1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to the field of thermal liners primarily used in the shipping or storage of goods, foodstuffs, samples and the like items that must be maintained within predetermined temperature ranges for predetermined periods of time in order to ensure the safety and quality of such items. More particularly, the invention is directed to collapsible insulated shipping liners designed to allow items held therein to be maintain within predetermined temperatures, either hot or cold, for extended periods of time. The shipping liners are ideal for long distance shipment of perishable items such as foods, samples and medical items, and may also be used for catering, take-out as well as for traditional cooler functions.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There are numerous industries wherein the safe transportation or shipment and storage of temperature sensitive products or samples is critical to the preservation of the products or samples. Medical supplies, samples, transplants and the like must often be maintained within controlled temperatures during periods of shipment from suppliers to users, providers to patients, and between operating facilities. With the popularity of online grocery shopping growing, there is also a need to improve upon insulated packaging for transporting goods such as frozen foods from temperature controlled environments to the end-consumers. Frequently, delivered packages may have to be left for extended periods in less than optimal ambient conditions before a consumer actually takes possession of the goods being shipped.
Currently, to maintain shipped items at optimal temperatures, options have been tried which include foam coolers, dry ice packs or boxes and insulated storage bags. Each of these options comes with drawbacks, including limited lengths of time for maintaining goods or items at optimal temperatures, environmental impact or safety concerns and increased shipping cost to cover container weight, size or express deliveries.
Foam coolers combined with dry ice packs can, in some instances, effectively maintain items at optimal temperatures. However, their use is costly in both supply costs and excess shipping costs. In addition, foam coolers have a negative impact on the environment and the handling of dry ice packs can raise safety concerns.
Dry ice packs have been used alone to ship and deliver perishable items. However, their ability to maintain optimal temperatures for extended periods of time while in a standard cardboard container is extremely poor.
Standard plastic bags have been used for short term transportation of perishable items. However, their use is limited to only conveyance of the item and not for maintaining the item in an optimal temperature range for any significant period of time, such as more than one to three hours or more.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need to provide insulated shipping liners that can provide greater insulating properties to ensure that goods, foodstuffs, medical supplies and samples and other items that are temperature sensitive may be safely shipped and maintained within necessary temperatures for greater periods of time than is possible using conventional shipping containers or liners.
There is a further need to provide insulated shipping and transportation liners that can also be compactly configured to reduce shipping and transportation costs without reducing the insulating properties thereof.
The present invention includes flexible or collapsible hot/cold storage or shipping liners that are preferably self configuring and/or supporting but easily manipulated to a reduced size to be placed in an outer container or box for shipment. In the preferred embodiments, the liners are formed of at least three layers of insulating materials including an outer metallic or radiate energy reflecting layer, an intermediate open cell foam insulating layer and an inner low thermal convection and food grade plastic layer.
In some embodiments, the liner is in the form of a fully flexible insulated bag, and the bag is designed to be used as stand-alone container capable of maintaining a supporting shape when placed on a support surface. However, the bag may also be placed into, or folded and subsequently placed into, an outer protective structure such as a cardboard container or box, a plastic bag or bin or any other shipping container. Due to the flexible insulating materials of the bags, they may be shaped to conform to, or reduce the spaced occupied within, outer containers, thereby maximizing shipping efficiencies and reducing shipping costs.
In one embodiment of the insulated bag liner, the inner layer is formed as a bag with an outwardly folded cuff at an opening therein such that the cuff frictionally receives and retains upper free end portions of opposing side walls of the intermediate insulation material therein. In this manner, the intermediate insulation material is mechanically secured to the inner layer such that both layers may be simultaneously inserted within the outer layer. This frictional retention of the intermediate layer within the cuff of the inner layer will also function to retain the intermediate insulating layer in place within the outer layer when the composite insulating bags of the invention are in use. In some embodiments, the upper end of the inner plastic bag layer is welded to the inner surface of the outer layer, at or spaced slightly below the upper edges of the outer layer. The outer layer, is also formed into a bag-like configuration by folding a length of material on itself, from end-to-end, and thereafter welding the opposite side edges together.
The composite or multi-layer insulated bags of the invention may also include different closure and handle structures. In some embodiments, the inner bag-like structures may be heat sealed at their upper open ends after articles or items are placed with the insulated bags. In other embodiments, mechanical zip-like closures or double sided tapes may be used to seal the upper open ends of the inner bags after articles or items are placed therein. In yet other embodiments, the inner bags may not be sealed. Preferably, the upper ends of the outer bag-like layers are provided with either heat seals or mechanical zip-like or friction lock seals. In some embodiments, the seals may be created using friction lock engaging handle members that are initially sealed to the upper edges of the opposing sides of the outer layer and which include components that interlock with one another as the handle members are locked together.
