STORAGE BAGS AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF

Abstract

A storage unit and method for providing heat transfer are disclosed. The storage unit is a storage bag and webs that are both made from the same film material. The storage bag has a top and a bottom surface having interior and exterior surfaces. The interior surface of both the top and bottom surface are connected by the webs. The webs will form channels through which a heat transfer medium can flow. The storage unit can contain bio-pharmaceutical products as well as other medical fluids that need to have heat transferred into or out of.

Claims

1. A storage unit comprising a storage bag and webs, wherein the storage bag comprises a top and a bottom surface wherein the top and the bottom surfaces have an interior surface and an exterior surface and the top surface and the bottom surface each have edges wherein the edges are sealed together, and the webs are connected to the inner surface of the top surface and the inner surface of the bottom surface, wherein the storage bag and the webs are made from film materials that are the same.

2. The storage unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the storage bag is in a shape selected from the group consisting of square, rectangular, oval and round.

3. The storage unit as claimed in claim 2 wherein the storage bag is rectangular in shape having straight side edges and straight bottom and top edges wherein the length of the side edges is greater than the length of the top and bottom edges.

4. The storage unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the film materials are selected from the group consisting of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), poly vinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (LDPE, HDPE). Polyamide (PA), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer and polyethylene.

5. The storage unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the webs form channels in the interior of the storage bag.

6. The storage unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the storage bag is flexible.

7. The storage unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the webs are connected to the interior surface of the top surface and the interior surface of the bottom surface by a method selected from the group consisting of heat sealing, welding, thermo-contact (TC), radio frequency (RE) and gluing.

8. The storage unit as claimed in claim 5 wherein the channels that are formed comprise at least one layer inside of the storage bag.

9. The storage unit as claimed in claim 8 wherein the channels are in fluid communication with a fill nozzle.

10. A method for providing heat transfer from a fluid comprising feeding the fluid into a storage unit comprising a storage bag and webs which are formed from a same film material wherein the fluid is fed into the storage bag, and feeding a heat transfer fluid into channels formed from webs in the storage bag wherein the webs are connected to an inner surface of a top surface and an inner surface of a bottom surface of the storage bag, wherein the heat transfer fluid in the channels contacts the fluid in the storage bag thereby transferring heat from the fluid.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the storage bag is in a shape selected from the group consisting of square, rectangular, oval and round.

12. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the storage bag is rectangular in shape having straight side edges and straight bottom and top edges wherein the length of the side edges is greater than the length of the top and bottom edges.

13. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the film materials are selected from the group consisting of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), poly vinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (LDPE, HDPE). Polyamide (PA), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer and polyethylene.

14. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the storage bag is flexible.

15. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the webs are connected to the interior surface of the top surface and the interior surface of the bottom surface by a method selected from the group consisting of heat sealing, welding and gluing.

16. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the channels that are formed comprise at least one layer inside of the storage bag.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15 wherein the channels filled through a fill nozzle.

18. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the fluid is a bio-pharmaceutical and medical product.

19. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the heat transfer fluid is selected from the group consisting of gaseous nitrogen, gaseous carbon dioxide and mixtures thereof.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] FIG. 1 is an above-view schematic of the storage unit showing the heat transfer channels present therein.

[0029] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional representation of the storage unit in FIG. 1 showing the location of the heat transfer channels.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional representation of a storage unit showing that the heat transfer channels are designed at the outer shell of the storage unit.

[0031] FIG. 4a is a cross-sectional representation of a storage unit as it shortens in length upon being filled with desired contents and the weld/channel layer is not in the center of the bag anymore.

[0032] FIG. 4b is a cross-sectional representation of a storage unit showing the effective length of the center layer.

[0033] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional representation of a storage unit showing the interconnectivity of the multi-layers of heat transfer channels.

[0034] FIG. 6a is schematic of a temperature control element.

[0035] FIG. 6b is a schematic of a temperature control element in a group control environment.

[0036] FIG. 7 is a highlight of the input/output device for contents in the storage unit (tube-in-tube).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] FIG. 1 is a schematic of a storage device with heat transfer channels according to the invention.

