Thermally Insulated Container Assembly

Abstract

The present invention provides a thermally insulated container comprising an expanded foam layer, a further layer, internal of the expanded foam layer, formed of a plurality of cool packs or insulation panels, and a locking lid. The cool packs consist of a combination of cool packs with stepped edges and individual side wall cool packs side wall cool packs formed with a living hinge, wherein the cool packs consist of a protruding fill point on one edge and blanking protrusions on the remaining three edges, and the cool packs comprise recesses on the top and bottom edges to accommodate either the fill point or the blanking protrusion of each adjacent cool pack. The insulation panels are pre-assembled on a sheet ready for insertion into the container. The expanded foam layer includes a number of individual preformed sections assembled to form a main body of the container, the main body consisting of a rectangular base and four wall sections, wherein inner faces of opposed pairs of wall sections are substantially parallel to each other. The locking lid comprises a main body formed from an expanded foam and a locking member formed from expanded foam, the main body being arranged to be received in and to close a mouth of the container and the locking member being arranged to rotate to lock the lid in place. The lid in accordance with the invention may provide a particularly efficient thermal barrier.

Claims

1. A cool pack comprising at least two rigid compartments each containing a sealed in coolant, the two compartments being joined by a living hinge.

2. The cool pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two compartments and the living hinge are integrally formed.

3. The cool pack as claimed in claim 2, formed by blow moulding.

4. The cool pack as claimed in claim 3, wherein the cool pack is formed from a high density polyethylene or polypropylene.

5. The cool pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the coolant is a phase change material.

6. The cool pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein each compartment is substantially planar and the living hinge permits the two compartments to be folded from a flat configuration to a right angled configuration where the two compartments are arranged at 90 degrees to each other.

7. The cool pack as claimed in claim 6, wherein each compartment has substantially parallel planar front and rear surfaces and wherein adjacent edges of the two compartments, which are joined by the living hinge and which each define a side edge of a respective compartment, are chamfered at substantially 45 degrees, so that when the two compartments are arranged at 90 degrees to each other the two adjacent side edges abut each other.

8. The cool pack as claimed in claim 7, wherein the opposite side edges are chamfered at substantially 45 degrees so that each may abut a corresponding side edge of a similar cool pack.

9. The cool pack as claimed in claim 8, wherein each compartment has substantially planar top and bottom edges which are perpendicular to the front and back faces of that compartment.

10. A container comprising two cool packs according to claim 8, the cool packs arranged within the container so that four compartments, two from each cool pack, each abut two other compartments to form a square or rectangle, with each side of the square or rectangle corresponding to a side of the container.

11. The cool pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cool pack comprises four compartments, each compartment filled with coolant, the compartments arranged in a linear array and joined by three living hinges, wherein the four compartments may be folded together to form a square or rectangle.

12. The cool pack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the width of each compartment from the living hinge to a side opposite the living hinge is the same for each compartment.

13. The cool pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dimensions of each compartment are substantially identical to each other.

14. A thermally insulated container comprising one or more of the cool packs according to claim 1.

15. The container as claimed in claim 14, wherein the container is square or rectangular and the one or more cool packs are arranged such that at least one compartment forms or is adjacent to a wall of the container.

16. The container as claimed in claim 15, comprising a base cool pack arranged to sit in a base of the container, wherein the one or more cool packs are arranged to engage with an edge of the base cool pack.

17. The container of claim 16, the container comprising four outer walls and a base formed of expanded foam that define a space into which the base cool pack and the one or more cool packs are inserted.

18. The container of claim 16, the container further comprising an outer insulation layer and a layer of insulation panels located within the outer insulation layer and wherein the compartments of the cool packs are arranged to be received inside the layer of insulation panels, to provide a container with an outer insulation layer, an intermediate insulation panel layer and an inner cool pack layer.

