Method and apparatus for packaging refrigerated goods

A chill box for shipping refrigerated goods formed of a plurality of insulating portions which are collapsible and have foiled surface and honeycomb material inbetween. 45 degree chamfers on each of the adjoining sides of each of the corners that are located between the panels of the portions to facilitate bending.

In addition, to the above and noted patent application Ser. No. 203,943 
applicants of the present application are also the co-applicants of Ser. 
No. 266,017 filed on Mar. 2, 1988 and of Ser. No. 430,183 filed on Nov. 1, 
1989 (CIP of Ser. No. 266,017). 
The present invention relates to a new and improved method and apparatus 
for packaging goods such as fish which need to be refrigerated and which 
is subject to spoilage. In particular, the invention relates to a novel 
method and apparatus for foil laminated honeycomb material packages for 
packaging perishable goods and other temperature sensitive products. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Over the last decade there has been dramatically increased growth and 
interest in the movement of edible perishables by air, not only in the 
U.S. but worldwide. The World Air Cargo Industry flew an estimated 6 
billion pounds of seafood and 19 billion pounds of produce in 1985. 
Distant access to fresh products for health, taste, and off-season supply 
are driving forces in the current import/export growth in many countries 
and will fuel even greater growth of the future. 
Fresh edibles marketing has matured more rapidly than the specialized 
transport structure needed to provide distribution high product quality 
control. Specialized packaging is either non-existent or woefully 
inadequate. This unsatisfactory environment creates waste, disenchantment 
and/or health and it works toward destroying markets. 
The University of California at Davis estimates that 25% of the world's 
produce is never eaten, because of inefficient transportation systems 
between the source and the consumer that results in total loss. 
Conventional means for packaging goods subject to spoilage such as fish 
includes packaging the goods in a bag, surrounding the goods with a 
refrigerant such as Gel-Pack which is then placed in a box with 
polystyrene insulation walls in order to retard the refrigerant from 
melting. The box is typically a corrugated type carton. One problem with 
this type of packaging is that the only insulation for the refrigerant is 
the polystyrene. Another problem is that the insulation boxes must be 
shipped inside the corrugated carton boxes and this takes up a 
considerable amount of space on the pallets. It is therefore preferable to 
be able to provide collapsible insulation boxes so that more of them can 
be stored on the pallets. In addition, the corrugated boxes can be shipped 
in their flat, unassembled form as well, thereby reducing shipping and 
storage costs significantly. 
It is therefore desirable to provide a highly insulative packaging 
structure which is light weight, less costly for storage and shipping 
purposes, and which is reusable for further shipping. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Hence with the foregoing in mind, it is a principle object of the present 
invention to provide an apparatus for packaging refrigerated goods in 
strong insulated containers. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for 
manufacturing such containers. 
It is still another object of the invention to provide an effective 
insulating means for preserving goods in a refrigerated state, which are 
easy to assemble, lightweight, and can be shipped flat and unassembled for 
transportation purposes, and which permits the corrugated cartons to be 
similarly shipped. 
In order to implement these and other objects of the invention, which will 
become more readily apparent as the description proceeds, the present 
invention provides a method and an apparatus for packaging refrigerated 
goods wherein the packaging structure is formed of collapsible, insulating 
surfaces having 45 degree chamfer on adjoining sides of indented corners 
to facilitate folding. Further, the packaging is preferably formed of 
three portions, each portion having an aluminum foil on its outer surfaces 
and a honeycomb type material disposed therebetween. The 45 degree chamfer 
for the corner fold permits each panel of each portion to unfold as part 
of the assembled package structure. 
The present invention utilizes the inherent properties of aluminum foil. 
The surface of aluminum foil has the ability not to absorb, but reflect up 
to 95% of the infrared rays which strike it. Very little heat conduction 
can take place when only 5% of the rays are absorbed. Therefore, as 
defined above, foil has low emissivity. Simply put, a foil surface will 
act as the most effective physical barrier to prevent heat transfer. 
An air space can have a tremendous value as thermal insulation. The use of 
2 foil surfaces (LOW EMISSIVITY) with an airspace in between will greatly 
modify the total heat transferred across the space between the foil 
surfaces, which is why walls and roofs are built with internal air spaces 
to retard that flow by conduction, and astronauts wear suits of reflective 
foil surrounding trapped air. 
Reflection and emissivity by surfaces can only occur in unobstructed space. 
The ideal space is any dimension 3/4" or more. Where there is no air space 
as all, conduction through solids occurs; i.e., attache foil to a solid 
object such as a wall, and the foil will have no reflective insulation 
value at the point of contact. Temperature can be controlled more 
effectively by taking advantage of both the low thermal emissivity of foil 
and the low thermal conductivity of air. 
Alternatively, other insulating material can be used instead of honeycomb 
material such as corrugated material or fluted material. The fluted 
material can have either an A flute form, a B flute form, a C flute form 
or an E flute form. 
