Support member

Abstract

The present invention provides a foamed resin support member that allows for the simple and stable storage of products such as oysters in their shells within a box-shaped transport container. [Solution] The support member 1 is for accommodating elongated products with a central bulge in a box-shaped transport container 10, and comprises a lower surface 2 facing the inner bottom surface of the transport container 10, and an upper surface 3 on the opposite side of the lower surface 2. The upper surface 3 has a plurality of ridge sections 31 on which the products are supported, and a plurality of valley sections 32 provided between the ridge sections 31, and the valley sections 32 have ventilation grooves 6 that penetrate from the upper surface 3 to the lower surface 2. With the support member of this invention, oysters with shells can be easily and stably accommodated in the transport container by arranging them between adjacent ridge sections with the lower part of the bulging shell facing downwards. In addition, since ventilation grooves are provided, the oysters can be kept cool by the cold air from the coolant.

Description

Technical Field

[0005] , , , ,

[0001] The present invention relates to a foamed resin support member for accommodating a long, shelled oyster-like product having a bulge in the center in a box-shaped container.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, after landing, live oysters are often quickly shucked at a processing plant near the fishing port, packed in packs, and then transported in a heat-insulating container. When transporting such packed products of raw oysters, a heat-insulating container made of foamed resin having a recess conforming to the shape of the pack is used (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] In addition, shelled oysters are more fresh, have a better flavor, and look good, so there is a large demand mainly from restaurants. However, to shuck an oyster, it is necessary to pry open the shell with a sharp blade or the like to take out the contents, which is not easy for an inexperienced cook. Therefore, there is known a product in which the flat upper piece of the oyster shell is removed and the oyster is packed in a packaging tray while leaving the lower shell piece (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, oysters that have been shucked, even on one side, rapidly lose their freshness. In recent years, the export of Japanese oysters overseas has increased, and in order to maintain the freshness of oysters for a long period of time, it is necessary to store and transport them in their shells. Such oysters in their shells are generally stored and transported in box-shaped containers made of foamed plastic. However, oysters have a unique shape that is long and has a bulge in the middle, and if oysters are simply placed haphazardly in a box-shaped container, there is a risk that the oysters will come into contact with each other due to shaking during transport and their shells may break. For this reason, conventionally, storing oysters in box-shaped containers required a great deal of effort, such as arranging the oysters and placing cushioning material between them.

[0006] The present invention aims to solve the above problems by providing a support member that can easily and stably accommodate long, oval-shaped products with a central bulge, such as oysters in their shells, inside a box-shaped container. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention relates to a foamed resin support member for accommodating a long, elongated product with a central bulge in a box-shaped transport container, comprising a lower surface facing the inner bottom surface of the transport container and an upper surface opposite to the lower surface, wherein the upper surface has a plurality of ridged sections on which the product is supported and a plurality of valleyd sections provided between the ridged sections, and the valleyd sections have ventilation grooves that penetrate from the upper surface to the lower surface.

[0008] In the above-described support member, it is preferable that the lower surface has a pair of base portions provided at both ends in the direction in which the ridge portion extends and placed on the inner bottom surface of the transport container, and a coolant storage portion provided between the base portions.

[0009] In the support member described above, the mountain-shaped portion has a top and an inclined portion provided on the side of the top, and the valley-shaped portion has a bottom sandwiched between the opposing inclined portions, preferably the distance between adjacent tops is 30 to 60 mm, and the height from the bottom to the top is 20 to 40 mm.

[0010] In the above-described support member, it is preferable that the ventilation groove is formed at the bottom and that a portion of the ventilation groove spans the inclined portion. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] With the support member of this invention, oysters with shells can be easily and stably placed in a transport container by arranging them between adjacent ridge sections with the bulging lower part of the shell facing downwards. In addition, since ventilation grooves are provided, the oysters can be kept cool by the cold air from the cooling pack. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] (a) is a perspective view showing the state before the support member according to one embodiment of the present invention is placed in a box-shaped transport container, (b) is a perspective view showing the state after the support member has been placed in the transport container, and (c) is a perspective view showing the state after the lid has been placed on the transport container. [Figure 2] (a) is a perspective view mainly showing the top surface of the support member, (b) is a perspective view mainly showing the bottom surface of the support member, (c) is a plan view, (d) is a bottom view, (e) is a front view, and (f) is a side view. [Figure 3] (a) is a plan view showing the support member housed in the transport container, (b) is a cross-sectional view of (a) along line AA, and (c) is a cross-sectional view of (a) along line BB. [Figure 4] This diagram shows a photograph illustrating the state in which oysters are placed in a transport container using the above-mentioned support members. [Figure 5] (b) is a perspective view mainly showing the upper surface of the support member according to a modified embodiment of the above embodiment, (b) is a perspective view mainly showing the lower surface of the support member, and (c) is a front view. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] A support member according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figures 1(a) to (c), the support member 1 is for accommodating a long, elongated product with a bulge in the center inside a box-shaped transport container 10, and comprises a lower surface 2 facing the inner bottom surface of the transport container 10, and an upper surface 3 that forms the opposite side of the lower surface 2. The support member 1 also comprises a vertical front surface 4 (back surface) and two side surfaces 5. In the following description, the direction in which the ridge portion 31, which will be described later, extends will be referred to as direction E, and the horizontal direction perpendicular to direction E will be referred to as direction D.

