EP1622099A1 - Method and apparatus for carrying out an individual distribution of cold containers intended to keep foodstuffs, medical substances or equivalents in the cold - Google Patents

Abstract

The procedure, designed to dispense cold packs such as sachets or containers filled with a liquid or gel that solidifies when cooled, consists of cooling the packs to a temperature below 0 degrees C either outside or inside a dispensing zone and then dispensing them as required by a user to conserve or cool foodstuffs or medicines while they are being transported to a new zone where they can be kept cold. The sachets or containers are filled with a eutectic-based substance or a mixture of such substances that solidify at temperatures of between 0 and -30 or between -5 and -25 degrees C. They are held in a distributor in which they pass through a tube or other circuit to an outlet, through which they are dispensed e.g. on payment via a coin-in-slot system.

Description

The present patent application claims a method for delivering to any individual who does not want to break the cold chain food or pharmaceutical or similar products that it carries in a bag, a basket, a cabinet or similar object, at least one envelope containing a very cold compound that it will slip into his bag, basket, box or similar. The user can also use this source of cold to cool pipes of liquids or gases (by distributing such envelopes along the pipe) or to apply this source of cold on a body part of a human being or 'an animal..

The present invention relates to a method for the distribution of individual containers or "packs" individual or individual waterproof envelopes ("sachets" type), lightweight and small volume and containing a cold product which, once out of the zone of distribution, releases from the cold. This container (or pack or envelope), after use, is generally disposable.

The invention also relates to the corresponding apparatus.

The invention applies to the sampling in a so-called distribution zone, by any suitable means, of at least one closed space, which will be referred to hereinafter as a sealed container or a sealed envelope (of the "sachet" type), in order to temporarily dispose of a cold body which by releasing cold keeps cold or keep frozen an object that must remain cold or frozen until the object has been consumed or transported to a place where there is a conventional cold. We think here of the customer of a fresh produce store who wants to keep the shopping he has just done cold until he has transported his purchases to a refrigerator or freezer. This customer will then go to the said nearest distribution zone, for example at the exit of the crates of a supermarket, will take at least one container or envelope (or sachet) that he will put in his basket or in his bag or even in its insulated bag (to enhance the isothermal effect). The user can even bring such envelopes or bags to cool food that in his bag, were not cold but he wants to cool. We will also think of medical uses for the momentary cold storage of a drug, a drug solution, blood etc .... and also at the exit of a pharmacy. We will also think of provisions for picnics, ice-cold sticks for children, bottles of water, beer or soda etc. ... We will still think-or cooling pipes (air conditioning) that we cool in arranging around these pipes (crossed by liquids or gases) our envelopes - or cold pockets that can be applied to a part of a body of a human being or an animal, for example sick. To obtain a source of cold according to the present invention, it is sufficient to have a said distribution zone according to the invention in appropriate places, amusement parks, hospitals, shopping streets, motorway parking, stadiums, public places, railway stations etc. ... Once used, the container or envelope or pouch is usually discarded.

It will be seen below that this closed space contains a body or a substance which is a liquid or a gel at ordinary temperature but which is solid at the cold temperature at which it is delivered to the user. This liquid or gel is enclosed in a closed space that has been called above container or envelope or "pack" or bag. This body or substance is a eutectic or a mixture of eutectics.

• (a) soit des enveloppes (plates lorsqu'elles sont vides) dont les dimensions en centimètres sont par exemple
  20 x 20 x 2, pesant environ entre 300 et 500 grammes lorsqu'elles sont remplies du corps froid, par exemple 400 grammes (on peut concevoir une taille un peu plus grande pesant jusqu'à 600 grammes).
• (b) soit des enveloppes dont les dimensions en centimètres sont par exemple
  15 x 15 x 0,5, pesant, remplies d'un corps froid, 150 et 250 grammes, par exemple 200 grammes.
• (c) soit encore des petits coussinets de 10 à 50 cm3 qui pèsent par exemple, lorsqu'ils sont remplis d'un corps froid, de 5 à 90 grammes.
• (d) soit également des petites briquettes dont les formes et les dimensions sont celles d'une boîte d'allumettes ou celles des glaçons que l'on trouve dans les réfrigérateurs avec un poids de l'ordre de 5 à 45 grammes lorsqu'ils sont remplis d'un corps froid.

