(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2004/ A1

Transcription

1 (19) United State US 2004O144124A1 (12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2004/ A1 Bottom (43) Pub. Date: Jul. 29, 2004 (54) RETAIL BANANA STORAGE UNIT (76) Inventor: Kenneth H. Bottom, Cincinnati, OH (US) Correpondence Addre: Jack C. McGowan 246 High Street Hamilton, OH (US) (21) Appl. No.: 10/051,927 (22) Filed: Jan. 22, 2002 Publication Claification (51) Int. Cl."... F25D 17/04; F25D 17/06; F25D 23/06 (52) U.S. Cl /407; 62/419, 62/451 (57) ABSTRACT A Storage apparatu for boxe containing fruit include a cabinet having Side wall, a rear wall, front wall portion, and a cover portion. The front wall portion together define an access opening for inertion and withdrawal of a Stack of the boxe. Each of the ide wall include an outer wall and an inner wall Separated from the Outer wall by a Space, and a plurality of Vertically oriented partition dipoed between the inner and outer wall where the partition are paced from one another and are in intimate contact with the inner and outer Side wall. In thi way, the inner and outer idewall define, with the partition, airflow channel. The cover portion i poitioned atop the front, Side and rear wall, and Support blower dipoed atop the airflow chan nel of each Side wall and conduit mean interconnecting the blower and the channel for fluidly communicating Said blower with aid air flow channel. The cover portion further houe an evaporator coil, an air-conditioning appa ratu, and ducting communicating the interior of the cabinet with the interior of the cover portion. Each of the inner wall include a plurality of aperture, with each of the aperture being aociated with a unique one of the air flow channel to allow the air in that channel to impact boxe of fruit located adjacent that aperture. Motor located in the cover portion drive the fan to caue circulation of the conditioned air through the cabinet and then back to the cover portion. et t K.. ex t x l i g E. g r. i: f ga t b.:

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5 US 2004/O A1 Jul. 29, 2004 RETAL BANANA STORAGE UNIT FIELD OF THE INVENTION The preent invention relate to banana torage apparatu, and more particularly to a banana Storage appa ratu including air ditribution, cooling and heating device to facilitate the Storage of ripe banana in a retail grocery StOre. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0002 Typically, fruit i hipped to Supermarket in boxe, generally ix boxe to a layer and from one to eight layer tall. In a typical Situation, the boxe are opened and re Stacked to allow air circulation around the fruit to remove heat that build up within tightly bunched, cloed, boxe Banana boxe ued for packaging and hipping fruit by all grower or ShipperS are deigned very imilarly, and all contain opening on all Six Side of the box to allow air circulation and an ecape path for the built-up heat In a warehoue facility, banana arrive in refriger ated Shipping container or trailer. The fruit i palletized, generally in Six boxe to a layer, eight layer tall, So that there are forty-eight boxe to a pallet and approximately twenty pallet in a full hipment. AS the fruit i Stacked about eighty-two (82) inche high on the pallet, each pallet i provided with banding which i wrapped about the boxe tacked on the pallet to prevent the boxe from hifting or falling during tranport Before being hipped for retail ale at the conumer level, all banana go through a ripening process in Specially deigned "ripening room'. In thee room, fruit i generally placed in the ame banded 48 box pallet a they are hipped in. In thi banded Stable Stack, the aforementioned air hole in adjacent boxe are aligned and air i forced to move about the tack of boxe, flowing freely from one box to another through the aligned hole in the Side, top and bottom of the boxe. Thereafter, the air ecape to a common return where it i cooled and then caued to be recirculated, over and over, through and about the Stack of boxe After the fruit i ripened, it i ready for hipment to the retail or end uer