[0014] The support member 1 is a single molded body made of foamed resin, and is composed of, for example, expanded polypropylene (EPP (Expanded Polypropylene Polystyrene)). The material may also be, for example, EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) or EPE (Expanded Polyethylene), or a composite material of EPS and polyolefin.

[0015] The transport container 10 is a general-purpose foamed resin container with a rectangular shape in plan view; for example, a 100-size delivery container is used. The transport container 10 has a protruding portion on its open upper edge, which engages with a recessed portion (not shown) of the lid 11 to create a sealed, refrigerated space.

[0016] As shown in Figures 2(a) to (f), the support member 1 is rectangular in shape in plan view (see Figure 2(c) in particular). The support member 1 is, for example, a roughly plate-shaped member with a long side of 300 mm, a short side of 208 mm, and a maximum height of 55 mm in plan view, and its plan view shape corresponds to the shape of the upper bottom surface of the transport container 10.

[0017] The upper surface 3 of the support member 1 has a plurality of ridge portions 31 on which the product is supported and a plurality of groove portions 32 provided between the ridge portions 31. The ridge portion 31 has a configuration in which an inverted V-shaped convex portion extends in a ridge shape in the E direction. In this example, six ridge portions 31 and five groove portions 32 are alternately provided side by side in the D direction. The ridge portion 31 has a top portion 33 and a pair of inclined portions 34 provided on both sides of the top portion 33. However, the ridge portions 31 at both edges in the D direction have inclined portions 34 only on the inner side and no inclined portions on the outer side. For convenience of explanation, the inclined portion 34 is described as a component of the ridge portion 31. However, the lower end side of the inclined portion 34 is also a part of the groove portion 32, and the inclined portion 34 is not necessarily limited to a component of the ridge portion 31.

[0018] The top portion 33 is configured as a horizontally flat surface that extends longitudinally in the E direction, and its width is, for example, 5 to 15 mm. The distance between adjacent top portions 33 is preferably, for example, 30 to 60 mm. The top portion 33, the inclined portion 34, and the ridge line are formed by, for example, a convex curved surface with a radius of curvature of R2. The inclined portion 34 is configured as a flat surface that is inclined at ±10 to 40° with respect to the vertical plane. Although the top portion 33 and the inclined portion 34 are flat, there are small irregularities on their surfaces due to foam beads. Therefore, when shelled oysters are placed on them, the oysters can be stably held without displacement.

[0019] The groove portion 32 has a bottom portion 35 sandwiched between the opposing inclined portions 34. The bottom portion 35 is configured as a horizontally flat surface that extends longitudinally in the E direction, and its width is, for example, 5 to 15 mm. The bottom portion 35, the inclined portion 34, and the ridge line are formed by, for example, a gently concave curved surface with a radius of curvature of R5. The height from the bottom portion 35 to the top portion 33 is preferably, for example, 20 to 40 mm.

[0020] In addition, the groove portion 32 has a ventilation groove 6 that penetrates from the upper surface 3 to the lower surface 2. The ventilation groove 6 is configured as a through groove that extends longitudinally in the E direction and is mainly formed in the bottom portion 35, but a part of the ventilation groove 6 straddles the inclined portion 34. The width of the ventilation groove 6 in plan view is larger than the width of the bottom portion 35 and is, for example, 10 to 20 mm (see Fig. 2(c)).

[0021] The following 2 has a pair of pedestal parts 21 provided at both ends in the direction (E direction) in which the mountain strip part 31 extends and placed on the inner bottom surface of the transport container 10, and a coolant storage part 22 provided between the pedestal parts 21. Also, the top surface 23 (the back surface of the mountain strip part 31) of the coolant storage part 22 is a horizontal flat surface.

