Patent Publication Number: US-7913513-B1

Title: Retail banana storage unit

Description:
REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/051,927 filed Jan. 22, 2002, being U.S. Pat. No. 7,017,366 issued Mar. 28, 2006, which is incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to banana storage apparatus, and more particularly to a banana storage apparatus including air distribution, cooling and heating devices to facilitate the storage of ripe bananas in a retail grocery store. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Typically, fruit is shipped to supermarkets in boxes, generally six boxes to a layer and from one to eight layers tall. In a typical situation, the boxes are opened and re-stacked to allow air circulation around the fruit to remove heat that builds up within tightly bunched, closed, boxes. 
     Banana boxes used for packaging and shipping fruit by all growers or shippers are designed very similarly, and all contain openings on all six sides of the box to allow air circulation and an escape path for the built-up heat. 
     In a warehouse facility, bananas arrive in refrigerated shipping containers or trailers. The fruit is palletized, generally in six boxes to a layer, eight layers tall, so that there are forty-eight boxes to a pallet and approximately twenty pallets in a full shipment. As the fruit is stacked about eighty-two (82) inches high on the pallets, each pallet is provided with banding which is wrapped about the boxes stacked on the pallets to prevent the boxes from shifting or falling during transport. 
     Before being shipped for retail sale at the consumer level, all bananas go through a ripening process in specially designed “ripening rooms”. In these rooms, fruit is generally placed in the same banded  48  box pallet as they are shipped in. In this banded stable stack, the aforementioned air holes in adjacent boxes are aligned and air is forced to move about the stack of boxes, flowing freely from one box to another through the aligned holes in the sides, top and bottom of the boxes. Thereafter, the air escapes to a common return where it is cooled and then caused to be recirculated, over and over, through and about the stack of boxes. 
     After the fruit is ripened, it is ready for shipment to the retail or end user location. A full banded pallet of fruit contains forty-eight (48) boxes each weighing forty (40) pounds (each pallet therefore carries about 1920 pounds). Very few supermarkets order bananas in such large quantities, so pallets are unloaded into smaller quantities for shipment. At this point, the banding must be removed, and thereafter, the boxes sitting on the pallets or in the stack are no longer pressed tightly together, and the holes in the boxes are no longer aligned. 
     Upon arrival at a retail location, good storage practices dictate that the banana boxes be re-stacked, with the lids removed, in a loose arrangement so heat in the boxes can escape. If this is not done, the quality of the fruit and the shelf-life is adversely affected. But even if done correctly, an average order of 25 boxes takes about 30 minutes to re-stack, and requires a clerk to lift each box 2 to 3 times. This adds up to 2000 to 3000 pounds of lifting. 
     Further it is known that the ripening time of fruit can be controlled by removing the fruit from the boxes and letting it stand in ambient or cooled air. However, this technique has been found less than desirable insofar as too much time is required to remove the fruit. Moreover, the fruit typically becomes bruised in this process and is rendered unattractive to the purchasing consumer. 
     It would therefore be desirable to have an apparatus which would permit ripening or storage of fruit contained in boxes stacked on a pallet after the banding, normally wrapped about the boxes when stacked on the pallet, has been removed. 
     Interest in keeping fruit fresh for as long as possible before presentation and/or sale to consumers has a long history, and fruit ripeners of varying kinds are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,443 to Wade discloses a method and apparatus for controlling the ripening of fresh fruit in which a stack of boxes of fruit is wrapped or covered with plastic such that the vertical faces of the boxes are covered. The boxes in the stack have holes in upper and lower faces which register with corresponding holes in vertically adjacent boxes to facilitate a vertical movement of an air-ethylene mixture through the stack. A lid on top of the stack of boxes is provided with a blower and an air-conditioning unit, and a hose or other conduit fluidly couples the top and bottom of the stack. 
     The blower draws air vertically through the stack, while the air-conditioning unit maintains the conditioned air in the stack at a predetermined temperature and humidity. 
     The fruit ripening apparatus of Wade is nevertheless not able to do the job where the fruit is being stored in the retail store just prior to display and sale to the consumer. As a rule, the equipment involved is complex, costly to maintain, and requires substantial space to house the equipment. 
     There is therefore a great and long-felt need for a fruit ripening apparatus which permits storage and/or ripening of fruit while the fruit boxes are stacked on a pallet, and which is light weight, not cumbersome in construction, unbreakable, easy to erect and store, inexpensive and simple in design. 
     In one aspect of the present invention, bananas are stored in stacks of unbanded boxes in a cabinet having channels in walls through which air is forced via fans to access openings in the cabinet walls adjacent selected ones of the boxes in the cabinet so that heat, that builds up in the boxes as the bananas ripen, can be removed before creating an injurious environment for the ripening bananas. 
