FR3001721A1 - System for ensuring compliance of low temperature conditions for products e.g. drugs, transported in refrigerating box, has temperature sensor placed inside transport box, and CPU intended to record temperatures measured by sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

The system has a temperature sensor (31) placed inside an isothermal transport box (14) and connected to a CPU (32), where the CPU records temperatures measured by the temperature sensor. An interface (33) is provided for an operator to collect the recorded temperatures. The isothermal box includes a front wall (18) carrying bolts (22), where each bolt is provided with a unique identifier. A computer application is provided for reading of the recorded temperatures by a smartphone. Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) an isothermal transport box (2) a method for using a system for ensuring compliance of temperature conditions for transported products.

Description

The present invention relates to a system for ensuring that temperature conditions, for example the cold chain, have been met for products transported in an insulated box. It also relates to a box equipped with such a system. It also relates to an associated method. Isothermal boxes are used for the transport of foodstuffs or products that must be maintained within a given temperature range, throughout their journey and storage in the box. Such boxes are therefore provided to guarantee this temperature range for a certain period of time. They are used in particular for the transport of drugs or biological products. It is obvious that the temperature conditions are essential for the conservation of such products and that it must be able to ensure that they will be respected throughout the journey. Numerous shipments, including drugs, are in large boxes, palletized or palletizable, for example about 2m high. For cost reasons, these boxes have an outer structure of corrugated cardboard, lined internally panels with high insulating power. These boxes are generally of the cabinet type, with opening in front, by a double door. For ease and a simpler design of the cabinet, the doors are kept closed by one or more straps around the body. However, such an arrangement does not guarantee the perfect sealing of the doors, thus maintaining a desired temperature range, inside the body. Nor does it guarantee that the cash register has not been opened. Such a provision therefore does not guarantee in itself that the cold chain (in the case of a refrigerated box) has not been broken.

According to a first object, the invention therefore proposes a system for guaranteeing compliance with temperature conditions for transported products comprising: a box, in particular an insulated box; at least one temperature sensor disposed inside the body; a central unit, to which said sensor is connected, and adapted to record temperatures measured by said sensor; and an interface provided for an operator to collect the recorded temperatures.

Such a system may further comprise locks for an isothermal wall forming a door for the body, each lock comprising means to guarantee their closure and / or a unique identifier. This system advantageously comprises a computer application for reading by computer means, preferably a smartphone, recorded temperatures. According to a second object of the invention, there is provided an isothermal transport case, characterized in that it comprises a system according to the invention. Such a box comprises an air gap formed between two partitions of one of its walls and at least one sensor disposed in this air gap.

According to a third object of the invention, there is provided a method for the use of a system according to the invention, characterized in that one first checks the state of the locks, then in that one informs this state in a computer means, and, if the state of said locks is correct, in that said computing device processes the recorded temperatures. Several embodiments of the invention will be described below, by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: - Figure 1 is a schematic representation, in a dipping view of three-quarter face, a refrigerated box equipped with a first embodiment for a system according to the invention; FIGS. 2 to 4 illustrate three modes of implementation for the control of a system according to the invention; FIG. 5 illustrates a second embodiment for a system according to the invention; and - Figure 6 illustrates a fourth embodiment for the control.

FIG. 1 illustrates a set of packages 10 palletized on a pallet 11. The packages 10 are held on the pallet 11 by straps 12. In order to keep the packages in a given temperature range during their transport, the pallet and the packages are enclosed in a transport case 14. The box 14 comprises a cardboard envelope 16 opening entirely in front by two leaves 17; the casing is internally insulated by 18,19 walls with high insulating power. The box further comprises inside the insulating walls housing 21 for housing eutectic blocks 13. To facilitate its transport, the envelope 16 rests on three pads 15.

Among the insulating walls 18, 19, a front wall 18, forming a door 18, closes the box 14 at the rear of the leaves 17. In FIG. 1, only a part, on the left, -4 of the front wall 18 has been shown, in order to reveal inside the box 14, packages 10 it contains. The front wall 18 is formed in one piece and fixed to the other insulating walls 19 by four latches 22, each at a respective angle of the wall 18. Each latch 22 comprises guarantee means 23, which must be broken to open the door. lock. Thanks to these means of guarantee, one can be assured that they have not been opened. In addition, each lock includes a unique identifier, which ensures that the lock has not been changed during transport.

The system according to the invention specifically described in the figure further comprises temperature monitoring means; these means 20 comprise at least one sensor 31, a central unit 32 and an interface 33. In the example illustrated, several sensors 31 are dispersed in the box, two of which are illustrated in the figure, arranged between some of the packages 10, and 32 in the example illustrated, the central unit 32 is recessed at the rear of the front wall 18, so that it is not apparent, nor inaccessible or modifiable, when the wall 18 is closed. The interface 33 is also embedded in the front wall 18 so that it is visible when the wall 18 is closed. The interface is connected by cable to the central unit 32. The central unit 32 is provided to collect and store the temperatures measured by the sensors 31. The interface 33 is provided to transmit the measurements to an operator. This operator is usually a person in charge of receiving parcels. In a method according to the invention, the monitoring means are preferably started at the time of closure of the body; in the example illustrated in Figures 2 to 4, the interface 33 comprises a button 34 serving as a means for initializing and starting the monitoring means. At the arrival of the box 14 at its destination, when opening the box, the operator controls the respect of the cold chain. After opening the leaves 17: it checks each of the locks 22, ensuring that they have not been opened since the attachment of the front wall 18, that is to say that the means of guarantee do not have been broken; it verifies that none of the locks has been changed since the fixing of the wall, by checking that their identifiers correspond to those transmitted to it by the sender of the packages; and if the checking locks is satisfactory: it collects through the interface 33 the temperature measurements made throughout the transport and stored in the central unit 32; then, it verifies that these temperatures have remained in the desired temperature range.

