Not applicable.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to refrigerated food and drink storage units, and in particular, to compact drawer refrigerators in which the storage space is defined by one or more pull-out door drawers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Refrigerators and coolers for the cold storage of food and beverage items are well known. Many conventional refrigerators and beverage coolers have one or more doors that are hinged to the front side of the cabinet. Food and beverages are ordinarily stored on shelves in the cabinet and the door(s) as well as in slide out crisper drawers near the bottom of the cabinet. This is common for industrial and residential refrigerators and beverage coolers as either full-size standup units or compact, under-cabinet units.
Drawer refrigerators are also well known in which the doors are replaced by pull-out drawers having bins in which the food is stored. Drawer refrigerators can be preferred in certain applications, such as low, under-cabinet applications, because the food items can be slid out of the cabinet in the drawer and thereby be accessed more easily. Often such drawer refrigerators have two, or possibly more, pull-out drawers that are arranged side by side or vertically stacked one above the other so that not all of the items are stored in the same drawer.
One problem with stacked drawer refrigerators is that there is considerable temperature variance between the two drawers, such that one drawer, typically the lower drawer, gets colder than the other. This can frustrate the user because, for example, in order for the upper drawer to be at the desired temperature, the lower drawer may be at a temperature that is colder than it should be for beverages or other items. This can be avoided by using two separate evaporator assemblies for each drawer, but at considerable expense. Or, the refrigerator can have a single evaporator, likely at the bottom of the unit, and an active airflow control assembly, such as including movably louvers and an air mover. Again, however, this adds considerable expense to the unit as well as occupies additional space in the interior which could otherwise be used for cold storage.
Another common issue with drawer refrigerators (with any number or arrangement of drawers) is the efficient allocation of space, that is how to maximize storage capacity within standard height, width and depth dimensions while keeping the items easily accessible. This is a particularly difficult issue to address in drawer refrigerators because of their inherent lack of shelving, unlike conventional hinged door refrigerators, which makes it easy to store items vertically above one another without making them difficult to access, as would be the case if the items were stacked directly on top of each other.
Accordingly, an improved drawer refrigerator with more uniform cooling and improved storage capacity and accessibility features is desired.
The present invention is a compact pull-out drawer type refrigerator for the cold storage of food and beverages. As conventional, the drawer refrigerator has an evaporator inside the refrigerator cabinet, a compressor receiving return refrigerant from the evaporator and a condenser coupled to the compressor and through a restrictor to the evaporator. The unit has several unique aspects that provide improved functionality over previously existing units.
Specifically, in one aspect the invention provides a drawer refrigerator with a cabinet defining an interior chamber opening to the front of the cabinet and having a partition dividing the chamber into two drawer cavities, one above the other. Two pull-out drawers are slidably mounted to the cabinet so that their drawer bins can be moved into and out of the two drawer cavities. The evaporator is disposed within the cabinet along a rear wall thereof so as to extend adjacent both drawer cavities and partitioned such that the temperature difference within the cabinet is preferably no more than about five degrees Fahrenheit at each drawer cavity when the drawers are unloaded with food items. Preferably, the temperature difference is no more than about 3 degrees, and even more preferably the temperature difference is essentially zero. Also, the cabinet can include a mullion extending between opposite upright side walls at the front opening that supports a front edge of the partition and provides a sealing surface for the drawer gaskets.
In another aspect the invention provides a drawer refrigerator with a cabinet defining a cavity with a front opening. One or more pull-out drawers are slidably mounted to the cabinet. Each pull-out drawer has a front door panel at least partially closing the front opening and a drawer bin mounted to the door panel. The drawer bin supports a bottle bin, which has a bottle retainer receiving a neck of a bottle resting in the bottle bin. Preferably, the bottle retainer is a unitary feature of the bottle bin in the form of a recess in an upright, preferably front, wall of the bottle bin. If desired, the bottle bin can have two or more bottle retainers. The bottle bin has guides at opposite sides that slidably engage the top edges of opposite side walls of the drawer bin so that it slide essentially clear of the drawer bin to allow better access to food stored within the drawer bin otherwise beneath the bottle bin. The bottle bin can have a integral handle at the front wall to aid in sliding it.