19. A cool pack arrangement comprising a first substantially planar cool pack having at least one edge with a first profile and a second substantially planar cool pack having at least one edge with a second profile wherein the first and second profiles are such that when the first and second edges abut they provide a stepped path between the two edges.

20. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 19 wherein the stepped path comprises a single step.

21. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 19 wherein the stepped path comprises multiple steps.

22. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 19 wherein the edge of the first cool pack has a first profile in the form of a step with a tread portion in the plane of the first cool pack and a riser portion perpendicular to the plane of the first cool pack and wherein the second cool pack has an edge with a second profile with two surfaces at right angles to each other to permit the said two surfaces to each lie parallel to and abut a respective one of the tread portion and riser portion of the edge of the first cool pack and permit the second cool pack to stand on the tread portion of the edge of the first cool pack so that the second cool pack extends substantially perpendicular to the plane of the first cool pack.

23. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 22, wherein when the second cool pack stands on the tread portion of the edge of the first cool pack, so that the second cool pack extends substantially perpendicular to the plane of the first cool pack, the riser portion of the edge of the first cool pack acts to at least partially restrain the second cool pack from leaning inwards over the first cool pack.

24. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 19, wherein the edge of the second cool pack has a square profile.

25. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first cool pack forms a base portion with a plurality of straight edges each having a stepped profile, the arrangement comprising a plurality of second cool packs each arranged to stand upright on a respective edge of the first cool pack.

26. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 25 wherein the second cool packs are all identical.

27. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 25 wherein the first cool pack has four edges in the shape of a square or rectangle, the cool pack arrangement comprising at least four second cool packs arranged to stand on tread portions of the four edges of the first cool pack and abut each other to form a shape where the first cool pack forms a base portion with the four second cool packs upstanding from the edges thereof to form four wall portions.

28. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 27 wherein the four second cool packs are identical.

29. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 27, wherein side edges of each second cool pack are chamfered at substantially 45 degrees so that each may abut a side edge of an adjacent second cool pack.

30. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 27 comprising two identical first cool packs, wherein one of the first cool packs forms the base portion and the other forms a lid portion when inverted relative to the cool pack of the base portion.

31. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 30 wherein a top edge of each of the second cool packs has a profile substantially identical to the profile of its bottom edge, so that when each second cool pack abuts a respective edge of the cool pack forming the lid, the profiles of the respective adjoining edges are such that they provide a stepped path.

32. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 19, wherein each cool pack is blow moulded.

33. The cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 20, wherein each cool pack is formed from a high density polyethylene.

34. A thermally insulated container comprising a cool pack arrangement as claimed in claim 25, the container comprising four outer walls and a base formed of expanded foam that define a space into which the cool packs are inserted.

35. The thermally insulated container claimed in claim 25, the container further comprising an outer insulation later and a layer of insulation panels within the outer insulation later, and wherein the cool packs are arranged to be received inside the layer of insulation panels, to provide a container with an outer insulation layer and an intermediate insulation panel layer and an inner cool pack layer.

36-105. (canceled)

Description

[0074] The invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

[0075] FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of a thermally insulated shipping container with a cool pack and lid arrangement in accordance with the present invention;

[0076] FIG. 2 is a cutaway side elevation of the assembled container of FIG. 1;

[0077] FIG. 3 is a top view of the container of FIGS. 1 and 2 with the lid removed;

[0078] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the components of the outer casing of the container of FIG. 1;

[0079] FIG. 5 is a cutaway side elevation of the components of FIG. 4 assembled;

[0080] FIG. 6 is a plan view of the components of the lid portion of the casing of FIGS. 4 and 5 with a top cover portion removed;

[0081] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the cool pack arrangement of the container of FIG. 1;

[0082] FIG. 8 is a perspective exploded view of the cool packs of FIG. 7;

[0083] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a top or bottom cool pack of FIG. 8;

[0084] FIG. 10 is a plan view, together with respective side elevations, of the cool pack of FIG. 9;

