Ultra-low temperature bio-sample storage system
OwnerJohn F. Dain, Elizabeth L. Dain +1inventors
InventorsJohn F. Dain, Elizabeth L. Dain, Nicholas J. Henneman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ultra low temperature freezer is optimized with a combination of vacuum and fiberglass insulation for long-term biological storage with accurate process cooling with critical temperature performance. A programmable cooling and cryogenic freezing system uses sealed liquid nitrogen for cooling and freezing. A hybrid completely non-mechanical system exhibits temperature uniformity and reliability, saves space, requires extremely low operating energy and minimizes need for air conditioning in the operating environment. Top-located components control the flow of liquid nitrogen even under flooding conditions. Sectioned inner doors mitigate thermal transfer to other samples and maintain ULT while accessing the freezer.
Claims7
An ultra low temperature freezer system for preserving payloads including biological materials at predetermined fixed and programmed variable temperatures in a range from −40 degrees C. to −150 degrees C., comprising:
- an outer shell having a top panel, two opposite side panels, a rear panel and a bottom panel, all joined together with airtight seams to form an open-front box;
- an inner shell having a top panel region, two opposite side panel regions, a rear panel region and a bottom panel region, all joined together with airtight seams to form an open-front box smaller than said outer shell:
- a stepped door jamb made contiguous with front edges of said outer shell and said inner shell so as hold said inner shell nested within said outer shell in a manner to form an air tight insulation compartment consisting of orthogonal-shaped insulation zones at the top, two sides, back and bottom panel regions;
- a storage chamber having a top panel, two opposite side panels, a rear panel and a bottom panel, all joined together with airtight seams to form an open-front box smaller than said inner shell and held nested therein so as to provide a plurality of orthogonal-shaped refrigerating zones between said inner shell and said storage chamber;
- a main door, hingedly attached along a front side region of said outer shell, having a peripheral region configured in a stepped manner to complement said door jamb;
- a plurality of compliant door-sealing elements, arranged in at least two complete loops, made and arranged to fit under compression between the peripheral region of said main door in a closed disposition and said door jamb in a manner to create an air-tight seal all around the peripheral region of said main door and thus render said storage chamber as an air-tight thermally-insulated refrigerated enclosure;
- a plurality of thermally isolated storage compartments contained within said storage chamber, each providing an isolated storage space and an associated access door;
- a plurality of refrigeration evaporator tubing units each disposed in a corresponding working refrigeration zone, each tubing unit comprising at least two side-by-side parallel runs of tubing in a corresponding refrigeration zone for reliability through redundancy, each run of tubing being made capable of fully operational evaporator capability independent of the other;
- and
- a manifold valve and control system made and arranged to supply refrigerant to said system of refrigeration in an operation manner that includes options of providing constant and controlled variable temperature operation within said storage chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.