EP2119987B1

EP2119987B1 - Refrigerator provided with rapid cooling compartment for beverages

Info

Publication number: EP2119987B1
Application number: EP08103962A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Diego Barone; Lorenzo Bianchi; Stefano Tavolazzi
Original assignee: Whirlpool Corp
Current assignee: Whirlpool Corp
Priority date: 2008-05-14
Filing date: 2008-05-14
Publication date: 2012-02-22
Anticipated expiration: 2028-05-14
Also published as: PL2119987T3; ES2379899T3; EP2119987A1

Description

The present invention concerns a refrigerator, particularly a domestic refrigerator, provided with a compartment in which a container for liquid such as beverages can be rapidly cooled and ejected after cooling completion.
As a domestic refrigerator it is intended a cabinet provided with two cells, refrigerated at two different temperatures.
Solution for rapidly cooling and then ejecting beverage containers are already known in the art.
For instance, from ES 2222821 it is disclosed a cooling device for packaged drinks such as wine, provided with a spring for maintaining sleeve arranged in cooling liquid, in extended position, and counter spring for releasing wine bottle when bottle is cooled. Cooling operation is controlled with a timer.
US 4920763 describes a chilling device, according to the preamble of claim 1, provided with a vessel containing the chilling liquid and a refrigeration unit, to lower the temperature of the chilling liquid. A support platform receives the container holding the commodity to be chilled. The container is lowered into the chilling liquid and raised when it reaches the desired temperature by an elevation device. A pump circulates the chilling liquid and a sensor controls the temperature of the liquid in the commodity area. US 5237835 discloses a cooler provided with a trough placed in an insulated enclosure for accepting bottles or containers to be cooled. The trough is filled with a liquid held at very low temperature by a refrigeration circuit. The circuit maintains the liquid solution, which does not freeze, at a very low temp. The bottle is held in a plastic envelope open at the top and with the closed base resting on a plate carried on a manual mechanism that can raise or lower the bottle, in order to adapt the size of the trough to the container.
All the above mentioned solutions present constructions which are complex to be implemented into a domestic refrigerator because they require a lot of space and dedicated refrigerating units. The present invention integrates into a traditional refrigeration unit a device for rapidly cooling a liquid container, such as beverages in bottles or cans, without freezing it. Such configuration cools the fast cooling compartment using the same refrigerating means normally used in a refrigerator, such as the evaporator unit in the freezing chamber or frozen air coming from the evaporator.
Moreover the configuration of the refrigerator according to the present invention further provides the maintenance of the cooled beverage at low temperature, preventing the reheating of the same beverages whenever the user forgets to take it out it after the completion of the cooling process.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to the skilled artisan from the following detailed description when read in the light of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic section view of a refrigerator according to the present invention,
Fig. 2 shows a schematic section view of a refrigerator according to the present invention in which a bottle to be cooled is inserted into the recess,
Fig. 3 shows a schematic section view of a refrigerator according to the present invention in which a bottle is rejected from the recess, and
Fig. 4 shows a section view of the recess of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

