TRANSPORT CONTAINER

Abstract

In a transport container for transporting temperature-sensitive goods, having a container wall arrangement which surrounds an interior space for receiving the goods and has a plurality of walls which adjoin one another at an angle, the container wall arrangement being self-supporting and having an opening for loading and unloading the interior space, which opening can be closed by means of a separate wall element and wherein the container wall arrangement encloses the interior space on all sides with the exception of the opening, the container wall arrangement comprises an outer wall, an inner wall spaced therefrom and a vacuum chamber formed between the outer and inner walls, wherein the vacuum chamber is formed as a continuous vacuum chamber surrounding the interior space on all sides with the exception of the opening.

Claims

1-22. (canceled)

23. A transport container for transporting temperature-sensitive goods, comprising: a container wall arrangement surrounding an interior space for receiving the goods and having a plurality of walls adjoining one another at an angle, the container wall arrangement being self-supporting and having an opening for loading and unloading the interior space, the opening can be closed by a separate wall element; wherein the container wall arrangement encloses the interior space on all sides except the opening; wherein the container wall arrangement comprises an outer wall, an inner wall spaced therefrom and a vacuum chamber formed between the outer and inner walls; wherein the vacuum chamber is formed as a continuous vacuum chamber surrounding the interior space on all sides except the opening; wherein a plurality of insulation foils lying one above the other at a distance are arranged in the vacuum chamber, a foil plane of the foils extending substantially parallel to a plane of the outer and inner walls; and wherein in the insulation foils are held at a distance from one another by flat spacer elements, the flat spacer elements being formed by a textile sheet material.

24. The transport container according to claim 23, wherein the outer wall and the inner wall are connected by a plurality of spacers which have a thermal conductivity of <2 W/(m.Math.K).

25. The transport container according to claim 24, wherein the spacers are designed as pin-shaped elements.

26. The transport container according to claim 24, wherein the spacers contact the outer and inner walls via at least one pressure distribution element.

27. The transport container according to claim 26, wherein the at least one pressure distribution element is formed as a support plate.

28. The transport container according to claim 26, wherein the at least one pressure distribution element is formed by a widened end of the spacer.

29. The transport container according to claim 23, wherein the insulation foils are formed as metal-vaporized plastic foils.

30. The transport container according to claim 23, wherein the outer and inner walls are made of a metal sheet.

31. The transport container according to claim 23, wherein the vacuum chamber is closed by a connecting collar extending along an edge of the opening and connected to the outer and inner walls.

32. The transport container according to claim 31, wherein the connecting collar extends obliquely relative to the plane of the outer wall.

33. The transport container according to claim 31, wherein the connecting collar has a corrugated or kinked course from the outer to the inner wall.

34. The transport container according to claim 33, wherein: the kinked course comprises a U-shape; and a thermal insulation is introduced into the recess created by the U-shape.

35. The transport container according to claim 31, wherein the connecting collar is made of the same material as the inner and outer walls

36. The transport container according to claim 31, wherein the connecting collar is made of a different metal than the inner and outer walls and is welded to the same,

37. The transport container according to claim 23, wherein the transport container further comprises a separate wall element with which the opening is closed.

38. The transport container according to claim 37, wherein a layer of a phase change material is arranged on a side of the separate wall element facing the interior space, which layer extends at least along the edge region of the opening.

39. The transport container according to claim 38, wherein the phase change material covers the entire surface of the separate wall element facing the interior space and an energy distribution layer made of a material with a thermal conductivity of >100 W/(m.Math.K) is arranged between the separate wall element and the phase change material.

40. The transport container according to claim 38, wherein a further layer of the phase change material is arranged on a side of the inner wall of the container wall arrangement facing the interior space, which layer surrounds the interior space on all sides with an exception of the opening.

41. The transport container according to claim 39, wherein the at least one energy distribution layer consists at least partially of aluminum, copper or carbon nanotubes.

42. The transport container according to claim 23, wherein the air pressure in the vacuum chamber is 0.001-0.1 mbar.

43. The transport container according to claim 23, wherein the outer dimensions of the transport container are at least 0.4×0.4×0.4 m.sup.3.

