WO2004083748A1

WO2004083748A1 - Article of furniture

Info

Publication number: WO2004083748A1
Application number: PCT/SE2004/000434
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bo Kylin; Andrew Cameron; Susanne Vedbjer; Li Yahui
Original assignee: Aktiebolaget Electrolux
Priority date: 2003-03-21
Filing date: 2004-03-19
Publication date: 2004-09-30
Also published as: SE0300782D0; WO2004083748A8

Abstract

An article of furniture has an upper surface (12) and a lower surface (60) intended to rest on a floor, directly or via legs or the like, said article of furniture having an interior refrigerated compartment (45) for storing of food items, bottles, cans and the like, access to which is given by an opening (13) provided in said upper surface (12). The opening (13) is covered by at least one plate (14, 15) made of transparent material, said plate (14, 15) being arranged to be moved between a first position in which it covers said opening (13), flush with the remainder of the upper surface (12), and a second position in which it is retracted essentially below the remainder of said upper surface (12) to give access to the interior compartment (45). A drive mechanism (62) is provided for moving the transparent plate (14, 15) between said first and second positions, and an arrangement (24, 36) for illuminating the interior compartment (45) is provided as well.

Description

Case P-10212

Applicant: Aktiebolaget Electrolux, Stockholm

Article of furniture

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an article of furniture having an upper surface and a lower surface intended to rest on a floor, directly or via legs or the like, said article of furniture having an interior compartment for storing of food items, bottles, cans and the like, access to which is given by an opening provided in said upper surface. Said opening is covered by at least one plate made of transparent material and adapted to be moved between a first position in which it covers said opening, flush with the remainder of the upper surface, and a second position in which it is retracted essentially below the remainder of said upper surface to give access to the interior compartment. A drive mechanism is provided for moving the transparent plate between said first and second positions.

BACKGROUND

An article of furniture in the form of a table having an attached refrigerator is disclosed in the patent publication US-A-5,415,010. The table has an opening provided in an upper surface thereof and covered by two plates adapted to be moved between a first position in which they cover said opening and a second position in which they are retracted essentially below the remainder of said upper surface to give access to an interior compartment of the table. A vertically movable support plate is provided to be moved between a lower position in which it is disposed in the interior compartment for supporting food items in a refrigerated environment, and an upper position, flush with the remainder of the upper surface of the table, in order to malce available cooled food items for consumption at the table. The movement of the cover plates and the movable support plate are synchronized so that when the cover plates have been moved to the second position the movable support plate is moved from its lower to its upper position in which it completely covers the opening.

In an article of furniture, such as a table, having an interior compartment storing food items and the like it is sometimes a need for increasing the visibility of the food items in the interior compartment. In the table disclosed in the US publication referred to such need for increased visibility is not present because the food items are brought up to the upper surface of the table by the action of the movable support plate. SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an article of furniture, as referred to above, which provides for an increased visibility of food items and the like stored in an interior compartment of said article of furniture. The object will be achieved in an article of furniture as defined in the preamble of claim 1 which has obtained the features indicated in the characterizing part thereof. Preferred embodiments have been included in the associated sub-claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention will now be described in connection with a preferred embodiment in the form of a table and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top view of a table according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view according to Fig. 1 showing an interior compartment of the table;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional front view of the table shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional side view of the table shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional front view of the table of Fig. 1 showing the refrigerating concept;

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional side view of the table of Fig. 4 showing the refrigerating concept;

Fig. 7 is a schematic view of the refrigerating system according to Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a detail view of glass walls and plates shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and

Fig. 9 is a detail view showing the plate drive mechanism for the table according to Fig. 1.

With reference to Fig. 1 an embodiment of the invention in the form of a table is shown in a schematic top view. The table comprises a flat table-top forming a table surface 12. In the table-top there is formed an opening 13 covered by two plate sections 14, 15. The two plate sections 14, 15 are shown in a closed position where they cover the opening 13. The plate sections 14, 15 are closed in a manner to form a flat surface parallel and flush with the rest of the table-top surface. When closed, the plate sections 14, 15 operate to seal spaces between the plate sections and said sections and the surrounding edges of the opening 13, respectively. Thereby, a continuous table surface is formed. The plate sections 14, 15 are operated to move between open and closed positions by means of a drive mechanism 62 described in more detail with reference to Fig. 9. The drive mechanism 62 is activated by means of a push button 16 or the like, see Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 2 shows the table-top of Fig. 1 with the plate sections 14, 15 being moved to open position in which they are hided inside the table beneath the table surface 12. A space can be seen through the opening 13 and it can be noted that the centre of the opening 13 corresponds to the centre of the table-top surface 12.

