REFRIGERATED CONTAINER HAVING A THERMO-ELECTRIC COOLER PUMP

Abstract

A refrigerated container having a thermo-electric cooling pump includes a lid for covering the top opening of a container to form a chamber, the lid having a thermo-electric element that includes a cold-side heat exchanger and a hot-side heat exchanger, the cold-side heat exchanger extending into a sealed cooling channel on the underside of the lid, the hot-side heat exchanger extending into an exhaust channel on the top-side of the lid, first and second fans for moving gases through the circulation and exhaust channels, a sensor disposed in the container, and a controller which activates the first and second fans when a temperature in the chamber is detected above a threshold, such that heat from warmed air in the chamber is transferred from the cold-side heat exchanger to the hot-side heat exchanger and expelled out of the exhaust from the container.

Description

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The invention is in the field of refrigeration and is more specifically directed to an apparatus directed to, and a system and method for operating, a thermo-electric cooler pump.

Description of Related Art

Medicines and other products can degrade in certain conditions. For example, some temperatures need to be maintained in specified temperature ranges. Patients may not be able to constantly track medicine temperature. The same can be true for some testing instruments such as blood testing strips. Portable refrigerators can solve these issues. However, effective portable refrigerators need effective components that are sufficiently robust to withstand the rigors of transportation. Accordingly, improvements to thermo-electric cooler design and use are desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a graphical representation of a refrigerated container having a thermo-electric cooler pump according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

A refrigerated container having a thermo-electric cooler pump, referred to generally at 10 in FIG. 1, includes a container body 12, having a bottom wall 14 and side walls 16, for storage of medicines or other products P that need to be refrigerated, and a lid 18 for covering the container body 12. The container walls 14, 16 are lined with or may consist of insulation 20 and may have a durable inner liner 22 such as may be made from steel or aluminum. In one embodiment, the walls are provided with double insulation. The lid 18 has an insulated base 24 that fits snugly over the top opening of the container body 12 to form a tight and well-insulated chamber 26.

A first fan 28 mounted on the underside of the base 24 draws warmed air A_W from the chamber 26 through an inlet port 30 and circulates it through a cooling channel 32, also located on the underside of the base 24, whence it returns back into the chamber as cooled air A_C via an outlet port 34. A one-way valve 36 may be provided in the cooling channel 32 to ensure circulation of the air in one direction only.

A thermo-electric element 38, such as one including a Peltier device, is mounted in the base 24 of the lid 18. The thermo-electric element 38 comprises a cold-side heat exchanger 40, a hot-side heat exchanger 42, and an electrically conductive element 44 bounded by electrically non-conductive ceramic plates 44_P therebetween. The thermo-electric element 38 is mounted so that the cold-side heat exchanger 42 extends below the underside of the base 24 into the channel 32 on the bottom side of the base 24 of the lid 18. The hot-side heat exchanger 42 extends above the base 24 into an exhaust channel 46 located in the lid 18.

A second fan 48 disposed in the lid 18 above the top side 49 of the base 24 draws ambient air A_A into the channel 46 across the hot side heat exchanger 42 and expels it as warmed air A_O from the exhaust port 50. Thus, as shown, as air A_W is circulated through cooling channel 32, heat from heated air A_W is transferred from the cold-side heat exchanger 40 to the hot-side heat exchanger 42 which helps to maintain a selected cold temperature in the product chamber 26. Circulation of ambient A_A through the exhaust channel and across the hot-side heat exchanger 42 moves heat air out of the container 12. The thermo-electric cooler pump thus removes heat from the chamber as needed.

While in the illustrated embodiment, first fan 28 is disposed inside the insulated chamber 36, in another embodiment the motor for driving the fan is located outside the chamber to reduce generation of heat from operation of the motor in the chamber.

A battery 52 provides electrical power to the thermo-electric element component 14. In one embodiment the batteries are rechargeable. A power connector 54 may be provided to access an external power source. A sensor 56 is connected to a controller 58 located in lid 18 and receives temperature data from the sensor 56. If the temperature exceeds a selected threshold, the controller 58 activates the first fan 28 to begin circulating warmed air A_W through cooling channel 32 and activates the second fan 34 to move warmed air A_H out of the lid through the exhaust channel.

In one embodiment of a thermo-electric cooler pump, the lid 18 is glued over the top opening of the container body 12 and anchors are inserted through the lid into each corner of the container to secure the lid in place during transportation.

In another embodiment of a refrigerated container having a thermo-electric cooler pump a locator may be incorporated to track location. Data logging capabilities may also be added to provide a record of temperature, humidity, open/close status of the lid, vibration, etc.

In other embodiments of a refrigerated container having a thermo-electric cooler pump, the thermo-electric heat element 14, is integrated into the sides or bottom of an insulated container. In another embodiment the controller 54 may be connected to a display for showing measurements of various environmental conditions such as time, temperature, battery status, open/closed lid status, alarm conditions (e.g., high temperature), deviations from set boundaries for temperature, humidity, vibration and operational errors.