     In another aspect of the invention, a fruit ripening apparatus comprises a cabinet having side walls and a cover portion within which are housed a fans and motors for driving the fans, the side walls having channels defined therein which fluidly communicate with the fans, so that fruit stored in the cabinet in stacks of boxes from which banding has been removed can be immersed in a cooling environment. 
     Other aspects, advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent and better understood, as will equivalent structures which are intended to be covered herein, with the teaching of the principles of the invention in connection with the disclosure of the preferred embodiments thereof in the specification, claims and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a fruit ripening apparatus in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of the fruit ripening apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the fruit ripening apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the fruit ripening apparatus shown in  FIG. 1  and taken along section lines A-A in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the fruit ripening apparatus shown in  FIG. 1  and taken along section lines B-B in  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the fruit ripening apparatus shown in  FIG. 1  and taken along section lines C-C in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 7  is a ghosted view of the improvement to the invention which comprises one embodiment of damping means used to selectively restrict airflow. 
         FIG. 8  is a ghosted view of the details of a separate embodiment of the slidable damping means used in the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the various Figures, there is shown a fruit ripening or storage apparatus  10  which comprises a lower housing component  10   a  and an upper housing component  10   b . The lower housing component includes “exterior” wall elements, including side walls  12   a ,  12   b , front walls  14   a ,  14   b , and a rear wall  16  directly opposite the front walls (see  FIG. 2 ). The side walls, front walls and rear wall may be separate panels or elements, or they may all be formed from the same sheet bent at appropriate locations to form walls that are disposed at right angles to one another. Each front wall terminates in a narrow guide portion  18   a ,  18   b , which is disposed at an angle to the plane defined by the front walls, preferably at an acute angle to the front walls. The guide portions  18   a ,  18   b  are angled away from one another and together define an opening which has a dimension extending between the front walls that is wide enough to receive a pallet P on which are stacked a plurality of fruit-containing boxes. The upper component includes a top section  18  securable to the uppermost regions of the front and side walls. A floor panel or wall may optionally be provided, but it is contemplated that the apparatus  10  will be erected at a retail store, perhaps in a room outside of the area where shoppers frequent, and the floor of the store will suffice nicely as the floor of the apparatus. The interior of the apparatus  10  defines substantially rectangular areas in vertical and horizontal planes in order to accommodate multiple boxes of the fruit in each row; however, the present invention contemplates any shape of the interior of the apparatus. The material of which the walls and top section of the apparatus might be formed include metal, a metallic material, a plastic, a paper, a composite material, or some combination of the aforesaid materials. 
     A second set of “interior” side walls  22   a ,  22   b  are provided within the apparatus  10  (see  FIG. 5 ). The “interior” side walls are disposed parallel to the “exterior” side walls  12   a ,  12   b , and are spaced inwardly therefrom. Partitions  62  (note that these are shown in phantom in  FIG. 4 ) are arranged normal to the “interior” and “exterior” walls to define, with these walls, channels  24   a ,  24   b  through which air may be circulated. Through openings  52   a ,  52   b  are provided in each “interior” side wall  22   a ,  22   b  at different staggered locations along the lateral extent of the “interior” side walls  22   a ,  22   b , and at different, unique, locations along the vertical extent of the “interior” side walls. The through openings communicate the various channels with the interior of the apparatus  10 . A framework of flexible seal elements  54  comprising vertical elements  55  and horizontal elements  56  is secured to each “interior” side wall (only one framework is shown in  FIG. 4 ). The framework  54  of seal elements is provided for the purpose of maintaining the sides of the boxes, which have been placed in the apparatus  10 , at a predetermined distance (based on the thickness of the sealing elements) spaced from the inner surface of the “interior” walls. 
     The channels formed by the partitions disposed normal to, and between, the “exterior” side walls  12   a ,  12   b  and the “interior” side walls  22   a ,  22   b  function as air delivery channels. Each of the air delivery channels fluidly communicates the output of the fan  28  with the openings  52   a ,  52   b  located in the “interior” side walls. With the seal framework maintaining the boxes spaced from the inner surface of the adjacent “interior” side wall, air forced by each fan  28  through the respective channel  62  and out through a respective opening  52   a ,  52   b  can then immerse the stack of boxes in a bath of cool air, while also allowing passage of the cool air into the interior of these boxes through the holes provided in the sides of the boxes. 
