Patent Application
20220034580
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure relates to refrigerator devices and more particularly pertains to a new refrigerator device for cooling or warming food items in a remote location.
The prior art relates to refrigerator devices including a cooler that has a heat exchanger integrated therein which can be fluidly coupled to an air conditioning system of a vehicle for cooling the cooler. The prior art discloses a portable cooling and warming box that has a cooling unit and a warming unit each integrated into an interior of the cooling and warming box. The prior art discloses a cooler that includes a thermoelectric cooling device and a thermoelectric heating device. The prior art discloses a refrigerator that has thermoelectric heating and cooling devices and which has air channels integrated therein for evenly distributing air throughout the refrigerator. The prior art also discloses a modular travel bag that includes a toaster and a hot plate.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a refrigerator that has a box and a door that is hingedly coupled to the box. A plurality of feet is each coupled to and extends laterally away from the refrigerator for stabilizing the refrigerator on a support surface. A cooling unit is provided and the cooling unit is positioned in the refrigerator such that the cooling unit is in thermal communication with an interior of the refrigerator. In this way the cooling unit can cool the interior of the refrigerator. A pair of warming plates is each coupled to the refrigerator and a food item can be positioned on each of the warming plates. Additionally, each of the warming plates generates heat when the warming plates are turned on to warm the food item.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A battery door 34 is hingedly coupled to the outer wall 22 of the refrigerator 12. The battery door 34 closes the battery opening 30 when the battery door 34 is closed. Additionally, the battery door 34 exposes the battery opening 30 when the battery door 34 is opened. A pair of first drawers 36 is each slidably integrated into a respective first drawer slot 37 in the interior of the box 14 to store food items. Each of the first drawers 36 is positioned adjacent to the top wall 18. A pair of second drawers 38 is each slidably integrated a respective second drawer slot 39 in the interior of the box 14 to store food items. Each of the second drawers 38 is positioned adjacent to the bottom wall 20.
A plurality of feet 40 is each coupled to and extends laterally away from the refrigerator 12 for stabilizing the refrigerator 12 on a support surface. Each of the feet 40 extends laterally away from the outer wall 22 and each of the feet 40 is aligned with the bottom wall 20 of the refrigerator 12. A cooling unit 42 is positioned in the refrigerator 12 such that the cooling unit 42 is in thermal communication with an interior of the refrigerator 12. In this way the cooling unit 42 cools the interior of the refrigerator 12. Additionally, the cooling unit 42 comprises a thermoelectric cooling plate. A cooling switch 44 is movably coupled to the refrigerator 12. The cooling switch 44 is electrically coupled to the cooling unit 42 and the cooling switch 44 turns the cooling unit 42 on and off.
A pair of warming plates 46 is each coupled to the refrigerator 12 to have a food item positioned thereon. Each of the warming plates 46 generates heat when the warming plates 46 are turned on to warm the food item. Additionally, each of the warming plates 46 is positioned on the top side of the outer wall 22 of the refrigerator 12 and each of the warming plates 46 is positioned outside of the refrigerator 12. Each of the warming plates 46 may comprise electronic warming plates with an operational temperature ranging between approximately 100.0 degrees Fahrenheit and 120.0 degrees Fahrenheit. A warming switch 48 is movably coupled to the refrigerator 12. The warming switch 48 is electrically coupled to each of the warming plates 46 and the warming switch 48 turns the warming plates 46 on and off.
A handle 50 is pivotally coupled to the refrigerator 12 to facilitate the refrigerator 12 to be carried. The handle 50 has a central member 52 extending between a pair of end members 54. Each of the end members 54 is pivotally coupled to the outer wall 22 of the refrigerator 12 having the central member 52 being spaced from the top side of the outer wall 22. A power supply 56 is positioned in the refrigerator 12 and the power supply 56 is electrically coupled to each of the warming plates 46 and the cooling unit 42. The power supply 56 comprises at least one battery 58, and the battery 58 is aligned with the battery opening 30 in the outer wall 22 of the refrigerator 12.
In use, the food items are stored in each of the first drawers 36, the second drawers 38 and the interior of the refrigerator 12. The cooling switch 44 is turned on to cool the interior of the refrigerator 12 and the handle 50 is gripped to carry the refrigerator 12. In this way the food items can be transported and stored in a remote location. The warming plates 46 can be turned on for warming food items that are positioned thereon. Additionally, utensils, such as forks and spoons, can be stored in the shelf 32 on the door 16.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
