Method and apparatus for thermally protecting and/or transporting temperature sensitive products
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional packaging systems for temperature-sensitive products suffer from poor temperature distribution due to natural convection limitations, leading to uneven temperatures and reduced effectiveness of cold banks, especially during transportation, which can expose products to inappropriate temperature ranges.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating thermally conductive materials, such as aluminum foil, as conductive equalizers within the packaging to facilitate heat transfer between hotter and cooler areas and the cold bank, ensuring a more uniform temperature distribution by acting as thermal conduits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If filling material is used to prevent shifting of product during handling, then product stability is improved, but convective flow is diminished resulting in temperature stratification
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging system segments the interior space by positioning the cold bank at the top rather than filling with material, allowing convective currents to flow vertically through designated channels while products remain secured in specific zones. This segmentation maintains both product stability and thermal convection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces spacers and channels as intermediary structures that facilitate convective airflow between the cold bank and products without requiring filling material. These intermediaries mediate between the need for product stability and the need for thermal circulation.
2Temperature
If cold bank is placed at top to utilize natural convection, then temperature uniformity is improved, but container rotation during transport causes cold bank to move from desired location
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging system employs asymmetric thermal conduction paths through the container walls and internal structures, creating preferred thermal pathways that maintain effective cooling regardless of container orientation. The cold bank remains at the top while asymmetric conduction ensures heat transfer to products in any orientation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adapts to container rotation by utilizing multiple thermal conduction paths and flexible positioning mechanisms that allow the cold bank to maintain thermal contact with products regardless of orientation changes during transport.
3Temperature
If filling material is used to secure product, then product positioning is improved, but heat transfer efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the filling material from the system and replaces it with a cold bank positioned at the top, allowing thermal energy to be transferred efficiently through convection and conduction pathways without the thermal resistance introduced by filling materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the thermal parameters by eliminating filling material and introducing a cold bank with high thermal mass, fundamentally altering the heat transfer mechanism from conduction through filling material to convection and radiation in open space, thereby improving heat transfer efficiency.
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 significantly extends the time products remain within a desired temperature range and reduces exposure to undesirable temperatures, optimizing the use of cold banks and maintaining product integrity during shipping and storage.
Implementation Method 1
thermally conductive materials, such as aluminum foil, positioned around and/or near the product positioned inside a packaging container, such that the conductive materials conduct heat from one or more locations in the interior of the package to one or more other locations in the interior of the package
Implementation Method 2
cold air is moved throughout the container via natural convection to maintain an adequate temperature range
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the subject invention relate to a method and apparatus for thermally protecting a product, such as when storing and/or shipping a product, so as to control the temperatures the products are exposed to. Embodiments can increased the amount of time the product and/or portions of the product experience a desired temperature range and/or reduce the amount of time the product and/or portions of the product experience temperatures outside of the desired temperature range and/or experience an undesirable temperature range. Embodiments can incorporate thermally conductive materials, such as aluminum sheets, positioned around and/or near the product positioned inside a packaging container, such that the conductive materials conduct heat from one or more locations in the interior of the package to one or more other locations in the interior of the package. These thermally conductive materials can be referred to as conductive equalizers. The conductive equalizers can conductively transfer heat from the hotter portions of the interior of the container to cooler portions of the interior of the container and/or from portions of the interior desired to be cooled to the cold bank. Conducting heat from hotter portions to cooler portions, or from portions to be cooled to the cold bank can result in a more uniform temperature distribution around the product.