Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D29/00—Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
  • F25B2500/00—Problems to be solved
  • F25B2500/12—Sound
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D16/00—Devices using a combination of a cooling mode associated with refrigerating machinery with a cooling mode not associated with refrigerating machinery
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D2600/00—Control issues
  • F25D2600/02—Timing

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a refrigerated cabinet and to a control method thereof.
• rooms of hotels and other temporary accommodation arrangements are usually provided with furniture such as minibars, adapted to store within a refrigerated compartment drinks, sweets and/or other snacks, so that they are immediately available to the guests of the room.
• Such pieces of furniture are in practice small refrigerators and are equipped with a compressor which, according to traditional and well-known methods, is activated when the temperature inside the compartment exceeds a predetermined threshold value in order to remove heat and bring the temperature back to a value suitable for the storage of food and/or beverages.
• the minibar is provided with a thermostat (mechanical or electronic) which allows the user to set the desired temperature for the compartment: activation of the compressor can occur at any time (depending on the actual temperature inside) and thus also at night or in any case in such circumstances as to cause inconvenience to the guests that are present.
• a thermostat mechanical or electronic
• the compressor is equipped with a control unit comprising a timer or a time control unit, with which it is possible to force the compressor to turn off during the hours that are traditionally devoted to sleep (the night and early afternoon hours), regardless (within certain limits) of the actual temperature reading in the compartment.
• this is a choice that imposes management difficulties of no small magnitude, if one considers that the electronic unit loses the current time information whenever a power outage occurs. This may occur for example in the event of power failures or for seasonal or extraordinary closings (of the hotel or part of it).
• this device involves a kind of "pocket” mounted on a wall, in which one of the guests can insert a card which constitutes the key for access to the room: the room's electrical user devices are enabled (television, lighting, air conditioning, etcetera) only when the card is inserted and kept in the pocket and are instead inhibited when the card is taken out (by the guest, when he or she is about to leave the room), to avoid unnecessary energy consumption.
• the room's electrical user devices are enabled (television, lighting, air conditioning, etcetera) only when the card is inserted and kept in the pocket and are instead inhibited when the card is taken out (by the guest, when he or she is about to leave the room), to avoid unnecessary energy consumption.
• insertion of the card generates the sending of a signal to the compressor, which indeed causes it to be turned off or deactivated.
• the aim of the present invention is to solve the problems described above by providing a refrigerated cabinet provided with effective refinements to optimally manage the operation of the compressor or in any case of the device responsible for removing heat from its internal compartment.
• an object of the invention is to provide a method for controlling refrigerated cabinets that allows to optimally manage the operation of the compressor or in any case of the device responsible for removing heat from its internal compartment.
• Another object of the invention is to provide a refrigerated cabinet and a control method thereof that allow to manage in a simple way the operation of said cabinet, without the need for human intervention at each power outage.
• Another object of the invention is to provide a refrigerated cabinet and a control method thereof that ensure high reliability of operation.
• Another object of the invention is to provide a refrigerated cabinet that adopts a technical and structural architecture that is alternative to those of cabinets of the known type.
• Not least object of the invention is to provide a refrigerated cabinet and a control method thereof that can be provided easily starting from commonly commercially available elements and materials.
• Yet another object of the invention is to provide a refrigerated cabinet and a control method thereof that have low costs and are of assured application.
• the reference numeral 1 generally designates a refrigerated cabinet, which constitutes the subject matter of the protection claimed herein together with a method 100 for controlling said cabinet 1.
• the cabinet 1 comprises at least one carcass 2 (for example, but not necessarily, shaped like a parallelepiped) which forms at least one internal compartment 3, which in turn is configured to accommodate food A and/or beverages B.
• carcass 2 for example, but not necessarily, shaped like a parallelepiped
• internal compartment 3 which in turn is configured to accommodate food A and/or beverages B.
• the cabinet 1 comprises at least one refrigeration assembly 4, which is adapted to remove heat from the compartment 3, and normally can be activated to maintain an internal temperature of the compartment 3 substantially at a predefined threshold value.
• the assembly 4 is automatically activated to remove heat whenever the temperature rises above the threshold value (possibly taking into account an accepted tolerance or hysteresis), and deactivates (awaiting reactivation) as soon as the temperature returns below that value.
• the temperature is kept substantially at the threshold value, where "substantially” should be understood here to mean a neighborhood "centered" around a reference value, taking into account hysteresis and tolerances.
• the cabinet 1 may be (preferably but not necessarily) of the (per se well known) type of minibars and is typically (but not necessarily) designed to be located in the room of a hotel or other temporary accommodation arrangement, to provide an individual (a guest or customer) with the food A and/or the beverages B, indeed properly refrigerated.
• the assembly 4 performs a refrigeration cycle of the known type and thus comprises a compressor which, in the presence of an electrical power supply, can be activated to compress an intermediate fluid that is indeed responsible for heat removal.
• the assembly 4 may provide heat removal in any other way and/or by making use of other components (thermoelectric modules, for example) and/or within rooms or buildings of other types.
• the invention indeed seeks to prevent as much as possible the noise caused by the operation of the compressor or otherwise of the assembly 4 from disturbing the guests in the room.
• the invention allows to limit or cancel the operation of the assembly 4 while the guests are present (as will be shown later) and thus in any case the inconvenience for them is contained or eliminated.