In yet another aspect the invention provides a drawer refrigerator with one or more pull-out drawers slidably mounted within the cabinet having a front door panel, a drawer bin mounted to the door panel, and a side access compartment opening to a side of the drawer bin perpendicular to the door panel. The side access compartment houses a removable storage bin accessible from the side of the drawer bin when the drawer is in an open position in which the door panel is spaced sufficiently from the cabinet. Preferably, the side access compartment is located beneath the drawer bin and extends between opposite sides of the drawer bin parallel with the door panel to two open ends so that the storage bin is accessible from either side of the drawer. A removable transparent panel forms a part of the drawer bin bottom and the top of the side access compartment to allow viewing and access therein from above the drawer.
In still another aspect the invention provides a drawer refrigerator in which the storage space of one or more sliding pull-out drawers is compartmentalized by an adjustable divider fence having a lateral divider extending between opposite side walls of the drawer bin and a transverse divider extending between the door panel and the rear wall of the drawer bin. The lateral and transverse dividers are coupled and releasably locked together at a hub such that when the hub is unlocked the transverse divider can slide between the sides of the drawer bin and the lateral divider can slide between the door panel and the rear wall of the drawer bin independent of the position of the other divider. Preferably, the divider fence is a separate component that can be entirely removed from the drawer bin when not needed. There can be two lateral dividers vertically spaced apart in parallel and two transverse members also vertically spaced apart in parallel. The dividers are preferably elongated rods with plastic contact pads at each end. The hub of the divider fence can have a locking member, preferably a hand operable threaded knob, that contacts one of the dividers to presses it against the adjacent perpendicularly extending divider to inhibit relative movement and thus fix the position of the fence. The hub has a body with two sets of two perpendicular openings for coupling the rods.
Thus, the present invention provides a pull-out drawer type refrigerator with several features to improve ease of use and functionality. The sliding bottle bin provides extra storage for wine or like bottles without hampering access to the items stored in the associated drawer bin. The side access compartment also provides additional storage space in a pull out bin that is easily accessible from either side or the top of the associated drawer. The adjustable fence quickly and easily compartmentalizes the drawer bins for segregated storage of items and can be used to secure taller items in place to prevent tipping. The size of the compartments can be adjusted readily by turning the locking knob and sliding the dividers as desired. The dividers can be slid near perpendicular walls of the drawer bin or removed completely when there is no need to divide up the storage space. Finally, the invention provides for nearly constant and equal temperatures at the drawer bins of multiple pull-out drawers using a single partitioned naturally convective evaporator, thereby allowing the user to store items in either drawer without worrying if it is too cold or too warm for the item as well as obviating the need for multiple evaporator assemblies.
These and still other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description and drawings. What follows is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. To assess the full scope of the invention the claims should be looked to as the preferred embodiment is not intended as the only embodiment within the scope of the invention.
Referring now to
Each of the pull-out drawers 26 and 28 have a front door panel 34 with a handle 36 along a top edge and which is designed to be fit with an overlay panel (not shown) matching the cabinetry where the unit is installed. Details of the handle construction and the overlay panel attachment can be found in co-owned pending application Ser. No. 10/076,746, filed Feb. 14, 2002. Attached to the door panels 34 are drawer bins 38 and 39 of slightly different configuration between the respective upper 26 and lower 28 drawers. The upper drawer 26 has deeper opposite side walls 40 joined at their bottom edges to a bottom wall 42 and at their back edges by a vented rear wall 44 that extends only about half the height of the side walls 40 so that its top edge is set down from the top edges of the side walls 40. Two, preferably plastic, runners 46 are attached, preferably with adhesive, onto the top edges of the side walls 40 to allow a bottle bin 48 to slide thereon.