The packaging is preferably formed of panels each having low emissivity, 
highly reflective grade aluminum foil on its outer surfaces laminated to 
kraft paper. The foil laminate is then adhered to an additional kraft 
bonded perpendicular to the honeycomb type material sandwiched between the 
layers of kraft paper and aluminum foil. The kraft paper helps bond the 
aluminum foil to the outer surfaces of the kraft perpendicular to the 
honeycomb material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the assembly 1 is shown in an 
exploded perspective view. Perishable goods, such as fish 3, are wrapped 
together with a blanket or bags of frozen refrigerant such as a Gel-Pack 
bag 10 and then placed in to the polyethylene bag 11. Bag 11 is a 3 mil 
plastic bag which is then placed inside the invention - chill box 30, 
which is formed of 3 portions: a main longitudinal portion 20 and two end 
portions 21 and 22. The chill box 30 is inserted into a corrugated RSC 
container 25. As can be seen in FIG. 1, each of the three portions 20, 21 
and 22 are formed as a design as closable insulation portions which can be 
assembled snugly together to form a chill box 30. 
FIGS. 2 and 3 show the fully assembled package in the corrugated RSC 
container 25 in perspective an sectional views. 
FIG. 4 shows a panel 23 of one of the three portions 20, 21 and 22 of the 
chill box 30. The panel has foils 27 on its upper and lower surfaces and a 
honeycomb type material 28 sandwiched inbetween. 
Each of the foils 27 is manufactured as a single sheet having an outer 
coating of polyethylene 34 and an aluminum foil 35 underneath that and on 
the other side of that a poly-propylene webbing or mesh 36 which is 
covered by a coating of polyethylene 34. 
(See FIG. 5) 
The basic configuration of materials in the foil insulation shown in FIGS. 
4 and 5 preferably consist of: 
2 outer layers of low emissivity aluminum foil reinforced by polypropylene 
webbing and laminated 
with polyethylene film. 
321b low density "open cell" polymeric isocyanate foam 28. 
The honeycomb material is then applied between the 2 layers of foil. The 
result is a 1" honeycombed air space between the 2 layers of foil. 
The foil 27 is commercially available and produced by several 
manufacturers, such as FOIL-FLEX, which is marketed by Energy Saver 
Imports, Inc. in Broomfield, Colo. It does not matter whether or not the 
side of the foil with the webbing on it faces the polyurethane foam 
surface. The cut away view of FIG. 4 illustrates the layers of foil 27. 
Each of the portions, 20, 21 and 22 have 45 degree chambers in each of the 
adjoining sides of the chamfers corners to facilitate folding about fold 
lines 33 as shown in FIG. 1. 
Thus the present invention provides a collapsible foldable means for 
providing insulation which is an improvement in insulation by 
approximately a factor of 2 over that in the aforementioned art. 
FIG. 6 illustrates the method of manufacturing the chill box 30 in 
accordance with the teachings of the invention. 
Foil 27 can be dispensed by a roller 40 onto a vacuum mold 45 where it is 
pulled down flatly onto the plane of the mold 45 by suction. Honeycomb 
material 28 is applied on top of the foil 27. 
Honeycomb material can be obtained from the International Honeycomb 
Corporation, University Park, Illinois. Honeycomb material is made from 
kraft paper sheets and has a grid of hexagonal cells which when bonded 
between two kraft paper sheets provides for a highly crush resistant 
structure due to the evenly spaced, perpendicularly disposed rigid walls 
of each honeycomb cell. Alternatively, any other type of material having a 
lattice structure and/or geometrically patterned structure which provides 
enhanced strength for supporting and protecting heavy loads of produce and 
which creates air space as a result of that structure can be used. The air 
space formed between the kraft layers created an enhanced insulating 
effect in conjunction with the layers of foil laminated to both sides of 
the kraft paper. The significance of the air space is that air is a poor 
conductor of heat and thus has valuable insulation properties in such 
packaging applications as evidenced by applicants' copending patent 
applications Ser. No. 203,943 filed on Jun. 8, 1988 and Ser. No. 266,017 
filed on Mar. 2, 1988. 
An operator working at a second station is operating an automatic cutter 
and crimper (not shown) would cut and seal the panel at the edges. 
Bonding may be accomplished by known conventional means such as by gluing 
or by pressure sensitive masking. The kraft paper helps to strengthen the 
insulating material by placing it perpendicular to the rigid honeycomb 
core walls, thereby ensuring an even distribution of weight over the 
honeycomb structure. In addition to the air pocket created by the honey 
comb it provides superior structural integrity to such oversized 
containers as palletized freight as well as better thermal insulation for 
the packaged product. Further, the low emissivity, high grade reflectivity 
of the aluminum foil increases the thermal insulative attributes of the 
package 1 as was noted in the aforementioned patent application Ser. No. 
203,943. 
Thus the properties of the combination of aluminum and air insulating 
material greatly increases the insulation of goods packaged within package 
1 while still providing a low weight package which is highly cost 
efficient for shipping purposes. 
FIG. 7 shows the completed chill box 30 in folded condition ready for 
shipping. 
We do not limit ourselves to any particular details or constructions set 
forth in this specification and illustrated in the accompany drawings, as 
the same refers to and sets forth only certain embodiments of the 
invention, and it is observed that the same may be modified without 
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.