Nested Insulated Shipping Containers for Stable Payload Temperature
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Solution Overview
Problem
Insulated shipping containers used in the pharmaceutical, transplant, and food industries are often oversized, heavy, and costly, with standard foam materials being non-recyclable, leading to environmental concerns and inefficiencies in temperature maintenance during shipping.
Innovation Solution
The use of a smaller insulated container with phase change material, placed inside a larger insulated container, which also houses additional phase change material and refrigerant, minimizing the thermal protection needs of the inner container and allowing for a thinner-walled, less expensive design, while the outer container provides additional insulation and can be reused.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a single large insulated container is used to match payload size, then temperature regulation is adequate, but the container is heavy, expensive, and non-recyclable
Solution Approach 1:
The single large insulated container is divided into two separate containers: an inner container that closely fits the payload and an outer container that provides additional insulation. The inner container is lightweight and recyclable, while the outer container can be reused across multiple shipments. This segmentation reduces the weight and environmental impact of the primary payload container while maintaining adequate temperature regulation through the combined insulation of both containers.
2Temperature
If a single large insulated container is used, then temperature regulation is adequate, but the container is large and generates disposal problems
Solution Approach 1:
The container system is segmented into an inner container that closely fits the payload and can be easily recycled, and an outer container that can be reused across multiple shipments. This eliminates the need to dispose of large foam containers after each use, reducing environmental impact while maintaining adequate temperature regulation through combined insulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner container is designed to be recyclable after use, while the outer container is designed for reuse across multiple shipments. This approach recovers and reuses container materials rather than discarding them after single use, reducing environmental impact and disposal costs while maintaining temperature regulation performance.
3Ease of manufacture
If a thinner-walled inner container is used, then cost and weight are reduced, but temperature protection is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The thermal protection function is merged between two containers: the inner container provides baseline insulation with thinner walls, and the outer container adds supplementary insulation. The combined thermal protection of both containers together provides adequate temperature regulation, allowing the inner container to use less expensive, thinner materials while still meeting temperature protection requirements.
4Temperature
If more boxes conforming to payload dimensions are used inside the container, then insulation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using multiple separate boxes conforming to payload dimensions, the solution uses a nested doll approach where a single inner container is placed inside a single outer container. This provides improved insulation through the nested configuration while maintaining simplicity in container configuration and avoiding the complexity of multiple separate containers or custom-fitted boxes.
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 configuration reduces the need for phase change and refrigerant materials in the inner container, lowers environmental impact, and enables cost savings by allowing the reuse of larger containers, while maintaining effective temperature regulation for payloads during shipping and storage.
Implementation Method 1
phase change material (e.g., Phase 5™, by TCP Reliable, Inc., Edison, N.J., which is 1-Decanol)
Implementation Method 2
insulated containers are widely used to maintain the temperature of shipped materials near refrigeration levels
Data Source
AI summary
Insulated containers which conform relatively closely in size to the payload size, which contain a payload and phase change material and/or a refrigerated gel are all placed in a larger insulated shipping container, which may house additional phase change material and/or refrigerant. The combined insulating effect of the inner and outer containers allows minimizing the use of phase change material inside the inner container for the payload itself, and the presence of the phase material, together with the use of frozen gels inside the outer container, provides for only a small difference in temperature between the interior of the inner container and the interior of the outer container. The inner containers can be less insulated and lower cost, and the outer containers can be recycled.