[0085] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a side wall cool pack of FIG. 7;

[0086] FIG. 12 is plan view, together with respective side elevations, of the side wall cool pack of FIG. 11;

[0087] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an alternative set of cool packs for the container of FIG. 1;

[0088] FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view of the cool packs of FIG. 13;

[0089] FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a side wall cool pack of FIG. 13;

[0090] FIG. 16 is plan view, together with respective side elevations, of the side wall cool pack of FIG. 15;

[0091] FIG. 17 is an expanded perspective view of a top insulation panel, side wall insulation panel assembly and bottom insulation panel for the container of FIG. 1;

[0092] FIG. 18 shows the side wall insulation panel assembly of FIG. 17 prior to insertion into the container of FIG. 1;

[0093] FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the side wall insulation panel assembly of FIG. 18 laid out as a linear array;

[0094] FIG. 20 is a plan view of the insulation panel assembly of FIG. 19;

[0095] FIG. 21 is a side elevation of the insulation panel assembly of FIG. 20;

[0096] FIG. 22 illustrates the components of the side wall insulation panel assembly of FIGS. 17 to 21, prior to assembly; and

[0097] FIGS. 23 to 25 are top views showing two side wall insulation panels of the side wall insulation panel assembly, of FIGS. 17 to 21, at various stages as the side wall insulation panels are folded together.

[0098] Referring to FIG. 1, a thermally insulated shipping container 1 comprises a number of components which, as most clearly seen from the partially cutaway side elevation of FIG. 2 and the plan view of FIG. 3 (with the lid 13 removed) comprises three layers, indicated generally as a thermally insulating outer casing 2, a cool pack layer 3 comprising a cool pack arrangement in accordance with the present invention and a vacuum insulation panel layer 4 located between the two.

[0099] The components 5 to 12 of the thermally insulating outer casing 2 are disclosed and described in greater detail in and with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 and the cool packs 29 to 35 forming the cool pack layer 3 are disclosed and described in greater detail in and with reference to FIGS. 7 to 16. The vacuum insulation panels forming the vacuum insulation panel layer 4, are located as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and comprise six panels 4a to 4f, providing additional insulation between the respective cool packs 4a to 4f and the outer insulation casing 3.

[0100] The four insulation panels 4b to 4e are side wall insulation panels and, although not shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, are assembled into insulation panel assembly as shown in and described with reference to FIGS. 17 to 25.

[0101] Referring now to FIG. 4, the thermally insulating outer casing 2, shown in exploded view, comprises eight components each formed from expanded polypropylene (EPP) foam. The eight components comprise a base 5, a first pair of identical opposed walls 6 and 7, a second pair of identical opposed walls 8 and 9, a lid, indicated generally as 13 having an inner portion 10, a locking portion 11 and an outer portion 12.

[0102] Each of the second pairs of walls 8 and 9 have a plurality of sockets 14 moulded into both side edges of their outer faces. These engage with plugs 15 which protrude from extension portions 16 on the inward facing side edges of each of the first pairs of walls 6 and 7, only one set of which can be seen in FIG. 4.

[0103] To assemble the outer casing 2, the second pair of walls 8 and 9 are positioned between respective pairs of extension portions 16 on each of the walls 6 and 7 and moved outwards until the plugs 15 on the walls 6 and 7 engage in the sockets 14 on the walls 8 and 9. Base 5 is then inserted and pushed down between the assembled walls 6 to 9 to the position shown in FIG. 5, where it is retained in place by lips 17 and 18. The base locks the bottoms of the walls 6 to 9 in place by preventing walls 8 and 9 moving inwardly. The lid 13, when assembled sits between the walls 6 to 9, being retained in place by a step 20 running along the top edges of the walls 6 to 9. This similarly locks the tops of the walls 6 to 9 in place.

