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Publication Number
US-11679183-B2
Publication Date
2023-06-20
Expiration Date
Abstract
A medical contact shock freezer adapted for fast freezing a plurality of individual bags containing a medical liquid has the contact surface of its upper freezing plate arranged at an angle of at least 2° to the horizontal.
Core Innovation
A medical contact shock freezer is adapted for fast freezing a plurality of individual bags containing a medical liquid, with the individual bags arranged side by side adjacent to each other. The contact shock freezer comprises a pair of freezing plates configured to operate at a temperature equal to or less than -40° C., with an upper freezing plate and a lower freezing plate, and the bags are positioned between the contact surfaces of the freezing plates during freezing.
One of the upper and lower freezing plates is a fixed freezing plate that does not move, while the other is a moveable freezing plate. The moveable freezing plate defines a loading position providing sufficient separation to load or unload the individual bags, and a freezing position in which each individual bag is in contact with and clamped between the contact surface of the upper freezing plate and the contact surface of the lower freezing plate.
During freezing, surfaces of the individual bags containing the medical liquid that are in contact with the freezing plates are flattened to increase a contact area and improve heat transfer, while the contact surfaces of the upper and lower freezing plates are parallel in the freezing position and remain parallel during movement between the loading and the freezing position. In the freezing position, the contact surface of the upper freezing plate is arranged at an angle of ≥2° and ≤30° with respect to the horizontal, and movement between the loading and freezing position consists of a linear, vertical displacement of the movable freezing plate.
Claims Coverage
The independent claims in the provided set center on a medical contact shock freezer for fast freezing a plurality of side-by-side individual bags using a paired upper/lower freezing-plate arrangement with one fixed and one movable plate, parallel angled contact surfaces, and linear vertical displacement between loading and freezing positions. The independent claims also include an additional structural variation using two vertically arranged plate pairs, and they include method claim coverage for freezing and unloading of bags in an angled configuration.
Angled parallel clamped contact surfaces with fixed and movable plates
A medical contact shock freezer adapted for fast freezing a plurality of individual bags containing a medical liquid, using a pair of freezing plates at a temperature equal to or less than -40° C; one freezing plate is a fixed freezing plate that does not move, and the other is a moveable freezing plate that defines a loading position and a freezing position in which bags are clamped between parallel contact surfaces that remain parallel during movement; the surfaces of the bags in contact with the freezing plates are flattened to increase a contact area and improve heat transfer.
Linear vertical displacement between loading and freezing position
Movement between the loading position and the freezing position of the pair of freezing plates consists of a linear, vertical displacement of the movable freezing plate, while maintaining the parallel relationship of the upper and lower contact surfaces in the freezing position.
Upper contact surface angled relative to horizontal
In the freezing position, the contact surface of the upper freezing plate is arranged at an angle of ≥2° and ≤30° with respect to the horizontal.
Two vertically arranged pairs of freezing plates
A medical contact shock freezer comprising two vertically arranged pairs of upper and lower freezing plates, wherein in one pair a lower plate is immobile and an upper plate is movable, and in the other pair an upper plate is immobile and a lower plate is movable; in the freezing position each upper plate’s contact surface is angled 2° to 30° relative to the horizontal.
Shock-freezing medical liquid in angled clamped bag configuration
A method for shock-freezing a medical liquid in each bag by loading the bags between upper and lower freezing plates in an angled configuration (≥2° to ≤30°), clamping the angled bags via linear vertical displacement of a movable plate, performing freezing in contact with the plates, and returning to a loading position to remove the frozen bags.
Across the independent claim set provided, the core inventive elements are the clamping of side-by-side bag contents between parallel upper and lower freezing-plate contact surfaces that remain parallel while the movable plate undergoes a linear vertical displacement; the upper plate contact surface is angled (≥2° and ≤30°) relative to the horizontal, and freezing is carried out at a temperature equal to or less than -40° C. Additional independent coverage describes a dual vertically stacked pair architecture with immobile/movable roles for the plates, and method coverage for shock-freezing in the angled clamped configuration followed by unloading.
Stated Advantages
Improves heat transfer by flattening surfaces of the individual bags in contact with the freezing plates to increase a contact area.
Supports improved freezing cycle reliability by displacing air bubbles/air pockets, which otherwise slow freezing.
Documented Applications
Fast freezing a plurality of individual bags containing medical liquid, including blood plasma, biological preparation, and pharmaceutical preparation.
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