ES2379899T3 - Refrigerator provided with a quick cooling compartment for drinks - Google Patents

Abstract

A 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 heat exchange with said freezing compartment (2) and provided with ejection means (6) to eject the container when the recess temperature (3) has reached a predetermined value or when a cooling time has elapsed predetermined, characterized in that the recess (3) is provided with an opening (15) in a refrigerator compartment (1) of the domestic refrigerator, said refrigerator compartment being adjustable at a temperature above 0 ° C capable of receiving the container (13 ) when you have been expelled.

Description

Refrigerator provided with a quick cooling compartment for drinks

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, particularly a domestic refrigerator, provided with a compartment in which a container for liquids, such as beverages, can be rapidly cooled and ejected after cooling has been completed.

A domestic refrigerator is designed to have a cabinet equipped with two cells, refrigerated at two different temperatures.

The solution for cooling rapidly and then ejecting the beverage containers is already known in the art.

For example, in document ES2222821 a cooling device for packaged beverages such as wine is provided, provided with a spring to keep the cover arranged in the cooling liquid, in extended position, a counter spring to release the bottle became when the bottle became It is cooled. The cooling operation is controlled with a timer.

US 4920763 describes a cooling device according to the preamble of claim 1 with a container containing a cold liquid and a cooling unit, to lower the temperature of the cooling liquid. A support platform receives the container that contains the product to be cooled. The vessel is submerged in the cooling liquid and raised when it reaches the desired temperature by means of a lifting device. A pump circulates the cooling liquid and a sensor controls the temperature of the liquid in the product area. US 5237835 discloses a cooler provided with a depression located in an insulated box to accept the bottles or containers to be cooled. The depression is filled with a liquid kept at a very low temperature by the refrigeration unit. The circuit maintains the liquid solution, which does not freeze, at a very low temperature. The bottle is kept in an open plastic wrap on the upper part and with the base closed resting on a cover plate in a manual mechanism that can raise and lower the bottle, in order to adapt to the size of the depression of the container.

All the aforementioned solutions have constructions that are complex to carry out in a domestic refrigerator because they require a lot of space and refrigeration units dedicated to it. The present invention integrates in a traditional refrigerator unit a device for rapidly cooling a liquid container, such as drinks in bottles or cans, without freezing it. Such a configuration cools the rapid cooling compartment using the same cooling means normally used in a refrigerator, such as the evaporator unit of the freezing chamber or frozen air from the evaporator.

In addition, the configuration of the refrigerator according to the present invention provides low temperature maintenance of the cooled beverage, preventing overheating of the same beverages if the user forgets to remove it after the completion of the cooling process.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description in combination with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic sectional view of a refrigerator according to the present invention,

Fig. 2 shows a schematic sectional view of a refrigerator according to the present invention in which a bottle to be cooled is inserted in the recess,

Fig. 3 shows a schematic sectional view of a refrigerator according to the present invention in which a bottle is ejected from the recess, and

Fig. 4 shows a sectional view of the refrigerator's recess in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, a refrigerator is provided with a thermoregulated lower 2 freezer cavity 2 at -18 ° C, and a thermoregulated upper 1 refrigerator cavity 1 at 5 ° C.

Between the two cavities, there is a rigidly shaped recess 3 to receive containers of liquids such as bottles or cans of beverages. The recess 3 can be closed with a hinged lid 4, preferably made of a thermally insulating material in order to isolate the recess 3 of the upper refrigerator cavity 1. The lid 4 can rotate around the hinge 7 and can adopt a open or closed position. The lid 4 can be locked with a locking device 8 that holds the lid 4 firmly in a closed position. When necessary, the device automatically unlocks the cover 4 by means of an electromagnetic drive device (not shown).

The recess 3 is preferably formed in the refrigerator perfometer so that the hinged lid 4 is at the floor level of the refrigerator cavity 1.

The recess extends in the volume of the lower freezer cavity 2 and has perimeter walls 12 made of conductive materials, such as aluminum, to be efficiently cooled by the freezer's cold air,

or more generally, to exchange heat with the freezer cavity in an efficient manner.

