Temperature controlled product shipper
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current temperature-controlled product shippers require pre-conditioning and storage of large volumes of phase change material (PCM) gel packs, which is expensive and inefficient, especially in cold-chain applications.
Innovation Solution
A novel phase change material (PCM) bladder designed to receive and hold a flowable PCM at the point of packaging, eliminating the need for pre-conditioned gel packs, featuring a filling port and various configurations such as single, dual, and asymmetrical designs to provide uniform thermal profiles around product boxes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pre-conditioned gel packs are used to maintain target temperature, then temperature control reliability is improved, but storage cost and complexity increase due to needing to pre-condition and store large volumes of PCM at multiple temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature parameter of the PCM from pre-conditioned fixed temperatures to ambient temperature, eliminating the need for pre-conditioning infrastructure. The bladder system adapts to different temperature requirements by using phase change materials that transition at the desired target temperature, rather than requiring storage at multiple pre-set temperatures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the PCM from its traditional pre-conditioned gel pack form and replaces it with a bladder system that can be filled at ambient temperature. This separates the storage function from the temperature control function, allowing the PCM to be stored easily at ambient conditions and only conditioned when needed in the shipper.
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple temperatures of PCM are used to achieve target temperature, then temperature control precision is improved, but the number of PCM types and storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal bladder system that can achieve multiple temperature control precision levels by using a single type of ambient-temperature-storable PCM. The system's multi-functionality is achieved through the bladder design and phase change material selection rather than requiring multiple PCM types, allowing one system to serve multiple temperature control needs.
3Stability of the object's composition
If uniform thermal profile is provided around product box, then temperature distribution homogeneity is improved, but bladder configuration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs asymmetrical bladder configurations where the bladder shape and positioning are specifically designed to compensate for the non-uniform heat transfer characteristics of the shipper and product box. This asymmetrical design allows uniform thermal profiles to be achieved without requiring complex multi-chamber or multi-bladder systems, as the single bladder's asymmetric form factor naturally distributes heat evenly across all sides of the product.
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
The PCM bladder system reduces costs by eliminating the need for pre-conditioning and storage of gel packs, ensuring efficient and uniform temperature control in temperature-controlled product shippers.
Implementation Method 1
the bladder chamber is configured so that it has a substantially uniform thickness when filled with the flowable PCM whereby the bladder provides a substantially uniform thermal profile around all sides of the product box
Implementation Method 2
phase change material (PCM) bladder which is designed and configured to receive and hold a flowable PCM
Data Source
AI summary
A temperature controlled product shipper includes a phase change material bladder which can be filled at the point of packaging. The shipper includes an internal product box and an outer box where the product box is received within the outer box. The phase change material bladder is received within a cavity defined between the outer surface of the product box and the inner surface of the outer box. The shipper may also include an insulated liner which is received between the product box and the bladder.