Patent Description:
Gel packs are typically filled with water, phase change material (PCM), or other fluids and may be conditioned (frozen, cooled, heated) to a pre-determined temperature and stabilized at the pre-determined temperature before use. A phase change material (PCM) is a substance with a high heat of fusion which, melting and solidifying at a certain temperature, is capable of storing and releasing large amounts of energy.

Packaging and shipment of different pharmaceutical products may require gel packs conditioned and stabilized at a variety of different temperatures. In addition, gel packs conditioned at different temperatures may be used within the same packaging at different locations within the packaging. By way of example and not by way of limitation, packaging may require, for instance, the use of gel packs frozen at -<NUM> (-<NUM>°F) arranged at some locations within the packaging and gel packs refrigerated at +<NUM> (<NUM>°F) arranged at other locations within the packaging.

For purposes of assuring proper performance of such packaging, it is imperative to prepare the material within the gel packs to be solid, liquid, or a mixture of part solid and part liquid and at a specific desired temperature to assure a range of internal enthalpy (internal energy related to sensible and latent heat) of the gel pack. The packaging must perform similar to tests performed during the qualification of the packaging and process of preparing and assembling the packaging with conditioned and stabilized gel packs.

Standalone equipment or walk-in areas maintained at controlled temperatures may be used to condition gel packs. For example, gel packs may be frozen in freezer units at very low temperatures (i.e., below <NUM> (<NUM>°F)), cooled in refrigerator units at relatively cool temperatures (i.e., about +<NUM> to +<NUM> (<NUM> to <NUM>°F), and/or warmed or heated in incubator units or ambient areas (i.e., for temperatures from +<NUM> to +<NUM> (<NUM> to <NUM>°F)). Typically, the gel packs are permitted to remain at any of the above referenced areas for predetermined and extended periods of time to condition the gel packs and prepare the gel packs for use in shipment packaging. Depending upon the equipment used and the gel pack to be conditioned, conditioning times required to stabilize the temperature of the gel packs can require, for instance, as many as five days.

By way of further specific examples, PCM gel packs needed for ambient shipments may be conditioned by being maintained at an ambient temperature for at least <NUM> hours to stabilize the temperature of the gel packs before use. PCM gel packs needed for refrigerated shipments may be conditioned by being frozen in a freezer for <NUM> hours and then placed in a refrigerator (at a temperature slightly below freezing) for at least <NUM> hours to stabilize the temperature of the gel packs before use (i.e., for <NUM> total hours of conditioning). PCM gel packs needed for frozen shipments and water-based gel packs needed for refrigerated shipments may be conditioned by being frozen in a freezer for <NUM> hours to stabilize the temperature of the gel packs before use. For some larger scale conditioning operations, an additional <NUM> to <NUM> hours of pre-cooling in a freezer or blast freezer (i.e., a freezer in which cold air is circulated by blowers) may be added to the above conditioning times.

Document <CIT> discloses a device for measuring the temperature of cooled frozen, or deep-frozen food in a conveying, storing or sales system, which device contains a thermally protected sensor enabling unambiguous monitoring of correct operation of the cooling device. The sensor is placed in a block made of material having a low thermal conductivity and a high thermal capacity and the sensor signal is used as the actual value input of a temperature control circuit, e.g. for a cooling system.

Document <CIT> discloses a cooling machine for eutectic plates (cold packs). The cooling machine comprises a fan for generating an air flow and is provided with its own cooling unit. The fan generates the air flow and the cooling unit, equipped with and evaporator, is arranged in the air flow; after flowing through the evaporator and being cooled, the speed of the air flow is increased and the air flow is recirculated through a shelving for the eutectic plates and back to the fan.

Document <CIT> discloses a refrigerator including a low-pressure chamber arranged within a storage compartment and a decompression means decompressing the low-pressure chamber, a latent heat cool storage medium being included in the low-pressure chamber. An air blowing means circulating air to the low-pressure chamber is also provided in the low-pressure chamber.

