Patent Publication Number: US-2022233734-A1

Title: Disinfection and sterilization apparatus and method for refrigerated container transportation system

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to the technical field of cold-chain transportation disinfection and sterilization, in particular to a disinfection and sterilization apparatus and method for a refrigerated container transportation system. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     For prevention and control of major infectious diseases, public health means are more important than medical means. The novel coronavirus also has a certain period of survival time outside the human body, and can be adsorbed on the surface of an object to cause contact transmission. Many cases show that positive novel coronavirus nucleic acids are detected on some cold-chain food and/or cold-chain food packages and/or cold-chain food transportation tools. Cold chains can preserve food and also serve as routes for virus transmission, and once cold-chain food and/or cold-chain food packages and/or cold-chain food transportation tools are contaminated with novel coronavirus during production, processing and circulation, the low-temperature and high-humidity environment of traditional cold chains is conducive to long-term vigor of the virus, which can cause epidemic situations. How to scientifically and effectively cut off the transmission paths of novel coronavirus on cold-chain food, cold-chain food packages and cold-chain food transportation tools and strengthen the supervision of cold-chain food and all links in circulation is also important. 
     Existing disinfection and sterilization devices easily cause adverse effects on parts such as engines and tires of transportation vehicles in the refrigerated container transportation system if directly disinfecting and sterilizing the refrigerated container transportation system. 
     Therefore, there is a need for an effective disinfection and sterilization device and method for cold-chain logistics transportation, which cut off the transmission paths of novel coronavirus on cold-chain food and/or cold-chain food packages and/or cold-chain food transportation tools without destroying the parts such as engines and tires of transportation vehicles. 
     SUMMARY 
     A first technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide a disinfection and sterilization apparatus for a refrigerated container transportation system. The disinfection and sterilization apparatus is simple in structure and easy to implement, can effectively cut off the transmission paths of novel coronavirus on the surfaces of cold-chain food and cold-chain food packages in cold-chain food transportation tools, avoids contact between workers and cold-chain articles, and avoids contact infection, and furthermore, adverse effects of disinfection and sterilization apparatuses on parts such as engines and tires of transportation vehicles in vacuumizing and ozone injection processes can be avoided.  
     A second technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide a disinfection and sterilization method for a refrigerated container transportation system. 
     In the present disclosure, the term “refrigerated container transport system” is composed of a refrigerated container and a transportation vehicle; and the refrigerated container is carried by the transportation vehicle. 
     In order to solve the first technical problem, the present disclosure adopts the following technical scheme: 
     The disinfection and sterilization apparatus for a refrigerated container transportation system comprises 
     a to-be-treated waiting area, a disinfection and sterilization system, a treatment waiting area and a central control system, wherein 
     the to-be-treated waiting area, the disinfection and sterilization system and the treatment waiting area are sequentially arranged from left to right; 
     a first prompter is arranged in the to-be-treated waiting area; the to-be-treated waiting area is a waiting area for the to-be-disinfected and to-be-sterilized refrigerated container transportation vehicle; 
     the disinfection and sterilization system comprises a disinfection and sterilization bin, a vacuumizing device and an ozone supply device; the disinfection and sterilization bin is an operation area for disinfecting and sterilizing the refrigerated container, and is a closable space capable of accommodating the refrigerated container transportation vehicle to get in and out; a disinfection and sterilization bin inlet and a disinfection and sterilization bin outlet are respectively formed in the left side and the right side of the disinfection and sterilization bin; the disinfection and sterilization bin communicates with the vacuumizing device through a pipeline, and the vacuumizing device can vacuumize the interior of the disinfection and sterilization bin; and the disinfection and sterilization bin communicates with the ozone supply device through a pipeline, and the ozone supply device can fill the disinfection and sterilization bin with ozone; 
     the disinfection and sterilization bin is provided with a detaching and hanging device for detaching or hanging a refrigerated container and a transportation vehicle; 
     a second prompter is arranged in the treatment waiting area, the treatment waiting area is a waiting area for the transportation vehicle when the refrigerated container performs disinfection and sterilization operation in the disinfection and sterilization bin; and 
     the central control system is connected with the first prompter, the disinfection and sterilization bin inlet, the disinfection and sterilization bin outlet, the detaching and hanging device and the second prompter through data transmission lines, and the central control system is used for controlling the operation and the closing of the first prompter, the disinfection and sterilization bin inlet, the disinfection and sterilization bin outlet, the detaching and hanging device and the second prompter. 
     In an embodiment, the disinfection and sterilization apparatus is further provided with a coding device; and the operation and the closing of the coding system are controlled by the central control system.  
     In an embodiment, the disinfection and sterilization apparatus is further internally provided with a refrigerating device, and the operation and the closing of the refrigerating system are controlled by the central control system. 
     In an embodiment, the vacuumizing device comprises a vacuumizing pump. 