More specifically, the invention preferably relates to the implementation of a dispensing zone enclosing a plurality of closed spaces, that is to say containers or sealed envelopes (or bags), flexible or rigid or semi-rigid, the shapes of which may be any, for example cubes, balls, pellets (capsule type), balls, parallelepipeds and pockets, the latter being spherical, oval, brick or berlingots or tetrapack® . Subsequently, the word "sachet" will be used arbitrarily, or even the word "envelope". These containers or envelopes (or pouches) have a relatively small size, for example having a volume of between 5 cm3 and a quarter of a liter (250 cm3), or even between 6 and 200 cm3, these values not being limiting. Again, and still as an example, it is conceivable the use, commercially, of three commercial standards, the weight of the container can be between 5 and 600 grams:

• (a) envelopes (flat when empty) whose dimensions in centimeters are for example
  20 x 20 x 2, weighing approximately between 300 and 500 grams when filled with the cold body, for example 400 grams (can be designed a size a little larger weighing up to 600 grams).
• (b) envelopes whose dimensions in centimeters are, for example
  15 x 15 x 0.5, heavy, filled with a cold body, 150 and 250 grams, for example 200 grams.
• (c) still small pads of 10 to 50 cm3 which weigh for example, when filled with a cold body, 5 to 90 grams.
• (d) also small briquettes whose shapes and dimensions are those of a matchbox or those of ice cubes found in refrigerators with a weight in the range of 5 to 45 grams when are filled with a cold body.

These containers, envelopes or sachets contain a cold body or a cold substance which is a liquid or a gel at ordinary temperature but which is solid, because it is cold, in the distribution zone. It is therefore a liquid or a gel of eutectic type or equivalent, therefore of a body or a substance which is a liquid or a gel at ordinary temperature but which is a solid at temperatures generally below zero degrees C or even colder temperatures which correspond to the cold melting temperatures of the eutectic or mixtures of eutectics used in the container or envelope or bag. The dispensing zone may contain containers or envelopes or sachets containing the same type of these cold bodies (thus a single type of eutectic) but may also contain containers (or envelopes or sachets) containing different cold bodies or substances ( so here several types of eutectics). The principle of distribution is close to that of the "jukeboxes". The user introduces into a distribution area a piece of money or a token, free or not depending on the environment. The distributor delivers, depending on the job for which it was designed, either a single container or a single envelope or bag in the simplest case (even if two or more chips are to be inserted if several envelopes are desired), or, if the dispenser comprises various varieties of choice, directly one or two or more envelopes, or, in the case of more elaborate dispensing machines, any choice of number of envelopes and also a choice among different cold bodies (eutectics) depending on the degree of cold that the user is looking for, either because he or she has a longer trip or other errands to do before going home or because the user has frozen products in his bag and not just a cool drink.

The envelope (or container or pouch), once the body or the substance it contains has had its effect and has lost its properties of maintaining the cold, is discarded. We could conceive report it or send it back to the manufacturer of the vending machines. But this is no longer the domain of the present invention.

The zone or the vending machine is thus of the "jukebox" type, well known for example in the distributors of disks or CD-ROMs in cafes, casinos, and even at the European Patent Office in The Hague where a powerful machine A few years ago, and in a few moments, the diskette containing the text of the patent that an examiner wanted to consult was issued. Here, preferably, in the present invention, the dispensing zone or dispensing machine derives from another type of process. It is inspired by the machine with multiple bins, each rack containing a different product, for example a food bar, a sandwich, a hot or cold drink, based on the choice of coffee, chocolate etc ..., the advanced machines containing Loop many of the items available to the customer. These types of machines are described in particular in WO 03/107110 or in WO 02/060806 or US 6,626,005 or US4245680 relating to dispensers of hot or cold beverages (tea, coffee, chocolate) but are distinguished from our type of distribution area since in these PCT and US applications it is necessary to have hot and cold water circuits and powder mixing zones that do not exist in our device. German patent DE 10119104 relates to a device with multiple drawers for dispensing hot or cold foodstuffs, particularly in an aircraft and characterized by hot and cold fluid circuits. The text of US 2003/0230108 describes a jukebox-type mechanism such as that which can be found in hotel corridors and delivers ice cubes in bulk. British Patent GB 642,085 discloses a cabinet containing assortments of cooked dishes or various victuals, the cabinet being provided with closed cells, each by a door which opens under the action of a mechanism handled by customers a self-service grocery store. Mention may also be made of US Pat. Nos. 5,586,486, 5,513,115 or 4,687,119 which relate to an apparatus for the automatic dispensing of small hot or cold cooked dishes, the apparatus also assuming instant portion preparations. of food that it distributes and their preservation in cold or hot weather. The French patent FR-A-2824168, meanwhile, describes an automatic machine for dispensing fresh food products comprising a refrigerated storage area, a cooking zone and dispensing by manipulator, this manipulator for the transfer of cartons containing the products. from the storage to the cooking zone and to the distribution hatch.

