SHELF FOR A WINE CABINET

Abstract

A shelf for storing bottles in a wine cabinet has a rectangular frame bounded by two side beams and two crossbeams, respectively front and rear, and being equipped with individualized reception locations for a plurality of bottles. Each slot has a cradle for the neck of a bottle, the cradle being equipped with a sensor to detect the presence of a bottle neck. The front crossbeam of the shelf can include, for each individualized location, an electronic device to visualize the presence of a bottle.

Claims

1. A shelf for the storage of bottles in a wine cabinet, comprising: a rectangular frame delimited by two side beams and two crossbeams respectively front and rear, and being equipped with individualized reception spaces of a plurality of cylinders, the front cross member comprising, for each individualized location, electronic means of visualizing the presence of a cylinder; and a cradle for the neck of a bottle, said cradle being equipped with a sensor detection of the presence of a bottle neck.

2. The shelf, according to claim 1, wherein the detection sensor is placed in the bottom of the cradle, at a distance less than or equal to 3 mm from the neck of the cylinder, said sensor covering a detection area between 8 mm and 12 mm in diameter.

3. The shelf, according to claim 2, wherein the sensors are placed in an orifice at the bottom of the cradle of diameter corresponding to the detection surface.

4. The shelf, according to claim 1, wherein the sensors are infrared sensors.

5. The shelf, according to claim 1, wherein the means of visualization are comprised of light-emitting diodes of LED type placed in the front crossmember.

6. The shelf, according to claim 1, wherein the cradles open into the horizontal upper face of a central bar joining the beams of the frame and arranged parallel to the crossbeams, dividing the shelf into two symmetrical half-frames, said central bar having a succession of n cradles through receivers oriented parallel to the beams, each cradle being of a depth capable of surrounding at least partially the neck of a bottle.

7. The shelf, according to claim 6, wherein each half frame is provided with at least two supports of bottles joining the beams each support having roll bars centering for n/2 cylinders; wherein the roll bars are each arranged in the axis of a cradle on two of the central bar, the hoops of the supports placed in a half-frame being offset by the transverse width of one cradle in relation to the roll bars placed in the other half-frame.

8. The shelf, according to claim 1, wherein each cradle has a flat bottom and rounded banks of section in an arc.

9. The shelf, according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one electronic module for processing signals from and to sensors and electronic means of visualization.

10. The shelf, according to claim 15, wherein each electronic module comprises means of transmitting/receiving data.

11. A wine cabinet, comprising: a shelf, according claim 1; a door contact connected to a power supply of the sensors and the means of visualization, the said contact being closed when the door is opened, and opened when it is closed.

12. The wine cabinet, according to claim 11, further comprising: a central electronic unit for the management of sensors and means of visualization, equipped with transmitter and receiver devices capable of exchanging information with the means of transmission/reception of shelves.

13. The wine cabinet, according to claim 12, wherein the transmitting and receiving devices and the means of transmission/reception of the shelves operate without wired links, in radiofrequency waves.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Other aims and advantages of the present invention will become apparent throughout the following description, which is in particular based on a particular embodiment which is given only by way of an indicative and non-limiting example. The understanding of this description will be facilitated in particular by reference to the attached figures.

[0027] FIG. 1 represents a perspective view of a shelf according to the invention, in view of three quarters back.

[0028] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of this shelf, this time seen from three quarters forward.

[0029] FIG. 3 illustrates a longitudinal sectional view of the central bar.

[0030] FIG. 4 represents an elevation view of a support of bottles with arches preferably used in the shelves of the invention.

[0031] FIG. 5 represents a perspective view of a complete shelf, i.e. equipped with four bottle holders as shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0032] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the shelf 1 very generally comprises a frame formed of two side members 2, 3, two crosspieces 4, 5 and a central bar 6 provided with cradles 7 shaped to accommodate lower necks/necks of bottles. The side members 2, 3 are provided with rails 8 (only that of the side member 2 appears in FIG. 2) which allow them to slide in the slides fitted to the side walls of the cabinet of the wine cooler (not shown). The front crosspiece 5 further comprises light-emitting diodes 9 (LEDs), in a number equal to the number of bottles which can be stored in the shelf 1, in this case twelve.

[0033] The upper face of the central bar 6 comprises a series of identical cradles 7, the bases of which have, on their flat central portions, a sensor 10 placed in an opening with a diameter in this case equal to 10 mm. The sensors 10 are installed on a non-visible printed circuit board placed in the hollow body of the central bar 6, which in particular manages their power supply and the signals coming therefrom. The association of the detector 10 and the opening makes it possible to control the spatial coverage of the detection, which is guided in the manner of a waveguide by the tube which in practice is constituted by the opening. The necks, and more particularly the lower necks of the bottles, are positioned in the cradles 7 at a maximum distance of 3 mm from the sensors 10, allowing the detection of a bottle.

[0034] In the possibility shown in the figures, the shelf 1 is equipped with twelve infrared IR sensors all installed on a single elongate electronic board located inside the central bar 6 of the shelf 1. The shape of said shelf 1 has in fact been designed to accommodate very different bottle shapes, for example but not exclusively bottles of Champagne, Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Jura, Anjou, Prosecco, Mateus wine, etc. In short, it is possible to store any bottle up to 10-12 cm in diameter, depending on the spacing between shelves, with bottle sizes up to 100 cl. The shelf 1 of the invention allows optimized storage, head to tail, of all these sizes and shapes of bottles.