     Each of the fans or blowers  28  are mounted to an upper wall or ceiling  26  that extends across and separates the upper portion  10   b  from the lower portion  10   a  of the apparatus  10 . Each of the fans, or each of a pair of adjacent fans, are powered by a motor  29 . Ducting  30  fluidly couples the fans  28  with a respective one of the channels  52   a ,  52   b.    
     The upper portion  10   b  of the housing includes a lid or cover  32  having side walls  34  and a ceiling  36  (note  FIG. 1 ). The height of the side walls of the cover are chosen sufficiently large enough to permit containment of the blowers therein, as well as an evaporator coil  42  and an air conditioning unit  44 . A return air duct  46  also communicates the volume defined within the cover  32  with the interior volume of the lower portion of the apparatus  10 . 
     It is to be recalled that, for purposes of this invention, the boxes are stacked atop each other within the apparatus  10  with the banding removed. With this understanding, it is to be recognized that the boxes will deform slightly so that spaces exist between adjacent boxes, both in a lateral orientation and in a vertical orientation, and further between the boxes and the interior side walls of the apparatus. Thus, air directed into the interior of the apparatus through the channels  52   a ,  52   b  will pass around the exterior of the boxes as well as through the boxes via the openings in the sides of the boxes before being redirected back to the fans at the upper portion  10   b  of the apparatus. 
     The invention also contemplates the use of a curtain attached to the apparatus at the upper extent of the opening between the front walls. The curtain will be rolled up and secured to allow access to the interior of the apparatus for the purpose of removing one or more boxes of produce from the apparatus, and when it is desired to close the apparatus once more, the curtain will be released and allowed to drape down over the opening. It is contemplated that the curtain will be made of a plastic material, preferably in sheet form, and desirably transparent. 
     In one version of the invention, the apparatus is designed for use in a cooled storage area typical of most modern supermarkets, the rooms are typically kept at temperatures in the range of from about 55° F. to about 60° F. This is a good storage temperature for bananas as well as other products that need to be cooled. In this environment, the apparatus does not include a cooling unit or a means of closing off the entry opening between the front walls. Air is forced through the boxes for one pass and then flows into the open room. 
     In another version of the invention, the apparatus is designed for use in supermarkets that do not have air conditioned areas and where temperatures encountered are more extreme. Here, the apparatus  10  is equipped with a cooling and heating unit, and an entrance closure in the form of a door or curtain. The apparatus of this version is provided with a return air opening at the top of the chamber in which the boxes are stored, preferably in the vicinity of the evaporator coil  42  and air conditioning unit  44 . This enables the air that is forced through the channels  24   a ,  24   b , and around and through the stacked boxes, to re-enter the compartment in which the fans  28  are located so that it can be circulated past or though the coil  42  and cooled by the air conditioning unit  44 . 
     An additional improvement over the earlier referenced parent application is found in the use of damping means to seal off one or more of the aperture used to provide airflow through channels as described above. It has been determined that the usefulness of the invention may be enhanced by utilizing plates or damper means which selectively seal off openings  52   a  and  52   b  as the palletized boxes are removed from apparatus  10  for use. 
     In considering  FIG. 1 , it will be appreciated that produce being removed from the invention for sale would normally be removed from the top to the bottom. It is more convenient for a user to remove boxed fruit from storage apparatus  10  from the top of the stack downward as this is the natural order of use. The invention described above allows uniform airflow to be maintained through the lower levels of the boxes as the boxes are removed from the front of apparatus  10 . 
     It has been determined that an additional improvement may be realized by providing damping means to selectively close off individual openings  52   a  and  52   b  only at each level where a given opening has been completely uncovered or exposed by removal of boxes from the top down to the level of a particular opening  52   a  or  52   b . It can be appreciated that if some boxes are removed, continued airflow through an opening  52   a  or  52   b  at a higher level is wasted in the sense that it continues to flow through the aperture, but is not as useful as it allows airflow from blowers  28  to escape into the inner portion of apparatus  10  without traveling through the boxes. It is desirable to reduce power consumption of motors  28  as well as reduce cooling requirements. An improvement exists in the present invention whereby simple damping means is provided to close off openings  52   a  and  52   b  sequentially, and only at the particular level near where all of the boxes above the aperture have been removed for use. 
     Simple sheet metal damping means which slidably function are located where they can be pushed back exposing each of openings  52   a  and  52   b  as the palletized boxes are placed into apparatus  10  initially. Boxes are removed from apparatus  10  top to bottom with slidable plate  60  which covers corresponding openings  52   a  and  52   b  at or about the level of the boxes placed higher than a particular opening is engaged to expose each of opening  52   a  and  52   b  to function as described above. It can be appreciated by observing  FIG. 5 , for example, that as the top two levels of boxes are fully removed, uppermost opening  52   a  and  52   b  can be sealed to reduce the airflow required for apparatus  10  without ill effect, in that there are no boxes of produce at the higher level to be treated with the airflow. 
