Retail banana storage unit

#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.

#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.

#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;

#Referring now to the various Figures, there is shown a fruit ripening or storage apparatus 10 which comprises a lower housing component 10a and an upper housing component 10b. The lower housing component includes “exterior” wall elements, including side walls 12a, 12b, front walls 14a, 14b, 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 18a, 18b, 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 18a, 18b 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 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 22a, 22b are provided within the apparatus 10 (see FIG. 5). The “interior” side walls are disposed parallel to the “exterior” side walls 12a, 12b, 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 24a, 24b through which air may be circulated. Through openings 52a, 52b are provided in each “interior” side wall 22a, 22b at different staggered locations along the lateral extent of the “interior” side walls 22a, 22b, 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 12a, 12b and the “interior” side walls 22a, 22b function as air delivery channels. Each of the air delivery channels fluidly communicates the output of the fan 28 with the openings 52a, 52b 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 52a, 52b 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.