In Figs. 3 and 4 cross sectional views of the interior of the table are shown. The table comprises a compartment 45 with walls 18 forming a compartment space 17. The walls will be described more in detail with reference to Figs. 5 and 6. Moreover, the compartment 45 with its walls 18 faces an outer space 19. The outer space is defined by the compartment walls 18 and exterior side walls 20 which together with a bottom plate 60 form a supporting structure for the table.

In the embodiment described the compartment 45 is designed in a specific manner. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the compartment 45 has a upper section 21 and a lower section 22. In the lower section 22 bottles can be stored in a standing-up fashion and in the upper section soda cans or the like may be placed lying down. In the upper section two detachable can supports 23 are provided, preferably made by transparent plastics material. Each support has a wave-like shape facilitating the steady storage of the lying down cans. With reference to Fig. 4 light points 24 are shown disposed in the compartment walls 18. As lights, preferably, light emitting diodes (LED) can be used. Said lights may for instance be lit up when the compartment space 17 is being opened. As shown in Fig. 4 the compartment 17 of the embodiment described also has a middle section 25 with a floor level lying between the two other sections 21, 22. The middle section is separated from the other sections by a partition 26. The partition may for instance be made of frosted glass, transparent plastics or stainless steel. The function of the partition 26 will be described with reference to Figs. 6 and 8.

The plate sections 14, 15 covering the compartment 45 will now be described in more detail. The plate sections 14, 15 are made from glass, for instance frosted glass, with two glass sheets 27 arranged so as to form an intermediate space. Such a double glass plate section is shown in fig. 8. The sheets 27 are disposed in parallel with each other by plastic sheets 28. Together, glass sheets 27 and plastic sheets 28 enclose a space 29 preferably filled with a gas medium improving the heat insulation capacity of said sections.

With reference to Figs. 3 and 9 the drive mechanism 62 for moving the plate sections 14, 15 between open and closed positions will now be described. In the position covering the opening 13 the plate sections 14, 15 are flush with the remainder of the table surface 12 thus forming a continuous table surface 12. Pushing the button 16 activates the drive mechanism 62 and the plate sections 14, 15 firstly move downwards and then sidewards into the positions shown at 30. Only the movement of the plate section 14 is shown but the plate section 15 moves in a similar way simultaneous with the plate section 14. The movement is illustrated by arrows. During the sideward movement, also illustrated by arrows, the sections are moved away from each other into spaces 31, The spaces 31 are preferably designed so as to completely enclose the respective plate section 14, 15 which then remains invisible for the eye when looking from above.

In fig. 9 the principals of the drive mechanism 62 is shown. The mechanism comprises a steering rack 46 guiding a sliding block 47. The block 47 can slide along the rack 46 and this movement is preferably enabled by an electric motor (not shown) mounted on the block 47. Two links 48 connect the block 47 with a plate section support 49 attached to the plate section 14. The support 49 is preferably attached to the plate section 14 at its outer edge if the the plate section is made of glass or transparent plastic. Moreover, the drive mechanism 62 comprises a guiding frame 50. The rack 46 is preferably attached to the exterior walls 33 of the compartment 45, see Figs. 5 and 6. Considering this, the links 48 extend upwards outside the compartment 45 reaching the plate section 14. Since, preferably, the links 48 extend outside the compartment 45, the outer edges of the plate sections 14, 15 reach a horizontal level outside the compartment so that the plate section support 49 can be connected to the block 47 in a proper way. The guiding frame 50 is preferably positioned at the upper edge 51 of the compartment 45, see fig. 7.

The drive mechanism 62 enables the plate sections 14, 15 to perform the movement mentioned earlier. In Fig. 9 the sliding block 47 is shown with filled contours. In this position the two plate sections 14 and 15 cover the opening 13. When the push button 16 is operated the drive mechanism 62 is activated and the sliding block 47 starts moving to the left, while the guiding frame 50 starts moving downwards into a position showed with a grey background. When the guiding frame 50 has reached its lower position the plate section 14 has also reached its lower position. Thereafter, the plate section 14 is forced by the sliding block 47 to the left into the space 31. The final position of the plate section 14 is indicated by 30 and, correspondingly, the final position of the sliding block 47 is indicated by 51. When moving in the opposite direction the sliding block 47 turns its connection with the links 48 so that via the links 48 the plate section 14 can be pulled to the right. In its right-most position the guiding frame 50 brings the plate section 14 into its closed position. Preferably, the turning force enables the sliding block 47 to take a final position right under the plate section 14. The turning force is preferably achieved by an electric motor forcing an axis attached to the lowest part of one link 48. The drive mechanism 62 operates to move the plate section 15 correspondingly.