According to the present invention, our distribution area does not distribute various drinks or food products but distributes sachets containing a body maintained at low temperature and intended to keep cold products that do not come from the zone distribution but food stores for example. Due to the need to deliver products stored at very low temperature, for example from 0 ° C to -30 ° C or from -5 ° C to -25 ° C, the process according to the invention requires the implementation other means than those described in the prior art cited above.

The present invention is within the framework of increasingly stringent and stringent laws on the need to keep food fresh until it is delivered to the consumer or user and allowing them to retain the products they receive up to a place close to the consumption of these products. It therefore relates to a method implementing at least one automatic machine which delivers sources of cold of the order generally from 0 to -30 ° C, these temperatures being moreover adaptable according to the climates of the countries where such a process will be implemented. Said machine is designed to receive sachets containing a liquid or a gel that has the characteristic of solidifying when it is worn at low temperature. The liquid or the gel used is chosen from the group consisting of eutectics whose solidification and therefore melting temperatures are different depending on the nature of the eutectic. We can therefore play on the choice of the desired temperature of the cold in the machine by the choice of a suitable eutectic or even by the choice of mixtures of eutectics. The machine therefore contains a plurality of sachets whose content is in the solid state. The user or more precisely the users who wish to keep cold or keep frozen are cold or frozen food products that they have just bought at the supermarket and that they have deposited in their bag or basket, the bottle of water or drink they will carry with them while they walk or go to any event, their kit of anti-venom for the bite of viper, kit they will take on a hike in the mountains, and users who want to cool either a water pipe or a gas (air, oxygen ...) or an organ (belly, jaw, joint of a patient or injured) etc ..., all these examples being given only in a non-limiting way, will go to a said dispensing machine in order to extract by any suitable means at least one bag they will put in their bag and which will keep the cold or products they want to keep cold. Depending on the nature of the cold they wish to have, they will extract one or more bags from the machine and if the machine is perfected, they may even have the choice between different eutectic bags, for example the eutectic that keeps cold, but without freezing, fresh fruit that will be consumed quickly or the eutectic that is required to take home frozen products that should not undergo any thawing during transport home. It is also conceivable, not a single machine that would deliver several types of eutectics but a battery of machines arranged side by side and delivering each bag of different eutectics or different sizes.

• 1. L'utilisateur va au rayon approprié d'un magasin spécialisé se munir d'une ou de plusieurs plaques décongelées, le prix n'étant d'ailleurs pas négligeable.
• 2. L' utilisateur passe en caisse.
• 3. Après les caisses, sont implantées des distributeurs automatiques. Généralement, il y a deux fentes apparentes sur la machine. L'utilisateur insère une plaque décongelée dans une des fentes et de l'autre fente sort alors une plaque congelée que l'utilisateur emporte avec lui.

Admittedly, there are already on the market enclosures delivering cold, and without speaking here of obtaining cold by dry ice (very expensive means) nor of the momentary conservation of the frozen products which one just bought thanks to isothermal bags, we mention the speakers of the "brick" type which contain a eutectic but which are rather bulky and quite heavy and that are used rather at home or in hospitals, in a freezer, to cope with a prolonged break of 'electricity. This type of brick has even given rise to particular uses very effective in the retail markets. This is a concept of automatic caloric battery vending machine that delivers not flexible bags but rigid eutectic plates. The principle is as follows:

• 1. The user goes to the appropriate department of a specialized store to get one or more thawed plates, the price is also not negligible.
• 2. The user goes to the cash register.
• 3. After the crates, vending machines are installed. Generally, there are two apparent slots on the machine. The user inserts a thawed plate in one of the slots and the other slot then leaves a frozen plate that the user takes with him.

The implementation of these vending machines in supermarkets is currently only carried out in the specialized stores of food professionals: This machine concept, very complex, (anti-bacterial cleaning, freezing, and so on) is not viable in mass market retail.

