thermal container

Abstract

Thermal container (1) comprising a carrier container (3) and an insulating insert (2) extending over the inside of the carrier container (3), characterized in that the insulating insert (2) is designed as an independent insulating bag with a bag base (21), at least one bag side and / or peripheral wall (22, 23, 24, 25) and at least one bag lid (26) that can be opened and closed, wherein the bag base (21), the at least one bag side and / or peripheral wall (22, 23, 24, 25) and the at least one bag lid (26) each comprise a stack (9) of fibrous material layers which is wrapped by a wrapping (8) at least on its stack top side, on its stack bottom side and on at least two mutually opposite stack edge sides.

Description

The present invention relates to a thermal container which has a carrier container and an insulating insert extending over inner sides of the carrier container.Such thermal containers serve, for example, to send objects to be kept cool, such as food products. In this case, the objects must be kept safely cool for at least 72 hours, so that they do not spoil during transport.From the publication WO 2019 / 113453 A1, a thermal container of the type specified at the beginning is known in the form of an insulated double-walled pocket. The pocket has an outer pocket and an inner pocket inserted into the outer pocket at a distance from the outer pocket and fastened to the outer pocket, for example by adhesive bonding. The outer pocket and the inner pocket are each formed, for example, from kraft paper or cardboard. Sandwiched between the outer bag and the inner bag is an insulating material of cellulose, which may be crepe paper, for example.The insulating material is inserted between the outer pocket and the inner pocket in such a way that it cannot be removed without tearing or destroying the outer pocket and / or the inner pocket. Thus, the bag can be folded only poorly and therefore requires a lot of space for its storage.The bag is open at the top for filling purposes. For transport, the upper end of the bag is closed. For this purpose, a cover layer is provided which is either attached to an upper edge of one of the side walls or is formed by an upward extension of one of the side walls. A good insulation in the upper region of the pocket is therefore only provided if, during the closing, the upper ends of mutually opposite sections of the side walls of the pocket are pressed against one another and then closed by means of the cover layer. However, the pocket narrows in its upper region, as a result of which objects introduced therein are compressed, which problem can actually only be avoided if the pocket is not completely filled up to the top.It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a thermal container which can be stored in a space-saving manner, can be filled completely without impairing the objects accommodated therein and has a relatively long-term temperature-retaining function.This object is achieved by a thermal container which has a carrier container and an insulating insert extending over inner sides of the carrier container, wherein the insulating insert is designed as an independent insulating pocket having a pocket base, at least one pocket side and / or circumferential wall and at least one pocket cover which can be folded open and closed, wherein the pocket base, the at least one pocket side and / or circumferential wall and the at least one pocket cover each has a stack of fibrous material layers which is enveloped by a wrapper at least on its stack top side, on its stack bottom side and on at least two mutually opposite stack edge sides.Both cold and warm objects can be stored and transported in the thermal container according to the invention. In particular, the thermal container according to the invention is suitable as a cooling pocket. The at least one object, the temperature of which is to be maintained, can advantageously be introduced into a cavity formed by the insulating insert. Thereafter, the insulating insert and thus the cavity can be suitably closed by means of the pocket cover.The carrier container provides a stable carrier suitable for transporting the thermocontainer, into which the insulating insert itself designed as an independent pocket can be easily inserted or inserted. The carrier container can thus be designed independently of the insulating insert as a space-saving, collapsible or foldable structure.Likewise, the insulating layer can be stored separately from the carrier container.In the insulating insert used according to the invention, not only the pocket base and the pocket side walls or the pocket circumferential wall are insulating by means of the stack of fibrous material layers, but also the correspondingly formed pocket cover. The insulating insert thus offers highly effective overall thermal insulation for the objects accommodated therein.In addition, the insulating insert can be completely filled, whereupon the pocket cover can be simply folded shut.In addition, the formation of the fibrous material used leads to advantageous softness and bulkiness, which ensures that a packaged item can be safely stored and transported in the thermal container.The wrapper not