With reference to the drawings, a refrigerator is provided with a lower freezer cavity 2, thermo regulated at -18°C, and an upper fridge cavity 1 thermo regulated at +5°C.
Between the two cavities, it is formed a rigidly shaped recess 3 to receive liquid containers such as bottle beverages or cans. The recess 3 is closable with a hinged lid 4, preferably made of thermal insulating material in order to insulate the recess 3 from the upper refrigerator cavity 1. The lid 4 can rotates about the hinge 7 and can assume an open and a closed position. The lid 4 is lockable with a locking device 8 that keeps the lid 4 firmly in a closed position. When needed, the device automatically unlocks the lid 4 by means of an electro-magnetic driving device (not shown).
The recess 3 is preferably formed in the perimeter of the refrigerator in such a way that the hinged lid 4 is at the floor level of the fridge cavity 1.
The recess extends into the volume of the lower freezer cavity 2 and has perimeter walls 12 made of conductive materials, such as Aluminum, to be efficiently cooled down by the cold freezer air, or more in general to exchange heat with the freezer cavity in an efficient way.
Into the recess 3 a support plate 5 (Figure 4) for supporting liquid containers is positioned, to which an underneath metallic spring 6 is connected. The spring 6 is connected to the rigid bottom wall 9 of the recess 3. When no liquid containers 13 are inserted into the recess 3, the spring is fully relaxed, driving the support plate 5 towards a level near the opening 15 of the recess 3. The level of the support plate 5 is lowered when a liquid container 13 is introduced and compressed into the recess, loading the spring 6. Preferably, in the interior of the recess 3 there is a flexible internal wall 16 adaptable to the different perimeter of bottle or can to cool down efficiently and rapidly the bottles by conductive heat transfer.
The gap 18 between the flexible wall 16 and the perimeter 12 of the recess 3 is filled with a solution that stays in liquid or gel phase also at low temperature. As an example, it can be a solution with water and 30% in weight of CaCl that has a freezing point around - 50°C.
Into the recess 3 it is optionally located a temperature sensor 10 that can be positioned according to two possible layouts. In the first layout the sensor 10 is in the free volume of the recess 3 for measuring the air temperature around the container. In the second layout the sensor 10 is located in contact with the bottle 13 measuring the bottle temperature itself
The predetermined temperature to which the beverage has to be cooled down can be also a user or automatic settable parameter. A timer for setting a cooling time can be used instead of a temperature detecting system using the sensor 10.
An acoustic signal is provided to the user at the end of the cooling process. Similarly, if a connection to an electronic user interface is provided, a visual feedback can be also given to the user.
In an alternative (not shown), embodiment of the present invention, a locking mechanism is associated to the support plate 5, and a membrane is used instead of the lid 4.
When the user need to cool a beverage contained, for example in a bottle, he/she open the lid 4 of the recess 3 and introduces the bottle 13 compressing the support plate 5 towards the bottom wall 9 of the recess 3, loading the underneath spring 6. Lid 4 is then closed above the bottle while keeping the spring loaded, and therefore locked by the locking device 8. A predetermined temperature value or a predetermined time is set, for defining the condition for which the cooling operation is considered to be completed. Temperature is optionally monitored through the temperature sensor 10 until the temperature reaches the predetermined value.
When such predetermined value is reached, the locking device 8 unlocks the lid, releasing the bottle that rises from the recess 3 into the refrigerator cavity 1 under the effect of the spring 6. During its raising the bottle is slowed by a friction mechanism (not shown), included in the hinge 7 of the lid 4. At the same time the user interface informs the user that the beverage is ready to be served.
Since refrigerator cavity 1 set at temperature above 0°C, it prevents the beverages to be frozen and the bottle to be damaged. The bottle and stays until the user comes to take it out from the refrigerator cavity. It is therefore prevented the reheating of the cooled beverage in the staying time, in case the user delays to take readily the cooled beverage out.
Other extraction mechanism of the container from the recess 3 can be used replacing the spring mechanism described above. For instance, it is possible to make the support plate 5 by means of an electric motor or electromagnets, achieving the same results of transferring the container from the recess to the refrigeration cavity.

Claims

Domestic refrigerator, provided with a freezing compartment (2) adjustable at a temperature below 0°C, comprising a recess (3) in said freezing compartment (2) adapted to receive a container to be cooled in said recess, said recess being in thermal exchange with said freezing compartment (2) and provided with ejecting means (6) for ejecting the container when the temperature of the recess (3) has reached a predetermined value or when a predetermined cooling time has elapsed,
characterized in that the recess (3) is provided with an opening (15) into a refrigeration compartment (1) of the domestic refrigerator, said refrigeration compartment adjustable to a temperature above 0°C and, being able to receive the container (13) when it has been ejected.
Refrigerator according to claim 1 wherein said opening (15) is associated with an insulated lid (4) that can assume an open configuration, adapted for introducing the container into the recess, and with a closed configuration, adapted to close said recess when a container (13) is placed into the recess (3) and to prevent the heat exchange between the recess and the refrigeration compartment (1) when the container is in the recess or when the recess is empty.
Refrigerator according to any of the preceding claims characterized in that the recess is provided with flexible internal walls (16) filled with liquid adapted to couple the shape of the liquid container and for further improving the thermal exchange, said liquid being in thermal exchange with the freezing compartment (2).
Refrigerator according to any of the preceding claims wherein a locking device (8) cooperates with the lid (4)
Refrigerator according to any of the preceding claims provided with feedback ejecting means, to advise the user when the liquid container is ejected.
Refrigerator according to any of the preceding claims wherein the recess is further provided with temperature sensing means (10) cooperating with said locking device (8).