In particular, with reference to
As shown in
Referring to
With reference to
As shown in
The refrigerator is cooled by a generally conventional refrigeration system, shown schematically in
As is known, the compressor 106 draws refrigerant from the evaporator 100 and accumulator 104 and discharges the refrigerant under increased pressure and temperature to the condenser 108. The hot refrigerant gas entering the condenser 108 is cooled by air circulated by a fan 116 (see
The single naturally convective evaporator 100 extends along the rear wall at the inside of the cabinet so as to be adjacent both upper and lower drawer cavities 22 and 24. The horizontal partition 20, which divides the interior of the cabinet in two, is designed to divide or partition the evaporator 100 in two parts, preferably so that more (about ⅔) of the evaporator 100 is located in the upper drawer cavity 22 than in the lower drawer cavity 24, and to restrict air flow between the cavities 22 and 24 so that chilled air from the evaporator 100 is essentially trapped in each and segregated from the other drawer cavity so that the cabinet has a nearly uniform temperature at each drawer cavity 22 and 24. The partition helps prevent cold air from settling near the bottom of the cabinet and prevents the temperature in the lower drawer from being substantially cooler than that in the upper drawer. The vented rear walls of the bottle bin 48 and the upper drawer bin 38 also allow cool air from the evaporator to reach the food in the upper drawer 26, further aiding in cooling the upper part of the cabinet and equalizing the temperature in the drawers. While zero temperature differential between the drawers is desired, a five or six degree temperature variance, for example three degrees plus or minus from the target temperature, is generally an acceptable working temperature differential. Empirical tests have found that maximum temperature differences between the two drawers is 2.4° F. when the external ambient temperature is approximately 90° F. and a target cooling temperature is about 36-38° F., with the mean temperature differential being even better at 1.2° F. Because the test results may vary depending on the temperature of the food inside the drawers, for consistency the test were conducted with the refrigerator completely unloaded. Individual units tested under the same conditions achieved a nearly zero degree differential, for example 0.4° F., which is expected to improve and be at or very near zero with lower ambient temperatures (near 70° F.) common in homes and business environments. A primary benefit of this uniform temperature afforded by the refrigerator of the present invention is that, in non-freezer applications, the temperature can be set to a target temperature which approaches freezing, for example 34-36° F. with the actual temperatures within the drawer at the high end being sufficiently cool and the lower end actual temperatures remaining above freezing.
The refrigeration system is operated and controlled by a control unit 200 mounted in the interior of the upper drawer 26 (preferably in the left front corner). The control unit 200, shown in
Thus, the present invention provides a pull-out drawer type refrigerator with several features to improve ease of use and functionality. The sliding bottle bin provides extra storage for wine or like bottles without hampering access to the items stored in the associated drawer bin. The side access compartment also provides additional storage space in a pull out bin that is easily accessible from either side or the top of the associated drawer. The adjustable fence quickly and easily compartmentalizes the drawer bins for segregated storage of items and can be used to secure taller items in place to prevent tipping. The size of the compartments can be adjusted easily by turning the locking knob and sliding the dividers as desired. The dividers can be slid near perpendicular walls of the drawer bin or removed completely when there is no need to divide up the storage space. Finally, the invention provides for nearly constant and equal temperatures at the drawer bins of multiple pull-out drawers using a single partitioned naturally convective evaporator.
It should be appreciated that merely a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described above. However, many modifications and variations to the preferred embodiment will be apparent to those skilled in the art, which will be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention should not be limited to the described embodiment. To ascertain the full scope of the invention, the following claims should be referenced.
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/665,835 filed on Sep. 19, 2003 , which will issue as U.S. Pat. No. 7,082,783 on Aug. 1, 2006.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060260353 A1 | Nov 2006 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10665835 | Sep 2003 | US |
Child | 11461104 | US |