only holds together the stack of fibrous material layers arranged therein, but also has a protective function for the fibrous material located therein.It is particularly advantageous if the sheathing wraps the fibrous material in a hose-like manner.The thermal container according to the invention is readily stackable.The thermal container according to the invention is particularly ecologically valuable if the fibrous material used for the fibrous material layers is formed from cotton pulp, which is produced to an extent of at least 90% from recycled waste paper with waste paper qualities according to DIN EN 643.Preferably, the insulating insert can be inserted into the carrier container as a separate structure and can be removed from the carrier container as a separate structure in a non-destructive manner. This creates the possibility of filling the insulating insert separately from the carrier container and inserting it into the carrier container only thereafter.The pocket base is preferably connected at at least two of its base edges to the at least one pocket side and / or circumferential wall and / or is formed integrally with the at least one pocket side and / or circumferential wall.In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pocket cover is formed in one piece and is connected at one of its cover edges to one of the pocket side walls or the pocket circumferential wall and / or is formed in one piece. However, the pocket cover can also consist of two or more cover sections which are fastened to different pocket side walls or are each formed integrally thereon and form the pocket cover by folding them together or on top of one another.The connection between the pocket base and the respective pocket side walls or the pocket circumferential wall and / or the connection between the pocket cover and the pocket side wall or the respective pocket side walls or the pocket circumferential wall is preferably effected at the respective casing. Since the wrapper extends laterally beyond the stack of fibrous material layers, the connection between the pocket base and the respective pocket side walls or the pocket circumferential wall and / or the connection between the pocket cover and the pocket side wall or the respective pocket side walls or the pocket circumferential wall can thus be carried out in each case at the thinnest point of the respective side structure. As a result, the sides of the insulating insert can be easily kinked or folded at the connection points.The particular connection may be made by welding, heat sealing, gluing, sewing, stapling, hooking, crimping, or any other suitable type of connection.The insulating insert can be produced particularly easily if it is formed from two insulating material webs, in each of which the stack of fibrous material layers, which is enveloped by the wrapper at least on its stack top side, on its stack bottom side and on at least two mutually opposite stack edge sides, is formed as a continuous material web, wherein a first of the insulating material webs forms the pocket base, one of the pocket side walls and the pocket cover and a second of the insulating material webs forms the further three pocket side walls.The insulating insert can be brought into a rectangular parallelepiped shape particularly quickly if the second of the insulating material webs is connected at its web beginning and at its web end at least at its two web sides to the pocket side wall which is formed from the first of the insulating material webs, and the first of the insulating material webs is connected at its web end opposite the pocket cover at least at its two web sides to the second of the insulating material webs.In an advantageous embodiment of the thermocontainer according to the invention, the wrapper is formed from fleece and / or from paper and / or from tissue paper. Both nonwoven and paper have good flexibility in order to allow simple bending or folding of the insulating insert at the connection points of their sides, in order thus to easily form the insulating insert, for example as a cuboid or cylinder.It has proven particularly advantageous if the fleece is made of thermoplastic material, sheep wool or cotton. If the covering is formed from the fleece made of thermoplastic material, a top layer and a base layer of the covering can be welded together simply at edges of the insulating insert. This can be done, for example, by means of a laser. Sheep wool and cotton are very good alternatives, especially from an ecological point of view.If the wrapper is formed from paper and / or tissue paper, a top layer and a base layer of the wrapper can easily be bonded to one another at edges of the insulating insert. Air laid tissue paper is particularly suitable as tissue paper.If the cover is formed from a fleece of thermoplastic material, it offers good moisture protection for the fibrous material lying therein, which has good absorbency. This is particularly the case when the nonwoven is a polypropylene spunbonded nonwoven.It has proven to be particularly advantageous if the stack of fibrous material layers is a plurality of individual layers of creped, corrugated and / or zigzag-laid or folded fibrous material lying two-dimensionally