[0104] The lid 13, shown in FIG. 4, has a locking portion 11 sandwiched between the inner portion 10 of the lid 13 and the outer portion 12 of the lid 13 which inner and outer portions 10 and 12 are fixed together to form the lid 13. The locking portion 11 is rotatably retained in place by a downwardly protruding pin 21, seen in FIG. 5, engaging in the aperture 22 in the inner portion of the lid 10 and with the upper protruding portion 23 of the locking portion 11 of the lid engaging in the aperture 24 in the outer portion of the lid 12.

[0105] The locking portion 11 has four protrusions 25, which when the locking portion 11 of the lid is rotated to a locked position extend beyond the four edges of the lid, engaging with respective slots 26 in the top of the walls 6 to 9, to lock the lid in place, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

[0106] As can be seen most clearly from FIG. 5, both the inner portion 10 of the lid 13 and the base 5 have recesses 27 and 28. The vacuum insulation panels 4a and 4f, forming the top and bottom of the vacuum insulation panel layer 4 of FIGS. 1 to 3, are accommodated in these recesses 27, 28, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The remaining vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e, of the outer vacuum, insulation panels 4 are then arranged as an assembly against the inner faces of the four walls 6 to 9 of the outer casing 2.

[0107] The thermally insulating outer casing 2, being formed from individually moulded walls 6 to 9 defines an inner space between the walls 6 to 9, which space has parallel vertical sides, which would not normally be possible if the four walls 6 to 9 and base 5 had been moulded as a single piece (for it would normally necessary to have tapered inner walls to permit the casing to be released from a mould tool). The advantage of having parallel inner walls is that they can correctly accommodate both standard rectangular or square vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e of the vacuum insulation panel assembly discussed below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 16, keeping both the vacuum panels and cool packs tightly confined in order to minimise convection between adjacent panels or cool packs and to retain a correctly packed product in place.

[0108] If desired a stretch film wrap may be provided around three of the assembled walls and 6 to 9 of the outer casing 2, prior to the fourth wall being locked in place and tensioning the film wrap. This may not only assist in keeping the walls of the outer container locked together, especially in the event of the container being dropped or otherwise suffering a major impact, but the wrap may also be pre-printed and thus provides an easy way of customising graphics on the container 1 for a particular customer, or enables the customer to easily apply their own graphics.

[0109] Once the outer casing 2 has been assembled, as shown in FIG. 5, and the vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e inserted, the cool packs (once cooled) of FIGS. 7 to 16 may be inserted therein to form the cool pack layer 3.

[0110] The cool pack layer is shown in FIG. 7 as it would be arranged in the container 1 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 8, the cool pack layer 3 comprises only two components types, comprising identical top and bottom cool packs 29 and 30, shown in greater detail in FIGS. 9 and 10, and four identical side wall cool packs 32 to 35, shown in greater detail in FIGS. 11 and 12. Each of the cool packs may be formed by standard moulding technique and filled with a water-based material or other phase change material such as paraffin wax, which can subsequently be cooled.

[0111] The top and bottom cool packs 29 and 30 will now be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. In the following discussion the illustrated cool pack is taken to be the bottom cool pack 30, but the same features are found on the identical top cool pack 29 of FIG. 8.

[0112] The bottom cool pack 30 of FIG. 9 is provided with a step 36 around all four edges, with a fill point cap 37 on one of the edges. Because the cool pack 30 is relatively thin in the region below the step 36, the fill point cap 37 extends above the level of the tread portion of the step 36 and partly protrudes out of the riser portion of the step above the tread portion. In corresponding positions on each of the other three sides of the cool pack 30 there are provided blanking protrusions 38 to 40, the purpose of which is described below.

[0113] Referring now to FIGS. 11 and 12, there is illustrated one side wall cool pack 35, identical to each of the other side wall cool packs 32 to 34. This has flat top and bottom edges 41, 42 perpendicular to the front and rear faces of the cool pack 35 and side edges 43, 44 chamfered at 45 to abut adjacent chamfered side edges 44, 43 of adjacent cool packs, when assembled as shown in FIG. 7 inside the container 1 of FIG. 1.

