49′ of the annular upper cover wall 49 of the refrigeration chamber housing 47, where the cylindrical wall 50 of the tubular access channel element 5, preferably consisting of poorly heat-conducting stainless steel, is firmly and tightly connected to the annular upper cover wall 49, preferably consisting of aluminium. The interior 52 of the access channel element 5 thus opens into the refrigeration chamber 4.

At its upper end region facing away from the refrigeration chamber 4, the cylindrical wall 50 of the tubular access channel element 5 is surrounded by an annular insulating body 29, the radial inner wall 29′ of which bears firmly against the cylindrical wall 50 of the access channel element 5 and thus connects the insulating body 29 to the access channel element 5 in a rotationally and axially fixed manner. An upper flange ring 51 forms the upper end of the cylindrical wall 50 facing away from the central refrigerated goods chamber 40 and surrounds an upper opening 51′ of the access channel element 5. The upper flange ring 51 rests on the annular insulating body 29 and does not extend radially outwardly beyond the annular insulating body 29. The radial outer wall 29″ of the insulating body 29 is fitted accurately into an annular recess 25 formed by the annular stepped outer cover wall 21 of the outer housing 2. The annular insulating body 29, which is a very poor conductor of heat, ensures that the access channel element 5 is received and held in the outer housing base body 2 without permitting any appreciable heat exchange between these bodies.

To close the upper opening 51′ of the tubular access channel element 5, a closure insert 54 is provided, for example in the form of an insulating plug, which projects with an insulating shaft 54′ into the interior 52 of the tubular access channel element 5 and fills it either partially or completely in the vertical length. The insulating shank 54′ of the closure insert 54 is preferably designed as a hollow cylinder which is filled with a moisture adsorbent, for example with absorbent cotton or felt, in its cavity which is open downwards (towards the refrigeration chamber 4) in order to absorb therewith any liquid which may escape. At its upwardly projecting end, the closure insert 54 is sealed against the inner wall of the access channel element 5 by a neck gasket 54″. A further peripheral gasket 54″ is provided in the lower region of the insulating shaft 54′, which also seals against the inner wall of the access channel element 5.

An outer container lid 10 can be firmly connected to the outer housing 2 and is supported against the upper cover wall 21 of the outer housing 2 by annular seals 12, 14 shown only schematically in FIG. 1. Preferably, the sealing of the outer container lid 10 to the outer housing 2 is implemented as in EP 2 041 502 B1, originating from the inventor, to whose disclosure in this respect reference is expressly made and which is thereby included in the disclosure of the present application.

FIG. 2 shows a horizontal section through the inner housing 2 and the refrigeration chamber 4. The refrigeration chamber 4 has a central refrigerated goods chamber 40 for accommodating a refrigerated goods container 70, which is surrounded by six decentral refrigerated goods chambers 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, which extend radially outwards from the central refrigerated goods chamber 40 in a star shape. Instead of six decentral refrigerated goods chambers, more or less decentral refrigerated goods chambers may also be provided. In this case, the decentral refrigerated goods chambers 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 are formed by refrigerated goods niches 41″, 42″, 43″, 44″, 45″, 46″ extending radially outward from the central refrigerated goods chamber and formed by the inner wall of the inner housing.