     In an embodiment, the ozone supply device comprises an ozone generator and an ozone pump. 
     In an embodiment, the disinfection and sterilization bin inlet and the disinfection and sterilization bin outlet are the same port, and the to-be-treated waiting area and the treatment waiting area are the same area. 
     In an embodiment, a vibration device is arranged on the detaching and hanging device, so that the detaching and hanging device has a vibration function. 
     In order to solve the second technical problem, the present disclosure adopts the following scheme: 
     A disinfection and sterilization method for a refrigerated container transportation system comprises the following steps: 
     S1, enabling a refrigerated container transportation vehicle to wait in a to-be-treated waiting area; 
     S2, sending an instruction to a first prompter to prompt the refrigerated container transportation vehicle to enter a disinfection and sterilization bin by a central control system; 
     S3, enabling the refrigerated container transportation vehicle to enter the disinfection and sterilization bin through the disinfection and sterilization bin inlet and stop stably; 
     S4, controlling the detaching and hanging device to operate by the central control system, so that the refrigerated container is lifted to be detached from the transportation vehicle; 
     S5, controlling a second prompter to send an instruction to prompt the transportation vehicle to leave the disinfection and sterilization bin by the central control system; 
     S6, opening a door of the refrigeration container and/or a ventilation opening of the refrigeration container to guarantee the vacuumizing effect and the ozone injection effect; 
     S7, closing the disinfection and sterilization bin inlet and the disinfection and sterilization bin outlet, so that the disinfection and sterilization bin is closed; 
     S8, starting a vacuumizing system to vacuumize the disinfection and sterilization bin; 
     S9, starting an ozone supply device to fill ozone into the disinfection and sterilization bin, so that cold-chain materials in the refrigerated container, cold-chain material packages and gaps of the refrigerated container are filled with ozone; 
     S8, enabling the pressure of the injected ozone to be 0.8 to 1.2 atmospheric pressures; 
     S11, maintaining the pressure of the ozone in the disinfection and sterilization bin for 1-3600 seconds; closing the door of the refrigeration container and/or the ventilation opening of the refrigeration container;  
     S12, controlling to open the disinfection and sterilization bin outlet by a central controller, and meanwhile, sending an instruction to prompt the transportation vehicle to return to the disinfection and sterilization bin by the second prompter; 
     S13, enabling the transportation vehicle to stop stably, and controlling the detaching and hanging device to operate by the central controller, so that the container descends to the transportation vehicle; and 
     S14, sending an instruction to the second prompter to prompt the refrigerated container transportation vehicle to drive out of the disinfection and sterilization bin by the central controller. 
     In an embodiment, in step S14, before the refrigerated container transportation vehicle is driven out of the disinfection and sterilization bin, a coding device is used for coding and recording on the refrigerated container transportation vehicle. 
     Any range recorded herein includes the endpoints, any numerical value between the endpoints and any subranges subsumed by the endpoints or any numerical value between the endpoints. 
     If not specified, each raw material in the present disclosure is commercially available, and the equipment used in the present disclosure may be used by using conventional equipment in the art or by reference to the prior art in the art. 
     Compared with the prior art, the present disclosure has the following beneficial effects: 
     firstly, according to the disinfection and sterilization apparatus and the disinfection and sterilization method, novel coronavirus on cold-chain food, cold-chain food packages and cold-chain food transportation tools can be effectively killed; 
     secondly, according to the disinfection and sterilization apparatus and the disinfection and sterilization method, the novel coronavirus can be killed in the whole container without loading and unloading goods, and the goods are disinfected, sterilized and left so that the efficiency is high; 
     thirdly, the door of the disinfected and sterilized container is sealed and coded, so that the traceability is realized; 
     fourthly, adverse effects of vacuumizing and ozone injection on trailer engines and tires in the disinfection and sterilization process are avoided; 
     fifthly, when the detaching and hanging device runs to enable the container to descend and the trailer to be hung, the container is vibrated, and when the trailer is started to run, the container is vibrated, so that goods in the container are loosened, and ozone is favorably diffused in all spaces and gaps; and a vibration function is added, all spaces and gaps are filled with ozone, so that disinfection and sterilization are facilitated; and 
     sixthly, after the ozone used in the apparatus is reacted, high-concentration oxygen can keep the freshness of cold-chain materials. 