• the cabinet 1 comprises at least one electronic unit 5 for the control and management of at least the refrigeration assembly 4, which is equipped with instructions for forced inhibiting of the activation of the refrigeration assembly 4 when the current time is within at least one predefined time band.
• the unit 5 prevents the activation of the assembly 4 (and thus the removal of heat from the compartment 3), even when the temperature conditions inside it would be such as to require this (according what has been described in the preceding paragraphs), when one is within a previously set time band, for example corresponding to the night hours (or to early afternoon).
• the criterion for choosing the time band will be indeed not disturbing the guests in the room (with the noise generated by the assembly 4) during the hours when they are presumed to be resting.
• inhibition may be provided in one or a plurality of time bands, where such bands may be the same for each day of the week or may be different, as a function of the specific requirements.
• the unit 5, moreover, may be equipped with a time band scheduling module, with which a user (whether hotel staff or the room guest) can interact to vary them at will.
• the programming of time bands can also be done in another way, without resorting to the unit 5, and for example by providing the cabinet 1 with a time band selector adapted for this purpose.
• the electronic unit 5 can be of any type, and for example it can be a control unit, a PLC or an electronic computer; in any case, it is provided with the components and software and/or hardware connections necessary for forced inhibiting of the activation of the refrigeration assembly 4.
• the cabinet 1 comprises at least one radio wave receiver 6, which is controlled by the electronic unit 5 and is configured to receive at least one signal conveying exact time information.
• the electronic unit 5 is configured to determine the current time (directly or indirectly, as will be clarified later) on the basis of said information.
• the unit 5 can know this information at any time, without the need for any human intervention, and can consequently assess whether or not one is in the time band(s) that provide(s) for inhibition of the assembly 4.
• the receiver 6 can be of any type, for example it can be an antenna.
• the signal carrying the exact time information is a radiofrequency signal (it is an RF signal, transmitted by a ground station), and preferably (not necessarily) is chosen from the DCF77 signal, WWVB signal, MSF signal, ALS162 signal, BPC signal, and JJY signal.
• RF signals radiofrequency signals
• the radiofrequency signal ensures good penetration through physical obstacles (and thus proper reception at any installation location) and a constant dynamic update of daylight/solar time (depending on the nation transmitting the signal).
• the signal conveying the information regarding the exact time is a GPS signal.
• the GPS signal is received worldwide and therefore does not require changing the setting or type of receiver 6 according to the geographical region for which the cabinet 1 is intended.
• the unit 5 may be configured to determine the current time based on information provided by two or more different signals (a plurality of RF signals, a plurality of GPS signals, a plurality of other types of signals, and/or a combination of signals of different types).
• the cabinet 1 may also comprise a remote control device 8 (a remote control), configured to transmit data to the electronic unit 5 and equipped at least with means for setting the time zone.
• a remote control device 8 a remote control
• the purpose is obviously the same as in the previous case.
• the receiver 6 is configured to receive an RF signal (normally set to a specific time zone, which does not necessarily coincide with the time zone where the cabinet 1 is installed).
• the time zone is already automatically set to the reception location.
• the compartment 3 can accommodate at least one thermal energy storage unit 9, which is configured for progressive heat removal from the interior of the compartment 3.
• the thermal energy storage unit 9 can be chosen of the type chosen from a storage plate and a eutectic pouch (or plate).
• the energy storage unit 9 is cooled by the assembly 4 and, when the latter is turned off, can in turn remove heat from the compartment 3 to keep the temperature low for longer.
• a method 100 for controlling refrigerated cabinets 1 constitutes the subject matter of the protection claimed herein in the same way as the cabinet 1.
• the cabinets 1 on which the method 100 operates are indeed those of the type described so far and therefore, in particular, comprise a carcass 2 that forms an internal compartment 3, configured to accommodate food A and/or beverages B, and a refrigeration assembly 4, adapted to remove heat from the compartment 3.
• the method 100 provides at least, in a step a., for having the refrigeration assembly 4 operate in a standard operating mode, in which the refrigeration assembly 4 automatically activates to maintain the internal temperature of the compartment 3 substantially at a predefined threshold value.
• the method 100 provides at least, in a step b., for periodically check the current time.
• Said step b. is performed continuously or appropriately periodically.
• the method 100 provides at least, in a step c., for the forced inhibiting of the automatic activation of the assembly 4 when the current time (verified in step b.) is within at least one predefined time band.
• Steps b. and c. can both be carried out by the unit 5, although the use of different devices is not excluded.
• the checking step b provides for determining the current time based on the exact time information conveyed by a radio signal (thus resorting to the receiver 6).
• the cabinet 1 can accommodate in its compartment 3 food A and/or beverages B of any kind (and/or also drugs or other goods, in particular if they need temperature-controlled storage), ensuring their refrigeration thanks to the refrigeration assembly 4.
• the unit 5 takes on the task of inhibiting activation (even if the conditions for it exist, according to the logic just mentioned), if one is within one or more previously set time bands, for example and preferably with a view to not disturbing the guests with the noise generated by the compressor or otherwise by the assembly 4.
• checking of the current time is based on the exact time information provided by a signal transmitted by means of radio waves, received by an antenna or other receiver 6 with which the cabinet 1 is provided.
• the assembly 4 is deactivated during the chosen time bands, so as not to disturb the people present in the room where the cabinet 1 is installed.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Devices That Are Associated With Refrigeration Equipment (AREA)

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Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (1)

Citations (6)

• 2024
  • 2024-05-17 EP EP24176761.5A patent/EP4650697A1/de active Pending

Patent Citations (6)

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