The respective opening of each decentral refrigerated goods chamber 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 into the central refrigerated goods chamber 40 forms a transfer gate 41′, 42′, 43′, 44′, 45′, 46′ through which a refrigerated goods container 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76 can be moved when filling the refrigeration chamber 4 from the central refrigerated goods chamber 40 into the associated decentral chamber 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 and by means of which, when refrigerated goods containers 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76 are removed from a respective decentral chamber 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, the relevant refrigerated goods container 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76 can be transferred back into the central chamber 40. The respective decentral refrigerated goods chamber 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 can also be dimensioned in such a way that it accommodates more than the one refrigerated goods container 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76 shown in FIG. 2. Preferably, then, a plurality of refrigerated goods containers are arranged one behind the other in the radial direction within a refrigerated goods chamber 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46. The refrigerated goods chambers 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 can-alternatively or additionally—also be dimensioned in such a way that several refrigerated goods containers are arranged one above the other and can be removed together as a stack when the height of the transfer gates 41′, 42′, 43′, 44′, 45′, 46′ and the transfer openings 65, 67 (FIG. 3) is adapted to the height of the decentral refrigerated goods chambers 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46. The decentral refrigerated goods chambers 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 can also be equipped with one or more horizontal intermediate shelves (not shown), so that refrigerated goods containers can be accommodated on several levels in the decentral refrigerated goods chambers 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46. The transfer openings 65, 67 (FIG. 3) can then be designed to extend circumferentially offset in a step-like manner in the longitudinal direction of the relevant ring slide element 60, 66 (FIG. 3) in accordance with these levels, in order to specifically allow access to only one of the levels.

A tubular ring slide device 6, rotatable about the central axis X, is provided in the central refrigerated goods chamber 40 and comprises a ring slide element 60 having a tubular circumferential wall 62. The outer diameter of the tubular circumferential wall 62 is thereby dimensioned such that the ring slide element 60 is accurately but rotatably received within the tubular access channel element 5. The circumferential wall 62 of the ring slide element 60 has at least one transfer opening 65 in the lower region, the dimensions of which substantially correspond to the dimensions of a respective transfer gate 41′, 42′, 43′, 44′, 45′, 46′. By rotating the ring slide element 60, the transfer opening 65 can be brought into overlap with any transfer gate 41′, 42′, 43′, 44′, 45′, 46′, thereby creating a passage for a refrigerated goods container 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76 from an associated decentral refrigerated goods chamber 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 to the central refrigerated goods chamber 40, as can be seen in FIG. 2.

The ring slide element 60 of the ring slide device 6 engages in the interior 52 of the tubular access channel element 5 with an upper end 61 pointing away from the bottom 40′ of the central refrigerated goods chamber 40. At its upper end face 63 pointing away from the bottom 40′ of the central refrigerated goods chamber 40, the ring slide device 60 is provided with coupling means 64 distributed over the circumference and projecting in the axial direction from the upper end face 63, which are designed for rotationally fixed coupling with counter coupling means 58 provided on a lower end face 57 of the circumferential wall 59 of a tubular actuating element 56, wherein the tubular actuating element 56—after removal of the closure insert 54—can be introduced from above into the tubular access channel element 5 and can be rotationally fixedly coupled to the ring slide element 60. The ring slide element 60 can then be rotated by means of the actuating element 56.

A modified embodiment is shown in FIG. 3, in which the ring slide device 6 additionally has an inner ring slide element 66 with a tubular circumferential wall 68 inside the outer ring slide element 60, these two ring slide elements being rotatable relative to one another. The inner ring slide element 66 also has at least one transfer opening 67 in its circumferential wall 68 in the lower region, the dimensions of which transfer opening 67 correspond substantially to the dimensions of a respective transfer gate 41′, 42′, 43′, 44′, 45′, 46′ and thus also to the transfer opening 65 of the outer ring slide element 60.

An inner actuating element (not shown) is also provided for the inner ring slide element 66, which is rotatably arranged radially inside the circumferential wall 59 of the outer actuating element 56 and which is designed in the same way as the outer actuating element 56. Consequently, the inner actuating element can likewise be coupled in a rotationally fixed manner to the inner ring slide element 66 by corresponding (not shown) coupling and counter-coupling means.