This type of prior art is mentioned below:

In particular FR-A-2258672 describes a method of sampling in a machine a cold bag using a token or a coin. In this French patent, the device provides for the recovery of the bag which has warmed up after use and its reintroduction into the machine where it will be washed and brushed before reuse. The cold body present in the bags of this patent is a chemical composition capable of accumulating, while remaining liquid, a sufficient amount of cold. The use of eutectics, which are solid in the cold state, is therefore excluded.

We also mention WO97 / 34264 in which the cold elements distributed by a machine are rigid on the one hand because of their specific shape adapted to their circulation and on the other hand because these elements must be reusable many times without being damaged.

Let us also mention W001 / 73703A1 describing sophisticated machines intended for industrial use since the cold elements that will be withdrawn from these machines are intended to be conveyed in transport cases adapted to receive such cold elements and not to be slipped into the small bag from the grocery store customer or on a patient or along a pipeline. Items recovered after use are subject to disinfection, brushing, cleaning and washing, and therefore to mechanical stresses not present in our patent application.

It can also be cited US-A-4618074 relating to the distribution of cold elements and which is primarily focused on a device that can effectively clean the elements that, after use by a user, have been reintroduced by this user in the vending machine of these elements. In this US patent, the elements that can be withdrawn from the vending machine, are intended only to keep cool various foods and not to keep frozen food. Nothing suggests in this patent the use of a eutectic or a mixture of eutectics.

Note also DE8520184U, utility model in which the goal is simply to keep food or drinks cool with cold elements distributed by a machine. The maintenance of products in the frozen state is not envisaged in this text whose purpose is the cleaning of the elements after their reinjection into the vending machine.

DE3215627A will also be mentioned in which the cold elements withdrawn from a vending machine are intended to be introduced into boxes whose shapes and dimensions are well defined to be able to accurately accommodate the said cold elements. Such cribs do not have anything in common with the bag or basket of the housewife who shops.

The features of the present invention differ from the prior art just discussed above.

Our machine concept is differentiated firstly by the "consumable" or "disposable" aspect of our cold source and thus by a greater simplicity in the product distribution system. In addition, our concept is aimed primarily at mass consumption. The object of the present invention is to provide users with a simple, inexpensive, or even free way, to keep various articles cold by using light and small bags so practical to use, and which are disposable after use or that the user can keep at home by putting for example in his refrigerator or freezer to reuse and the bag as he sees fit since he has in his hands a non-toxic and biodegradable product. It can thus use and reuse the said bag as it has not inadvertently pierced. The user does not have to deposit the bag, after use, in a depot center (as for used batteries) or to reintroduce the bag into the vending machine, as is the case in the prior art, cited above, relating to the distribution of cold packets. This avoids re-conditioning our bags by the complex methods described in this prior art. These complex methods require the use, in the prior art, of cold elements that must be mechanically robust to withstand multiple reuses. Our disposable bags or sachets are not affected by this problem.
Our process, by a specific choice of eutectics, allows, at will, to keep products either simply in the fresh state or in the frozen state.
Moreover, the shape of our bags is very simple (see above) and is not imposed or predetermined as in the prior art, because of specific devices circulating elements during their cleaning.
In addition, our rigid bags, preferably semi-rigid or flexible, have relatively thin walls which, thanks also to the chemical nature of these walls, a suitable thermal conductivity.

Various elements are further given below which make it possible to better understand the interest of the present invention.

The principle is therefore the distribution, by means of a vending machine, of "disposable" caloric refrigerated batteries.
(caloric fridge = cold accumulator, cold diffuser, eutectic, etc.).

These caloric cold batteries, which provide frigocalories (diffuse cold), are advantageously in the generally exclusive form of a sealed flexible bag which contains inside a liquid or a eutectic gel.

The caloric fridge, stored in the vending machine, solidifies during the freezing phase. Once solidified, it will instantly deliver a source of cold to ensure a cold bond at a constant temperature. This effect will occur as long as, once out of the distribution zone, the eutectic will not have melted completely to return to its initial state at ordinary temperature, liquid or gelled state.

The enclosure or the envelope or bag is, for example, metal or plastic, preferably polyethylene, especially transparent, from 50 to 400 microns for the thickness of the wall, or any other flexible material equivalent, called "consumable". As examples and depending on the size of the envelope, the wall of this envelope is about 200 or 120 or 100 microns. Vacuum, its weight is a few grams (1 to 60 grams for example) and it is filled with liquid or gel and then welded by any specific technique. It is possible to extract from the same machine identical enclosures, envelopes or sachets of the same weight and the same volume, but also different enclosures, envelopes and sachets, therefore of weight and volume that are not necessarily identical.

