Ultra-low temperature storage and dispensing system

Abstract

A storage and dispensing system for storing and dispensing temperature sensitive items is provided. The system includes a storage chamber, a dispensing chamber, an electro-mechanical module, and a cooling system. The storage chamber has walls defining plural compartments formed integrally therein for storing the temperature sensitive items at an ultra-low temperature. Each compartment is formed as a cylindrical sector with an inclined bottom surface. The plural compartments are arranged circumferentially around a vertical axis and stacked together in one or more rows, thereby an individual temperature sensitive item is slidable out of a respective compartment to the dispensing chamber by gravitational force. The electro-mechanical module is configured to rotate the storage chamber about the vertical axis. The storage chamber does not include any mechanical or electrical components inside, which avoids the need for devices that can tolerate an extremely low temperature environment.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A storage and dispensing system for storing and dispensing temperature sensitive items, the system comprising:
 a storage chamber having a plurality of walls defining plural compartments formed integrally therein for storing the temperature sensitive items at an ultra-low temperature, each compartment being formed as a cylindrical sector with an inclined bottom surface, the plural compartments being arranged circumferentially around a vertical axis and stacked together in one or more rows, thereby an individual temperature sensitive item is slidable out of a respective compartment by gravitational force;   a dispensing chamber configured to receive the temperature sensitive items from the storage chamber and move the temperature sensitive items to an outlet for collection; and   an electro-mechanical module configured to rotate the storage chamber about the vertical axis, thereby the storage chamber does not include any mechanical or electrical components inside,   wherein:
 the storage chamber is surrounded by a thermal-insulating circumferential wall with one or more door assemblies on the thermal-insulating circumferential wall operable to allow the individual temperature sensitive item to slide from the respective compartment to the dispensing chamber. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the electro-mechanical module comprises a motor shaft and one or more mounting plates for attaching the storage chamber to the motor shaft to transfer a rotational movement to the storage chamber. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the electro-mechanical module comprises a servo motor or a stepping motor. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the electro-mechanical module comprises a prime motor and a reduction gear assembly, wherein the prime motor is a direct current motor or an alternating current motor. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the electro-mechanical module and the storage chamber are separated by a thermal insulating plate such that the electro-mechanical module operates at a temperature higher than the ultra-low temperature. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a cooling system having a first cooling module and a second cooling module, wherein the first cooling module is configured to cool the storage chamber to the ultra-low temperature, and the second cooling module is configured to cool the dispensing chamber to a low temperature. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the cooling system comprises a compressor, a condenser, an accumulator, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6  further comprising a temperature feedback control unit configured to periodically sense temperatures of the storage chamber and the dispensing chamber and adjust the cooling system for maintaining the storage chamber at the ultra-low temperature and the dispensing chamber at the low temperature. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the temperature feedback control unit comprises a plurality of temperature sensors positioned at a plurality of locations on a peripheral surface of the storage chamber for determining the temperature of the storage chamber. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of temperature sensors is selected from a group consisting of a thermocouple, a resistance temperature detector, and a thermistor. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the temperature feedback control unit comprises one or more dispenser temperature sensors positioned to determine the temperature of the temperature sensitive items in the dispensing chamber. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more dispenser temperature sensors are selected from a group consisting of a thermocouple, a resistance temperature detector, a thermistor, and an infrared temperature sensor. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8  further comprises a display module configured to display the temperatures of the storage chamber and the dispensing chamber. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the dispensing chamber comprises a vertical reciprocating mechanism and a tray, and the vertical reciprocating mechanism moves the tray vertically to one or more positions corresponding to the one or more rows of the storage chamber. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the vertical reciprocating mechanism comprises a conveyor belt, a hydraulic cylinder, a lead screw, a ball screw, or an electrically driven push pull rod for moving the tray vertically. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the vertical reciprocating mechanism comprises a position alignment device positioned at a bottom side of the tray for detecting one or more position alignment marks to align the tray to the one or more door assemblies. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein an individual door assembly comprises a sliding door, one or more push pull rods, and a control unit. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the control unit is configured to move the sliding door along a sliding rail between an open position and a close position. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the inclined bottom surface has one or more holes disposed therethrough for allowing air circulation between each of the plural compartments. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the temperature sensitive items are vaccines for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 8  further comprising a main control unit configured for:
 activating the electro-mechanical module to rotate the storage chamber; 
 coupling control signals to the one or more door assemblies and the dispensing chamber for moving the temperature sensitive items from the storage chamber to the outlet; and 
 controlling the cooling module based on temperature data from the temperature sensors. 
 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the main control unit comprises a feature extraction module configured to analyze the temperature data by extracting a maximum temperature or an average temperature from each temperature sensors, wherein the feature extraction module performs time-domain analysis on the temperature data. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the time-domain analysis determines a standard deviation and a peak-to-peak temperature difference for each temperature sensors over a short period of time. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 21  further comprising a wireless communication interface connected to the main control unit and configured for communicating with external devices or a cloud database.