EP2876389A1 - Thermally insulated container - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a heat-insulated container for transport purposes, with a container wall (02) which completely encloses an interior space (07), wherein the interior space (07) has a closable opening and is isolated with several vacuum insulation elements (24) against heat exchange, wherein Container (01) at least one passive melt storage element (16, 17) can be arranged. This is characterized in that the container is designed in the manner of a preferably airworthy transport container (01) and in that the container wall (02) of several wall elements (03, 04, 05, 06) is formed, namely of three side wall elements (03 ), a ceiling element (05), a floor element (04) and at least one door element (06) that the door element (06) is pivotally mounted about a vertical axis, that the Behältenrvandung (02) double-walled with a dimensionally stable outer wall (22) and a dimensionally stable inner wall (23) is formed, that the vacuum insulation elements (24) have a planar shape, namely, are formed as thermal insulation panels, and that the vacuum insulation elements (24) between the outer wall (22) and the inner wall (23) are arranged.

Description

The invention relates to a thermally insulated container according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such thermally insulated containers are used in particular, but not exclusively, for transportation purposes in order to convey temperature-sensitive goods, for example medicines, while maintaining close temperature tolerances. For this purpose, a container wall is provided in generic containers, which completely encloses an interior, in which the material to be transported is arranged. At least one closable opening is provided in the container wall in order to be able to introduce the item to be transported into the container.

In order to keep the heat flow through the container wall as low as possible, vacuum insulation elements are used for insulation. Vacuum insulation elements have a very high heat transfer resistance at a relatively low layer thickness, so that given a given outer volume, a relatively large usable volume is given with sufficient heat insulation. Due to the vacuum insulation elements, the heat flow from the outside to the inside as well as from the inside to the outside is made more difficult, so that the goods to be transported are protected against excessive heat as well as against excessive cold.

Thermally insulated containers are known from the prior art, in which active cooling systems are used for additional cooling. For example, it is known that the interior of the container is tempered by means of an electrical air conditioning system. Also known are systems in which dry ice is evaporated and the resulting cold vapor is used to cool the interior. These actively cooled containers have the disadvantage that they are extremely sensitive to disturbances. For example, if the electric air conditioning or the fan of the dry ice system is not supplied with sufficient electrical energy, then sufficient cooling is no longer guaranteed and the transported goods spoils.

The starting point for the teaching of the present invention is a thermally insulated container for transport purposes as known from US 6,062,040 A is known. This container is designed in the manner of a transport box with removable lid. to Production of the container wall of the transport box, a foamed plastic is used.

Based on this prior art, it is an object of the present invention to propose a new thermally insulated container.

This object is achieved by a container according to the teaching of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

According to the invention, the thermally insulated container is now a container in the manner of a transport container. Preferably, this transport container is also airworthy. This transport container has three side wall elements, a ceiling element, a bottom element and at least one door element. The door element is pivotally mounted about a vertical axis. Thus, the interior of the transport container is easily accessible.

The transport container is characterized in that the container wall is double-walled with a dimensionally stable outer wall and a dimensionally stable inner wall.

The vacuum insulation elements are located between the outer wall and the inner wall.

In order to be able to be arranged between the outer wall and the inner wall, the vacuum insulation elements are formed as thermal insulation panels.

In which construction the vacuum insulation elements are formed is basically arbitrary. According to a preferred embodiment, a base body is used, which is enclosed gas-tight with a film. The interior formed by the film is evacuated to thereby realize the desired insulation properties. The main body itself gives the vacuum insulation element the required mechanical stability, wherein open-porous materials should be used to produce the basic body in order to ensure sufficient evacuability.

If film-coated vacuum insulation elements are used, these should preferably have no protruding edge tabs made of film, so that the Butt joint between adjacent vacuum insulation elements can be made as narrow as possible.

The insulating effect of the vacuum insulation elements depends largely on the fact that in the vacuum insulation element, a sufficiently low internal gas pressure prevails. The further the internal gas pressure in the vacuum insulation element increases, the more heat is passed through the vacuum insulation element. In order to check the functioning of the vacuum insulation elements at any time after installation in the tank, the vacuum insulation elements should have a control system for controlling the internal gas pressure. For this purpose, for example, metal flakes can be arranged below the enveloping film, wherein the internal gas pressure can then be derived by applying a temperature jump using suitable diagnostic equipment in the area of the metal flakes.