     In such a fashion, adding dampers for openings  52   a  and  52   b  throughout apparatus  10  can increase the efficiency of the entire apparatus sealing off those openings which are no longer needed to treat the boxed produce. Therefore, cooling and airflow requirements, and accordingly power requirements, might be reduced for the small amount of produce that remain in apparatus  10 . As the produce stored within the apparatus is entirely consumed or otherwise used, it can be appreciated that at the time a new, full pallet of produce is stored within apparatus  10  the dampers can be reopened either manually or by being pushed back through spring operated automatic means engaged by the movement and placement of the boxes being loaded back into apparatus  10 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 7 , an example of a slidable damper will be illustrated using an embodiment which is automatically retracting through use of a spring mechanism. Damper  60  is fashioned out of sheet metal and includes a damper ledge  62  to catch the end or edge of a box of produce being loaded into apparatus  10 . Damper  60  is slidably attached to tract  66  which is a ledge-like sheet metal fixture to allow damper  60  to slide back and forth in direction  64  as shown in  FIG. 7 . It can be appreciated that tract  66 , placed above and below damper  60 , should be placed to allow damper  60  to completely cover a given opening  52   a  or  52   b , depending on which side of apparatus  10  the damper is placed. A single opening for example,  52   b , is illustrated in  FIG. 7  as an example.  FIG. 7  shows damper  60  in the fully open position, wherein one or more boxes loaded into apparatus  10  has pushed against ledge  62  thereby causing damper  60  to be in the open position allowing airflow through damper aperture  70 . With aperture  70  aligned with opening  52   b , it can be appreciated that airflow can be accommodated. 
     To assist in the automatic retraction of damper  60 , springs  68  contained above and below and around the area of tract  66  can be disposed such as to create a loading force when damper  60  is in the fully open position. Upon removal of the appropriate box from apparatus  10 , damper  60  would be urged through spring  68  in the direction of  64 , thereby causing the sheet metal closure of damper  60  to cover opening  52   b , thereafter dampening any airflow through  52   b.    
     Damper  60  is shown by an example in which the aperture  70  is aligned with opening  52  when a box is in place. This configuration can be referred to as normally closed, opening airflow only upon the alignment of aperture  70  with opening  52   b  in  FIG. 7 . If desired, and depending on the specific dimensions used in the fabrication of damper  60 , it can be appreciated that damper  60  may be a solid sheet of metal not containing a damper aperture  70 , but being fully retracted away from opening  52   b  to expose  52   b  allowing airflow to continue as described in the basic invention. This is illustrated in  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 8  shows the movement in direction  64  of damper  60  in the second configuration which, when retracted into the loaded position because produce boxes exist, the damper retracts rearward in apparatus  10  to expose  52   b  entirely. Either configuration operates in the same fashion, as can be appreciated by reviewing  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 . The difference between the two variations largely concern the space which may be available for the placement of tract  66  to allow for freedom of movement of damper  60  in direction  64 .  FIG. 8  may accommodate a situation where apparatus  10  is constructed with less clearance available for the placement of the damper mechanism shown where there is less room for lateral movement of damper  60  along tract  66 . In either case, improvement is realized by the dampening of the airflow in unused elevations within apparatus  10 . 
     Either variation shows a suitable means to increase the efficiency and operational benefits of the invention by providing a useful means to seal off airflow openings that are not used to cut off unnecessary airflow within such air delivery channels which are not necessary for effective airflow over the remaining boxes of produce existing within a partially loaded apparatus  10 . It is possible to accomplish the damping of the airflow using less elaborate damping means which require manual activation. In a simplified version of the damper mechanisms illustrated in  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 , manual placement of damper  60  could be accomplished when produce boxes are removed by hand from apparatus  10 . In such a simplified embodiment it would be possible to reach in and close a given damper once a sufficient number of produce boxes are removed from apparatus  10 . Likewise, it would also be possible to fashion a simple foam plug to provide a basic means for plugging closed opening  52   a  or  52   b  at the appropriate level without the need for a more elaborate damping mechanism described. Improvement is realized when any damping means is used to seal off openings  52   a  and  52   b , and a partially loaded apparatus  10  is going to be operated over a lengthy period of time. The automatic means described would likely be more effective as it eliminates the need for a user to remember to seal off unused openings. 
     It will be apparent that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and that variations and modifications may be made thereto within the scope of the invention.