Thermal Containment System Providing Temperature Maintaining Shipping Package with Segmented Flexible PCM Panels

Abstract

A packaging system having an outer container and a segment panel defining a plurality of phase change material (PCM) segments, with said segments being aligned with sides of the outer container interior upon wrapping around a payload and insertion into the outer container. The segmented panels may include edge tapers which facilitate the wrapping process with adjacent edge tapers being brought together during the wrapping process. A method of packaging using PCM-containing segments which are wrapped around a portion of a payload is also disclosed.

1 . A transport package for a temperature sensitive payload comprising:
 an outer container having an interior defined by at least three sides;   a panel defined by a plurality of interconnected segments containing phase change material and at least one insert; and   a payload section adapted to receive the temperature sensitive payload, with the panel being wrapped around the payload prior to insertion into the outer container, and with at least three of said plurality of interconnected segments being aligned with said at least three sides of the outer container.   
     
     
         2 . The package of  claim 1  wherein the panel includes a pair of intermittently joined film layers defining cavities into which said phase change material is received. 
     
     
         3 . The package of  claim 2  wherein the panel includes a plurality of voids defined by a plurality of inserts. 
     
     
         4 . The package of  claim 3  wherein some of the voids are defined by flutes of a corrugated paper product. 
     
     
         5 . The package of  claim 3  wherein edges of the plurality of inserts taper, and when the panel is folded into form, said edges of adjacent pairs of inserts are brought together. 
     
     
         6 . The package of  claim 5  wherein the at least one insert includes a plurality of sheets of corrugated product. 
     
     
         7 . The package of  claim 6  wherein said plurality of sheets includes multiple sheets of decreasing size. 
     
     
         8 . A method of packaging a temperature sensitive product comprising:
 thermally preconditioning a flexible phase change material-containing panel, said panel including a plurality of segments containing at least one insert;   wrapping the panel around at least a portion of the temperature sensitive product; and   inserting the temperature sensitive product wrapped with the panel into an outer container, with said plurality of segments being aligned with a plurality of inside surfaces of said outer container.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 thermally preconditioning a second flexible phase change material-containing panel and wrapping the second flexible phase change material-containing panel around the temperature sensitive product prior to said inserting.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  wherein said at least one insert is a corrugated product. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  wherein said at least one insert has tapered edges and wherein said wrapping brings together a pair of tapered edges of an adjacent pair of inserts to define a corner. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8  wherein said panel includes 6 segments and wherein said wrapping aligns the 6 segments with 6 interior sides of the outer container. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8  wherein said panel includes 12 segments and wherein said wrapping aligns the 12 segments with 6 interior sides of the outer container. 
     
     
         14 . A method of packaging a temperature sensitive payload comprising:
 wrapping the payload in a first flexible, segmented panel containing an insert and phase change material preconditioned based on an anticipated ambient temperature during transport of the payload;   wrapping the payload in a second flexible, segmented panel containing an insert and phase change material preconditioned based on another anticipated ambient temperature during said transport; and   inserting the payload wrapped with the segmented panels into an outer container, with panels of said segmented panels being aligned with inside surfaces of said container.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising:
 wrapping the payload with thermal insulation prior to said inserting.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14  wherein at least some phase change material has been preconditioned by adding heat energy to the at least some phase change material until the at least some phase change material is liquid. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14  wherein at least some phase change material has been preconditioned by removing heat energy from the at least some phase change material until the at least some phase change material is solid. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the segmented panels are thermally preconditioned based on anticipated ambient temperatures during payload transportation. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14  wherein at least two different thermal preconditioning processes are used to prepare the segmented panels. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14  wherein said wrapping the payload in the first flexible, segmented panel includes providing the first panel in flat form and folding the first panel into a box form prior to inserting the payload.