     In a word, the disinfection and sterilization apparatus and the disinfection and sterilization method can effectively cut off the transmission paths of novel coronavirus on cold-chain food, cold-chain food packages and cold-chain food transportation tools. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       The following further describes specific embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the following attached figures. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic state diagram of a refrigerated container transportation system when in a to-be-treated waiting area of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic state diagram of a refrigerated container transportation system when entering a disinfection and sterilization bin of the present disclosure; 
         FIG 3  is a schematic diagram of the disinfection and sterilization state of a refrigerated container in a disinfection and sterilization bin; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic state diagram of a refrigerated container when being ready to leave a disinfection and sterilization bin after disinfection and sterilization; and 
         FIG. 5  is a control block diagram of a central control system of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     In order to describe the present disclosure more clearly, the present disclosure is further described in detail in conjunction with the attached figures. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that what is specifically described below is illustrative and not restrictive, and should not limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
     It should be noted that when one element is referred to as being “fixed” or “arranged” on the other element, it can be directly on the other element or indirectly on the other element. When one element is referred to as being “connected” to the other element, it may be directly connected to the other element or indirectly connected to the other element. 
     The indicative direction or position relations of the terms such as “length”, “width”, “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inside” and “outside” are direction or position relations illustrated based on the accompanying diagrams, just for facilitating the description of the present disclosure and simplifying the description, but not for indicating or hinting that the indicated device or element must be in a specific direction and is constructed and operated in the specific direction, the terms cannot be understood as the restriction of the present disclosure. 
     In addition, the terms “first” and “second” are merely intended for a purpose of description, and shall not be understood as an indication or implication of relative importance or implicit indication of the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, a feature limited by “first” or “second” may include one or more features explicitly or implicitly. In the description of the present disclosure, the meaning of “a plurality of” means two or more unless expressly specifically defined otherwise. 
     Embodiment I 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 , the disinfection and sterilization apparatus for a refrigerated container transportation system comprises 
     a to-be-treated waning area  100 , a disinfection and sterilization system  200 , a treatment waiting area  300  and a central control system  400 , wherein 
     the to-be-treated waiting area  100 , the disinfection and sterilization system  200  and the treatment waiting area  300  are sequentially arranged from left to right;  
     a first prompter  101  is arranged in the to-be-treated waiting area  100 ; the to-be-treated waiting area  100  is a waiting area for the to-be-disinfected and to-be-sterilized refrigerated container transportation vehicle  500 ; the refrigerated container transportation vehicle  500  is composed of a refrigerated container  510  and a transportation vehicle  520 ; 
     the disinfection and sterilization system  200  comprises a disinfection and sterilization bin  210 , a vacuumizing device  220  and an ozone supply device  230 ; the disinfection and sterilization bin  210  is an operation area for disinfecting and sterilizing the refrigerated container  510 , and is a closable space capable of accommodating the refrigerated container transportation vehicle  500  to get in and out; a disinfection and sterilization bin inlet  201  and a disinfection and sterilization bin outlet  202  are respectively formed in the left side and the right side of the disinfection and sterilization bin  210 , the disinfection and sterilization bin  200  communicates with the vacuumizing device  220  through a pipeline, and the vacuumizing device  220  can vacuumize the interior of the disinfection raid sterilization bin  200 , and the disinfection and sterilization bin  210  communicates with the ozone supply device  230  through a pipeline, and the ozone supply device  230  can fill the disinfection and sterilization bin  210  with ozone; 
     the top of the disinfection and sterilization bin  210  is provided with a detaching and hanging device  203  for detaching or hanging a refrigerated container  510  and a transportation vehicle  520 ; it can be understood that, after the detaching and hanging device is used to lift the refrigerated container  510  to detach off the surface of the transportation vehicle  520 , the refrigerated container  510  is hung in the disinfection and sterilization bin  210  as the transportation vehicle  520  leaves, so that a blind zone in ozone disinfection and sterilization caused by contact of the refrigerated container  510  with the bottom of the disinfection and sterilization bin is avoided; meanwhile, the transportation vehicle  520  leaves the disinfection and sterilization bin  210  and stops at the treatment waiting area  300 , and because the transportation vehicle is not in the disinfection and sterilization bin in the disinfection and sterilization process, the adverse effects of vacuumizing and ozone injection on parts such as engines and tires of the transportation vehicle in the disinfection and sterilization bin in the disinfection and sterilization process are avoided; and as a changed embodiment, it is also within the scope of the present disclosure that the detaching and hanging device  203  can be arranged on the ground to detach or hang the refrigerated container  510  and the transportation vehicle  520  in a supported manner; 
     a second prompter  301  is arranged in the treatment waiting area  300 ; the treatment waiting area  300  is a waiting area for the transportation vehicle  520  when the refrigerated container  510  performs disinfection and sterilization operation in the disinfection and sterilization bin; and 
     as shown in  FIG. 5 , the central control system  400  is connected with the first prompter  101 , the disinfection and sterilization bin inlet  201 , the disinfection and sterilization bin outlet  202 , the detaching and hanging device  203  and the second prompter  301  through data transmission lines, and the central control system  400  is used for controlling the operation and the closing of the first prompter  101 , the disinfection  and sterilization bin inlet  201 , the disinfection and sterilization bin outlet  202 , the detaching and hanging device  203  and the second prompter  301 . 