Document <CIT> discloses an apparatus for reconstituting frozen foods comprising a cabinet which encloses a reconstituting space within which the frozen food may be positioned during the reconstituting operation, and a removable cart for frozen food positioned within said reconstituting space, said cart having shelves which provide spaced supporting surfaces upon which the frozen food is supported. The apparatus further comprises means to provide cool air to said reconstituting space in said cabinet, a plurality of radiant heater elements mounted upon a wall of said cabinet and projecting respectively between the shelves of said cart to radiate heat to each item of food, and control means to energize said heater elements in accordance with time-spaced heating cycles.

Document <CIT> discloses a refrigeration system comprising one or more drawers. The one or more drawers are independently operable of one another. A heating and cooling system is in thermal communication with the one or more drawers. The heating and cooling system generates even air-flow around all sides of the one or more drawers for heating and/or cooling thereof.

According to the invention, an automated blast gel pack processing and conditioning system is provided as defined in claim <NUM>. Further, a method of automatically phase change processing (i.e., freezing or melting) and conditioning gel packs according to claim <NUM> is provided. The method includes the steps of phase change processing a set of gel packs within blast gel pack conditioning equipment and, immediately following the phase change processing step without removing the set of gel packs from the blast gel pack conditioning equipment, conditioning the set of gel packs to a pre-determined specific temperature in order to adjust the sensible heat. The blast gel pack conditioning equipment includes a housing with an evaporator and heater, at least one fan for circulating air within the housing such that a path of air flow extends through an air insufflation end to an air return end, at least one temperature sensor located within the housing, and a controller for automatically receiving temperature measurements from the at least one temperature sensor and for automatically controlling operation of the evaporator, heater, and fans within the housing during the phase change processing and conditioning steps,.

Various features of the embodiments described in the following detailed description can be more fully appreciated when considered with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein the same numbers refer to the same elements.

For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the principles of the embodiments are described by referring mainly to examples thereof. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent however, to one of ordinary skill in the art, that the embodiments may be practiced without limitation to these specific details. In some instances, well known methods and structures have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the embodiments.

According to embodiments, automated blast gel pack conditioning equipment providing relatively high-speed air-flow and low or high treatment temperatures is used for the purpose of reducing time during phase change processing of a set of gel packs. As used herein, the term "phase change processing" refers to a process in which some or all of the phase change material of a gel pack changes from one state to another, such as, processes of freezing a liquid to a solid state and of melting a solid to a liquid state. In addition, the high-speed air-flow and/or a heating and/or cooling system in the blast gel pack conditioning equipment is used to reduce the time needed to condition and stabilize the temperature of the gel packs at a final desired temperature. Accordingly, embodiments disclosed herein are able to reduce an overall time of a conditioning process of a set of gel packs, such as PCM gel packs.

According to embodiments, the automated blast gel pack conditioning equipment may include a customized controller to run the complete process of gel pack phase change processing and/or conditioning within the same unit at reduced process times by taking advantage of high-speed airflow, a powerful refrigeration system, and a heating system within the same unit.

An example of an embodiment of blast gel pack conditioning equipment is shown in <FIG> and includes blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> in which a separate trolley <NUM>, or multiple separate trolleys (not shown), able to hold a large quantity of gel packs may be positioned. The blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> may include an electric heater <NUM> and temperature sensors <NUM> at strategic locations within the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM>. In addition, the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> may include a controller <NUM> and interface <NUM>. The controller <NUM> may be configured to receive temperature measurements from the sensors <NUM> and may communicate with a blast freezer native controller <NUM> of the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> and the heater <NUM> to adjust the temperature of the air within the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> and to determine when to switch between phase change processing, freezing, refrigeration, venting, warming, melting, conditioning, and like operations.