If the vacuum insulation elements are installed behind the container wall, for example when using a double-walled container, the container wall should have inspection openings through which the control system for controlling the internal gas pressure is accessible. In this way, the functionality of the built-in vacuum insulation elements can be checked again at any time, in particular before loading, to avoid damage to the goods to be transported by insufficient insulation, as may be caused for example by micro-leaks in the vacuum insulation elements.

In order to prevent the damage of the vacuum insulation elements by penetration of foreign bodies, covers may be provided on the access openings, which are preferably transparent, so that the control system located behind the cover can be inspected from the outside.

To increase the heat flow resistance, the vacuum insulation elements can also be arranged in several layers one above the other or one behind the other. The resulting heat flow resistance results essentially from the addition of the heat flow resistance of the individual layers.

It is particularly preferred if all wall elements of the transport container are insulated, each with at least one vacuum insulation element.

By incorporating several vacuum insulation elements in the different container walls improved damage redundancy is achieved because damage to a single vacuum insulation element, the insulation properties of the container are affected only relatively small.

In the container, one can arrange passive melt storage elements which are filled with a suitable melt storage material. Such melt storage elements have the property that they can store or release a certain amount of heat by phase transformation of the melt storage material. In other words, this means that the melt storage material melts in the melting storage element when heated until the entire supply of melt storage material has gone into the liquid phase. The heat energy required for the phase transformation of the melt storage material is thus stored in the melt storage material and does not lead to an increase in temperature. If the melt storage material is cooled inversely, the melt storage material gradually solidifies and releases the stored amount of heat during this phase transformation. As a result, the melt storage elements thus buffer the heat flow according to their respective capacity until the capacity limits are reached.

Depending on the melting point of the melt-storing material, other buffering areas result for buffering the heat flow. Contains the melt storage material, for example paraffin, a heat flow buffering in the temperature range above 0 ° C is possible. If, by contrast, a salt solution is contained in the melt storage material, for example, the heat flow can be buffered below 0 ° C. in the temperature range.

Since each melt storage material has an optimal buffering area depending on its respective melting point, it is particularly advantageous for certain applications if at least two different melt storage elements are provided in the container, which are each filled with different melt storage materials. By this combination of different melt storage materials in a container, the buffer area can be spread. It is particularly advantageous if the melt storage elements filled with different melt storage materials are arranged in several layers in the container.

In order to check the operational readiness of the melt storage elements, for example after loading a container, it is advantageous if temperature measuring devices are provided on the melt storage elements, with which the temperature of the melt storage element can be measured. For this purpose, for example, known temperature sensors can be used with displays that discolor depending on the temperature.

An embodiment of the invention is shown schematically in the drawings and is explained below by way of example.

Fig. 1

einen Transportcontainer in perspektivischer Ansicht von außen;

Fig. 2

den Transportcontainer gemäß Fig. 1 mit geöffneter Tür in perspektivischer Ansicht;

Fig. 3

den Transportcontainer gemäß Fig. 1 im Querschnitt;

Fig. 4

die Behälterwandung des Transportcontainers gemäß Fig. 1 im perspektivischen Schnitt;

Fig. 5

die Schmelzspeicherelemente des Transportcontainers gemäß Fig. 1 in perspektivischer Ansicht;

Fig. 6

die Anordnung der Vakuumisolationselemente an einer Seitenwandung des Transportcontainers gemäß Fig. 1 in seitlicher Ansicht;

Fig. 7

eine Revisionsöffnung in einer Behälterwandung des Transportcontainers gemäß Fig. 1;

Fig. 8

ein Vakuumisolationselement des Transportcontainers gemäß Fig. 1 im Querschnitt;

Fig. 9

den Datenspeicher am Transportcontainer gemäß Fig. 1 in vergrößerter perspektivischer Ansicht;

Fig. 10

die Innentemperaturkurve im Innenraum des Transportcontainers gemäß Fig. 1 bei Aufbringung eines positiven Außentemperatursprungs;

Fig. 11

die Innentemperaturkurve im Innenraum des Transportcontainers gemäß Fig. 1 bei Aufbringung eines positiven und eines negativen Außentemperatursprungs;

Fig. 12

die Innentemperaturkurve im Innenraum des Transportcontainers gemäß Fig. 1 bei Durchlaufen eines Außentemperaturprofils.

