A drinking container system with multiple temperature zones, wherein the container system includes a main body having a sidewall and a bottom that define a phase change material (PCM) module receptacle, and a phase change material (PCM) module having a sidewall that defines a beverage chamber. The PCM module is disposable within the PCM module receptacle such that a beverage egress flow path is defined between the main body sidewall and the PCM module sidewall. The flow path formed in the container can make the beverage achieve the desired drinking temperature. The PCM module sidewall is at least partially filled with a phase change material and is structured and operable to provide a plurality temperature zones within the beverage chamber. Each temperature zone is operable to maintain a temperature of a respective portion of a liquid disposed within the beverage chamber within a respective temperature range.

A refrigerated food storage box has been disclosed. This refrigerated food storage box has an inner box comprising a set of inner walls and an inner base, together enclosing a food storage compartment. There is also an outer box comprising a set of outer walls and an outer base, wherein each outer wall is located at a predetermined distance from a corresponding inner wall and the outer base is located at the predetermined distance from the inner base, thereby creating a thermal cavity between the inner box and the outer box. There is at least one plate-type heat exchanger located within the thermal cavity, wherein each plate-type heat exchanger having a hollow cavity therein. Note that the hollow cavity capable of receiving temperature controlled air from a refrigeration unit, thereby capable of altering the temperature inside the food storage compartment.

A combination microwave and refrigerator system is provided. The microwave oven is connected to a source of power and has a control circuit for controlling the operation of the microwave oven. A first power supply outlet is provided on the microwave oven. A refrigerator is connected to the source of power by connection to the first power supply outlet. The control circuit is configured to disable the cooling operation of the refrigerator, when the microwave oven demands cooking power, and enable the cooling operation of the refrigerator when the microwave oven is not drawing cooking power. A safety sensor is provided in the microwave oven, and is configured to cause cooking power to the microwave oven to be turned off upon the safety sensor sensing a level of smoke.

A machine for the thermal treatment of liquid and semi-liquid food products includes at least two tanks for containing respective products to be subjected to the thermal treatment, at least one dispenser for dispensing the product contained in said tanks, at least one stirrer mounted inside each tank for mixing the product contained therein, and thermal treatment means operatively acting on the products contained in the containers. The thermal treatment means includes at least one circuit for circulation of an operating fluid and two first heat exchangers operating according to a thermodynamic cycle; each of the two heat exchangers being associated with a respective tank. The thermal treatment means is configured to implement at least one operating mode of removing heat from the respective tank by one heat exchanger and simultaneously transferring heat to the respective tank by the other heat exchanger.

A container with active temperature control is provided. The container has a body with a chamber that receives a liquid. A temperature control system housed in the portable body has one or more heating element in thermal communication with at least a portion of the chamber to heat the liquid. Control circuitry controls the operation of the one or more heating elements and one or more power storage elements to provide electrical energy to the one or more heating element and/or control circuitry. The control circuitry controls the one or more heating elements to add heat to the liquid in the receiving portion to maintain the temperature of the liquid at a predetermined temperature or increase the temperature of the liquid above said predetermined temperature. The container can have a cooling element (e.g., a phase change material) that can remove heat from the liquid poured into the chamber.

The present invention relates to a device that can be used for heating and/or refrigerating and/or maintaining the temperature of a receptacle. According to the invention, characteristically it comprises a base module which comprises: heat-producing means (5) and cold-producing means (7), said cold producing means comprising a reservoir (7) containing a fluid and possibly connected to an evaporator, said heat-producing means comprise a thermochemical reactor (5) connected to said reservoir (7) and containing a reagent able to react reversibly with said fluid during an exothermal reaction:—means forming a valve that allows said reservoir (7) or said evaporator to be connected to said thermochemical reactor (5) to produce heat in said reactor (5) as a result of said aforementioned exothermal reaction and simultaneously to produce cold in said reservoir (7), as the result of the expansion and/or evaporation of said fluid;—at least one receptacle (3) made of a thermally conducting material which has a first face able to house the foodstuff that is to be heated/refrigerated and a second face, opposite to said first face and arranged in contact with said heat-producing means (5) or said cold-producing, means (7);—an insulating element (15) which thermally insulates said heat-producing means (5) from said cold-producing means (7); and said reactor (5) and/or said receptacle (3) are removably mounted on said base module.

A refrigeration appliance includes a refrigeration circuit having a condenser and a heat circulation system for heating an element of the refrigeration appliance. The heat circulation system includes a heat conducting region. A heat exchanging element includes the condenser and the heat conducting region. The condenser and the heat conducting region in the heat exchanger element are thermally coupled in order to output heat from the refrigeration circuit to the heat conducting region of the heat circulation system.

A domestic appliance for cooling and heating food items and/or beverage items may include a shell, a door, a cooling compartment defined at least in part by the shell and the door, the compartment being configured store the food items and/or the beverage items in a cooled environment and at least one solid state heating element inside of the cooling compartment, the at least one solid state heating element configured to emit infrared radiation to heat at least one of the food items and/or the beverage items without heating the surroundings or other contents of the cooling compartment.

An entrance refrigerator includes a cabinet in which a storage compartment is formed. The bottom of the storage compartment includes a main floor and a sub floor lower than the main floor. The main floor is formed to be slanted downwardly toward the sub floor, such that condensed water falling on the main floor of the storage compartment flows toward the sub floor and is collected on the sub floor.

An apparatus for simultaneously heating a plurality of food products, comprising: a containment structure forming a housing chamber; one or more separating elements mounted in the housing chamber to delimit a plurality of separate housing compartments for receiving the food products; radio frequency dielectric heating means with an operating frequency of between 1 MHz and 300 MHz, mounted in the containment structure and comprising at least one first electrode and one second electrode; wherein the housing compartments are aligned along a row, the first electrode and the second electrode delimiting on two opposite sides the row; and wherein inside the housing chamber, between the first electrode and the second electrode , there is also at least one inductor.