In some embodiments of the invention, to facilitate the compact handling and/or folding of the multi-layered insulated shipping and storage bags of the invention for shipment to wholesalers or end users for subsequent use, the interior of the bags, and especially the intermediate open cell foam layers are designed to be evacuated by the application of a partial vacuum. Such a vacuum may be applied to the bags through an opening between the outer layer and the intermediate open cell foam material thereof by use of a vacuum tube or by placing the bags within an enclosure under a reduced atmosphere or by physical compression of the bags. When the vacuum tube is withdrawn or the predetermined reduced pressure is obtained within the bags, the outer openings therein are closed by removable adhesive patches or covers to prevent ambient air from entering the bags. When the bags have been at least partially evacuated so that air is removed from the open cell foam and from between the outer layer and the foam, they are easily folded into compact configurations for storage or for shipment. When the bags are to be used by an end user, the patches or covers are removed and the bags will automatically expand as ambient air enters the vacuum openings therein. After the bags are inflated, the adhesive patches or covers may be reapplied to prevent contaminants from entering the openings therein. In this regard, when the insulated shipping and storage bags are to be used to ship or store items that must remain sterile, the vacuum processes and inflating processes may take place within sterile enclosures.
The compact handling of the multi-layered insulated shipping and storage bags of the invention for storage or shipment to wholesalers or end users for subsequent use may also be accomplished by placing one or more insulate bags within an outer plastic bag have one end with a sealable opening. Thereafter, the outer bag is mechanically collapsed to force most air out of the enclosed insulated shipping bags and the outer bag and the outer bag subsequently sealed. In some embodiments, a partial vacuum may be applied within the outer bag to reduce the pressure therein and to reduce the volume of the overall package.
Further, in the embodiments wherein the intermediate foam layers are seated or sealed with their upper edge portions within the cuffs of the inner layers and the cuffs sealed to the outer layer or wherein the upper edges of the inner layer are sealed to the outer layer to isolate the foam layer there between from the ambient environment, any reduction in pressure within the space between the foam layers and the outer layer will not affect the sterility of the inner surface of the inner layer.
In addition to the use of the collapsible hot/cold thermal insulated shipping and storage bags for foodstuffs, such as frozen foods or hot prepared food dishes, the bags are also ideal for other uses including transporting of medical items including medicine, blood, samples and organs, and other products that must be retained within tightly controlled temperatures.
In an alternative arrangement, the liner of the present invention is in the form of a substantially flat foldable liner including an insulating layer housed within a flexible sealed sack. The foldable liner is configured to be stored in a flat unfolded configuration or utilized in a folded configuration in which a substantially rectangular liner box is formed, which may be inserted into a cardboard shipping box or the like in order to transport or store goods.
The thermal insulated shipping and storage liners of the present invention are capable of maintaining perishable items at their optimal temperatures for extended periods of time. By way of example, the process of keeping items cold while moving them from one area to another is known as cold chain. A cold chain is further defined as an uninterrupted series of storage and distribution activities that are used to maintain the temperature of an item in a given range. The insulated shipping and storage liners of the invention allow items to be left with the end-consumers where the items can be safely maintained at their optimal temperatures, either hot or cold, for three or more hours.
In addition, the insulated shipping and storage liners of the invention are designed to be both light-weight and flexible thereby allowing the liners to be compressed, folded and compactly placed in shipping containers without consuming space that may be used for shipping other items and thereby aiding in reduction of both shipping and storage costs.
A further advantage of the insulated shipping and storage liners of the invention is that the open celled foam intermediate layer also function to cushion the contents of the liners, especially during transit and thus damage to the contents of the liners is less likely than with other prior art shipping containers.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views.
A better understanding of the invention will be had with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
With continued reference to the drawings, the invention will be described with respect to several embodiments for insulated and flexible or pliable hot/cold storage and shipping liners. In a first embodiment shown in
Outer layer 11 is formed from a one-piece rectangular film that is folded along a midline thereof to create a pouch or bag shape having a bottom portion 12, with the side edges thereof being welded, heat sealed or otherwise sealed to form opposite side seams 13, thereby creating an opening 14 defined by outer layer 11.
An intermediate insulating layer 20, see
Thermal bridges are created when poorly insulated materials, or gaps present in the materials, allow heat transfer to occur through the material. To prevent thermal bridges, the insulated foam material(s) of insulating layer 20 is designed and placed to properly insulate the area of concern in which an item to be contained within insulated bag 10 is to be received. In view of this, the insulating foam layer 20 is preferably made from a polyurethane or polyurethane-like foam to prevent thermal bridges and to effectively maintain the low thermal transfer needed to assure that any perishable product is maintained at optimal temperatures. In addition to the low thermal properties of the foam, the foam is able to conform to any item enclosed within insulating bag 10, and to thereby become the frame and/or structure of the item. The self-forming foam creates a base or floor, lid and walls for a product when the product is placed therein. The foam also provides a protective cushion for any articles placed within insulating bag 10 and thus protects against article damage.