Show it:

Fig. 1

a transport container in perspective view from the outside;

Fig. 2

according to the transport container Fig. 1 with open door in perspective view;

Fig. 3

according to the transport container Fig. 1 in cross-section;

Fig. 4

the container wall of the transport container according to Fig. 1 in perspective section;

Fig. 5

the melting storage elements of the transport container according to Fig. 1 in perspective view;

Fig. 6

the arrangement of the vacuum insulation elements on a side wall of the transport container according to Fig. 1 in lateral view;

Fig. 7

an inspection opening in a container wall of the transport container according to Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 8

a vacuum insulation element of the transport container according to Fig. 1 in cross-section;

Fig. 9

the data store at the transport container according to Fig. 1 in an enlarged perspective view;

Fig. 10

the internal temperature curve in the interior of the transport container according to Fig. 1 when applying a positive outside temperature jump;

Fig. 11

the internal temperature curve in the interior of the transport container according to Fig. 1 when applying a positive and a negative outside temperature jump;

Fig. 12

the internal temperature curve in the interior of the transport container according to Fig. 1 when passing through an outdoor temperature profile.

In Fig. 1 a trained in the manner of a transport container container 01 is shown in perspective. In the container 01 heat-sensitive goods, such as drugs, especially vaccines, can be transported over long distances on the plane. The base of the container 01 corresponds to the area of a standard pallet.

The container wall 02 of the container 01 consists of three rectangular side wall elements 03, a rectangular bottom element 04, a rectangular ceiling element 05 and a pivotally mounted door element 06. The three side wall elements 03, the bottom element 04 and the ceiling element 05 are fixed to form a rectangular interior 07 connected. After closing the door member 06, the interior 07 is enclosed on all sides and insulated against the flow of heat through the container wall 02 by means of vacuum insulation elements, which are described in more detail below.

To lock the door member 06 is a closure member 08, by the actuation in Fig. 1 Unlocked locking elements can be unlocked or locked. On the closure member 08, a seal can be attached to secure the container 01 against unauthorized opening. Alternatively or in addition to this, a lock, for example a cylinder lock or number lock, can be provided on the closure member 08 in order to prevent an unauthorized opening of the container 01.

On the underside of the bottom element 04 two strips 09 are attached, by which a gap between the bottom element 04 and the footprint is formed. In this space tines of a transport stacker can be inserted to lift the container 01 with the truck and to be able to transport. At the top of the door member 06, a data storage device 10 is mounted in a recess. It is protected from the outside by a cover 11 (see also Fig. 9 ). To protect the container wall 02 against the ingress of sharp objects can on the outside guard rails 15 in particularly at risk areas. The guard rails 15 may be made for example of a metal sheet.

The inside structure of the container 01 is made Fig. 2 seen. On the inside of the two lateral side walls 03 each six melt storage elements 16 and 17 are arranged. The melt storage elements 16 are filled with a paraffin-containing melt storage material, whereas the melt storage elements 17 contain a salt solution. For fastening the melt storage elements 16 and 17 serve mounting rails 18 (see also Fig. 3 ), which engage round the melt storage elements 16 and 17 in each case at the upper or lower edge in a form-fitting manner. In this way, the melt storage elements 16 and 17 can be easily replaced by being inserted from the door side into the mounting rails 18. After closing the door element 06, the melt storage elements 16 and 17 are fixed to the inside of the container wall 02. This type of attachment allows in particular, the melting storage elements 16 and 17 without tools to assemble or disassemble.

In the three side wall elements 03, the bottom element 04, the ceiling element 05 and the door element 06 each inspection openings 19 are provided, whose function will be explained in more detail below.

On the outer periphery of the door member 06, a sealing lip 20 is fixed on the inside, with the closing of the door member 06, the parting line between the door member 06 on the one hand and the edge of the two opposite side wall elements 03 and the edge of the ceiling element 05 and the bottom element 04 is sealed.

In Fig. 3 the container 01 is shown schematically in cross-section from the front. The flat, namely plate-shaped melt storage elements 16 and 17 are arranged parallel to the container wall 02 on the inner side 21 of the container 01.

The container wall 02 itself is double-walled from a dimensionally stable outer wall 22 and a likewise dimensionally stable inner wall 23 constructed. Between this mechanically stable double wall of outer wall 22 and inner wall 23 provided for isolation vacuum insulation elements 24 are arranged. Between the vacuum insulation elements 24 and the outer wall 22 impact protection elements 25 are provided made of foamed plastic. The Size relationships between outer wall 22, inner wall 23, the vacuum insulation elements 24 and the impact protection elements 25 are in Fig. 3 only indicated in principle. The exact structure of the structure of the container wall 02 is off Fig. 4 seen.

The in Fig. 4 illustrated perspective cross section through the container wall 02 shows that the outer wall 22 and the inner wall 23 are each made of a sandwich material. In this sandwich material, an inner core layer 26 of plywood and an inner core layer 27 of foamed plastic are each covered on the outside by cover layers 28 of fiber-reinforced plastic.

