FR3076285A1 - DEVICE AND METHOD FOR GUARANTEEING A RELIABLE TEMPERATURE REPORT IN A THERMO-INSULATING BOX. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a package 1, in particular isothermal, for the transport of a load 2 of products, comprising a support 12 for a recorder 13 of temperatures experienced by the load 2 during its transport. The invention also relates to such a support and to an associated method.

Description

The present invention relates to a device making it possible to guarantee a reliable reading of the temperatures during the transport of products, in particular of palletized products.

Some products are very sensitive to the temperature at which they are stored. This is often the case with food, medicines or organs.

When transported, insulated packaging is generally used, which must guarantee controlled temperature conditions. Such 20 packages, intended for the transport of products under a cold chain, must guarantee the user that the products transported are kept within a given temperature range, for predefined outdoor climatic conditions.

A recipient of the products thus transported must be able to ascertain that they have traveled under the conditions provided. To ensure this, users have the option of having temperature recorders in the packaging. These loggers are commonly named by Anglicism logger (data logger, in French) or data logger (data logger, in French). These recorders record the temperature of the products inside the packaging during transport and offer the possibility of

-2 recover these temperature data on arrival by various means, for example via a USB port, a radio signal or using a specific reader.

The data thus collected is used to judge the conformity of the products, so it is important that it is as fair and as representative as possible. One of the key parameters to ensure the quality of this data is the correct positioning of the recorder in the packaging. Ideally this recorder should be positioned directly on or in the transported products, which is often impossible, for security reasons or logistical constraints.

Generally, packaging suppliers define a preferred location for temperature sensors, in particular for having a recorder, within the products transported. However, the quality of the temperature readings is subject to the attention paid to the placement of the sensors by the operators responsible for loading the products.

Other manufacturers supply packaging previously equipped with a specific recorder. Such packaging is expensive. The recorder model is imposed; that is, the user cannot choose a model of recorder that could be more suited to the use he wishes to make of it. In addition, if the recorder is found to be defective, the packaging is then unusable; if it is already loaded, it must therefore be emptied and reload the products in new packaging.

In all cases it is not possible to make a reliable correlation between the temperatures recorded and the temperatures actually experienced by the products transported.

-3 The object of the invention is to provide a device and / or a method for ensuring that the temperatures recorded will be representative of the conditions of transport of the products delivered.

According to the invention, there is provided a packaging for the transport of a load of products, comprising a support for a recorder of transport parameters, in particular for a recorder of temperatures undergone by the load during its transport.

Thus, the user can choose to have in the support a model of recorder of his choice, reusable when the packaging is no longer. In addition, the location of the recorder being predefined by the position of the support, it is possible to establish correlations between the temperatures measured by the recorder and those actually experienced by the products, for example from prior experiments. .

The recorder holder can be positioned in the packaging during its manufacture. Thus, the customer only has to slide his recorder into this support before shipping the goods and no longer has to worry about its positioning.

This support is advantageously arranged near an opening of said packaging, preferably by bonding to a wall of the packaging. Thus, it is possible, by opening the packaging, to be able to grasp the recorder without having to unload the products; unload them only if they have traveled under suitable temperature conditions.

Such packaging may have the form of a box which includes:

- a useful interior volume, designed to accommodate a pallet and its load of products;

- an envelope comprising a front opening equipped with at least one door;

- thermally insulating walls; and,

- cells to have at least one eutectic block there along one of said walls.

The invention also relates to a support for a recorder of transport parameters, in particular for a recorder of temperatures undergone by loading during its transport, intended to equip a package according to the invention and comprising two longitudinal walls, two transverse walls and a bottom , the walls extending upwards from the bottom.

Preferably, the walls of such a support extend upward, widening, preferably by forming a truncated pyramid. A notch can be formed between the longitudinal walls and above each transverse wall. Preferably, the support comprises a hole passing through the bottom.

The bottom preferably has an interior length of between 50 and 65 millimeters and an interior width of between 20 and 25 millimeters.

Preferably, the longitudinal walls have a height between 70 and 85 millimeters and the side walls have a height between 35 and 50 millimeters.

The invention also relates to a method for controlling temperatures undergone by loading in a package according to the invention, in which, a location being determined for the support, a correlation is determined between temperatures measured by the recorder at this location and the temperatures experienced.

- 5 Several embodiments of the invention will be described below, by way of non-limiting examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

- Figure 1 is a perspective representation of a package according to the invention, in the form of a box, open, containing a pallet intended to be transported there and equipped with a support according to the invention;

- Figure 2 is a detail view of the box of Figure 1, showing the support and its immediate environment in the box;

- Figure 3 is a perspective view and three-quarters below, of the support;

- Figure 4 is a perspective view and three-quarters above, of the support;

- Figure 5 is an elevational and side view of the support;

- Figure 6 is a front elevational view in section of the support; and,

- Figure 7 is a bottom view of the support.

FIG. 1 illustrates a package 1 for transporting products under controlled temperature conditions. Generally, such packaging is provided for the transport of products under a cold chain.

These packages must guarantee the user that the products transported are kept within a given temperature range, for predefined external climatic conditions.

In the example illustrated, the packaging is a box for transporting packages 2 containing products to be delivered by a sender to a recipient. The packages 2 are placed on a pallet 3, the box 1 being large enough to introduce the pallet and the packages it carries.

In this embodiment, the body 1 notably comprises:

- an outer casing 6, provided on the front with an opening equipped with two doors 4;

- thermally insulating walls 7, internally lining the envelope; and,

- cells 8, designed to receive eutectic blocks 9.

The cells 8 are arranged internally, along the side walls 7A and the upper wall 7B. They are formed between an openwork partition 11 and 10, a respective insulating wall 7, 7A, 7B.