With reference to
It should be understood that the size of cutouts 25 and 30 relative to the dimensions of insulating layer 20 determines the size of insulating bag 10. Thus, insulating bag 10 can be configured for any desired size of shipping container or box.
Insulated bag 10 also includes an innermost layer 32 that is preferably made of one or more materials known for lower thermal convection. Such materials include polyurethanes, polypropylenes, elastomeric compounds and like materials that are leak-proof, non-porous and food grade, and that can be heat sealed or otherwise secured or welded to outer layer 11.
In a first embodiment of the invention, inner layer 32 is formed as a bag or pouch that is only open at a top opening 34 thereof, as is shown in
In some embodiments and as shown in
Although not shown in the drawings, in some embodiments, the inner pouch-like structure of inner layer 32 may be heat sealed at an upper open end 44 after articles or items are placed within insulated bag 10. In other embodiments, mechanical zip-like closures or double sided tapes may be used to seal upper end 44 of inner bag 32 after articles or items are placed therein. In yet other embodiments, the inner bag 32 may not be sealed at opening 34.
Preferably, the upper ends of the outer layers 11 are provided with either heat seals or mechanical zip-like locks or friction lock seals. In some embodiments, the seals may be created using friction lock members 50 and 51 that are initially sealed at 52 to the upper edges of the opposing sides of outer layer 11. Friction lock member 50 includes a handle 53 that is insertable through a handle 53 in the lock member 51. Lock member 51 is generally u-shaped in cross section, see
Insulated bag 10 can be closed using other known conventional methods such as pressure closures, taping closures, flaps with re-sealable taping means, flaps with peel-off taping means, plastic zip-lock fasteners and the like.
Although not shown in the figures, in some embodiments one or more addition foam layers may be inserted between the inner pouch or layer 32 and outer layer 11 to increase the insulating properties of insulated bag 10, thus increasing the length of time products will remain at optimal temperatures within insulated bag 10.
As noted above, insulated bag 10 can be utilized on its own for shipping and storing goods. Alternatively, insulated bag 10 can be utilized as a liner within an outer container, such as a cardboard box or the like. As previously described, one of the advantages of the present invention is that insulated bags 10 may be compactly arranged and retained either for storage or shipment to wholesalers or end users to thereby reduce shipping package volumes and thus reduce costs associated with shipping and storage of insulating bags 10. With reference to
Another embodiment of the invention depicted in
With reference to
In an alternative arrangement depicted in
Insulating layer 20 includes a first side portion 120, a second side portion 121, and a middle portion 122 between the first and second side portions 120,121. In the first embodiment shown, the first and second side portions 120 and 121 are mirror images of one another. For simplicities sake, only the first side portion 120 will be discussed in detail, with the understanding that second side portion 121 will have like details. First side portion 120 includes a substantially rectangular shaped top flap 21 having and end wall 124 and opposing side walls 125,126 extending from a panel 127, wherein a width W1 of insulating layer 20 at top flap 21 is less than a width W2 of insulating layer 20 at panel 127, and a width W3 of insulating layer 20 at middle portion 122 is less than width W2 of insulating layer 20 at panel 127, such that substantially rectangular opposing side flaps 130,131 are defined on panel 127. Each opposing side flap 130,131 includes an end wall 134 and opposing side walls 135,136.
In use, the box template or insulating layer 20 is bendable along a first lateral fold line indicated at 140 between first side portion 120 and middle portion 122; first and second longitudinal fold lines 141, 142 between respective substantially rectangular flaps 130, 131 and panel 127; and a second lateral fold line 143 between first top flap 21 and panel 127. It should be understood that corresponding fold lines exist for second side portion 121, which is a mirror image of first side portion 120. Preferably, insulating layer 20 is constructed from a continuous sheet of insulating foam material, without any perforations or the like marring the surface of the insulating layer 20. With this configuration, insulating layer 20 can be folded by a user along fold lines 140-143 of first side portion 120 and corresponding fold lines of second side portion 121 to transition liner 100 from a substantially flat storage position shown in
Once a user positions box form 150 within a container, such as box 112, the flexible nature of liner 100 enables liner 100 to conform to the inner dimensions of box 112, as depicted in
Insulating layer 20 can take on a variety of different configurations, each of which can be folded to form a three-dimensional substantially rectangular box form. For example, an alternative foldable liner 200 depicted in
In another alternative embodiment shown in
Any of the liners of the present invention can also include an opening 70 with a cover 74, as depicted in
Although described with reference to preferred embodiments of the invention, it should be readily understood that various changes and/or modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. For instance, the embodiments of
This application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/838,559, filed Aug. 14, 2007, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/907,932, filed Apr. 23, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60907932 | Apr 2007 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11838559 | Aug 2007 | US |
Child | 13488995 | US |