[0022] The pedestal part 21 is a rectangular block body and functions as the main frame of the support member 1. The support member 1 has a configuration in which, so to speak, a plurality of mountain strip parts 31 arranged in parallel to a pair of pedestal parts 21 are bridged. The height from the bottom surface to the top surface 23 of the pedestal part 21 (the height of the coolant storage part 22) is, for example, 20 to 40 mm, and the length of the pedestal part 21 in the E direction is 50 to 80 mm. The interval between the pair of pedestal parts 21 (the length of the coolant storage part 22 in the E direction) is 150 to 200 mm.

[0023] The support member 1 configured as described above is inserted into the transport container 10 such that the coolant 12 is disposed in the coolant storage part 22, as shown in FIGS. 1(b) and 3(a) to (c). Then, as shown in FIG. 4, shelled oysters are arranged between adjacent mountain strip parts 31 such that the lower piece of the shell with a bulge is downward. By doing so, the shelled oysters can be easily and stably accommodated in the transport container 10. Also, since the ventilation groove 6 that penetrates the coolant storage part 22 is provided in the valley strip part 32, the oysters can be cooled by the cold air from the coolant 12. Further, since the support member 1 is made of a cushioning foamed resin, it can protect the oysters from shocks during transportation and suppress cracking of the shells and the like.

[0024] Furthermore, the support member 1 is stably held within the transport container 10 by the base portion 21, and space for the coolant storage portion 22 is secured. For example, if oysters are kept cool with ice, the salinity around the oysters will decrease, which may cause the oysters to deteriorate, but by using the coolant 12, the deterioration of the oysters can be suppressed. Also, by making the ridged portion 31 and the valley portion 32 as described above, products that are long and have a bulge in the middle, such as oysters, can be easily and stably arranged. In addition, by making a part of the ventilation groove 6 span the inclined portion 34 and making the width of the ventilation groove 6 larger than the width of the bottom portion 35, the cold air from the coolant 12 can be effectively circulated to the oysters.

[0025] A modified support member of the above embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 5. As shown in Figures 5(a) to (c), the support member 1 of this modified embodiment has a gentler slope of the inclined portion 34 than the above embodiment, and the spacing between adjacent peaks 33 is larger than that of the above embodiment. In the illustrated example, five ridged portions 31 and four valley-shaped portions 32 are arranged alternately in the direction D. With this support member 1, larger oysters with shells can be stably accommodated.

[0026] Furthermore, the support member 1 according to the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified in various ways. In the above description, it was stated that the top portion 33 and the inclined portion 34 are flat surfaces, but that their surfaces have small irregularities caused by the foamed beads. However, larger irregularities or grooves than those caused by the foamed beads may be intentionally provided. This can more effectively suppress the displacement of the oysters. Also, in the above illustrated examples, the ridge portion 31 is a symmetrical inverted V shape, but the inclined portion 34 may be asymmetrical, with one side being a flattened ridge portion that is significantly inclined. Moreover, the amount of resin material used in manufacturing the support member 1 can be reduced by appropriately providing weight-reducing cutouts (not shown) in the base portion 21. [Explanation of symbols]

[0027] 1. Support member 10 Transport containers 2 Bottom side 21 Base 22 Cooling pack storage section 3 Top surface 31 Yamajobe 32 Tanijobe 33 Top 34 Slope 35 Bottom 6. Ventilation grooves

Claims

1. A foamed resin support member for accommodating a long, rectangular product with a central bulge inside a box-shaped transport container, It comprises a lower surface facing the inner bottom surface of the transport container, and an upper surface that forms the opposite side of the lower surface, The aforementioned upper surface has a plurality of ridged sections on which the product is supported, and a plurality of valleyd sections provided between the ridged sections. The support member is characterized in that the aforementioned groove portion has a ventilation groove that penetrates from the upper surface to the lower surface.

2. The support member according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower surface has a pair of base portions provided at both ends in the direction in which the ridge portion extends and placed on the inner bottom surface of the transport container, and a coolant storage portion provided between the base portions.

3. The aforementioned mountain-shaped portion has a top and an inclined portion provided on the side of the top, The aforementioned valley section has a bottom that is sandwiched between the opposing inclined sections. The distance between adjacent vertices is 30 to 60 mm. The support member according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the height from the bottom to the top is 20 to 40 mm.

4. The support member according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the ventilation groove is formed in the bottom and a part of the ventilation groove spans the inclined portion.

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