location. A full banded pallet of fruit contain forty-eight (48) boxe each weighing forty (40) pound (each pallet therefore carrie about 1920 pound). Very few Supermarket order banana in Such large quanti tie, So pallet are unloaded into Smaller quantitie for Shipment. At thi point, the banding mut be removed, and thereafter, the boxe itting on the pallet or in the Stack are no longer preed tightly together, and the hole in the boxe are no longer aligned Upon arrival at a retail location, good torage practice dictate that the banana boxe be re-tacked, with the lid removed, in a looe arrangement So heat in the boxe can ecape. If thi i not done, the quality of the fruit and the helf-life i adverely affected. But even if done correctly, an average order of 25 boxe take about 30 minute to re Stack, and require a clerk to lift each box 2 to 3 time. Thi add up to 2000 to 3000 pound of lifting Further it i known that the ripening time of fruit can be controlled by removing the fruit from the boxe and letting it Stand in ambient or cooled air. However, thi technique ha been found le than deirable inofar a too much time i required to remove the fruit. Moreover, the fruit typically become bruied in thi process and i ren dered unattractive to the purchaing conumer It would therefore be deirable to have an apparatu which would permit ripening or Storage of fruit contained in boxe Stacked on a pallet after the banding, normally wrapped about the boxe when Stacked on the pallet, ha been removed Interet in keeping fruit freh for a long a po Sible before preentation and/or ale to conumers ha a long hitory, and fruit ripener of varying kind are well known in the art For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,443 to Wade dicloe a method and apparatu for controlling the ripen ing of freh fruit in which a tack of boxe of fruit i wrapped or covered with platic uch that the vertical face of the boxe are covered. The boxe in the tack have hole in upper and lower face which regiter with correponding hole in Vertically adjacent boxe to facilitate a vertical movement of an air-ethylene mixture through the Stack. Alid on top of the tack of boxe i provided with a blower and an air-conditioning unit, and a hoe or other conduit fluidly couple the top and bottom of the Stack The blower draw air vertically through the tack, while the air-conditioning unit maintain the conditioned air in the Stack at a predetermined temperature and humidity The fruit ripening apparatu of Wade i neverthe le not able to do the job where the fruit i being tored in the retail Store jut prior to diplay and Sale to the conumer. AS a rule, the equipment involved i complex, cotly to maintain, and require Subtantial Space to houe the equip ment There i therefore a great and long-felt need for a fruit ripening apparatu which permit Storage and/or rip ening of fruit while the fruit boxe are Stacked on a pallet, and which i light weight, not cumbersome in contruction, unbreakable, eay to erect and Store, inexpenive and Simple in deign In one apect of the preent invention, banana are Stored in Stack of unbanded boxe in a cabinet having channel in wall through which air i forced via fan to access opening in the cabinet wall adjacent Selected one of the boxe in the cabinet o that heat, that build up in the boxe a the banana ripen, can be removed before creating an injuriou environment for the ripening banana In another apect of the invention, a fruit ripening apparatu comprie a cabinet having Side wall and a cover portion within which are houed a fan and motor for driving the fan, the Side wall having channel defined therein which fluidly communicate with the fan, o that fruit tored in the cabinet in tack of boxe from which banding ha been removed can be immered in a cooling environment Other apect, advantage and feature of the invention will become more apparent and better undertood, a will equivalent Structure which are intended to be covered herein, with the teaching of the principle of the invention in connection with the dicloure of the preferred embodiment thereof in the Specification, claim and draw IngS.