[0035] FIG. 3 shows with greater precision the shape of the cradles 7, in each case showing the precise space allocated to the sensors 10 (indicated by the vertical parallel lines projecting from the flat segments indicating the flat base of the cradles 7). This space is in practice linked to the opening connecting the printed circuit board on which the sensors 10 are installed, which is housed inside the central bar 6, and the cradles 7 housing the necks of the bottles, on the upper face of said central bar 6.

[0036] In the same manner, the front crosspiece 5 is equipped with an electronic board managing the power supply of twelve indicator lights connected to the sensors of the central bar, reflecting the movements of the bottles by indicating the presence or the absence of said bottles, resulting from the individualized signals from the sensors. The appearance given to the front of this crosspiece 5 preferably makes it possible to distinguish the exact positions of the bottles, placed either at the front or at the rear of the shelf 1, on either side of the central bar 6. The two printed circuit boards are connected by wiring arranged inside one of the side rails 8 (see FIG. 2).

[0037] The bottle holder 20 shown in FIG. 4 is the same regardless of its position in the shelf 1, it is only mounted in one direction when it is in a half-frame and in the opposite direction when in the other half-frame of the shelf 1, as explained in detail below (see FIG. 5). These supports 20 are rods, for example metal rods of uniform diameter, which are shaped to have arches 25 for supporting the bodies of the bottles. More specifically, the ends 23, 24 of the support 20 assume two perpendicular orientations, the end 23 being vertical while the opposite end 24 being horizontal. The support 20 is shown—in FIG. 4—with the same generally horizontal orientation as when it is mounted in shelf 1 as seen in FIG. 5.

[0038] Returning to FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the frame of the shelves 1 without the supports 20, the inner sides of the side members 2, 3 have openings 21, 22 which are not oriented in the same manner, on each side member 2, 3, according to the half-frame to which they belong. Thus, in a half-frame, the openings 21 are horizontal, therefore designed to interact with the ends 24 of the supports 20. In the other half-frame, on the same side member but on the other side of the central bar 6, the openings 22 are provided vertically on a shoulder, and they are therefore provided to cooperate with the ends 23 of the supports 20. Each half-frame has in practice the two types of openings 21, 22 on the opposing side members 2, 3. Thus, in the same half-frame, the horizontal openings 21 are on the side member 3, while the vertical openings 22 are provided on the side member 4. In the other half-frame, it is the opposite.

[0039] Therefore, the metal supports 20 as shown in FIG. 4 are mounted in one direction in a half-frame, and turned horizontally by 180° in the other half-frame, as shown in FIG. 5. This results, from one half-frame to the other, in an offset of the arches 25 which makes it possible to “target” the other cradles 7 of the central bar 6 when the bottles are stored and rest on the arches 25. Since said arches 25 have a lower periodicity than that of the cradles 7, the two supports 20 which are installed in a half-frame support bottles of which the necks are placed in every other cradle 7 of the central bar 6, thus leaving one out of every two empty. The supports 20 fixed in the other half-frame, as a result of this offset, place the bottles in the axis of the unoccupied cradles, so that if all the bottle spaces are occupied, all the cradles 7 are also occupied. The bottles are then found head to tail, in the opposite direction according to the half-frame in which they are stored.

[0040] The line L (see in FIG. 4), which substantially shows the support level of the bodies of the bottles, is placed under the flat base of the cradles 7 as evidenced by the location of the horizontal openings 21 for attaching the ends 24 (see in particular in FIG. 1), so that when the bottle rests in an arch 25, its neck is at least partially housed in a cradle 7. Bottle detection then becomes possible. It should be noted that it would certainly be possible to detect the bottle in other positions along the length of said bottle, for example at its body, but this would imply the management of two sets of sensors linked to two separate electronic boards, which is economically less advantageous.

[0041] The shelf 1 of the invention makes it possible to detect the presence or absence of bottles solely at the central bar 6, and information on the presence or absence of bottles is sent to the indicator lights 9 installed on the front face of the front crosspiece 5. The shape of the cradle 7, being simple in appearance, is actually designed to accommodate various bottle shapes. Thus, its axial length is such that the part of the bottle which interacts with the cradle 7, or comes into contact with it, is not always the same: it may indeed be the lower neck, the shoulder or the neck of the bottle.

[0042] For very elongate bottles, for example of the type of bottles of Alsace wine, there is no clear separation between the lower neck and the body, but a continuity of shape which makes it possible to pass smoothly from the body to the lower neck. In this case, the shoulder of the bottle can rest on the axial end edge of the cradle 7, which, according to the invention, maintains the neck within the limit of 3 mm distance from the sensor 10.

[0043] The configuration of the shelf makes it possible in practice to ensure optimal operation of the management of the detection of the different shapes and configurations of bottles, as well as the colors of the collars.

[0044] It should be noted that the configuration example given above with reference to the attached figures is neither exhaustive nor limiting of the invention, which in particular encompasses shape variants for the cradles 7, the supports 20, etc.