In Fig. 5 a possible embodiment of dimensionally stable melt storage containers 29 is shown. By filling the containers 29 with a suitable melt storage material, the various types of melt storage elements 16 and 17 can be made.

In Fig. 6 the arrangement of the vacuum insulation panels 24 in a side wall 03 is exemplified. In each case four vacuum insulation elements 24 are arranged adjacent to each other in all side wall elements 03 and correspondingly also in the bottom element 04, in the ceiling element 05 and in the door element 06. This ensures that if a vacuum insulation element is damaged, for example caused by a microleakage, not all the insulation in the corresponding container wall fails. Rather, a sufficient insulation of the container 01 is still given in total in case of failure of a single vacuum insulation element. The flat, formed in the manner of thermal insulation panels vacuum insulation elements 24 touch each other in butt joints 30. In order to minimize the heat is transferred in the butt joints 30, an insulating material can be arranged in the butt joints 30. In addition, the vacuum insulation elements 24 should, if possible, have no projecting film tabs so that vacuum insulation elements 24 can be mounted in the butt joints 30 as closely as possible. In order to increase the heat flow resistance, a further layer of vacuum insulation elements may also be provided in the container wall 02, wherein in the case of several layers, the butt joints 30 should, if possible, be offset from each other.

At each vacuum insulation element 24 there is a control system 31 for controlling the internal gas pressure. The four control systems 31 of the four vacuum insulation elements 24 are each adjacent to each other in the middle of the container wall arranged so that the four different control systems 31 are accessible through a single access opening 19 therethrough.

In Fig. 7 the inspection opening 19 is shown enlarged with the four arranged behind a cover 32 control systems 31. To control the internal gas pressure in the vacuum insulation elements 24, the cover 32 is removed and placed a test head of a diagnostic device on the control systems 31. Structure and function of the control system 31 and structure of the vacuum insulation elements 24 are made Fig. 8 seen.

The in Fig. 8 shown cross section through the vacuum insulation elements 24 shows an open-pore base body 33 which is gas-tight with a film 34 spanned. The gas-tight interior 35 formed by the film 34 is evacuated in order to give the vacuum insulation element 24 the desired insulation properties. To check the internal gas pressure in the interior 35 of the vacuum insulation element 24, the control system 31 is placed on the inside of the film 34, which consists of a metal plate 36 and an intermediate layer 37. With a test head 38, a defined temperature jump can then be applied to the control system 31, wherein from the signal response to the temperature jump, the internal gas pressure in the interior 35 can be derived.

How out Fig. 9 it can be seen, the data storage device 10 is connected via a cable 12 with an internal temperature sensor for measuring the temperature in the interior 07 and with an outside temperature sensor for measuring the ambient temperature surrounding the container 01. At regular intervals, the internal temperature and the outside temperature are measured and the resulting measurement data stored in the data storage device 10 for documentation purposes. On a display 13, the current internal temperature or the current outside temperature can be displayed and read from the outside through the transparent cover 11. Via a connection 14, an unillustrated GPS receiver can be connected to the data storage device 10, so that the position data of the container 01 can be stored with the data storage device 10 for documentation purposes.

The function of the container 01 for temperature insulation is based on the in 10 to FIG. 12 illustrated temperature curves are exemplified.

In Fig. 10 a situation is schematically illustrated in which the container 01 is exposed to an outside temperature profile 39. The corresponding change in the internal temperature in the interior 07 of the container 01 is presented with the internal temperature profile 40. The outdoor temperature profile 39 includes a temperature jump from 10 ° C to 30 ° C over a period of 6 hours. This change in the outside temperature initially leads to no temperature change in the interior 07, because the amounts of heat that are transmitted through the vacuum insulation elements 24 are buffered by the melt storage elements 16 and 17 by phase transformation of the melt storage material. Only after a time delay, when large quantities of the melt storage material have already undergone a phase transformation, the internal temperature in the interior 07 increases very slowly.

Out Fig. 11 is a second outdoor temperature profile 41 and the resulting internal temperature profile 42 in the interior 07 of the container 01 offered. The outdoor temperature profile 41 goes through after the positive temperature jump to 30 ° C immediately thereafter a negative temperature jump to just over 0 ° C. Also the negative temperature jump lasts 6 hours. Also, the negative temperature jump is buffered by the melt storage elements 16 and 17, wherein the melt storage elements in turn regenerate by lowering the temperature, so that a subsequent positive temperature jump can in turn be readily buffered.