above one another, wherein each of the individual layers of the stack has a crepe, corrugated and / or zigzag height of ≥0.3 mm, preferably ≥0.4 mm, particularly preferably ≥0.6 mm, in an exemplary embodiment of 0.65 mm.If the individual layers are formed from creped, corrugated and / or zigzag-laid or folded fibrous material, they bring about a particularly advantageous thermal insulation of the at least one object introduced into the thermal container with respect to the environment. This is achieved in particular by the air inclusions or air interstices formed between the individual layers of creped, corrugated and / or zigzag-laid or folded fibrous material lying flat one above the other. Due to the creping, corrugation, zigzag-shaped laying or folding of the individual plies, each of the individual plies has a plurality of peaks and valleys, wherein air collects in the valleys.Due to the crepe, wave and / or zigzag height of ≥0.3 mm, preferably ≥0.4 mm, particularly preferably ≥0.6 mm, in an embodiment of 0.65 mm, a particularly large amount of air collects between the individual layers, by means of which very good thermal insulation is achieved.It is particularly advantageous here if the creping, corrugation, zigzag-shaped laying or folding from single layer to single layer is not identical and / or the single layers are not stacked one above the other with an exact fit and / or are pressed into one another. As a result, the valleys of the respective overlying individual layer do not join or do not join completely identically into the valleys of the respective underlying individual layer, so that an air interspace is maintained in each case.If creped individual plies are used, it has proven advantageous if the individual plies of the creped fibrous material have a creping factor of at least 40%, in a special configuration of 44%. The latter creping factor corresponds to an elongation of 80%.The insulating insert is particularly stable if the stack of fibrous material layers has at least one layer of kraft paper in addition to the plurality of individual layers of creped, corrugated and / or zigzag laid or folded fibrous material lying flat one above the other.In addition, the fibrous material can comprise fibrous material flocks, chips and / or powders which are / are introduced between at least two of the individual layers of creped, corrugated and / or zigzag-laid or folded fibrous material.The fibrous material flocks and / or chips preferably each form a random layer. That is, the fiber flocks and / or chips have different orientations within the random layer. They can therefore lie one above the other and / or form coils and / or project in the direction of the creped individual layer in each case lying against it.The fibrous material flocks and / or chips and / or the fibrous material powder remain / remain largely at their / their respective position between the individual layers due to creping, corrugation, zigzag-shaped laying or folding of the respective individual layers. The peaks and valleys spaced apart in their height and formed by the creping, corrugation, zigzag-shaped laying or folding of the individual plies, only at most 1 mm, particularly preferably less than 0.4 mm, act like teeth which hold the fibrous material flocks and / or chips and / or the fibrous material powder firmly, so that said fibrous material(s) do not slip / slip between the individual plies.In addition, a large number of air interspaces are formed between the fibrous material flocks and / or chips and / or between the particles of the fibrous material powder, which, in addition to the air inclusions already present between the individual layers, lead to extraordinarily good thermal insulation properties of the thermal container.For example, either 4 or 8 of the creped, corrugated or zigzag-laid or folded individual layers without intermediate layered fiber flocks and / or chips and / or powder are stacked one above the other, i.e. 4 or 8 stack is formed, wherein a layer of the fiber flocks and / or chips and / or powder is arranged between two of the 4 or 8 stack. For example, the thermal receptacle 16 has creped individual layers with one or three layers of fluff or chips or powder.If fibrous material chips are used, it is advantageous if they have a width which is in a range from 0.5 cm to 1 cm. The length of the fibrous material chips may be the same or different. For example, the fibrous material chips can be up to 4 cm long or even longer. The longer the fibrous material scrap, the better thermal properties the thermal container according to the invention has.The carrier container is preferably a rectangular rectangular carton or a cylindrical carton.It is particularly practical if the insulating pocket is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped or cylindrical shape.Preferred embodiments of the present invention are explained in more detail below with reference to figures, in which FIG. 1 schematically shows an insulating insert of a thermocontainer according to the invention in a perspective view; FIG. 2 schematically shows an embodiment of the inventive thermal container in a perspective view; FIG. 3 schematically shows a possible configuration of an