The liquid or gel is a eutectic solution which may or may not be colored (that is to say that the colors may change depending on the chosen eutectic or depending on the passage of the solid state or gelled in the liquid state, thus signaling the melting temperature of eutectic or mixtures of eutectics: temperature (s) signaling for consumer use.

The major innovation in this vending machine concept is that it delivers a "disposable" cold source or a "consumable" product.

It meets a need in the context of food safety while representing a low investment for its user (low cost of manufacture of the bag, light weight, compact, and possibly reusable).

The installation according to the invention allows the storage under controlled temperature conditions of a number of flexible bags or rigid or semi-rigid, sealed, containing a liquid or a gel at ordinary temperature. These pouches all contain the same liquid or gel, but in an improved implementation of the present invention, there are pouches which contain other liquids or gels so that the installation does not have a single circuit of dispensing a single variety of pouches but a plurality of dispensing circuits. This allows a user to choose a sachet at more or less cold temperature. In the same way, there may be bags of different sizes to satisfy a user who would like to get a longer cold. The bags, before being introduced into the installation are cooled until the liquid or the gel is in the solid state. In a more elaborate form of the installation, this step of cooling the liquid or the gel can be carried out at the very heart of the installation by means of independent circuits of the transfer circuits and the subsequent distribution of the said sachets. The sachets each then containing a solid are stored in the dispensing zone until a user triggers, generally using a coin mechanism or equivalent device, the setting in motion of the circulation and dispensing circuit of the sachets. . These may be carried along a multi-compartment rail or a multi-compartment elevator or chute or by any other appropriate means, each compartment being sequentially one after the other in front of a door or hatch which, when opened, allows the bag to be retrieved by the user. There are several rails or equivalent devices if the circulation and distribution zones comprise several different bag circuits, either by the composition of the product contained in the bag, or by the different size of the bags. One could also design a circulation device with not separate compartments, but with a bulk dispensing device, that is to say in which the bags, all identical in size, preferably in the form of rigid balls, or semi- rigid or flexible, descend one below the other in a tube whose diameter would be at least equal to that of the balls, but without being too wide not to cause clogging. The circuit or circulation circuits and distribution of the bags are arranged to be included in one or more predetermined cold holding zones sachets. The form bags (beads in particular) avoids the problem of sticking the bags together, which often occurs in the devices of the prior art, especially if the bags are wet. In a preferred form of the invention, it is possible to insert between each bag, during their movement towards the outlet of the dispensing zone, a cardboard sheet or any equivalent device.

The object of the invention is to provide an installation for performing autonomously, simply and quickly the execution of the order (obtaining at least one bag). The installation comprises, by way of non-limiting example, for example an elongate enclosure in which the zones of introduction of the sachets (already cold or to be cooled in the said enclosure), the circulation and distribution circuits of the sachets are installed, and the cold keeping circuits of the sachets, the selection and control elements of the sachets or of the different sachets if there are several types of sachets. Generally, the invention also comprises at least one microprocessor ensuring the management of the order intake, the stock of the bags, the cooling times, the movements of the circulation and distribution circuits and the movement of the manipulator arm (s). they exist, and starts the coin or coiners if there are several, in short to know at any time the contents and position of the bags .. The installation can also include guide means, including slides to ensure the circulation of the bags. According to other features of the installation, a manipulator arm comprises at least one jack whose body can pivot about an axis in the case in particular where the equipment comprises clamps to enclose the bags. Indexing means may be provided to permanently know the positions of the dispensing means and circulation bags.

The installation may also include a microprocessor-based order-taking keypad, this microprocessor triggering the execution of the command only after the introduction of the token or the requested coin. It will also be a microprocessor which will preferably command the opening of the door or the hatch releasing the bag and thus allowing the user to take his bag.