6 US 2004/O A1 Jul. 29, 2004 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 i a perpective view of a fruit ripening apparatu in accordance with the teaching of the preent invention; FIG. 2 i a top view of the fruit ripening apparatu hown in FIG. 1; 0020 FIG. 3 i a front view of the fruit ripening appa ratu hown in FIG. 1; 0021 FIG. 4 i a cro-ectional view of the fruit ripen ing apparatu hown in FIG. 1 and taken along Section line A-A in FIG. 3; 0022 FIG. 5 i a cro-ectional view of the fruit ripen ing apparatu hown in FIG. 1 and taken along Section line B-B in FIG. 2; and 0023 FIG. 6 i a cro-ectional view of the fruit ripen ing apparatu hown in FIG. 1 and taken along Section line C-C in FIG. 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the variou Figure, there i hown a fruit ripening or Storage apparatu 10 which com prie a lower houing component 10a and an upper houing component 10b. The lower houing component include exterior wall element, including ide wall 12a, 12b, front wall 14a, 14b, and a rear wall 16 directly oppoite the front wall (ee FIG. 2). The idewall, front wall and rear wall may be eparate panel or element, or they may all be formed from the ame Sheet bent at appropriate location to form wall that are dipoed at right angle to one another. Each front wall terminate in a narrow guide portion 18a, 18b, which i dipoed at an angle to the plane defined by the front wall, preferably at an acute angle to the front wall. The guide portion 18a, 18b are angled away from one another and together define an opening which ha a dimen Sion extending between the front wall that i wide enough to receive a pallet P on which are Stacked a plurality of fruit-containing boxe. The upper component include a top Section 18 Securable to the uppermot region of the front and Side wall. A floor panel or wall may optionally be provided, but it i contemplated that the apparatu 10 will be erected at a retail Store, perhap in a room outide of the area where hopper frequent, and the floor of the Store will uffice nicely a the floor of the apparatu. The interior of the apparatu 10 define Subtantially rectangular area in Ver tical and horizontal plane in order to accommodate multiple boxe of the fruit in each row; however, the preent inven tion contemplate any hape of the interior of which the wall and top Section of the apparatu might be formed include metal, a metallic material, a platic, a paper, a compoite material, or Some combination of the aforeaid material A econd et of interior ide wall 22a, 22b are provided within the apparatu 10 (ee FIG. 5). The inte rior ide wall are dipoed parallel to the exterior ide wall 12a, 12b, and are paced inwardly therefrom. Parti tion 62 (note that thee are hown in phantom in FIG. 4) are arranged normal to the interior and exterior wall to define, with thee wall, channel 24a, 24b through which air may be circulated. Through openings 52a, 52b are provided in each interior' ide wall 22a, 22b at different Staggered location along the lateral extent of the interior Side wall 22a, 22b, and at different, unique, location along the vertical extent of the interior' ide wall. The through opening communicate the variou channel with the interior of the apparatu 10. A framework of flexible eal element 54 compriing vertical element 55 and horizontal element 56 i ecured to each interior ide wall (only one frame work i hown in FIG. 4). The framework 54 of eal element i provided for the purpoe of maintaining the ide of the boxe, which have been placed in the apparatu 10, at a predetermined ditance (baed on the thickne of the Sealing element) paced from the inner Surface of the interior' wall The channel formed by the partition dipoed normal to, and between, the exterior' ide wall 12a, 12b and the interior' ide wall 22a, 22b function a air delivery channel. Each of the air delivery channel fluidly commu nicate the output of the fan 28 with the opening 52a, 52b located in the interior' ide wall. With the eal framework maintaining the boxe Spaced from the inner Surface of the adjacent interior ide wall, air forced by each fan 28 through the repective channel 62 and out through a repec tive opening 52a, 52b can then immere the tack of boxe in a bath of cool air, while alo allowing paage of the cool air into the interior of thee boxe through the hole provided in the ide of the boxe Each of the fan or blower 28 are mounted to an upper wall or ceiling 26 that extend acro and eparate the upper portion 10b from the lower portion 10a of the appa ratu 10. Each of the fan, or each of a pair of adjacent fan, are powered by a motor 29. Ducting 30 fluidly couple the fan 28 with a repective one of the channel 52a, 52b The upper portion 10b of the houing include a lid or cover 32 having ide wall 34 and a ceiling 36 (note FIG. 1). The height of the ide wall of the cover are choen Sufficiently large enough to permit containment of the blow er therein, a well a an evaporator coil 42 and an air conditioning unit 44. A return air duct 46 alo communicate the volume defined within the cover 32 with the interior volume of the lower portion of the apparatu It i to be recalled that, for purpoe of thi inven tion, the boxe are Stacked atop each other within the apparatu 10 with the banding removed. With thi under Standing, it i to be recognized that the boxe will deform Slightly So that Space exit between adjacent boxe, both in a lateral orientation and in a vertical orientation, and further between the boxe and the interior Side wall of the appa ratu. Thu, air directed into the interior of the apparatu through the channel 52a, 52b will pa around the exterior of the boxe a well a through the boxe via the opening in the ide of the boxe before being redirected back to the fan at the upper portion 10b of the apparatu The invention alo contemplate the ue of a cur tain attached to the apparatu at the upper extent of the opening between the front wall. The curtain will be rolled up and Secured to allow acce to the interior of the apparatu for the purpoe of removing one or more boxe of produce from the apparatu, and when it i deired to cloe the apparatu once more, the curtain will be releaed and allowed to drape down over the opening. It i contemplated that the curtain will be made of a platic material, preferably in heet form, and deirably tranparent.

