THERMALLY INSULATED TRANSPORT CONTAINER COMPRISING THERMAL INSULATION RESTING AGAINST THE WALLS, AND WALL STRUCTURE OF A CONTAINER OF SAID TYPE

Abstract

The invention relates to a thermally insulated transport container with a housing for forming a space for goods, with walls and a thermal insulation abutting the walls as well as a wall structure of such a container. In particular, the invention relates to such a container as an air cargo container. According to the invention, sandwich plastic plates are provided as walls, with a honeycomb core welded on both sides to one covering ply, respectively, the honeycomb core and the covering plies consisting of a thermoplastic material, preferably PP. In this case, the walls are, in particular, a thermoplastic sandwich panel, consisting substantially of a PP (polypropylene) honeycomb core and PP covering layers, in particular glass-fiber reinforced, which are, with regard to the materials, homogenously connected to each other by thermally fused connection. Such plates are offered, for example, by Wihag Composites GmbH & Co. KG under the trademark MonoPan®, which are preferred in this case. The use of thermoplastic material makes it possible for adjacent sandwich plastic plates to be attached to each other by welding, particularly in the region of the edges. In particular, it is thus possible to produce largely frameless and thus lighter transport containers.

Claims

1. A thermally insulated transport container (1) with a housing (1a, 1b) for forming a space (2) for goods, the container comprising walls (3, 3a, 3b) and a thermal insulation (4) abutting the walls, wherein sandwich plastic plates are provided as walls (3, 3a, 3b), with a honeycomb core welded on both sides to one covering ply, respectively, the honeycomb core and the covering plies consisting of a thermoplastic material.

2. The container according to claim 1, wherein adjacent sandwich plastic plates (3a or 3b), in particular along their joint edge (32) and across the corner (31), are attached to each other by welding and sealed.

3. The container according to claim 1, wherein the transport container (1) has a frameless construction, wherein the sandwich plastic plates (3a or 3b) that are connected to each other form a self-supporting housing (1a or 1b), wherein preferably no further stiffening elements in addition to the sandwich plastic plates and the thermal insulation (4) and a door reinforcing means for a door (5) are provided.

4. The container according to claim 1, wherein vacuum insulating panels are provided as thermal insulation (4).

5. The container according to claim 1, wherein the walls (3a or 3b) have two plies of the sandwich plastic plates with abutting thermal insulation (4) located therebetween, and wherein a self-supporting outer housing (1a) of welded-together sandwich plastic plates and a self-supporting inner housing (1b) of welded-together sandwich plastic plates is provided, the inner housing (1b) forming the space for goods and being disposed in the outer housing at a distance from the outer housing (1a), the space between the inner and the outer housing being filled with the thermal insulation (4), the insulation further being fastened in the outer housing (1a) in a two-dimensional manner or in portions or in a point-shaped manner, and the inner housing (1a) further being inserted into the insulation (4).

6. The container according to claim 1, wherein the sandwich plastic plates consist exclusively of thermoplastic material.

7. The container according claim 1, wherein the one or both covering plies and the honeycomb core are fiber reinforced and wherein the honeycomb core, with regard to the materials, is homogeneously connected to the cover layers by a thermally fused connection.

8. The container according to claim 1, wherein the thermal conductivity of the thermal insulation is 0.002-0.009 W/m K.

9. The container according to claim 1, wherein communication means for data transmission are provided within the outer housing (1a), which include integrated sensors (6) or are connected or connectable with them, wherein, furthermore, GPS for transmission of position, sensors for temperature monitoring and vacuum detectors (6) for monitoring the air pressure are provided as sensors in the vacuum insulating panels.

10. The container according to claim 3, wherein the door reinforcing means comprises a profile, in particular a frame formed therefrom, consisting of a light metal alloy, in particular aluminum, which is attached to the outer housing and the inner housing and connects them with one another.

11. A wall structure of a thermally insulated transport container (1), the wall structure comprising a thermal insulation (4) inserted between two walls (3a, 3b), wherein sandwich plastic plates are provided as walls (3a, 3b), with a honeycomb core welded on both sides to one covering ply, respectively, the honeycomb core and the covering plies consisting of a thermoplastic material.

12. (canceled)

13. The wall structure according to claim 11, wherein cylindrical recesses are provided in the honeycomb core which extend in the plane of the honeycomb core, preferably over the entire length of the honeycomb core, wherein fastening, pivoting or locking members are rotatably inserted into the recesses.