The controller <NUM> may be configured to run software that stores specific details of various recipes (temperature, time, etc.) used to condition gel packs, such as PCM gel packs, and to control the capacity/amount of cooling and heating of the system in order to assure phase change of the PCM material of the gel packs and stabilized temperature across the entire trolley or trolleys <NUM>. The electric heater <NUM> is used to the warm the air within the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM>, such as during conditioning, and sensors <NUM> are installed at points within the blast conditioner <NUM> identified as extremes for various of the phase change processing and conditioning to enable precise control of air temperature within the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM>.

<FIG> disclose a trolley <NUM> according to an embodiment. The trolley <NUM> includes wheels <NUM> and a support structure <NUM> including shelves or spaces <NUM> for receiving and supporting individual gel packs. The brackets 28a for supporting the shelves <NUM> are spaced to assure appropriate spacing between gel packs to promote even air flow over all gel packs regardless of location throughout the trolley <NUM>. The trolley <NUM> is of a size that can be located within a void or a trolley-receiving space of a gel pack conditioner as disclosed in greater detail below. Multiple trolleys may be used.

Conventional freezers and like equipment tend to produce lower air flow within top and bottom areas of such equipment which can negatively affect phase change and/or conditioning processes. In addition, a top of conventional equipment that may be used for a heating process may became warmer than the rest of the equipment, and thus may cause gel packs located at the top to melt first. Thus, freezing, chilling, heating, phase change processing, and/or conditioning may vary depending upon the location of a gel pack within the conventional equipment. This lack of homogeneity of conditioning gel packs represents a challenge with respect to assuring the quality of conditioning of PCM gel packs located at the top and bottom of the equipment, in particular, and typically requires a conditioning process to be sufficiently slow to assure the quality of all PCM gel packs being conditioned.

Another problem with conventional equipment is that a section of gel packs located closer to fans or blowers within the conventional equipment may be exposed to higher air flow. Thus, one side of gel packs may freeze faster during a freezing process. However, during a stabilization process, these gel packs may melt before the remaining gel packs.

<FIG> shows blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> in accordance to an embodiment which is specifically designed to address the above referenced problems. One or more trolleys of gel packs may be located in the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM>, and the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> according to an embodiment is configured to increase the homogeneity of air flow and temperature within the volume of a trolley or trolleys, such as trolley <NUM> supporting gel packs located within the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM>.

The blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> shown in <FIG> includes an outer housing <NUM> in which air flow is confined. The housing <NUM> may be insulated and may include a door <NUM> at a front 34a of the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> aligned with an internal tunnel structure <NUM> sized for receiving the trolley <NUM> (or trolleys). The door <NUM> may be opened to permit entrance or exit of the trolley <NUM> (or trolleys) and may be closed during a phase change and/or conditioning process. An evaporator <NUM> for chilling air and an electric heater <NUM> for heating air within the housing <NUM> are located adjacent a rear 38a of the tunnel <NUM> to cool or heat air being circulated through the housing. A set of fans or blowers <NUM> are located adjacent the rear of the tunnel <NUM> on opposite lateral sides thereof.

High-speed air flow of cold, chilled, ambient, or heated air within the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> is circulated within the housing <NUM> by the fans <NUM> through side ducts or aisles <NUM> within the housing <NUM> in a direction toward a front of the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> external of closed sides of the tunnel <NUM> and is then directed by the front of the housing <NUM> into a front opening 38b of the tunnel <NUM> and through the tunnel <NUM> to return to the evaporator <NUM> and heater <NUM> at the rear 38a of the tunnel <NUM>. Thus, as shown in <FIG>, the air flow through the trolley <NUM> is linear air flow <NUM> laterally across and through the trolley <NUM> from front to back.