insulating insert of an embodiment of the thermal container according to the invention in a sectional side view; FIG. 4 schematically shows the insulation insert of FIG. 1, with a first of the insulation material tracks emphasized; and FIG. 5 schematically shows the insulation insert of FIG. 1, with a second of insulation material tracks and connection points between the insulation material tracks highlighted.In all the figures, the embodiments shown are not shown to scale. Rather, certain features are shown in the figures particularly large compared to other features of the invention for the sake of better intelligibility. Hidden features are shown largely in dashed lines.FIG. 1 schematically shows an insulating insert 2 of an embodiment of a thermal container 1 according to the invention in a perspective view.FIG. 2 shows the corresponding thermal container 1 including the insulating insert 2 from FIG. 1 in a perspective view.In the exemplary embodiment shown, the thermal container 1 is a cooling packaging for transport purposes. Such a cooling package can have, for example, an outer width of 250 to 600 mm and an outer length of 250 to 600 mm and an outer height of 250 to 600 mm. Of course, other dimensions are also possible.The thermal container 1 can, however, also be used for keeping objects warm.In FIG. 1, the insulating insert 2 is shown open. In FIG. 2, the thermal container 1 is shown opened.The thermal container 1 has a carrier container 3 and an insulating insert 2 located therein.In the embodiment shown, the carrier container 3 is a rectangular carton having a carton base 31, carton side walls 32, 33, 34, 35 extending upwards from base edges of the carton base 31 and a carton lid 36 which, in the embodiment shown, is composed of four lid elements.The cardboard can consist, for example, of corrugated cardboard.The carton side walls 32, 33, 34, 35 are fixedly connected at their side edges to the respective adjacently arranged carton side walls, fixedly connected at their lower edges to the carton base 31 and fixedly connected at their upper edges to the lid elements of the carton lid 36, for example glued thereto, or formed integrally with the respective adjacent carton element and folded at a preferably right angle from the respective adjacent carton element. By placing the cover elements one above the other, the cover elements together close a container opening 37 of the carrier container 3.In other embodiments of the present invention, the carrier container can also be cylindrical.The insulating insert 2 inserted into the carrier container 3 is formed separately from the carrier container 3 and is also not connected to the carrier container 3 in the embodiment shown.As can be seen in FIG. 1, the insulating insert 2 is in the form of an independent insulating pocket having a pocket base 21, pocket side walls 22, 23, 24, 25 which extend upwards from base edges of the pocket base 21, and a pocket cover 26 which originates from an upper edge of one of the pocket side walls 25 and can be folded over a pocket opening 27 of the insulating pocket.In other embodiments of the present invention, the pocket cover can also be composed of a plurality of cover elements.In the embodiment shown, the insulating insert 2 is formed from two insulating material tracks 20, each of which is formed in cross section as shown schematically in FIG. 3.As is represented in FIG. 4 by the areas marked with dashed lines, a first of the insulating material webs 20 forms the pocket base 21, the pocket side wall 25 and the pocket cover 26. As is schematically illustrated in FIG. 5 by means of the surfaces identified by stippling, a second of the insulating material tracks 20' forms the further three pocket side walls 22, 23, 24.The second of the insulating material webs 20' is connected at its web beginning and at its web end at least at its two web sides to the pocket side wall 25 which is formed from the first of the insulating material webs 20, and the first of the insulating material webs 20 is connected at its web end opposite the pocket cover 26 at least at its two web sides to the second of the insulating material webs 20'. The corresponding junctions are marked by circles in Fig. 5. At these connection points, the insulating material tracks 20, 20' can be clipped, for example.Thus, the two insulating material paths 20, 20' and six joints are sufficient to form the insulating insert 2.As is shown schematically in FIG. 3, the respective insulating material web 20, 20' has a stack of a plurality of individual layers 91 lying two-dimensionally one above the other, which in the embodiment shown are formed from creped fibrous material. The special feature of the creped fibrous material used here is that it is a so-called high crepe. The creped fibrous material used therefore has a particularly high creping height d of ≥0.3 mm, for example ≥0.35 mm, per individual layer 91. In some embodiments of the present invention, the creping height d is even greater, such as ≥ 0.5 mm or even ≥ 0.65 mm. The creping height d of 0.65 mm leads to an elongation of 80% in the material used, which in turn corresponds to a creping factor of 44%, which in the embodiment shown is pulp wool.High-kcreping is a very thin material, which can also have holes.In the embodiment shown, the basis weight of the creped pulp used is 23 grams per square meter, but may be different in other embodiments of the invention.Furthermore, in the embodiment shown, a layer 92 of kraft paper is arranged on one side of the plurality of individual layers 91 lying two-dimensionally one above the other.Around this stack 9 is formed a cover 8 of fleece layers 81, 82. In the embodiment shown, the fleece layers 81, 82 consist of thermoplastic material. The fleece layers 81, 82 are connected to each other on both sides of the stack 9, including the fibrous material, and are welded to each other in the embodiment shown.References included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedWO 2019 / 113453 A1