In summary, the invention relates to a method for dispensing, one by one, a closed space or container or bag, rigid, flexible or semi-rigid, sealed, containing a liquid body or gelled at ordinary temperature, but solid and cold to the temperature at which it is distributed to a user, with a view to supplying the latter with a source of cold-calories that will keep them cold or fresh, according to the nature of the said body, the foodstuffs or the drug substances or the like that he wishes keep in the cold or in the frozen state, especially during transport, before being able to use them or put them in a conventional cold room, the method being characterized in that a plurality of closed, rigid, flexible spaces or semi-rigid, filled with a body or substance which is a liquid or a gel at ordinary temperature, are cooled (for example to a temperature generally lower than 0 ° C) in deho rs or within a distribution zone until the liquid or the gel is solidified, in that then the plurality of these spaces, maintained below the solidification temperature of said body that contain said spaces, travels through the distribution zone under the effect of the action of a user, desiring to obtain at least one of these spaces, and which, via a control zone, will trigger the exit of the distribution zone of at least one space, which space, in the cold state from which it is withdrawn from the distribution zone, will provide the user with a reserve of refrigerated calories that he can use to keep the cold, even cool, food or drug or equivalent substances as long as the solid of the said space will not have melted to find the initial state of a liquid or a gel. Preferably the method comprises at least two distinct paths intended for the distribution of spaces or bags of different sizes or the distribution of spaces or bags containing different bodies or substances, ie different solidification point.

The invention also relates to the device for dispensing sealed containers or sealed bags. It contains a plurality of these containers or dispensing bags and it consists in being able to evacuate one by one each container or bag so as to distribute to a user a source of cold, the device thus containing at least one circuit in which the containers or sachets circulate in compartments or in a tube or any other appropriate device, the containers or bags advancing and walking on the circuit, animated by a generally progressive movement, for example with a periodic or random movement, movement which causes the containers or sachets towards an orifice (door or hatch) through which, one by one, they are withdrawn from the dispensing device on the occasion of a manual or automatic triggering, in particular using a coin mechanism or an equivalent system manipulated by a user. The invention also relates to a device comprising at least two distribution circuits for dispensing containers or bags selected from containers or bags of different sizes or containing different solids. In an improved variant of the device, the said plurality of containers or sachets containing at least one eutectic in liquid form or in the form of a gel is introduced beforehand into this device and the procedure is carried out in situ, ie in the dispensing device, the solidification of the liquids or gels, the device also comprising, at the end of this step of solidification, means for admission of the containers or sachets to the circulation circuit or circuits from where the containers or sachets will be then directed by any suitable means to an ejection or discharge port.

The nature of the eutectic or mixtures of eutectics depends on the coldness desired. Recall, to fix the ideas, that our approach of the problem to be solved led us to deliver to the user a disposable product available in particular in three regulatory temperatures because there is in the chain of cold different sensitivity of products which correspond to a range regulated storage temperature: the eutectic must not become liquid below -3 ° C for the preservation of fresh products kept between + 6 ° C and + 10 ° C: fruits, vegetables, cold drinks, dairy products, eggs. The eutectic must not become liquid below -12 ° C for the preservation of cold cameo products maintained between + 2 ° C and + 4 ° C: poultry, meat, fish, sausages. The eutectic should not become liquid below -25 ° C for the preservation of frozen products kept between -21 ° C and -15 ° C: ice creams, sorbets, all frozen or frozen products.