44. The transport container according to claim 23, wherein a normal distance between the outer and inner walls is 10-40 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0050] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments shown schematically in the drawing. Therein,

[0051] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a cuboid transport container according to the invention,

[0052] FIG. 2 shows a detailed view of the structure of the container wall arrangement,

[0053] FIG. 3 shows a detailed view of an embodiment of the spacers,

[0054] FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of a transport container with closed opening,

[0055] FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of the transport container according to FIG. 4,

[0056] FIG. 6 shows a detail view of a wall design in the area of the connecting collar,

[0057] FIG. 7 shows a detail view of an alternative wall design in the area of the connecting collar and

[0058] FIG. 8 shows a detail of the connecting collar 12 in section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] FIG. 1 shows a cuboid transport container 1 whose container wall arrangement 2 surrounds an interior space 3 on all sides except for an opening 4. The container wall arrangement 2 includes two side walls 5, a back wall 6, a bottom 7 and a ceiling 8. The container wall arrangement 2 is designed as a double-walled vacuum container and comprises an outer wall 9 and an inner wall 10, which run parallel and at a distance from each other. The wall structure can be seen in FIG. 1 in the area shown broken open and in the detailed view shown in FIG. 2.

[0060] The outer wall 9 consists of five plate-shaped outer wall sections, one each for the two side walls 5, the rear wall 6, the floor 7 and the ceiling 8. The wall sections can be bent from a single flat piece of material, such as a metal sheet, and joined together along the abutting edges, in particular welded. The wall sections may also consist of separate flat pieces of material, such as separate sheets, so that a joint, in particular a weld, is required at each edge.

[0061] Similarly, the inner wall 10 consists of five plate-shaped outer wall sections, one for each of the two side walls 5, the rear wall 6, the floor 7 and the ceiling 8. Here, too, the wall sections can be bent from a single flat piece of material, such as a metal sheet, and joined together along the abutting edges, in particular welded. The wall sections may also consist of separate flat pieces of material, such as separate sheets, so that a joint, in particular a weld, is required at each edge.

[0062] The outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 thus form two separate shells between which a continuous vacuum chamber 11 is formed. To close the vacuum chamber 11, the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 are connected at the front, i.e. along the opening 4, by means of a connecting collar 12. The connecting collar 12 can also consist of a flat piece of material, in particular a metal sheet, and be welded to the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 at the abutting edges.

[0063] In order to keep the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 at the specified distance, several spacers 13 extend between the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10, which are designed as pins in the embodiment according to FIG. 2. The spacers 13 must be able to absorb the compressive forces that occur and transmit them as evenly as possible to the walls of the vacuum container. In addition, the solid-state heat conduction through the spacers 13 must be minimized, otherwise the insulation performance would be degraded. In addition, the total weight of the structure plays an important role and must also be minimized. To meet these requirements, a large number of relatively thin spacers 13 are provided.

[0064] The spacers 13 contact the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 with the interposition of pressure distribution elements 14, which are designed as flat webs. The spacers 13 are fastened with connecting pieces in holes along the webs 14.

[0065] In FIG. 1, it can be seen that stacks 15 of insulation foils extending over the entire wall surface are arranged in the vacuum chamber 11. To insert the insulation foils, the spacers 13 can either be designed to fit into each other or the insulation foil can be provided with corresponding slots.

[0066] FIG. 3 shows an alternative design of the spacers 13. The force transmission between the spacers 13 to the outer wall 9 and to the inner wall 10 is achieved via a mushroom shape of the spacers 13 on both sides. The mushrooms are part of the spacers 13 and are made, for example, of a low heat-conducting plastic (e.g. PEEK or Kevlar). The smallest diameter of the spacers 12 is preferably 1-5 mm, which is much smaller than the length, further reducing the solid-state heat conduction. The mushrooms preferably have a height of 2-5 mm each and a diameter of 6-50 mm at their support and uniformly transfer the occurring forces into the walls.

[0067] In FIG. 4, the structure of the transport container 1 is shown schematically in a sectional view. The vacuum container is combined with a separate wall element 16 for insulating the front, so that the transport container 1 is closed. Since the greatest heat input is expected in the area of the connecting collar 12, in this variant a latent heat storage 17 is only installed at the front to absorb the heat and keep it away from the transported goods. A high thermal conductivity energy distribution plate 18 between the door insulation and the latent heat storage 17 provides uniform distribution of heat to prevent local melting of the phase change material of the latent heat storage 17.

