Wine Cellar Drawer, Wine Cabinet and Kitchen Cabinet
20240292949 ยท 2024-09-05
Inventors
- Christophe Perez (H?sselby, SE)
- Samuele Meda (Chichester, West Sussex, GB)
- Anton Lundqvist (?lvsj?, SE)
Cpc classification
F25B1/00
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
A47B77/16
HUMAN NECESSITIES
F25D25/025
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
A47B77/08
HUMAN NECESSITIES
International classification
A47B77/08
HUMAN NECESSITIES
F25D25/02
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F25B1/00
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
Abstract
A wine cellar drawer for storing, displaying and cooling bottles, in particular beverage bottles like wine bottles. The wine cellar drawer comprises a drawer assembly with a drawer housing and a drawer, as well as a cooling unit for cooling the inner of the wine cellar drawer and in particular the inner of the drawer. The various components of the cooling unit are provided at the back of the drawer housing. A condenser of the cooling unit is provided outside the drawer housing and behind the drawer housing with respect to the sliding direction of the drawer, while an evaporator of the cooling unit is provided within the back of the drawer housing. The condenser and the evaporator are positioned side by side with respect to a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction of the drawer within the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer.
Claims
1. A wine cellar drawer for storing, displaying and cooling bottles, comprising: a drawer assembly having a drawer housing configured to be mounted in a cavity of a cabinet and a drawer provided in the drawer housing, wherein the drawer is coupled to the drawer housing to be movable with respect to the drawer housing between an extended position, in which the drawer at least partly protrudes out from the drawer housing, and a retracted position, in which the drawer is positioned within the drawer housing; a cooling unit defining a refrigerant circuit and comprising a plurality of components of at least a compressor, a condenser and an evaporator, wherein the cooling unit is configured to cool the inner of the drawer housing, in particular the inner of the drawer; and a control unit configured to control the operation of the cooling unit; the components of the cooling unit are provided at the back of the drawer housing, wherein the condenser is provided outside the drawer housing and behind the drawer housing with respect to the sliding direction of the drawer, wherein the evaporator is provided within the back of the drawer housing, and wherein the condenser and the evaporator are positioned side by side along a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction of the drawer within the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer.
2. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein all components of the cooling unit are provided substantially side by side along the direction perpendicular to the sliding direction of the drawer within the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer.
3. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the cooling unit further comprises a condenser fan unit with an air inlet and an air outlet, the condenser fan unit directing in said direction perpendicular to the sliding direction of the drawer within the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer, wherein in particular both of the air inlet and the air outlet of the condenser fan unit are covered by the condenser.
4. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the condenser is formed in a S-shape seen along a direction perpendicular with respect to the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer.
5. The wine cellar drawer of claim 4, wherein at least one component of the cooling unit is positioned within the S-shaped condenser seen along the direction perpendicular with respect to the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer.
6. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the condenser comprises pipe loops, the pipe loops being stacked in the direction perpendicular with respect to the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer, wherein the stacked pipe loops are formed in a S-shape seen along the direction perpendicular with respect to the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer.
7. The wine cellar drawer of claim 6, wherein at least one component of the cooling unit is positioned within the S-shaped pipe loops of the condenser seen along the direction perpendicular with respect to the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer.
8. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the cooling unit comprises an evaporator fan unit directing in the sliding direction of the drawer, wherein in particular the evaporator fan unit is provided in the back of the drawer housing at the evaporator.
9. The wine cellar drawer of claim 8, wherein the evaporator fan unit has a evaporator fan unit housing defining at least one cavity, the cavity being formed and positioned such that in the retracted position of the drawer a top end of at least one bottle stored within the drawer can protrude at least partly into said cavity.
10. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the wine cellar drawer comprises no separate vent channel to the front side of the wine cellar drawer for the cooling unit.
11. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the drawer comprises positioning means, the position means in particular having sliding stoppers, the positioning means being configured to hold bottles of various sizes and shapes in position within the drawer.
12. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the wine cellar drawer is configured such that bottles having a diameter of up to 96 mm can be stored therein.
13. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the wine cellar drawer is of compact size providing an overall height of about 14 cm.
14. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the drawer housing comprises at least one insulation layer configured to isolate the inner of the wine cellar drawer thermally from the environment of the wine cellar drawer, wherein preferably the at least one insulation layer is formed at least partially, in particular completely, of heat resistant material.
15. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the drawer housing is provided with an upper insulation layer and/or a lower insulation layer each having a height of about 15 mm to 22 mm and in particular of 18 mm to 19 mm.
16. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the drawer housing has at least one insulation layer comprising at least one, in particular several, vacuum insulated panel.
17. The wine cellar drawer of claim 16, wherein the vacuum insulated panels are arranged asymmetrically on the upper side and on the lower side of the wine cellar drawer with respect to the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer to define an asymmetrical insulation.
18. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the wine cellar drawer comprises a user interface coupled to the control unit, wherein the user interface is arranged and configured to display relevant operation parameters and/or state information of the wine cellar drawer to a user and/or to receive and to forward operation commands input by the user to the control unit.
19. The wine cellar drawer of claim 18, wherein the wine cellar drawer comprises at least one temperature sensor coupled to the control unit and configured to measure a temperature within the drawer housing and in particular within the drawer, wherein the user interface comprises a display configured to indicate the current temperature value measured by said temperature sensor.
20. The wine cellar drawer claim 18, wherein the user interface comprises at least one control panel having at least one input section, for example having buttons and/or a touch-screen, configured to receive an input of operation commands by a user and to forward the operation commands to the control unit, wherein in particular said input section comprises a power button for switching on and off the cooling unit, and at least one target temperature adjustment button for adjusting the target temperature within the drawer housing and in particular within the drawer of the wine cellar drawer, wherein said control panel in particular comprises a display section indicating the currently set target temperature.
21. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the wine cellar drawer comprises at least one sensor for obtaining information about the current state of the wine cellar drawer, wherein the at least one sensor is coupled to the control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to receive and to process information from said sensor and to set the operation parameters for the cooling unit based on these information, wherein in particular one of said sensors is a temperature sensor configured to measure the temperature of any component of the cooling unit, the temperature within the drawer housing and in particular within the drawer of the wine cellar drawer or the temperature in the vicinity of the wine cellar drawer.
22. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, wherein the wine cellar drawer comprises a motion sensor coupled to the control unit and configured to sense whether there is a person and/or any movement within the vicinity of the wine cellar drawer, and the control unit is configured such that it prevents fan units and/or the compressor from starting when someone is in the vicinity of the wine cellar drawer.
23. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, further comprising: a wine cabinet having said at least one wine cellar drawer, wherein the wine cabinet comprises several of said wine cellar drawers combined with each other to form a wine cabinet.
24. The wine cellar drawer of claim 1, further comprising: a kitchen cabinet comprising: at least one typical built-in having a compartment or a drawer, and said at least one wine cellar drawer.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0032] A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0045] Exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein identical or at least similar reference numerals designate identical elements throughout the various drawings.
[0046] As can be seen for example in
[0047] As can be seen in particular in
[0048] As can be seen in particular in
[0049] In the following, it is referred to
[0050] As can be seen best in
[0051] Referring to
[0052] Here, the user interface 70 is implemented in a quite simple manner. Nevertheless, also more complex implementations thereof like with multi-functional touch-screen displays or similar can be provided.
[0053] The wine cellar drawer 1 further comprises several temperature sensors (not marked explicitly in the illustrated drawings) coupled to the control unit 60 and configured to transmit temperature information to the control unit 60. Examples for such temperature sensors are an drawer temperature sensor for determining the temperature within the drawer 30, a vicinity temperature sensor for determining the temperature in the vicinity of the wine cellar drawer 1 and cooling unit components temperature sensors for determining the temperature of various components of the cooling unit 40 like of the compressor 42, the condenser 44, the evaporator 46 or the refrigerant within the formed refrigerant circuit at specific sections within the cooling unit 40. The control unit 60 is configured to receive and to process the temperature information from the various sensors and to control the cooling unit 40 based on the processed temperature information. For example, when the temperature within the drawer 30 is lower than the set target temperature, the control unit 40 can speed up the compressor 42 of the cooling unit 40. If the determined temperature in the vicinity of the wine cellar drawer 1 exceed a predetermined temperature value, the control unit 40 can stop the operation of the cooling unit 40 and instruct the user interface 70 to output a failure signal. Such a failure signal for example could be implemented in a flashing of all of the provided LED lights. Similar thereto, the control unit 40 can stop the operation of the cooling unit 40 and instruct the user interface 70 to output a failure signal as soon as the temperature of any of the components 42, 44, 46 of the cooling unit 40 leaves a predetermined target temperature ranged defined for specific operation states of the cooling unit 40. This holds in particular when the determined temperature for at least one of the components 42, 44 and 46 of the cooling unit 40 exceeds a predetermined threshold value above which damages can occur to the various components 42, 44 and 46 of the cooling unit 40.
