Multiply-Insulated Container Assembly With Vacuum-Guiding Vents
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing insulator components do not provide sufficient insulation to protect sensitive components from environmental conditions such as extreme temperatures for extended periods.
Innovation Solution
The design of multiply-insulated articles featuring containers with variable distance spacing and vents that guide gas molecules out of the insulating space, creating a deeper vacuum without the need for getter materials, combined with low-emissivity coatings and phase change materials for enhanced thermal protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing insulator components are used, then the structure is simple, but the insulation performance is insufficient to protect sensitive components from extreme temperatures for extended periods
Solution Approach 1:
The insulation system is divided into multiple independent vacuum spaces, each bounded by containers with inner and outer walls. Each vacuum space operates independently to provide thermal insulation, allowing the system to achieve superior insulation performance through segmentation rather than relying on a single complex insulation structure.
Solution Approach 2:
Containers are nested within other containers to create multiple insulating layers. The first container is disposed within the second container, with each container having its own vacuum space between inner and outer walls. This nested arrangement provides multiply-insulated protection while maintaining a compact overall structure.
2Productivity
If variable distance spacing is used to direct gas molecules toward the vent, then evacuation efficiency is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The spacing between container walls is made variable in specific local regions rather than uniformly throughout. The distance between the first and second walls is variable in a portion of the insulating space adjacent the vent, creating local quality variations that guide gas molecules toward the vent during evacuation while maintaining manufacturability.
Solution Approach 2:
The variable distance spacing creates curved or tapered geometries in the insulating space near the vent. This curvature helps direct gas molecules toward the vent opening during evacuation, improving evacuation efficiency without requiring extremely tight manufacturing tolerances across the entire structure.
3Reliability
If multiple containers are nested to provide multiply-insulated protection, then thermal insulation is enhanced, but the device complexity and material usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a nested container configuration where the first container is disposed within the second container, with each container providing its own vacuum insulation. This nested doll approach achieves multiply-insulated thermal protection while maintaining a compact form factor and avoiding the complexity of separate parallel insulation systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes vacuum conditions (pressure parameter changes) within each container's insulating space to provide thermal insulation. By creating vacuum spaces between inner and outer walls of nested containers, the system achieves superior thermal insulation without requiring thick solid insulation materials, thereby reducing overall material usage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution achieves effective thermal insulation by maintaining a deep vacuum and reducing thermal transfer, protecting sensitive components from environmental stresses while minimizing material usage and costs.
Implementation Method 1
a vent communicating with the insulating space to provide an exit pathway for gas molecules from the space, the vent being sealable for maintaining a vacuum within the insulating space following evacuation of gas molecules through the vent
Implementation Method 2
the distance between the first and second walls being variable in a portion of the insulating space adjacent the vent such that gas molecules within the insulating space are directed towards the vent by the variable-distance portion of the first and second walls during the evacuation of the insulating space
Implementation Method 3
Existing insulator components, however, do not provide sufficient insulation to protect their contents from such environmental conditions for sufficiently long periods of time
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are multiply-insulated articles, comprising at least first and second containers disposed together such that the interior volume of the first container is sealed against the environment exterior to the article.