In yet another embodiment of a refrigerated container having a thermo-electric cooler pump, an additional fan is located in the chamber 26 to ensure that the entire chamber is isotropic.

In still other embodiments of a refrigerated container having a thermo-electric cooler pump, devices may be integrated into the container to track its location and record environmental conditions for later display, such as temperature, humidity, and vibration.

There have thus been described and illustrated certain embodiments of a refrigerated container having a thermo-electric cooler pump according to the invention. Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it should be clearly understood that the disclosure is illustrative only and is not to be taken as limiting, the spirit and scope of the invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

1. A refrigerated container having a thermo-electric cooler pump, the refrigerated container comprising: a container body having insulated side and bottom walls defining an insulated chamber, the side walls defining a top opening,a lid sized to fit over the top opening of the container body for closing the chamber, the lid having an insulated base, a cooling channel, an exhaust channel, a thermo-electric element, one or more fans, the insulated base having an underside and a top side,the cooling channel formed on the underside of the base and having an inlet port and an outlet port, a first one of the one or more fans disposed at the inlet port for driving air pulled from the chamber into the cooling channel,the exhaust channel disposed on or above the top side of the insulated base, the exhaust channel having an exhaust port for expelling air from the lid,the thermo-electric element having a cold-side heat exchanger, a hot-side heat exchanger and an electrically conductive element therebetween, electric current passing through the electrically conductive element causing a temperature differential between the cold-side heat exchanger and the hot-side heat exchanger, the cold-side heat exchanger extending into the cooling channel on the underside of the base of the lid, the hot-side heat exchanger extending into the exhaust channel on the top side of the base of the lid, wherein passage of electric current through the electrically conductive element activates the thermo-electric element thereby causing heat to flow from the cold-side heat exchanger to the hot-side heat exchanger,a power source connected to the thermo-electric element,a controller connected to the power source,a sensor in communication with the controller for detecting temperature in the chamber,such that when the sensor detects a temperature in the chamber over a selected threshold the controller is configured to activate the first fan to circulate air drawn from the chamber through the circulation channel across the cold-side heat exchanger and to activate the thermo-electric element, thereby transferring heat from the chamber across the insulated base of the lid into the exhaust channel.

2. The refrigerated container of claim 1 further comprising: a second fan disposed above the top side of the insulated base for driving ambient air into the exhaust channel, andwhen the sensor detects a temperature in the chamber over a selected threshold the controller being configured to activate the second fan to drive air through the exhaust channel across the hot-side heat exchanger and out of the lid through the exhaust port.

3. The refrigerated container of claim 1 further comprising: one-way valve disposed in the outlet port of the cooling channel restricting air in the channel to only flow from the inlet port to the outlet port.

4. The refrigerated container of claim 1 wherein the chamber is sized to hold medical drug containers or bio-tissue samples.

5. A refrigerated container having a thermo-electric cooler pump, the refrigerated container comprising: a container body having insulated side and bottom walls defining an insulated chamber, the side walls defining a top opening,a lid sized to fit over the top opening of the container body for closing the chamber, the lid having an insulated base, a cooling channel, an exhaust channel, a thermo-electric element, two or more fans, the insulated base having an underside and a top side,the cooling channel formed on the underside of the base and having an inlet port and an outlet port, a first fan of the two or more fans disposed at the inlet port for driving air pulled from the chamber into the cooling channel,the exhaust channel disposed on or above the top side of the insulated base, the exhaust channel having an exhaust port for expelling air from the lid, a second fan of the two or more fans disposed above the top side of the insulated base for driving ambient air into the exhaust channel,the thermo-electric element having a cold-side heat exchanger, a hot-side heat exchanger and an electrically conductive element therebetween, electric current passing through the electrically conductive element causing a temperature differential between the cold-side heat exchanger and the hot-side heat exchanger, the cold-side heat exchanger extending into the cooling channel on the underside of the base of the lid, the hot-side heat exchanger extending into the exhaust channel on the top side of the base of the lid, wherein passage of electric current through the electrically conductive element activates the thermo-electric element thereby causing heat to flow from the cold-side heat exchanger to the hot-side heat exchanger,a power source connected to the thermo-electric element,a controller connected to the power source,a sensor in communication with the controller for detecting temperature in the chamber,such that when the sensor detects a temperature in the chamber over a selected threshold the controller is configured to activate the first fan to circulate air drawn from the chamber through the circulation channel across the cold-side heat exchanger, to activate the thermo-electric element to transfer heat from the chamber across the insulated base of the lid into the exhaust channel, and to activate the second fan to drive air through the exhaust channel across the hot-side heat exchanger and out of the lid through the exhaust port.