[0054] Moreover, the wine cellar drawer 1 comprises a motion sensor (not marked explicitly in the illustrated drawings) coupled to the control unit 60 and configured to sense movements and/or the presence of persons within the vicinity of the wine cellar drawer 1, in particular in front of the wine cellar drawer 1. The control unit 60 is configured to prevent the start of the cooling unit 40 or at least of specific components thereof when there is detected a person and/or movement in the vicinity of the wine cellar drawer 1. Thus, it is possible to prevent bothering of a user by noise generated by the respective component(s) of the cooling unit 40.
[0055] Of course, the wine cellar drawer 1 can be provided with further or other sensors which are coupled to the control unit 60, wherein the control unit 60 is configured to receive and process various information from said sensors and to control the cooling unit 40 or other components of the wine cellar drawer 1 based on the processed information.
[0056] As can be seen in
[0057] Now, it is referred in particular to
[0058] As can be seen best in
[0059] The condenser 44 is positioned behind a first section 20b1 of the back housing wall 20b and, thus, outside the drawer housing 20. The evaporator 46 is positioned in front a second section 20b2 of the back housing wall 20b and, thus, within the drawer housing 20. The two sections 20b1 and 20b2 of the back wall 20a are parallel with each other and are shifted with respect to each other along the sliding direction D1. They are connected to each other via a third section 20b3 of the back housing wall 20b extending along the sliding direction D1 of the drawer 30. The first section 20b1 and the second section 20b2 of the back housing wall 20b extend in a direction D2 perpendicular to the sliding direction D1 of the drawer 30 within the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer 1. The condenser 44 and the evaporator 46 are positioned side by side in the direction D2 and are separated from each other by the third section 20b3 of the back housing wall 20b. The control unit 60 is positioned behind the second section 20b2 of the back housing wall 20b and, thus, also behind the evaporator 46 in the sliding direction D1 of the drawer 30. Thus, the cooling unit 40 is provided in a very space saving configuration along the sliding direction D1 of the drawer 30 such that several bottles B can be positioned in a manner oriented along the sliding direction D1 of the drawer 30 side by side over the whole width of the wine cellar drawer 1.
[0060] Here, also the other components of the cooling unit 40 like in particular the condenser 44 is positioned more or less side by side with the condenser 44 and the evaporator 46 along the direction D2 within the horizontal extension plane of the wine cellar drawer 1. This configuration can be seen also quite well in
[0061] To enhance the temperature exchange capacity at the condenser 44, the cooling unit 40 comprises a condenser fan unit 48 for generating a forced air flow at the condenser 44. Here, the condenser fan unit 48 is arranged to direct in said direction D2 perpendicular to the sliding direction D1. In other words, an air inlet 48a of the condenser fan unit 48 and an air outlet 48b of the condenser fan unit 48 are positioned along the direction D2 perpendicular to the sliding direction D1 behind each other such that the forced air flow runs through the condenser fan unit 48 along said direction D2. In the illustrated embodiment, both the air inlet 48a and the air outlet 48b of the condenser fan unit 48 are covered by the condenser 44. This is achieved by surrounding the condenser fan unit 48 on three sides with a U-shaped section of the condenser 44.
[0062] Here, the condenser 44 comprises said U-shaped section and an L-shaped section coupled to each other to form an overall S-shape seen along a direction D3 perpendicular with respect to the horizontal plane of the wine cellar drawer 1. The horizontal plane of the wine cellar drawer 1 is defined by the sliding direction D1 and the direction D2 perpendicular with respect to the sliding direction D1. Thus, the three directions D1 to D3 are perpendicular with respect to each other. While said condenser fan unit 48a is arranged within the U-shaped section of the condenser 44 and, thus, within a first arc of the formed S-shape, the compressor 42 is arranged within the L-shaped section and, thus, within a second arc of the formed S-shape. Also, other components of the cooling unit like an expansion valve can be positioned within the S-shaped condenser 44. Such a configuration results in a very space saving overall implementation for the cooling unit 40 while having still a very high cooling capacity due to the large surface of the condenser 44 and due to the provided condenser fan unit 48.
[0063] As can be seen in particular in
[0064] The cooling unit 40 comprises further an evaporator fan unit 50 configured to generate a forced air flow along the sliding direction D1 and, thus, directing in the sliding direction D1. Said evaporator fan unit 50 is positioned at the evaporator 46 in the back of the drawer housing 20 and comprises an evaporator fan unit housing 50a. The evaporator 46 is arranged within said evaporator fan unit housing 50a. The evaporator fan unit housing 50a defines two cavities 50a1 and 50a2, wherein a first cavity 50a1 of these is provided with an outlet opening 50c allowing an air flow from the inner of the evaporator fan unit housing 50a into the inner of the drawer 30. A further provided inlet opening 50b within the evaporator fan unit housing 50a allows an air flow from the inner of the drawer 30 into the evaporator fan unit housing 50a and thus to the evaporator 46 for heat exchange therewith.