[0038] The storage bag 2 design can be used for heat transfer such as fluid heating, warming, thawing, ripening and cooling and freezing. Typically, this is accomplished with a liquid, cold gas or cryogenic gas such as nitrogen. Other media may also be employed for delivering either heat or cooling to the bag.

[0039] The storage device is shown laying on its side. The storage device is a bag assembly 2 which comprises two superimposed films 1 joined together by a welding technique, typically at points 3a and 3b at the top and bottom and left and right of the storage bag 2. The bag assembly 2 is orientated with a long side 3a and a short side 3b.

[0040] A fluid that is going to be stored in the bag assembly 2 is fed and/or removed the fluid through an input/output line 11 as needed by an operator. This input will typically possess the ability to be opened and closed mechanically such as by a stopcock or other valve mechanism (not shown).

[0041] Webs 4 provide the side walls for the channels 5. The webs 4 contact both the top and bottom of the two superimposed films 1 and are held in place with some adhesive such as paste for contact welding to be a more permanent joining. This is further represented by the webs 8 which contact the webs 4 to provide stability or extend the channel length, so the flow has a longer path to the webs 4 and the channels 5 produced therein. The channels 5 are formed while the heat transfer fluid (either a refrigerant or heating medium) is passed under pressure through the channels 5. The channels 5 must be formed before filling the storage bag 2 with fluid and it is anticipated that they may be formed after filling the storage bag with fluid. The fluid is typically not compressible and thus the channels 5 cannot be formed after filling. This is true when the filling of the storage bag 2 is done in the absence of ambient air and cannot form an air or gas bubble in the storage bag 2. To avoid a separate two chamber system in the storage bag 2, upper and/or lower section openings 6 are provided so that the fluid can be evenly distributed in the storage bag 2.

[0042] The heat transfer fluid is fed into the channels 5 created in the storage bag 2 through an input line 9A. A corresponding outlet line 9B is shown in close proximity to the input line 9A. The heat transfer fluid flows in at line 9A and flow out through line 9B. The biopharma fluid that is to be stored in the storage bag is fed through 11. There is no interconnection between the heat transfer fluid and storage fluid.

[0043] A temperature probe 10 may be inserted into an additional channel in the layer 1, so the temperature probe 10 is in the middle of the fluid that is being stored in the storage bag 2. The temperature probe can send an electric signal to the operator of the storage bag 2 to provide current temperature readings of the fluid therein. Typically, the temperature range is between about 60 C. and 60 C. However, this range can be expanding depending upon the film material specification as well as upon the stored fluid requirements. The temperature probe can communicate to the operator by either a quality monitoring system or a temperature control system depending upon the operator's setup. The operator can then make an adjustment, for example to raise or lower the temperature of the fluid in the storage bag 2 by adding the appropriate heat transfer fluid to the channels 5 through line 9A. The design also allows to insert multiple temperature probes, with the same technique mentioned above, to determine a temperature profile along the channel 5.

[0044] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the storage bag 2 in FIG. 1. In this view, the storage bag is being viewed from its side 3b rather than the top down orientation of FIG. 1. The channels 5 are shown within the center of the storage bag 2. Line 1 shows the welded films 1a and 1b. There are two films 1a and 1b needed to be able to create the channel. The films 1a and 1b will be superimposed that they can be welded at point 1. The complete storage bag will therefore have 4 layers of film. 1a and 1b for the heat transfer and film 2 for defining the storage. At their edges the four layers will be welded.

[0045] Further, FIG. 2 shows the top surface 2A of the storage bag 2 as well as the bottom surface 2B. Each of these surfaces 2A and 2B will have an exterior surface and an interior surface. These designations are intended to provide proper identification of the interior and exterior of the storage bag for spatial purposes. In particular, the exterior surface of the top surface 2A will be designated 10A while its corresponding interior surface will be designated 10B. The bottom surface 2B has an exterior surface 11A and an interior surface 11B.

[0046] FIG. 3 is another view of the storage bag 2 viewed from its side 3b. In this view, multiple layers of channels 5 are present in the storage bag 2 for allowing passage of heat transfer fluid through multiple levels of the storage bag 2. In this embodiment, it is shown that the channels that circulated the heat transfer fluid can be attached to the outside of the storage bag as well as being present inside of the storage bag. By virtue of this embodiment, there would be a total of six layers of film present in this storage bag structure.