The two ring slide elements 60, 66 are rotatable relative to each other in this manner to either close all transfer gates 41′, 42′, 43′, 44′, 45′, 46′ or open a selected transfer gate. Alternatively, the two ring slide elements can be coupled to one another in the direction of rotation in such a way that when one of the ring slide elements, for example the outer ring slide element 60, is rotated in a first direction of rotation about the vertical central axis X from a position in which the two transfer openings 65, 67 are aligned with one another, the other ring slide element 66 does not initially rotate with it, in order thereby to rotate the transfer openings with respect to one another again and thereby close them. Only then do both ring slide elements 60, 66 rotate together and synchronously with each other and with closed transfer openings 65, 67 further in the first direction of rotation. A rotation in a second direction of rotation opposite to the first direction of rotation can then again cause a relative movement between the two ring slide elements 60, 66 so that the transfer openings 65, 67 open again and a further rotation of the two ring slide elements 60, 66 together and synchronously with each other and with open transfer openings 65, 67 takes place further in the second direction of rotation. In this way, a trailing gate operation of the two ring slide elements coupled to each other is made possible.

An alternative embodiment of a thermally insulated transport container 1′ according to the invention with a modified inner housing 3′ compared to the embodiment in FIG. 1 is shown in vertical section in FIG. 4. The inner housing 3′ is designed in two parts and has an upper housing part 3″ designed as a double-walled tube and a cup-like lower housing part 3′″, which are joined together in a sealing manner along a partition line 3″″. The upper housing part has a radially inner tube wall 30′ and a radially outer tube wall 30″, which are connected to one another at their respective upper end facing away from the cup-like housing part 3′″ by an end wall 30′″. A cylindrical annular space 36′ is thus formed in the upper housing part 3″, which—as in the embodiment example of FIG. 1—can be filled with refrigerant or into which refrigeration elements 80 filled with refrigerant can be inserted with a precise fit and with heat-conducting contact to the inner wall 32. The cavity 36″ formed by the cup-like lower housing part 3′″ of the inner housing 3′ can also be filled with refrigerant—as in the embodiment example of FIG. 1—or at least one circular disc-shaped refrigerating element 82 filled with refrigerant can be inserted into this cavity with a precise fit. By the way, such refrigeration elements can also be used in the cold accumulator 39′ of the variant according to FIG. 1.

A lower section of the upper housing part 3″ has the refrigeration chamber housing 47 inserted, for example shrink-fitted, into it. The overlying upper portion of the upper housing part 3″ radially inwardly adjoins an inner annular cylindrical portion 28′ of the outer insulating chamber 28, which forms an insulating space between the upper housing part 3′ and the tubular access channel element 5. The lower end of the cylindrical wall 50 of the tubular access channel element 5 is tightly and firmly connected to a refrigeration chamber housing 47, which is preferably made of aluminium and surrounds the refrigeration chamber 4.

FIG. 5 to FIG. 8 show a modified embodiment of the transport container according to the invention compared to the examples in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4. Parts and components unchanged from the examples described above have the same reference signs and the above description therefore applies to them in an analogous manner.

The ring slide device 6′ with the outer ring slide element 60′ and the inner ring slide element 66′ corresponds in terms of its structure and mode of operation to the ring slide device 6 already described above, but the two ring slide elements 60′, 66′ extend not only into the tubular access channel element 5, but upwardly through it into an operating space 25′ formed within the annular recess 25 of the ring-step-like outer cover wall 21 of the outer housing 2.

In the region of the upper end of the tubular outer ring slide element 60′ facing away from the central cooling chamber 40, an actuating element 60″ projecting radially outwardly is attached laterally thereto, which forms a lever with which the outer ring slide element 60′ can be rotated manually in both directions within the access channel element 5 and relative thereto about the central axis X, as symbolized by the double arrow A in FIG. 8. At least one shaft seal 55, 55′, for example a sealing ring, is provided between the radially inner surface 50′ of the wall 50 of the access channel element 5 and the radially outer surface 60′″ of the outer ring slide element 60′. As a result, the portion of the ring slide device 6′ passing through the access channel element 5 is sealed against the inner circumference of the tubular access channel element 5, thus preventing air exchange between the refrigeration chamber 4 and the operating chamber 25′, which improves the thermal insulation of the refrigeration chamber.

