PORTABLE COOLER WITH ACTIVE TEMPERATURE CONTROL
A portable cooler container with active temperature control includes a container body with an insulated chamber to receive medicines, vaccines, biological samples or other medical goods. A control system is at least partially disposed between an outer wall and an inner wall of the container body. An electronic display screen on one of the lid and the container body configured to display shipping address information for the portable cooler container.
1 . A portable cooler container with active temperature control for medicines, vaccines, biological samples or other medical goods, comprising:
an insulated container body having a chamber configured to receive and hold one or more medicines, vaccines, biological samples or other medical goods;
a temperature control system of the container body, electronics of which are at least partially disposed between an outer wall of the container body and an inner wall of the container body that defines at least a portion of the chamber, comprising:
one or more thermoelectric elements in thermal communication with the chamber and configured to actively heat or cool at least a portion of the chamber, and
circuitry configured to control an operation of the one or more thermoelectric elements to heat or cool at least a portion of the chamber to a predetermined temperature or temperature range; and
an electronic display screen configured to display shipping address information for the portable cooler container.
2 . The portable cooler container of claim 1 , wherein the electronic display screen is an electrophoretic display screen.
3 . The portable cooler container of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to automatically switch sender and recipient information on the electronic display screen to facilitate return of the portable cooler container to a sender.
4 . The portable cooler container of claim 1 , further comprising a lid configured to close the chamber and configured to be locked and unlocked to the container body, the lid selectively unlocked via input provided to one of a keypad and a biometric sensor.
5 . The portable cooler container of claim 1 , wherein the temperature control system further comprises a first heat sink unit in thermal communication with one side of the one or more thermoelectric elements, a second heat sink unit in thermal communication with an opposite side of the one or more thermoelectric elements, the second heat sink unit in thermal communication with the chamber, one or more fans, one or more air intake openings defined in a surface of the container body, and one or more air exhaust openings defined in a surface of the container body, the one or more fans operable to draw air from outside the container body into the container body, to flow said air past the first heat sink unit to remove heat from the first heat sink unit and to flow said air out of the container body via the one or more air exhaust openings.
6 . The portable cooler container of claim 1 , further comprising one or more sensors configured to sense one or more parameters of the chamber or temperature control system and to communicate the sensed parameters to the circuitry.
7 . The portable cooler container of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the one or more sensors is a temperature sensor configured to sense a temperature in the chamber and to communicate the sensed temperature to the circuitry.
8 . The portable cooler container of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry further comprises a transmitter configured to transmit one or both of temperature and position information for the portable cooler container to a memory of the portable cooler container or a radiofrequency identification tag of the portable cooler container.
9 . A portable cooler container with active temperature control for medicines, vaccines, biological samples or other medical goods, comprising:
an insulated container body having a chamber configured to receive and hold one or more medicines, vaccines, biological samples or other medical goods; and
a temperature control system of the container body, electronics of which are at least partially disposed between an outer wall of the container body and an inner wall of the container body that defines at least a portion of the chamber, comprising:
one or more thermoelectric elements in thermal communication with the chamber and configured to actively heat or cool at least a portion of the chamber, and
circuitry configured to control an operation of the one or more thermoelectric elements to heat or cool at least a portion of the chamber to a predetermined temperature or temperature range.
10 . The portable cooler container of claim 9 , further comprising an electronic display screen.
11 . The portable cooler container of claim 9 , further comprising a lid configured to close the chamber and configured to be locked and unlocked to the container body, the lid selectively unlocked via input provided to one of a keypad and a biometric sensor.
12 . The portable cooler container of claim 10 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to automatically switch sender and recipient information on the electronic display screen to facilitate return of the portable cooler container to a sender.
13 . The portable cooler container of claim 9 , wherein the temperature control system further comprises a first heat sink unit in thermal communication with one side of the one or more thermoelectric elements, a second heat sink unit in thermal communication with an opposite side of the one or more thermoelectric elements, the second heat sink unit in thermal communication with the chamber, one or more fans, one or more air intake openings defined in a surface of the container body, and one or more air exhaust openings defined in a surface of the container body, the one or more fans operable to draw air from outside the container body into the container body, to flow said air past the first heat sink unit to remove heat from the first heat sink unit and to flow said air out of the container body via the one or more air exhaust openings.
14 . The portable cooler container of claim 9 , further comprising one or more sensors configured to sense one or more parameters of the chamber or temperature control system and to communicate the sensed parameters to the circuitry, wherein at least one of the one or more sensors is a temperature sensor configured to sense a temperature in the chamber and to communicate the sensed temperature to the circuitry.
15 . The portable cooler container of claim 9 , wherein the circuitry further comprises a transmitter configured to transmit one or both of temperature and position information for the portable cooler container to a memory of the portable cooler container or a radiofrequency identification tag of the portable cooler containers.
16 . The portable cooler container of claim 9 , wherein the circuitry is configured to control the operation of the one or more thermoelectric elements to heat or cool at least a portion of the chamber to a predetermined temperature or temperature range when the portable cooler is disposed on a power base.
17 . A portable cooler container for medicines, vaccines, biological samples or other medical goods, comprising:
an insulated container body having a chamber configured to receive and hold one or more medicines, vaccines, biological samples or other medical goods;
a lid operable to access the chamber;
a control system of the container body, electronics of which are at least partially disposed between an outer wall of the container body below the lid and an inner wall of the container body that defines at least a portion of the chamber, comprising:
one or more batteries,
circuitry, and
one or more sensors configured to sense one or more parameters of the chamber and to communicate the sensed parameters to the circuitry, wherein at least one of the one or more sensors is a temperature sensor configured to sense a temperature in the chamber and to communicate the sensed temperature to the circuitry; and
an electronic display screen on one of the lid and the container body configured to display shipping address information for the portable cooler container.
18 . The portable cooler container of claim 17 , wherein the electronic display screen is configured to selectively display shipping information for the portable cooler container, a button or touch screen manually actuatable by a user to automatically switch sender and recipient information on the electronic display screen to facilitate return of the portable cooler container to a sender.
19 . The portable cooler container of claim 17 , wherein the lid is configured to close the chamber and configured to be locked and unlocked to the container body, the lid selectively unlocked via input provided to one of a keypad and a biometric sensor.