[0047] FIG. 4a is a sideways view of a storage bag 2 showing the change in the width x of the storage bag 2 as a consequence of being filled with fluid. The empty storage bag 2 has a length L shown at the bottom of the figure. When the filling of the storage bag 2 with fluid is complete, the width of the storage bag 2 has expanded while its length has decreased by an arbitrary distance x. A consequence then of the filling of the bag with fluid is that the middle layer 1 with the channels that provide the heat transfer fluid may no longer be centered in the storage bag 2. This is especially the situation encountered while the channels are not filled with heat transfer fluid.

[0048] The remedy for this is shown in FIG. 4b where the design of the channels 5 is designed so that their height is taken into account when channels are filled with heat transfer fluid and the storage bag 2 is partially or fully filled with fluid. The channels 5 can have a corresponding curvature length L such that the channels will remain in the middle of the storage bag 2, and hence the fluid to optimize heat transfer to the fluid.

[0049] FIG. 5 is an alternative view of the storage bag 2 shown in FIG. 3. In this schematic, the storage bag 2 is shown from its side view 3b from the bottom up and shows an expanded storage bag 2 filled with fluid and the relative positioning of the several channels 5 that are separated into three distinct layers to provide heat transfer throughout the fluid present in the storage bag 2.

[0050] FIG. 6A is a schematic showing that temperature control can be achieved when some form of temperature measurement of the fluid in a storage bag is retrieved by an operator. The temperature element can provide data for temperature control for either cooling or heating of the fluid that is present in the storage bag. The measurements of temperature then can be transmitted to the operator who can in turn respond to the measurement by increasing or decreasing depending upon the nature of the fluid the amount of heat transfer that is applied thereto.

[0051] Line 23 represents the flow of heat transfer fluid into storage device 21 while line 24 represents the flow of heat transfer fluid from the storage device 21. A temperature control unit 20 measures the temperature of the contents of the storage device 21. The control unit 20 can instruct through electrical connection 22 valve V1 whether to open up or close depending upon whether the operator wishes, based on the reading of control unit 20 whether to raise or lower the temperature of the fluid in storage device 21. The position of valve V1 at the outlet line 24 has the advantage that the channels are always pressurized with heat transfer fluid, so the channels won't collapse during operation.

[0052] FIG. 6b represents a situation where there is a group control scheme maintained by the operator. In this embodiment, two storage units 32 and 38 respectively are having the temperature of their fluid contents being measured through temperature control units 31 and 37 respectively. The heat transfer fluid is fed through line 33 and line 35 where it will transfer through open valve V3 to line 34. Likewise line 33 delivers heat transfer fluid to line 36 for feed into storage device 38. When valve V4 is open, the heat transfer fluid is fed to line 34 where it will exit the system.

[0053] The temperature control schemes will provide electronic signals through lines 40 and 41 respectively to a central control hub 44. From there, the operator can mechanically or through pre-programmed statuses direct electronically through line 42 to open or close valve V2 which will allow for more or less ingress of temperature control fluid into the respective storage devise 32 and 38. In this manner, the central control hub will allow an operator to not only monitor the temperature in two or more storage devices but will allow the operator to adjust the temperatures of the fluid in those devices accordingly. This lends greater control to the operations while also allowing the operator to use one source line of heat transfer fluid.

[0054] FIG. 7 is a blow-up detail of the fluid lines in and out (9a and 9b) from FIG. 1. Here rather than two tubes as shown in FIG. 1, there are two tubes in this embodiment. It is a tube-in-tube connection. The fluid tube in 9a is insert in tube 9b for allowing the transfer of fluid out of the storage bag as detailed in FIG. 1. This could be accomplished by a tube-in-tube structure wherein a single tube encompasses both the line for inputting heat transfer medium and outputting heat transfer medium into the appropriate storage device.

[0055] While this invention has been described with respect to particular embodiments thereof, it is apparent that numerous other forms and modifications of the invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art. The appended claims in this invention generally should be construed to cover all such obvious forms and modifications which are within the true spirit and scope of the invention.