     As a preferable embodiment, the disinfection and sterilization apparatus is further provided with a coding device (unshown in the figures); and the operation and the closing of the coding system are controlled by the central control system. 
     As a preferable embodiment, the disinfection find sterilization apparatus  210  is further internally provided with a refrigerating device  204 ; and the operation and the closing of the refrigerating system are controlled by the central control system. 
     As a preferable embodiment, the vacuumizing device  220  comprises a vacuumizing pump. 
     As a preferable embodiment, the ozone supply device  230  comprises an ozone generator  231  and an ozone pump  232 . 
     As a preferable embodiment, a vibration device is arranged on the detaching and hanging device  203 , so that the detaching and hanging device has a vibration function. 
     As a preferable embodiment, the disinfection and sterilization bin inlet  201  and the disinfection and sterilization bin outlet  202  are the same port, and the to-be-treated waiting area  100  and the treatment waiting area  300  are the same area. It can be understood that the disinfection and sterilization bin provided with a disinfection and sterilization bin inlet and a disinfection and sterilization bin outlet is a more convenient choice for use; as a variation, the refrigerated container transportation vehicle can enter or exit through only one port, and only one to-be-treated waiting area can be arranged to achieve the disinfection and sterilization process of the present disclosure; and however, this variation clearly makes the disinfection and sterilization process less smooth. 
     Embodiment II 
     A disinfection and sterilization method for a refrigerated container transportation system comprises the following steps: 
     S1, enabling a refrigerated container transportation vehicle to wait in a to-be-treated waiting area, as shown in FIG. 1; 
     S2, sending an instruction to a first prompter to prompt the refrigerated container transportation vehicle to enter a disinfection and sterilization bin by a central control system; 
     S3, enabling the refrigerated container transportation vehicle to enter the disinfection and sterilization bin through the disinfection and sterilization bin inlet and stop stably, as shown in  FIG. 2 , 
     S4, controlling the detaching and hanging device to operate by the central control system, so that the refrigerated container is lifted to be detached from the transportation vehicle; 
     S5, controlling a second prompter to send an instruction to prompt the transportation vehicle to leave the disinfection and sterilization bin by the central control system; 
     S6, opening a door of the refrigeration container and/or a ventilation opening of the refrigeration container to guarantee the vacuumizing effect and the ozone  injection effect; 
     S7, closing the disinfection and sterilization bin inlet and the disinfection and sterilization bin outlet, so that the disinfection and sterilization bin is closed; 
     S8, starting a vacuumizing system to vacuumize the disinfection and sterilization bin; 
     S9, starting an ozone supply device to fill ozone into the disinfection and sterilization bin, so that cold-chain materials in the refrigerated container, cold-chain material packages and gaps of the refrigerated container are filled with ozone, as shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
     S8, enabling the pressure of the injected ozone to be 0.8 to 1.2 atmospheric pressures; 
     S11, maintaining the pressure of the ozone in the disinfection find sterilization bin for 1-3600 seconds; closing the door of the refrigeration container and/or the ventilation opening of the refrigeration container; 
     S12, controlling to open the disinfection and sterilization bin outlet by a central controller, and meanwhile, sending an instruction to prompt the transportation vehicle to return to the disinfection and sterilization bin by the second prompter; 
     S13, enabling the transportation vehicle to stop stably, and controlling the detaching and hanging device to operate by the central controller, so that the container descends to the transportation vehicle; and 
     S14, sending an instruction to the second prompter to prompt the refrigerated container transportation vehicle to drive out of the disinfection and sterilization bin by the central controller. 
     In an embodiment, in step S14, before the refrigerated container transportation vehicle is driven out of the disinfection and sterilization bin, a coding device is used for coding and recording on the refrigerated container transportation vehicle. 
     In conclusion, the disinfection and sterilization apparatus and the disinfection and sterilization method can effectively kill novel coronavirus in cold-chain food, cold-chain food packages and cold-chain food packaging boxes; and the container, the articles in the container and packaging boxes of the articles in the container are hung in the disinfection and sterilization bin through the detaching and hanging device, ozone can be easily diffused in the refrigerated container, and viruses on the surfaces of the packaging boxes of the articles in the container are efficiently eliminated and killed. According to the disinfection and sterilization apparatus and the disinfection and sterilization method, the disinfected and sterilized vehicles are coded, so that the traceability is realized. After the ozone used in the disinfection and sterilization apparatus is reacted, high-concentration oxygen can keep the freshness of cold-chain materials. 
     Obviously, the embodiments of the present disclosure are merely illustrative of the present disclosure as examples and are not intended to be limitation of embodiments of the present disclosure. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other variations or modifications in different forms may be made on the basis of the above description. All embodiments are impossible to be exhaustive herein. Obvious changes or variations which belong to the technical scheme of the present disclosure are still  within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.