7 US 2004/O A1 Jul. 29, In one verion of the invention, the apparatu i deigned for ue in a cooled Storage area typical of mot modern Supermarket, the room are typically kept at tem perature in the range of from about 55 F. to about 60 F. Thi i a good Storage temperature for banana a well a other product that need to be cooled. In thi environment, the apparatu doe not include a cooling unit or a mean of cloing off the entry opening between the front wall. Air i forced through the boxe for one pa and then flow into the open room In another verion of the invention, the apparatu i deigned for ue in Supermarket that do not have air conditioned area and where temperature encountered are more extreme. Here, the apparatu 10 i equipped with a cooling and heating unit, and an entrance cloure in the form of a door or curtain. The apparatu of thi verion i provided with a return air opening at the top of the chamber in which the boxe are tored, preferably in the vicinity of the evaporator coil 42 and air conditioning unit 44. Thi enable the air that i forced through the channel 24a, 24b, and around and through the Stacked boxe, to re-enter the compartment in which the fan 28 are located So that it can be circulated pat or though the coil 42 and cooled by the air conditioning unit It will be apparent that the invention i not limited to the embodiment decribed above and that variation and modification may be made thereto within the Scope of the invention. What I claim i: 1. A Storage apparatu for boxe containing fruit, com priing: a cabinet including Side wall, a rear wall, front wall, and a cover portion, Said cabinet having an interior Volume of a ize Sufficient to houe a Stack of Said boxe, Said front wall of Said cabinet defining an access opening for inertion and withdrawal of one or more of aid boxe, each of Said Side wall of Said cabinet compriing an outer wall, an inner wall Separated from Said outer wall by a Space, and a plurality of Vertically oriented partition dipoed between Said inner and Outer wall, Said partition being Spaced from one another and being in intimate contact with Said inner and outer Side wall, So that Said inner and outer Side wall define, with Said partition, air flow channel, and Said cover portion being poitioned atop the front, Side and rear wall, Said cover portion houing blower dipoed atop the air flow channel of each ide wall and conduit mean interconnecting Said blower and Said channel for fluidly communicating Said blower with aid air flow channel. 2. The Storage apparatu of claim 1, wherein Said cover portion further houe a condener coil and air-conditioning apparatus. 3. The Storage apparatu of claim 1, wherein Said inner wall each include a plurality of aperture, each of Said aperture being aociated with a unique one of Said airflow channel to allow the air in that channel to impact boxe of fruit located adjacent that aperture. 4. The Storage apparatu of claim 3, wherein Said aper ture are arranged at horizontally Staggered poition. 5. The Storage apparatu of claim 1, wherein Said cabinet include a return for directing air emanating from the aperture in Said inner wall of Said cabinet to the cover portion. 6. The Storage apparatu of claim 1, wherein Said cover portion further include at leat one motor for driving Said fan. 7. The Storage apparatu of claim 6, wherein each fan i driven by a eparate motor. 8. The Storage apparatu of claim 6, wherein each pair of fan i driven by a eparate motor. 9. The Storage apparatu of claim 1, wherein Said front wall include narrow edge wall portion dipoed at an acute angle to Said front wall, Said narrow edge wall portion forming a guide to facilitate inertion and withdrawal of Said Stack of boxe. 10. The Storage apparatu of claim 1, and further includ ing a cloure carried by the cabinet to block egress of air from the interior of Said cabinet. 11. The Storage apparatu of claim 10, wherein Said cloure comprie at leat one heet of platic material. 12. The Storage apparatu of claim 10, wherein Said cloure i attached to Said cabinet between Said front wall portion.