[0068] FIG. 5 shows an alternative design of the transport container 1 schematically in a sectional view. The vacuum container 1 is combined with a separate wall element 16 to insulate the front so that the transport container is closed. Again, the greatest heat input is expected in the area of the connecting collar 12. In addition to the front latent heat storage 17, in this variant latent heat accumulators 19 are also used on the side walls 5, the rear wall 6, the floor 7 and the ceiling 8. In addition, high thermal conductivity energy distribution plates 20 are used to distribute heat to latent heat storages 19 in the rear regions of the transport container 1. It is important to ensure sufficient distance to the connecting collar 12 to avoid a direct thermal bridge.

[0069] FIG. 6 shows a detail of the connecting collar 12 in section, with the connecting collar 12 extending at an oblique angle to the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 so that the path length between the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 is increased. In this embodiment, the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 as well as the connecting collar 12 may be made of stainless steel (e.g. V2A) with a thickness of 0.01 to 1 mm, the sheets being welded at the front.

[0070] In the alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 are made of aluminum with a thickness of, for example, 0.5-5 mm. The connecting collar 12 is made of stainless steel (e.g. V2A) with a thickness of e.g. 0.1 to 1 mm. The different materials are welded together by friction welding or by coating the mating parts with a weldable material. The connecting collar 12 is designed as a labyrinth so that the path length between the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 is increased, thus reducing the heat input. In addition, the connecting collar 12 is insulated from the outside with a thermal insulation 21. The beginning of the aluminum inner wall 10 is offset to the rear to reduce the heat input into the rear area of the transport container 1.

[0071] FIG. 8 shows an alternative embodiment of the connecting collar 12 in section, wherein the connecting collar 12 extends in an asymmetrical U-shape between the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10, so that the path length between the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 is increased. In addition, the connecting collar 12 is insulated with a thermal insulation 22 inserted in the U-shape. In this embodiment, the outer wall 9 and the inner wall 10 as well as the connecting collar 12 may be made of stainless steel (e.g. V2A) with a thickness of 0.01 to 1 mm, the sheets being welded at the front.

[0072] Another way to increase the path length between the outer and inner walls of the vacuum vessel is to make the connecting collar in a corrugated shape.

[0073] The overall insulation performance of the transport container according to the invention results from an interconnection of the individual thermal resistors. The following elements are considered: [0074] Door insulation [0075] Thermal radiation [0076] Vacuum container: [0077] Outer and inner shell [0078] Spacers incl. stiffening structures [0079] Air in the surrounding shelter [0080] Air between the individual layers of the superinsulation foil [0081] Foil spacers of the super insulation (e.g. polyester fleece) [0082] Superinsulation foil layers

[0083] With the resulting total thermal resistance, the surface area of the container and the insulation thickness, an equivalent thermal conductivity (λ.sub.äqu) can be calculated. The present invention achieves an equivalent thermal conductivity of λ.sub.äqu=4 mW/(m.Math.K) to 0.5 mW/(m.Math.K) for a transport container size of about 1×1.2×1.2. For comparison, conventional vacuum panels have a thermal conductivity of about 5 mW/(m.Math.K). Thus, the present invention provides significantly better insulating performance.

[0084] Another advantage is the low weight. Since vacuum panels consist of individual elements, additional structural parts are needed to ensure the stability of the transport container. This means additional weight. With the present invention, the transport container is stabilized by the vacuum insulation. The vacuum container is designed to withstand external pressure forces, but has a low dead weight. In addition, the vacuum container includes five sides of the transport container. This ensures stability without the need for additional structural components. Even if the vacuum container is damaged, e.g. by external influences, the stability of the transport container is maintained. The materials used for the exterior and interior walls are preferably highly ductile and can exhibit high plastic deformation before they fail. First, both sides of the vacuum chamber would be fully compressed before the walls failed. Although the weight of the vacuum insulation at 3 to 16 kg/m.sup.2 (depending on the design and choice of material) is somewhat higher than that of vacuum panels at around 4 kg/m.sup.2, the resulting total weight of the transport container is significantly lower.