[0114] Referring again to FIGS. 11 and 12, each side wall cool pack 32 to 35 has vertical notches 45 formed along the top and bottom edges of its inner face and a small recess 46 in the top or bottom edge 42 and a larger recess 47 formed in the opposite edge 41, in which the fill point cap 48 is accommodated, off-set to one side of the layer recess 47. The notches 45 assist when lifting the side wall cool packs 32 to 34 out of the container. The fill point cap 48 being off-set leaves the recess 47 clear in a midpoint, opposite to the smaller recess 46 in the opposite edge. The side wall cool packs 32 to 35 are readily distinguishable from the top and bottom cool packs 29 and 30 by their chamfered side edges 43, 44 and absence of a step 36. Therefore, when inserting a cool pack layer 3 within the assembled outer casing 2 it is to identify the top and bottom cool packs 29, 30 from the side wall cool packs 32 to 35 and first place one into the base of the outer casing 2 of the container 1 of FIG. 1.

[0115] Each side wall cool pack 32 to 35, in use, may be located in any of the four side wall positions of FIG. 7 and may be mounted with either of its flat edges downwards, as each side wall cool pack 32 to 35, either way up, will accommodate the fill point cap 37 of the bottom cool pack 30. This will either be accommodated in a smaller recess 46 or a larger recess 47 of the respective side wall cool pack 32 to 35.

[0116] The riser portion of the step 36 on the bottom cool pack 30, abutting the horizontal flat bottom edge of the side wall cool packs 32 to 35, resists convection of air by providing a double step for any convection currents to negotiate. This double step feature is also present along the top edges of the side wall cool packs 32 to 35, where they engage the step 36 of the top cool pack 29 of FIG. 5.

[0117] When the cool packs 29 to 34 are assembled, as shown in FIG. 7, the protrusions 38 to 40 on the top and bottom cool packs 29 and 30 fit and fill the notches 46 or 47 of the side wall cool packs 32 to 35, (necessary to accommodate fill point cap 37) and restrict the convection through these notches to further prevent convection.

[0118] The step 36 on the bottom cool pack 30, being square, as opposed to chamfered, additionally assists in assembly of the side wall cool packs 32 to 35, for the step 36 acts to stop the first side wall cool pack inserted falling inwards before adjacent side wall cool pack 32 to 35 are inserted.

[0119] Referring now to FIGS. 13 to 16, there is shown a slightly modified set of cool packs 49, 50 for use, as the wall portion of the cool pack layer 3 of the container 1 of FIG. 1. The top and bottom cool packs 29 and 30 are identical to those disclosed in FIGS. 7 to 9, but in this embodiment instead of there being four side wall cool packs there are instead only the two identical double side wall cool packs 49 and 50. Each of the two side wall cool packs 49 and 50 effectively comprises two side wall cool packs as previously described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 8 and 11 to 12, but which are joined by a living hinge 31. These can be formed by blow moulding in a conventional manner but with the sides of the moulds being brought together to form a living hinge 31, or the living hinge 31 can be formed by a separate subsequent step in the manufacturing process.

[0120] Referring now to FIG. 17, this illustrates the components of the vacuum insulation panel layer 4.

[0121] The vacuum insulation panel layer 4 comprises a top vacuum insulation panel 4a, a bottom vacuum insulation panel 41 and a vacuum insulation panel assembly 54.

[0122] As will be described below with reference to FIGS. 23 to 25, with this assembly 54, the side wall vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e may be tightly bound together when in use, as illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 18, without the need to tape them together. This also provides a vacuum insulation panel assembly 54 that is capable of being easily and quickly inserted into the thermally insulating outer layer 2, once this has been assembled.