Figures 2 to 4 illustrate several ways to check temperatures. In Figures 2 and 3, the operator uses a portable device, for example a mobile phone type smartphone 36. The system according to the invention further comprises a downloadable application. The operator starts the application; the application first queries the operator on the state of the locks; if this state is correct, the application connects the smartphone with the interface and extracts the temperatures measured and stored in the central unit 32; the application then displays the temperature curves 37 of each sensor on the smartphone screen together with the desired temperature interval 38, so that the operator can see, without opening the insulating walls 18, 19 of the box 14, if the cold chain has been respected; that is, a non-intrusive inspection without breaking the cold chain.

Thus, without opening the box or unwrapping the packages, if the temperature range has not been respected, the recipient of the package can turn against the driver or sender.

In FIG. 2, the exchanges between the smartphone 36 and the interface 33 are made by radio link 39, for example "wifi" or "Bluetooth". In FIG. 3, the exchanges are made by wire, with the aid of a cable 41 connected to a USB socket 42 of the interface 33.

In the example of Figure 4, the operator uses a laptop 45, for example equipped with a downloaded application. The interface 33 carries a smart card 46. A copy of the measured temperatures is recorded on the chip 47 of the card 46. The operator removes the card 46 from the interface and introduces it into a suitable reader of the computer 45; then, after the operator has informed the state of the locks, the temperatures are extracted and the curves 37 are displayed, compared to the limits 38 of the desired interval. FIG. 5 illustrates in section a portion of the side wall to the right of the front wall 18. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the wall of the box comprises, from the outside inside the box 14: envelope 16; the insulating wall 19; the housings 21, delimited by a first partition 51, parallel to the insulating wall 19 and by spacers 52 connecting this partition with this insulating wall; and a second partition 53, forming an inner wall of the body 14. The partitions 51,53 form between them an air gap 55 in which are disposed one or more temperature sensors 31. In this embodiment, the box 14 may be pre-wired with the temperature monitoring equipment 31, 32, 33, so that the user of the box does not have to worry about it. In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the data collected from the interface 33 by the apparatus 36 is sent through a network 56, for example the Internet, to a server 57; this data can then be exploited from a remote computer 59, through a network, for example the same Internet network.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the portable apparatus 36 comprises a screen which is provided for displaying a pictogram, for example of the smiley type, allowing the user of the apparatus to have information that is immediately usable as regards the respect of the cold chain. Thus, a green and / or smiling pictogram may indicate that the cold chain has been perfectly respected; a red and / or sad pictogram may indicate that the cold chain has not been respected and that it would be dangerous to use the products received; an orange and / or anxious symbol may indicate that the cold chain has not been fully respected, but that deviations from the tolerances may be acceptable under certain conditions.

In the latter case, where the cold chain has not been fully respected, it may be necessary to make a more precise analysis of the deviations from the tolerance. A new expiry period can then be recalculated, shorter than the expected time, depending on the observed tolerance differences.

The remote computer 57 can advantageously be provided to pool the information of several transports on possibly several routes, possibly by different means. It can also include an analysis tool to optimize the cold chain. For example, this analysis tool can help lighten or reinforce the cold chain, depending on the conclusions of the analysis; thus, certain losses of merchandise can be accepted, if the cost is lower than the gain made on the means of respect of the chain of the cold. Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples which have just been described. S Thus, instead of using a smartphone or a computer, it is possible to use a dedicated device. In addition, instead of the lock identifiers being transmitted electronically, they can be printed on a tracking form and manually checked. The identifiers may be alphanumeric numbers or sequences. The central unit instead of being recessed at the rear of the front wall, can be advantageously placed in a side wall, so that its wiring with the sensors is not affected by manipulation of the front wall; this is particularly advantageous when the sensors are predisposed in an air space.

The central unit and the interface may be the same unit. In addition, instead of being recorded in both the CPU and a smart card, temperatures can only be recorded on the card.

By way of example, a casse equipped according to the invention may have dimensions of 1520 (L) × 1200 (1) × 1600 (H) millimeters, for a large box, or have a capacity of only 30 or 50 liters. for a petty cash.

Claims (6)

REVENDICATIONS1. System (1) for guaranteeing compliance with temperature conditions for transported products comprising: - a box, in particular an insulated box (14); at least one temperature sensor (31) disposed inside the body; a central unit (32), to which said sensor is connected, and arranged to record temperatures measured by said sensor; and, an interface (33) provided for an operator to collect the recorded temperatures. 2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises latches (22) for an isothermal wall forming a door (18) for the body, each latch comprising means (23) to ensure their closure and / or an identifier unique. 3. System according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a computer application for reading by a computer means (36,45), preferably a smartphone (36), recorded temperatures. 4. Isothermal transport case (14), characterized in that it comprises a system according to one of claims 1 to 3. 5. Case according to claim 4, characterized in that at least one wall (16, 19, 51, 52, 53) of said box (14) comprises an air gap (55) formed between two partitions (51). 53) of said wall and at least one sensor (31) being disposed in said air gap. 6. Method for the use of a system according to claim 2, characterized in that the state of the locks is first checked, then in that state is informed in a computer means (36,45 ), and, if the state of said locks is correct, in that said computing device processes the recorded temperatures.