[0003]

Claims

A thermal container (1) comprising a carrier container (3) and an insulating insert (2) extending over inner sides of the carrier container (3), characterized in that the insulating insert (2) is formed as an independent insulating pocket with a pocket base (21), at least one pocket side and / or circumferential wall (22, 23, 24, 25) and at least one pocket cover (26) which can be folded open and closed, wherein the pocket base (21), the at least one pocket side and / or circumferential wall (22, 23, 24, 25) and the at least one pocket cover (26) each comprises a stack (9) of fibrous material layers which is enveloped by a wrapper (8) at least on its stack top side, on its stack bottom side and on at least two mutually opposite stack edge sides.Thermal container according to claim 1, characterised in that the insulating insert (2) can be inserted into the carrier container (3) as a separate structure and can be removed from the carrier container (3) as a separate structure in a non-destructive manner.Thermal container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the insulating insert (2) is formed from two sheets of insulating material (20), in which in each case the stack (9) of fibrous material layers, which is sheathed by the sheathing (8) at least on its stack top side, on its stack bottom side and on at least two mutually opposite stack edge sides, is formed as a continuous sheet of material, wherein a first of the sheets of insulating material (20) forms the pocket base (21), one of the pocket side walls (25) and the pocket cover (26), and a second of the sheets of insulating material (20) forms the further three pocket side walls (22, 23, 24).Thermal container according to Claim 3, characterized in that the second of the insulating material webs (20') is connected at its web beginning and at its web end at least at its two web sides to the pocket side wall (25) which is formed from the first of the insulating material webs (20), and the first of the insulating material webs (20) is connected at its web end opposite the pocket cover (26) at least at its two web sides to the second of the insulating material webs (20').Thermal container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pocket base (21) is connected to the respective pocket side walls (22, 23, 24, 25) or the pocket circumferential wall and / or the pocket cover (26) is connected to at least one of the pocket side walls (22, 23, 24, 25) or the pocket circumferential wall on the respective casing (8).Thermal container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the casing (8) is formed from fleece and / or from paper and / or from tissue paper.Thermal container according to claim 6, characterised in that the fleece is formed from thermoplastic material, from sheep wool or from cotton.Thermal container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the stack (9) of fibrous material layers is a plurality of individual layers (91) of creped, corrugated and / or zigzag-laid or folded fibrous material lying two-dimensionally above one another, wherein each of the individual layers (91) of the stack (9) has a crepe, corrugated and / or zigzag height of ≥ 0.3 mm.The thermal container according to claim 8, characterized in that the creping, corrugation, zigzag-shaped laying or folding from single layer (91) to single layer (91) is not identical and / or the single layers (91) are not stacked with an exact fit one above the other and / or are pressed into one another.Thermal container according to claim 8 or 9, characterised in that the stack (9) of fibrous material layers has at least one layer (92) of kraft paper in addition to the plurality of individual layers (91) of creped, corrugated and / or zigzag-laid or folded fibrous material lying two-dimensionally one above the other.Thermal container according to one of claims 7 to 10, characterised in that the fibrous material comprises fibrous material flocks, chips and / or powders which are / are introduced between at least two of the individual layers (91) of creped, corrugated and / or zigzag-laid or folded fibrous material.Thermal container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the carrier container (3) is a rectangular or cylindrical cardboard.Thermal container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the insulating insert (2) is of rectangular or cylindrical design.

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