The tubular inner ring slide element 66′ extends through the tubular outer ring slide element 60′ in the axial direction into the operating chamber 25′. The upper end of the tubular inner ring slide element 66′ projecting out of the outer ring slide element 60′ and facing away from the central refrigeration chamber 40 is also provided with a radially outwardly projecting actuating element 66″, which forms a lever with which the inner ring slide element 66′ can be rotated manually in both directions within the outer ring slide element 60′ and relative thereto about the central axis X, as symbolized by the double arrow B in FIG. 8. At least one—not shown—shaft seal can also be provided between the outer ring slide element 60′ and the inner ring slide element 66′.

Centrally in the tubular inner ring slide element 66′ and coaxially thereto is inserted a cylindrical unloading slider 9, displaceable in the direction of the central axis X, but non-rotatable and preferably sealing at the periphery. The unloading slider 9 has an upper shaft section 90, closed in cross-section, at the upper end of which, emerging from the ring slide device 6′, an operating handle 91 is attached. A tubular section 92 provided with a lateral transfer opening 96 is provided at the free end 93 of the shaft section 90 of the unloading slider 9, which end can be introduced into the central refrigerated goods chamber 40 and forms a receiving and transport chamber 97 for a refrigerated goods container 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76. A refrigerated goods container received therein can thus be removed from the refrigeration chamber or introduced into the refrigeration chamber by means of the unloading slider 9.

The wall 95 of this tubular section 92 is therefore interrupted by the transfer opening 96, which has the same dimensions in the circumferential direction (opening angle) as the transfer openings 65 and 67 of the two ring slide elements 60′, 66′. The axial extent of the transfer opening 96 in the wall 95 of the removal slide 9 is preferably adapted to the axial length of the refrigerated goods containers 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, i.e. slightly larger than the latter, so that only one refrigerated goods container at a time can be received in the receiving and transport chamber 97. Such an unloading slider 9 is designed for the removal of a single refrigerated goods container at a time.

Since the unloading slider 9 is received in the inner ring slide element 66 in a rotationally fixed manner, the transfer openings 96 and 67 of the unloading slider 9 and the inner ring slide element 66 are always aligned with each other in the circumferential direction as soon as the removal slide is inserted far enough into the inner ring slide element 66.

Unloading sliders with an axially longer transfer opening 96 can also be provided for taller refrigerated goods containers or, if the decentral chambers 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 each accommodate several refrigerated goods containers one above the other, for the removal of several refrigerated goods containers. For this case, in which a plurality of refrigerated goods containers are accommodated one above the other in a decentral refrigerated goods chamber, an unloading slider can also be provided, in which the axial extent of the transfer opening 96 corresponds substantially to the axial extent of the transfer gates 41′, 42′, 43′, 44′, 45′, 46′ and which thus forms an uploading slider for the refrigerated chambers. The interchangeability of the unloading slider 9 increases the flexibility of use of the transport container according to the invention.

Since the unloading slider 9 is closed in cross-section in its upper shaft section 90, when it is inserted into the inner ring slide element 66′ it forms a sealing plug for the remaining through channel of the tubular access channel element 5 and thus-together with the tubular ring slide elements 60′, 66′-seals the access channel element 5 and prevents cold from escaping from and heat from entering the refrigerated goods chambers. Both the shaft section 90 of the unloading slider 9 and the ring slide elements 60′, 66′ are preferably made of a material that does not conduct heat or conducts heat only very poorly, such as stainless steel, titanium or a plastic (e.g. Teflon).

To remove a refrigerated goods container from a decentral refrigerated goods chamber, the two ring slider elements 60′, 66′ are first rotated against each other in such a way that their transfer openings 65 and 67 are not aligned with each other, i.e. close each other. Then the transport container—with the outer container lid 10 removed—is brought into a lying position in which the central axis X runs horizontally and the cooling chamber from which the refrigerated goods container is to be removed is at the top. The entire ring slide device 6′—with transfer openings 65, 67 remaining closed—is then rotated so that the transfer opening 67 of the inner ring slide element 66′ points upwards. By turning the outer ring slide element