[0123] The components of the vacuum insulation panel assembly 54 are shown in FIG. 22, prior to assembly. These comprise the four side wall insulation panels 4b to 4e and a thin PVC sheet 58. The PVC sheet 58 is shown laid flat with the four side wall vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e laid thereon with their outer faces uppermost. The PVC sheet is formed with four creases 59 to 62 extending parallel to the top and bottom edges of the sheet 58 and four creases 63 to 66 extending perpendicular to the top and bottom edges of the sheet 58. Each crease is formed so that it acts to fold the sheet to either side of the crease, out of the page as shown in FIG. 23.

[0124] The sheet 58 has four cut out sections (although they could be formed other than by being cut) 67 to 70, formed between the parallel creases 61 and 62 and four corresponding cut out sections 71 to 74 formed between parallel creases 59 and 60. In addition, cuts 75 to 77 extend between respective pairs of cut out sections 68, 72; 69, 73; and 70, 74 to form four flaps 78 to 81 defined by the respective cuts 75 to 77 or edge of the sheet 58 and respective perpendicular creases 63 to 66. The width of each flap 78 to 81 is the same as the depth of the side wall vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e, with the perpendicular creases 63 to 66 urging the flaps 78 to 81 vertically, out of the page as shown in FIG. 22, so that they lie adjacent to a side edge of a respective vacuum insulation panel 4b to 4e.

[0125] The two parallel creases 59 and 60 are also separated by a distance equal to the width of the vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e, with the two creases together urging the top edge portion of sheet 58 to fold through 180 and wrap over the top edge of the vacuum insulation panels, sandwiching the vacuum insulation panels therebetween. Creases 61, 62 likewise cause the bottom edge of the sheet 58 to wrap over the bottom edges of the vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e. Thus, the top and bottom edges of the sheet 58, as shown in FIGS. 17 to 20, thus now respectively form a top strip 82 and a bottom strip 83, which strips 82, 83 both extend across the outer faces of vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e. The vacuum insulation panels can optionally then be adhered in place.

[0126] Referring now to FIG. 23, this shows an edge view of a section of the vacuum insulation panel assembly 54, showing the sheet 58 and two of the vacuum insulation panels 4b and 4c. From FIG. 23 it can be seen that in addition to forming top and bottom strips 82 and 83 (only 82 of which is shown) on the outward facing surfaces of vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e, the sheet 58 also provides covering sections 84 for the inner faces of the vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e. Respective flaps 78 to 81 form extension portions to the covering sections 84, which wrap around one edge only of the respective vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e.

[0127] As shown in FIGS. 24 and 25, as adjacent vacuum insulation panels 4b, 4c are folded together, the flap 81 is sandwiched between a side edge of vacuum insulation panel 4b and the side edge of a front face of adjacent vacuum insulation panel 4c, with the top and bottom strips 82 and 83 urging the side edge of vacuum insulation panel 4c against the edge of an inner face of adjacent vacuum insulation panel 4b and maintaining them there, avoiding the need for the vacuum insulation panels 4b, 4c to be subsequently taped together. Once the vacuum insulation panel assembly 54 has been folded together, as shown in FIG. 17, the PVC sheet 58 then forms a lining for the inner surfaces of the side wall vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e. These surfaces are maintained substantially flat by one side edge of the covering section 84 and extension portion, or flaps 78 to 81 forming a right angle and with the opposite edge of each covering section 84 overlapping with and being sandwiched against the respective flap 78 to 81, as shown in FIG. 23. Thus each covering section 84 effectively not only covers the inner face of each side wall vacuum insulation panel 4b to 4e, but also extends over the top and bottom edges to form top and bottom strips 82 and 83. Thus the sheet 58 covers all exposed surfaces of the vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e when they are assembled in the thermal insulating outer casing 2 of container 1 and protects the vacuum insulation panels 4b to 4e when the cool packs are inserted in the container 1.

[0128] One embodiment of the present invention has been described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings and it will be apparent that many modifications may be made which fall within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.