Inside closed spaces, containers or bags, it has therefore generally introduced one or more mixtures of eutectics associated judiciously to store cold. Depending on the nature of the eutectic mixtures used, this cold can be restored at a single temperature if a single eutectic mixture is used or in a gradual manner if we associate several eutectic mixtures whose melting points, all less than 0 ° C, are different. A eutectic is a mixture of two or more constituents. During the change of solid-liquid phase (or solid-gel) at the exit of the distribution zone, by variation of the temperature which occurs when the closed space (container, sachet) is returned to the ordinary temperature once withdrawn from the distribution zone, the composition of the phase, which was solid in the device of the invention, remains the same when this phase begins to gradually melt. Note that this phase change is performed at constant temperature until the entire composition is fully melted.
By way of example, there are several eutectic formulas of which one component may be water and whose crystallization (or melting) points are, for example, still between -24 ° C. and 0 ° C.: mixtures of mineral salts and water or organic compounds and water.
Still by way of non-limiting example, the eutectic mixture by weight 67.5% water and 32.5% carbamide (or carbonyl diamide: CON2H4) has a crystallization point of -11.5 ° C. At ordinary temperature, this mixture is liquid. So if its temperature is lowered to -25 ° C (either outside the distribution zone or inside the distribution zone), during the temperature drop, the mixture passing through at -11.5 ° C will crystallize and go to solid state. Once solid, the mixture will act as a frigory accumulator by using latent heat. Indeed, during the liquid-solid phase change (or gel-solid), the cold is stored by latent heat. This amount of cold will be recovered in the bag of the user, who will have put one or more sachets, during the reverse change of solid-liquid phase (or solid-gel) at the constant temperature of -11.5 ° C . The amount of energy stored as cold at the temperature of -11.5 ° C is considerable: 79 Kcal or 92 Watt hours per liter of solution. In practice, the mixtures contain, for example, 65-70% water and 30-35% carbamide. It should be pointed out that the presence of a nucleating agent in the eutectic mixture allows a much greater and more homogeneous crystallization and melting kinetics. As a nucleating agent, mention may be made of nickel aluminate nickel or cobalt type nickel aluminate compounds with a content of the order of 0.1 to 5% by weight relative to the eutectic mixture.
In a more sophisticated (but more expensive) embodiment, a bag containing several eutectic mixtures may be designed, each mixture occupying a distinct space, thus using a sachet containing smaller sachets itself. There are thus two or more spaces inside the bag which are independent of each other although remaining in heat exchange contact through a wall (contiguous spaces). By way of example, mention may be made of the aforementioned water-carbamide mixture melting at -11.5 ° C. and a mixture containing, by weight, 39% of MgSO 4, 7H 2 O and 61% of water whose melting point or crystallization is -5.2 ° C. This combination allows the transfer of latent heat frigories from the first mixture to the second mixture which will remain solid even when the temperature will progressively -11.5 ° C to -5.2 ° C in the bag of the user. Still as an example, there will be mentioned a bag containing itself 3 mini sachets containing the first mixture above (melting point -11.5 ° C), the second mixture above (melting point -5, 2 ° C), the third mini bag containing water Here, between -11.5 ° C and 0 ° C, the transfer of the frigories was operated with 3 steps, each of them corresponding to the melting temperature individual.

As regards the walls of closed spaces (containers, sachets ...), these must be substantially sealed, having a substantial thermal conductivity. They are made of rigid, semi-rigid materials and sufficiently flexible to withstand possible pressure variations or mechanical stresses. The material used must have appreciable thermal conductivity and be made of metal, plastic or equivalent material. A plastic material (especially polyethylene) is preferably used because of its intermediate thermal conductivity between that of a metal and that of an insulator and which allows a controlled supply (controlled diffusion) of frigories.

The invention also relates to a preferred form of the closed space or container or bag, and more particularly the invention relates to a sealed bag, whose shape is that chosen from the group consisting of cubes, bricks, balls, balls, pouches, envelopes, pellets or capsules, said bag consisting of a single compartment (one space) or being optionally divided into at least two compartments (at least two spaces, which spaces may have the shapes cited above) also sealed, this or these compartments each containing a eutectic or a mixture of eutectics capable (s) to pass from the solid state cold to the state of gel or liquid when the temperature of this eutectic or these mixtures of eutectics is greater than the melting temperature of these eutectics or their mixtures, the walls of said bag, (the weight of said vacuum bag, its weight when filled with a or several eutectics and the thickness of the walls of this bag, being defined as indicated above in this description) and the walls of any partitions delimiting the various compartments when there are several inside a single bag , being made of polyethylene, at least partly transparent so as to be able to see the color of the eutectic (s) that are trapped there, so as to be able to see the changes of the coloring, thus making it possible to monitor the changes of state, ie the passages from a solid state to a liquid state or gel.

Claims (10)

