottom.

On arrival at the recipient destination, the air is released and the cover is folded.

15 A second major advantage achieved by means ofthe transport cover/tarpaulin according
to the invention is that the return logistics for the pa~ ging are rendered far more
favourable. Instead of transporting considerable volumes of empties back to their place
of de~,~Lule, the cover according to the invention can be transported back in a folded
state. A considerable saving is thereby achieved in terlns of both weight and volume in
20 comparison to today's systems.

A second alternative is that the cover during the journey home can function as a regular
tarpaulin.

25 As mentioned by way of introduction, the transport of fish is an area where the transport
cover/tarpaulin according to the invention would be of great use. One or two other
advantageous examples of the use of the present invention are given below.

Fruit and vegetables are transported in great quantities by plane, and here too the
30 cover/tarpaulin according to the invention with its active coolant and in~ ting
proptllies will increase the c~llaillly of quality m~intPn~nce and thereby reduce loss.
Also, during the L~ poll of fruit and vegetables the products are often reloaded from
one plane to another, and this happens in airports which seldom have the facilities for or
possibilities of m~i"t~ ing an unbroken cold storage chain. By means of the present
35 invention, this need for an unbroken cold storage chain is met and the llanspolled goods
are able to fulfil very high quality requirements.

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A second relevant product group includes chemicals and infl~mm~ble goods which
today are required to be ~ ~olled under very restricted conditions. The transport
cover/~ulin according to the invention will make it possible to transport these goods
in the cargo hold on board passenger planes or on freight planes in larger amounts than
5 today. This is so because the transport cove~ aulin elimin~tes the dangers which
present themselves as obstacles to this transport today.

By using an aramide material, e.g., Kevlar, which has been PBI-treated, as a layer in the
cover, the protection against generation of heat or fire in the plane prevents the content
10 inside the cover from being ignited owing to the special plop~.lies of the Kevlar layer.