T

The body 1 further comprises a support 12. As particularly illustrated in FIG. 2, this support 12 is provided for housing a recorder 13. The support is fixed to the perforated partition 11 situated to the left of the opening, in a 15 empty space 14, between the perforated partition 11 and the packages 2. It is fixed to the upper part of this partition 7A, in the immediate vicinity of the opening. This provision is particularly advantageous, since it allows the sender to introduce it there after packages 2 have been loaded in box 1.

The

The recorder can also be easily removed from it by the recipient without having to unpack the packages 2, simply by opening the doors.

T

We will now describe an embodiment for a support according to the invention, with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7.

In the example illustrated in the figures, the support 12 is substantially symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal plane P21 and with respect to a transverse plane P22.

It mainly includes:

- Two longitudinal walls 21, arranged symmetrically opposite one another on either side of the longitudinal plane P21;

- two transverse walls 22, arranged symmetrically opposite one another on either side of the transverse plane P22; and,

-Ί -

- a background 23.

The bottom is designed to be arranged substantially horizontally, position assumed in the description which follows. Thus, the longitudinal and 5 transverse walls extend upward, forming between them a housing 26 for the recorder. The walls 21, 22 are planar, so that the housing 26 has a rectangular horizontal section. In addition, the walls 21, 22 together form a trunk of a pyramid, each moving away from its opposite as one moves away from the bottom 23.

The longitudinal walls have a horizontal upper level 27 of level N27. The side walls have a horizontal upper level 28 at level N28. In the example illustrated, the level N28 of the leveling of the transverse walls is lower than the level N27 of the leveling of the longitudinal walls. Thus, the longitudinal walls 21 form between them and above each transverse wall 22 a notch 29.

A hole 30 is further formed through the bottom 23. In the example illustrated, this hole is circular and centered.

The truncated pyramid shape makes it possible to receive recorders of variable dimensions while ensuring sufficient, gravitational support. The hole allows a finger to pass to lift the recorder in order to extract it more effectively from the housing 26. The notches make it easier to grasp the recorder and extract it over the transverse level 28, without having reaches level N27 of longitudinal level 27.

The dimensions of the support 12 illustrated are:

- interior length D23 from the bottom 23: approximately 56 mm.

- interior width d23 of the bottom 23: approximately 22 mm.

- internal height H21 of the longitudinal walls 21: approximately 78 mm.

-8- internal height H22 of the transverse walls 22:

mm approx.

- from which the height H29 of the notch 29 is deduced:

- length L27 of level 27:

- length L28 of level 28:

- interior distance D27 between the levelings 27:

- diameter D30 of hole 30:

mm approx.

mm approx.

mm approx.

mm approx.

mm approx.

or :

- the length D23 of the bottom is measured along a longitudinal wall;

- the width D23 of the bottom is measured along a transverse wall;

- The height of H21 of the longitudinal walls is that of the corresponding leveling 27, measured above the inner surface of the bottom 23;

- The height of H22 of the transverse walls is that of the corresponding leveling 28, measured above the interior surface of the bottom 23;

and,

- the length L28 of the level 28 is measured between the longitudinal walls

Of course, the invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments which have just been described but, on the contrary, the invention is defined by the claims which follow.

It will appear to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the embodiments described above, in the light of the teaching which has just been disclosed to him.

Thus, the use of a support according to the invention is not limited to packages of large dimensions, such as the box previously described.

The support may have a horizontal section different from the rectangular section described, for example ellipsoidal.

-9Depending on the reuse rate of the packaging, the support can be made of different materials. For example, for disposable packaging after first use, the support will advantageously be made of cardboard. For reusable packaging, or under conditions of high humidity, the support can be made of a flexible or rigid plastic material, preferably a rigid plastic material, preferably of the ABS type.

When it is planned to use a frozen eutectic block, that is to say at a temperature below zero degrees Celsius, these blocks can create very cold zones relative to the temperatures undergone by the products. It is thus preferable to have such a block at a distance from the recorder, and therefore from the support, so that the measured temperatures are easily correlated to those undergone by the products. Similarly, if the block must have a specific place in the packaging, the support is preferably arranged at a distance from this place.

The support can be fixed in other places than in the upper part of a box. It can also be fixed in a lower part. In addition, in a package of large dimensions, there may be several supports so that one can use several recorders placed at different locations, to ensure uniform temperature conditions during transport.

The position of the support in the packaging is preferably defined on the basis of the results of a prior correlation study between temperature measurements recorded in the products transported, using a probe placed in these products, and measurements of temperature recorded by a recorder, the latter being outside the transported products.

Thermal tests are carried out to validate the optimal position of the support, by comparing the values recorded by the recorder and the values recorded by the temperature probes located in the products. These tests can be

- 10 made with standard products, for example pharmaceutical products, in particular vaccines, or pharmaceutical food products. Several tests can be performed on different walls of the package and at different heights in the package. These tests are preferably carried out under temperature profiles outside the packaging applied during the thermal qualification of the packaging.

Preferably, a position is chosen in which a difference less than or equal to 1 ° C. is measured between the temperature measurements by the recorder and that by the probes located in the products.

Claims (3)

claims L Packaging (1), in particular isothermal, for transporting a load (2) of products, characterized in that it comprises a support (12) for a recorder (13) of transport parameters, in particular for a recorder of temperatures experienced by the load (2) during transport. 2. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that the support (12) is arranged near an opening of said packaging, preferably by bonding to a wall (11) of said packaging. 3. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has the form of a box (1), which comprises: -a useful interior volume, designed to accommodate a pallet (2) and its load (2) of products; an envelope (6) comprising a front opening equipped with at least one door (4); - thermally insulating walls (7, 7A, 7B); and, - cells (8) for placing at least one eutectic block (9) there along one of said walls (7A, 7B).