A method for dispensing, one by one, a sealed, rigid, flexible or semi-rigid sealed or sealed space or container, of any shape, enclosing a liquid or gelled body at ordinary temperature, but solid and cold at the temperature at which it is distributed to a user, in order to deliver to the latter a source of cold-calories that will keep cold or fresh, or frozen, depending on the nature of said body, foodstuffs or drug or similar substances, or a gas, it desires to keep cold, especially during transport, before they can be used or put in a conventional cold room, the method being characterized in that a plurality of closed spaces, rigid, flexible or semi -rigids, filled with at least one body or at least one substance based on a eutectic or a mixture of eutectics, body or substance which is a liquid or a gel at ordinary temperature, are cooled to a temperature generally below 0 ° C outside or within a dispensing zone until the liquid or gel is solidified, and then the plurality of these spaces, maintained below the solidification temperature of said body that contain said spaces, travels through the distribution zone under the effect of the action of a user, desiring to obtain at least one of these spaces, and which through of a control zone, will trigger the exit of the distribution zone from at least one space, which space, in the cold state from which it is withdrawn from the distribution zone, will provide the user with a reserve of refrigeration. calories that can be used to keep in the cold state, in the frozen state, or even cool, foodstuffs or drug substances or equivalent or that the user can still spread along a pipe he should be refro idir or apply on a part of the body of a human being or an animal, and as long as the solid of the said space will not have melted to find the initial state of a liquid or a gel, the said spaces being discarded or returned to a storage area. Process according to claim 1, in which said closed space is a container or sachet of simple shape chosen in particular from cubes, balls, balls, envelopes, pellets or capsules, and pouches whose sealed walls are flexible or semi-rigid and have a thermal conductivity intermediate between the thermal conductivity of a metal and that of an insulator, the container or bag containing at least one body or a substance based on a eutectic or a mixture of eutectics whose solidification points are between 0 ° C and -30 ° C or between -5 ° C and -25 ° C, the weight of said closed space, when filled with a eutectic or a mixture of eutectics, being between 5 and 600 grams, its volume being between 5 and 250 cm3, the eutectic or the eutectics may also be colored so as to indicate changes in the state of the eutectic (s), therefore the state of the cold in the said closed space. Method according to one of claims 1 or 2 wherein the distribution area comprises at least two separate paths for the distribution of spaces or bags of the same or different sizes. Method according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the distribution zone comprises at least two separate paths intended for the distribution of spaces or bags containing different bodies or substances, ie points of solidification (or fusion). Method according to one of claims 3 or 4 with a plurality of paths for accommodating spaces or bags of different sizes also containing different bodies or substances. Method according to one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the closed space (container or bag) contains at least two mini bags each containing a body or a substance based on a eutectic or a mixture of eutectics whose solidification points are between 0 ° C and -30 ° C or between -0 ° C and -25 ° C, eutectic or eutectics can be colored to indicate changes in the state of eutectic, so the state of the cold in each of the mini-bags. Device for dispensing sealed containers or sealed bags, these containers or bags being flexible or rigid or semi-rigid, these containers or bags containing a solid, which is cold inside the dispensing device, this cold solid being based at least one eutectic, this solid being in the form of a liquid or a gel at ordinary temperature, said device thus containing a plurality of said containers or said dispensing bags, these containers or bags weighing when they are full, between 5 and 600 grams, and having a volume between about 5 and 250 cm3, said dispensing device consisting in being able to evacuate one by one each container or bag so as to distribute to a user a source of cold, which device thus containing at least one circuit in which the containers or bags circulate in compartments or in a tube or any other appropriate device, cont eneurs or sachets advancing and walking on the circuit, animated by a generally progressive movement, for example with a periodic or random movement, movement which causes the containers or sachets to a door or a hatch through which, one by one, they are withdrawn from the dispensing device during manual or automatic triggering, using in particular a coin or equivalent system, said containers or bags being discarded after use. Device according to claim 7 comprising at least two distribution circuits for dispensing containers or bags chosen from containers or bags of different sizes or containing different solids. Device according to one of Claims 7 and 8, in which the said plurality of containers or sachets containing a eutectic in liquid form or in the form of a gel is introduced beforehand into this device and in which the procedure is carried out in situ, ie in the dispensing device, the solidification of liquids or gels, the device also comprising, at the end of this step of solidification, means of admission of the containers or sachets on the circulation circuit or circuits from where the containers or bags will then be directed towards an ejection or discharge port, said containers or bags having sealed, flexible or semi-rigid walls, of plastic selected from polyethylene and equivalent materials, the thickness of said walls being between 80 and 200 microns, at least two devices that can optionally be combined together to form a battery of at least two devices, according to one of claims 7 and 8, placed side by side. Watertight bag whose shape is that selected from the group consisting of cubes, bricks, balls, balls, pouches, envelopes, pellets or capsules, said sachet consisting of a single compartment (a single space) or being divided eventually in at least two compartments (at least two spaces) also sealed, this or these compartments each containing a eutectic or a mixture of eutectics capable (s) to go from the solid state cold to the state of gel or liquid when the temperature of this eutectic or of these eutectic mixtures is greater than the melting temperature of these eutectics or their mixtures, the walls of said bag (the empty weight of said bag, its weight when filled) one or more eutectics and the thickness of the walls of this bag, being defined as indicated above in the description of the invention) and the walls of any partitions delimiting the various compartments when there are several inside the same bag, being made of polyethylene, at least partially transparent to be able to see the color of the eutectics or that are imprisoned there.