<FIG> show additional embodiments of blast gel pack conditioning equipment which are configured to ensure uniformity of temperature of the air flowing at the top and bottom of the tunnel. For example, in <FIG>, the set of fans <NUM> of blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> include a lower fan 144a directing air flow toward a top front of the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> and an upper fan 144b directing air flow toward a bottom front of the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM>. This ensures that the air flow and temperature of the air flow is mixed within the ducts or aisles <NUM> before entering the tunnel <NUM>. As an alternative embodiment shown in <FIG>, flanges or flaps, <NUM> and <NUM>, may be located within the ducts or aisles <NUM> on different sides thereof to direct air flow up (see <FIG>) or down (see <FIG>) within the duct or aisle <NUM> of blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM>. In either of the above referenced blast gel pack conditioning equipment, <NUM> and <NUM>, the homogeneity of the temperature of the air circulating within the conditioners, <NUM> and <NUM>, is improved (i.e., by adjusting an angle of the top and bottom fans, 144a and 144b, to cause mixture of the air flows within a middle section of the duct or aisle <NUM>, or to direct air flow with the use of flanges or flaps, <NUM> and <NUM>, to cause mixture of the air flows within a middle section of the duct or aisle <NUM>).

Additional problems addressed by some of the embodiments disclosed herein is that after PCM gel packs are phase change processed (for instance, frozen and/or melted) and a conditioning/stabilization process is commenced, there are risks of either warming up or cooling down at least some portions of the gel packs too quickly. For instance, melting of an external perimeter of frozen PCM material inside a gel pack may undesirably reduce the mass of solid PCM material and thereby reduce available latent heat during use in shipment. For purposes of avoiding this effect, embodiments of blast gel pack conditioning equipment are provided in which temperature sensors of a particular construction and arrangement are used.

According to the invention, at least some of the temperature sensors within blast gel pack conditioning equipment may be constructed in the form of small pots or pot-shaped containers <NUM> filled with paraffin <NUM> or other waxy substance having a melting temperature, for instance, of about +<NUM> (about <NUM>°F). Consequently, the paraffin <NUM> remains solid at all times (during cooling and heating) as a maximum temperature of the gel pack conditioner may be limited to about +<NUM> (<NUM>°F). A temperature sensor <NUM> is located within the pot <NUM> at an outer edge of the paraffin for purposes of mimicking a temperature at the edge of PCM material within a gel pack. This permits the controller and software of the blast gel pack conditioning equipment to appropriately limit heating and cooling operations to within acceptable ranges within the blast gel pack conditioning equipment.

According to an embodiment, the sensors with paraffin are located at positions within the blast gel pack conditioning equipment that would represent specifically-defined risks for gel pack conditioning in each step of a conditioning process. For example, these positions are shown in the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> in <FIG> and may include: P1 - Air Insufflation (hottest point when heating/front of the tunnel); P2 - Air return (represents the effect of the air after exchanging heat with the PCM gel packs/rear of the tunnel); P3 - Top (hottest point when heating/top of tunnel); and P4 - Bottom (lowest point of heat exchange when freezing/bottom of tunnel).

According to an embodiment, the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> may include additional temperature sensors that are exposed directly to the air in the blast gel pack conditioning equipment (i.e., that are not located in pots or embedded within paraffin). These additional temperature sensors provide fast-response sensors for the purpose of avoiding excess heating or cooling during a stabilization process. By way of example, the positions of these fast-response sensors may include: A1 - Air Insufflation (hottest point when heating/front of tunnel); and A2 - Air return (represents the effect of the air after exchanging heat with the PCM gel packs/rear of the tunnel).

According to an embodiment, the software of the controller of the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> receives temperature measurements from the sensors and calculates an average temperature value from measurements taken by the sensor at P1 (i.e., air insufflation - hottest point when heating/front of tunnel) and the sensor at P2 (i.e., air return - the air after exchanging heat with the PCM gel packs/rear of tunnel) to enable cooling or heating during the stabilization process. For instance, provided the average value falls within a pre-set range or above or below pre-set thresholds, cooling or heating may be permitted to continue. The software of the controller of the blast gel pack conditioning equipment <NUM> may also calculate an average temperature value from measurements taken by the sensor at A1 (i.e., air insufflation - hottest point when heating/front of tunnel) and the sensor at A2 (i.e., air return - the air after exchanging heat with the PCM gel packs/rear of tunnel) to disable or discontinue heating or cooling to avoid excess of heating and cooling that would ultimately affect the temperatures at P1 and P2. For instance, if the average value reaches a pre-set threshold, cooling or heating may be discontinued or the temperature may be adjusted accordingly.