In the recess 3 a support plate 5 (Figure 4) is placed to support the liquid containers, to which a metal spring 6 is connected underneath. The spring 6 is connected to the rigid bottom wall 9 of the recess 3. When there is no Recent of liquid 13 inserted in the recess 3, the springs are completely relaxed, the support plate 5 is brought towards a level of the opening 15 of the recess 3. The level of the support plate 5 is lowered when a container of liquid 13 and compressed in the recess, loading the spring 6. Preferably, inside the recess 3 there is a flexible internal wall 16 adaptable to the different perfometer of the bottle or can to efficiently and quickly cool the bottles by conductive heat transfer.

The clearance 18 between the flexible wall 16 and the perfometer 12 of the recess 3 is filled with a solution that remains in a liquid or gel phase also at a low temperature. As an example, it can be a solution with water and 30% by weight of CaCl having a freezing point of approximately -50 ° C.

In the recess 3, a temperature sensor 10 is optionally located, which can be located according to two possible configurations. In the first configuration, the sensor 10 is in the free volume of the recess 3 to measure the temperature of the air around the container. In the second configuration, the sensor 10 is placed in contact with the bottle 13 by measuring the bottle's own temperature.

The predetermined temperature at which the beverage has to be cooled can also be an automatic or user adjustable parameter. The timer for setting a cooling time can be used instead of a temperature sensing system that uses 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 reaction can also be provided to the user.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown) of the present invention, the locking mechanism is associated with the support plate 5, and a membrane is used instead of the cover 4.

When the user needs to cool a contained beverage, for example in a bottle, he / she opens the lid 4 of the recess 3 and introduces the bottle 13 by compressing the support plate 5 towards the bottom wall 9 of the recess 3, loading the spring from below 6. The lid 4 is then closed on top of the bottle while keeping the spring loaded, and therefore locked by the device 8. A predetermined temperature value or a predetermined time is adjusted, to define the condition at which the Cooling operation is considered completed.

The temperature is optionally controlled through the temperature sensor 10 until the temperature reaches a predetermined value.

When such a predetermined value is reached, the locking device 8 unlocks the lid by releasing the bottle that rises from the recess 3 to the refrigerator cavity 1 under the effect of the spring 6. During elevation of the bottle its speed decreases by a friction mechanism (not shown) included in hinge 7 of cover 4. At the same time the user interface informs the user that the drink is ready to be served.

Since the cavity of the refrigerator 1 was set at a temperature above 0 ° C, the drinks are prevented from freezing and the bottle is damaged. The bottle remains until the user takes it out of the refrigerator cavity. Therefore, overheating of the beverage in the bottle is avoided in the time it remains, in the event that the user is delayed in taking out the cooled beverage.

Other mechanisms for removing the container from the cavity 3 can be used by replacing the spring mechanism described above. For example, 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 cooling cavity.

Claims (4)

1. A 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 compartment of 5 freezing (2) and provided with ejection means (6) to eject 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) in a refrigerator compartment (1) of the domestic refrigerator, said refrigerator compartment being adjustable at a temperature above 0 ° C capable of receiving the container (13) When he has been expelled.

10 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said opening (15) is associated with an insulated lid

(4) that it can adopt an open configuration, adapted to introduce the container into the recess, and with a closed configuration, adapted to close said recess when a container (13) is placed in the recess (3) and to prevent the exchange of heat between the recess and the refrigerator compartment (1) when the container is in the recess or when the recess is empty.

The refrigerator according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the recess is provided with flexible walls (16) filled with liquid adapted to adapt to the shape of the liquid container and to further improve the thermal exchange, said liquid being in thermal exchange with the freezing compartment (2).

4. The refrigerator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein a locking device 20 (8) cooperates with the lid (4).

5.

The refrigerator according to any of the preceding claims, provided with reaction means, to warn the user when the liquid container is ejected.

6.

The refrigerator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the recess is also provided with temperature sensing means (10) cooperating with the locking device.