[0065] Both cavities 50a1 and 50a2 are formed and positioned such that top ends B1 of bottles B positioned within the drawer 30 can protrude at least partially into the two cavities 50a1 and 50a2 in the retracted position of the drawer. Thus, even quite long bottles B can be stored within the wine cellar drawer, while the bottles B are cooled efficiently.
[0066] At this point, it is to be noted that the wine cellar drawer 1 is not provided with a separate vent channel from the back of the wine cellar drawer 1 to the front thereof to provide the various components of the cooling unit 40 and in particular the condenser 44 thereof with fresh air. Such a configuration is possible due to the positioning of the condenser 44 outside the drawer housing 20 and, thus, due to the direct contact of the condenser with fresh air from the environment. At the same time, the overall cooling efficiency of the cooling unit 40 is quite high due to the positioning of the evaporator 46 in the inner of the drawer housing 20. Thus, not just the condenser 44 and the evaporator 46 are decoupled from each other thermally by the drawer housing 20 but also the air paths are quite short. This allows to reduce the negative influence of long vent channels on the cooling capacity of the cooling unit 40.
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[0068] However, in contrast to the first embodiment, a front panel 30a of the second embodiment is provided with a window allowing to see the inner of the wine cellar drawer 1 also in the closed state of the drawer 30. Moreover, the drawer 30 is provided with a handle 80 for operating the drawer 30.
[0069] Finally, the wine cellar drawer 1 according to the second embodiment further comprises a humidifier 90 positioned within the drawer housing 20. The humidifier 90 is configured to receive and to store water to provide sufficient humidity within the wine cellar drawer 1. The wine cellar drawer 1 is configured such that the humidifier 90 can be removed from the wine cellar drawer 1 to be filled with fluid, in particular with water. After filling the humidifier 90 with fluid, the filled humidifier 90 is moved back into the wine cellar drawer 1. A perspective view of a quite simple exemplary humidifier 90 in form of a tray is illustrated in
[0070] It is further pointed to the fact that the above description was given to show an implementation. However, the scope of protection is defined by the enclosed set of claims and should be not limited by the above described exemplary embodiment.
[0071] Finally, it is highlighted that the present disclosure refers not only to wine cellar drawers per se but also to wine cabinets comprising or being formed of several of said wine cellar drawers and kitchen cabinets comprising at least one such wine cellar drawer besides at least one typical built-in like an oven, a refrigerator, a freezer, a micro wave, a coffee machine, a vacuum sealer, a common simple compartment or a common simple drawer for such a cabinet.
REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0072] 1 wine cellar drawer [0073] 10 drawer assembly [0074] 10 drawer assembly [0075] 12a upper cabinet wall [0076] 12b lower cabinet wall [0077] 12c right-side cabinet wall [0078] 12d left-side cabinet wall [0079] 14a first push-to-open component [0080] 14b second push-to-open component [0081] 16 illumination bar [0082] 18 mounting brackets [0083] 20 drawer housing [0084] 20 drawer housing [0085] 20a top housing wall [0086] 20b back housing wall [0087] 20b1 first section [0088] 20b2 second section [0089] 20b3 third section [0090] 20c front frame [0091] 30 drawer [0092] 30 drawer [0093] 30a front panel [0094] 30a front panel [0095] 32 positioning means [0096] 32a upper rear sliding stopper [0097] 32b upper front sliding stopper [0098] 32c lower sliding stopper [0099] 40 cooling unit [0100] 40 cooling unit [0101] 42 compressor [0102] 44 condenser [0103] 46 evaporator [0104] 48 condenser fan unit [0105] 48a air inlet [0106] 48b air outlet [0107] 50 evaporator fan unit [0108] 50a evaporator fan unit housing [0109] 50a1 first cavity [0110] 50a2 second cavity [0111] 50b inlet opening [0112] 50c outlet opening [0113] 60 control unit [0114] 70 user interface [0115] 74 control panel [0116] 74a input section [0117] 74a1 power button [0118] 74a2 target temperature adjustment button [0119] 74b display section [0120] 80 handle [0121] 90 humidifier [0122] B beverage bottle [0123] B1 top end of bottle [0124] D1 sliding direction [0125] D2 direction perpendicular with respect to the sliding direction D1 [0126] D3 direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the wine cellar drawer 1