The sensor at P3 (top) is used to limit the heating process as it may read temperature higher than the sensor at P1 (i.e., air insufflation - hottest point when heating) at some stages of conditioning. Thus, if the measurement at P3 reaches a pre-set threshold, the temperature during a heating process may be automatically reduced by a predetermined amount. The sensor at P4 (bottom) is used to assure phase change of the PCM material at a location with lowest heat exchange capacity. Thus, if the measurement at P4 falls to a pre-set threshold, the temperature during a heating or cooling phase change process may be automatically increased by a predetermined amount.

According to an embodiment, the software of the controller of the blast gel pack conditioning equipment may also be configured to control the freezing phase change process of gel packs by integrating the delta or variation in temperature below phase change temperature of the PCM material using temperature readings from the paraffin sensors (P1, P2, P3 and P4) as considered extreme temperatures of the edges of the gel packs. About every <NUM> seconds the software may add to the accumulated integral of each paraffin sensor the delta temperature between paraffin temperature and the phase change point of the PCM material being conditioned. Thus, the freezing phase change process time is proportional to the delta temperature. When the integral calculation of each paraffin temperature sensor reaches a set-point, all PCM gel packs are considered to be frozen and the next step of the recipe can be started (i.e., conditioning).

The graph shown in <FIG> provides an example in which the integral of a paraffin sensor as discussed above reaches the value of <NUM>,<NUM>*min in about <NUM> minutes. In contrast, the graph shown in <FIG> provides a comparative example in which the value of <NUM>,<NUM>*min would be achieved in <NUM> minutes when the temperature is simply fixed at -<NUM>. These examples consider the phase change point as +<NUM>. Thus, by controlling freezing temperature as shown in <FIG>, the time required for the freezing phase change process may be reduced by about <NUM> minutes in comparison with the process shown in <FIG>.

The controller for carrying out any of the above disclosed embodiments, methods, or arrangements may include software or the like provided on a circuit board or within another electronic device and can include various routers, modems, processors, microprocessors, modules, units, components, controllers, chips, disk drives, and the like. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that systems, modules, components, units, processors, servers, and the like may be implemented as electronic components, software, hardware or a combination of hardware and software for purposes of providing a system.

Claim 1:
Automated blast gel pack conditioning equipment (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) for phase change processing (i.e., freezing and/or melting material within gel packs) and conditioning gel packs, comprising:
a housing (<NUM>) defining a void space for containing a set of gel packs;
at least one fan (<NUM>, <NUM>) for circulating air within the housing (<NUM>) such that a path of air flow (<NUM>) extends through an air insufflation end (38b) to an air return end (38a) within the housing (<NUM>);
wherein the equipment further comprises
an evaporator (<NUM>) for cooling air and a heater (<NUM>, <NUM>) for heating air arranged within the housing (<NUM>);
at least one temperature sensor (<NUM>) located within the housing (<NUM>); and
a controller (<NUM>) for receiving temperature measurements from the at least one temperature sensor (<NUM>) and for automatically controlling operation of the evaporator (<NUM>), heater (<NUM>, <NUM>), and at least one fan (<NUM>, <NUM>) within the housing (<NUM>) during phase change processing and conditioning of gel packs,
characterized in that the at least one temperature sensor (<NUM>) includes at least one temperature sensor (<NUM>) contained within a pot-shaped container (<NUM>) filled with paraffin (<NUM>).