14. The wall structure according to claim 11, wherein vacuum insulating panels are provided as thermal insulation (4).

15. The wall structure according to claim 11, wherein the sandwich plastic plates consist exclusively of thermoplastic material.

16. The wall structure according to claim 11, wherein the one or both covering plies and the honeycomb core are fiber reinforced, in particular glass or carbon fiber reinforced

17. The wall structure according to claim 11, wherein the honeycomb core, with regard to the materials, is homogeneously connected to the cover layers by means of thermally fused connection.

18. The wall structure according to claim 11, wherein the thermal conductivity of the thermal insulation is 0.002-0.009 W/m K.

19. A thermally insulated transport container (1), with a housing (1a, 1b) for forming a space for goods, the container comprising walls (3a, 3b) and several vacuum insulating panels (4) abutting the walls as thermal insulation, wherein the vacuum insulating panels (4) each have a vacuum detector (6) for monitoring the air pressure in the respective vacuum insulating panel, wherein each vacuum detector has a digital circuit with its own address that can be read out via a data bus; wherein all vacuum detectors are connected to a data bus; and wherein a read-out unit is connected to the data bus in such a way that the air pressure can be retrieved by all vacuum detectors continuously or upon user request.

Description

[0044] Further advantages become apparent from the following description and the attached Figures. Also, the features mentioned above and explained in more detail below can each be used individually or in any combinations according to the invention. The embodiments mentioned shall not be understood to be final and have the character of examples.

[0045] FIG. 1 shows a thermally insulated transport container 1 according to the invention, which is closed with a door 5, in an embodiment as an air cargo refrigerating container. The self-supporting outer housing 1a is formed by walls 3a made of sandwich plastic plates with a honeycomb core welded on both sides to one covering ply, respectively, the honeycomb core and the covering plies consisting of the thermoplastic material PP. The structure of the sandwich plastic plates is not shown in more detail in the Figures. Adjacent sandwich plastic plates 3a are attached to each other by welding and sealed along their joint edge 32 and/or across the corner 31. The container is closed with a door 5.

[0046] FIG. 2 shows the container from FIG. 1 in a section through the door 5 and the housing 1a, 1b. The thermally insulated 1 has a double-walled housing 1a, 1b for forming a space 2 for goods. The self-supporting outer housing 1a consists of sandwich plastic plates 3a welded together along their joint edge 32 or corner 31. The self-supporting inner housing 1b, which is formed in the same manner and consists of sandwich plastic plates 3b welded together along their joint edge 32 or corner 31, is located therein. In this case, the inner housing 1b forms the space 2 for goods and is disposed at a distance from the outer housing 1a in the outer housing. The space between the inner and outer housings is filled with the thermal insulation 4, in this case numerous vacuum insulating panels (VIP). The vacuum insulating panels 4 are fastened in the outer housing 1a. The inner housing 1b is inserted into the vacuum insulating panels 4.

[0047] Thus, the walls 3 substantially consist of two plies of the sandwich plastic plates 3a, 3b with an abutting thermal insulation 4 of VIP located therebetween.

[0048] As cold storage devices, the space 2 contains numerous latent-heat storage devices 7 which are inserted in a removable manner into brackets in the form of rails 71. These are standard products, which are therefore available in numerous variations and inexpensively.

[0049] FIG. 3 shows the container 1 with a door 5 opened by 270°. Inner doors consist 5a of struts 52 which in part serve as rails for inserting the latent-heat storage devices 7. Thereby, they are uncoupled from the heat-insulating door 5, which is therefore particularly light and requires only a weak joint.

[0050] Airline rails 8 on the bottom of the space formed by the inner housing 1b permit a secure attachment of goods placed in standard containers in the space 2.

[0051] FIG. 4 shows the outer housing with vacuum panels 4 mounted therein, which are visible due to the inner housing 1b not being inserted. On their outer walls, the vacuum insulating panels 4 each carry a vacuum detector, in this case in the form of a strain gauge 6 for monitoring the air pressure in the respective vacuum insulating panel. What is not shown here is that each vacuum detector has a digital circuit with its own address that can be read out via a data bus and that all vacuum detectors are connected to a data bus, and that a read-out unit is connected to the data bus in such a way that the air pressure can be retrieved by all vacuum detectors continuously or upon user request.