In Fig. 12 For example, a real outdoor temperature profile 43 and a resulting indoor temperature profile 44 are plotted, which were logged in a long-term trial over 210 hours. The different curves of the outside temperature profile 43 and the inside temperature profile 44 correspond to the different measuring points outside or within the container 01. As out Fig. 11 Immediately apparent, the internal temperature remains despite a considerable fluctuations in the outside temperature within a narrow temperature band, so that temperature-sensitive goods in the interior of the container 07 are effectively protected from excessive temperature fluctuations.

Claims (15)

A thermally insulated container for transportation, comprising a container wall (02) which completely encloses an interior space (07), the interior space (07) having a closable opening and being insulated against heat exchange by a plurality of vacuum insulation elements (24),
wherein at least one passive melt storage element (16, 17) can be arranged in the container (01),
characterized,
that the container is designed in the manner of a preferably airworthy transport container (01) and
in that the container wall (02) is formed by a plurality of wall elements (03, 04, 05, 06), namely by three side wall elements (03), a ceiling element (05), a bottom element (04) and at least one door element (06),
that the door element (06) is pivotally mounted about a vertical axis,
that the container wall (02) is double-walled with a dimensionally stable outer wall (22) and a dimensionally stable inner wall (23), that the vacuum insulation members (24) have a planar shape, are in fact formed as thermal insulation panels, and
in that the vacuum insulation elements (24) are arranged between the outer wall (22) and the inner wall (23). Container according to claim 1, characterized
in that the door (06) of the transport container (01) can be locked with a closure member (08), preferably, a seal being attachable to the closure member (08) and / or a lock for closing off the transport container (01) on the closure member (08) is provided. Container according to claim 1 or 2, characterized
that the outer wall (22) and / or the inner wall (23) is made of a lightweight material, in particular a sandwich material with a plurality of material layers (26, 27, 28). Container according to claim 3, characterized
in that the sandwich material comprises a first outer covering layer (28) made of fiber-reinforced plastic and / or an inner core layer (26) made of plywood and / or an inner core layer (27) made of foamed plastic, in particular foamed Polyurethane plastic, and / or a second outer cover layer (28) made of fiber-reinforced plastic. Container according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized
in that between the vacuum insulation elements (24) on the one hand and the outer wall (22) and / or inner wall (23) on the other hand impact protection elements (25), in particular impact protection elements (25) made of foamed plastic, are arranged. Container according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized
in that all wall elements (03, 04, 05, 06) of the transport container (01) are each insulated with at least one vacuum insulation element (24),
wherein, preferably, in each individual wall element (03, 04, 05, 06) each have a plurality of vacuum insulation elements (24) are provided for isolation. Container according to claim 6, characterized
in that at least two, in particular in each case four, vacuum insulation elements (24) are arranged side by side in the wall elements (03, 04, 05, 06), adjacent vacuum insulation elements (24) contacting one another in a butt joint (30), wherein, preferably Butt joint (30) a heat-insulating insulating material is arranged. Container according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized
that the melting memory elements (16, 17) on the inside (21) of the inner wall (23) of the double-walled container (02) are arranged. Container according to claim 8, characterized in that
that the melting memory elements (16, 17) without tools can be fastened releasably in the container,
wherein, preferably, for fastening the melt storage elements (16, 17) in the container (01) at least one fastening rail (18) is provided which engages around the edge of the melt storage elements (16, 17) form fit. Container according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized
that in the joint between the door (06) and opening of the transport container (01), is arranged a sealing element (20), in particular a double sealing lip. Container according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized
that the vacuum insulation members (24) in the region of the opening of the transport container (01) are arranged such that the vacuum insulation members (24) by closing the door (06) in the region of the parting line overlap at least slightly,
wherein, preferably, the width of the overlap corresponds to at least half the thickness of the vacuum insulation elements (24). Container according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized
that the transport container (01) having functional elements (09) for engagement by forklift tines. Container according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized
that the transport container (01), a support frame, particularly of metal profiles, is provided for mechanical support of the container wall. Container according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized
in that each vacuum insulation element (24) has an internal or external control system (31) for controlling the internal gas pressure in the vacuum insulation element (24),
that in the inner wall (23) of the transport container (01) at least one inspection opening (19) is provided, through which the control system (31) for controlling the internal gas pressure in the vacuum insulation element (24) is accessible and
that the access opening (19) is closed by a particularly transparent covering (32). Container according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized
that at least one temperature sensor is provided on the transport container (01) with which the internal temperature can be measured.

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