In order to offer properly cooled beverages from the table compartment 45 the table is provided with a refrigerating arrangement to be described more in detail below. It is then important that the plate sections 14 and 15 cover the opening 13 in a sealed way so that when stored in the compartment 45 the beverages are kept cooled. In order to achieve the desired sealing effect gaskets may be used along edges of the plate sections and the surrounding edges of the opening 13. In fig. 4 one of the spaces 31 are shown from the side. As shown in Fig. 3 the spaces 31 are separated from the outer space 19 and communicate with the compartment space 17. This means that the compartment 45 only faces spaces surrounding it via the opening 13. Therefore, the compartment 45 is effectively sealed by the plate sections 14, 15 covering said opening 13. In another embodiment the space 31 could be in contact with the outer space 19 which will give the result that the compartment space 17 will be in contact with the outer space 19. The refrigerating system will now be described with reference to Figs. 5-7. The compartment walls 18 comprise inside compartment walls 32 and outside compartment walls 33 between which heat insulation 34 is placed in order to keep the cooling energy inside the compartment space 17. The insulation thickness is adapted according to the demands for a suitable storage temperature in the compartment space 17 and to allowed losses.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the walls 32 - 33 extend all the way up to the inner side of the outside cabinet walls. This illustration does not consider the fact that the plate sections 14, 15 extend horizontally outside the compartment 45 if the drive mechanism 62 of Fig 9 is used. The reason for this is that the purpose of Figs. 5 and 6 is to illustrate the refrigerating arrangement. A table using the drive mechanism 62 of Fig. 9 is designed differently in Fig, 6, with the compartment walls 32 - 33 giving space for the extending plate sections 14, 15. Moreover, the guiding frame 50 of Fig. 9 is preferably positioned at the upper edge 51 (on both sides) of the compartment walls 32 - 33, see Fig. 5.

Furthermore, in the embodiment shown in the drawings said inner walls 18 of Fig. 5 are made of a transparent material, such as glass, and two light sources 36 are placed in the refrigerating space 35. When these are lit up the emitted light will pass into the open compartment space and thereby illuminating same and the food items stored therein. Moreover, these lights are preferably activated when the plate sections 14, 15 are moved to open position. To that end a control arrangement 64 is provided adapted to synchronize the operation of the drive mechanism 62 and the illuminating arrangement 24, 36, respectively. The control arrangement 64 is based on computer technology and can be in the form of a microcontroller or the like. The microcontroller may be programmed to perform a synchronization such that when the plates 14, 15 are moved to open position the illuminating arrangement 24, 36 is activated gradually from a low to a high illuminating level. Correspondingly, the microcontroller may be programmed to perform a control of the illuminating arrangement 24, 36 such that during a disconnecting operation thereof the level of illumination decreases gradually.

The refrigerating arrangement is intended to cool the compartment space 17. In Figs. 5-6 the refrigerating arrangement is shown as mounted in the table and in Fig. 7 the arrangement is shown, in an enlarged view, as a separated part. With reference to Fig. 7 the refrigerating arrangement is of the Peltier type. According to the principals of the Peltier system it comprises a semi-conducting heat pump 37. Block arrow 38 shows that heat is transferred to the left side of the pump. Heat is "pumped" from the cold side (right) to the hot side (left). An electric current sent from a power source (not shown) in a specific direction through the pump guarantees the heat transfer. The refrigerating system also comprises two heat exchangers 39 increasing the possibility of exchanging heat and cold energy between the pump and the surrounding air. The heat exchangers 39 could for instance be made as heat sinks with fins, but liquefied systems are also possible. Two fans 40, 41 forces air through the heat exchangers 39, which improve the heat exchange. The arrows in Fig. 7 illustrate the airflow. The Peltier system is well-known and will not be described in any further detail.

In Figs. 5-6 the Peltier refrigerating system is shown mounted inside the table. The system extends through the compartment walls 32, 33 and the insulation 34. The fan 40 is positioned in the outer space 19. An inlet 42 and an outlet 43 in the cabinet walls 20 enables air to circulate in and out of said space and remove heat generated at the left heat exchanger 39. The right heat exchanger 39 is positioned in the refrigerating space 35. The fan 41, positioned in said space 35, forces heat generated inside the compartment 45 through the heat exchanger 39. The heat is thereby received by the heat pump and transferred out to the outer space 19. The cooled air inside the refrigerating space 35 is circulated inside said space and circulated inside the compartment 17 through an opening 44. The compartment 45 is thereby cooled. When the plate sections 14, 15 are open the cooled air, which is heavier than the warmer air outside the cabinet, will stay longer inside the compartment 45.

A partition wall 26, mentioned above, divides the compartment 17 into a cooled space comprising the upper section 21 and the lower section 22 and a non-cooled space 25. The partition 26 is shown in Fig. 6. In the figure the partition 26 comprises the glass sheets 27 described with reference to fig. 8 in order to give a thermal insulation. The cooled air that circulates inside the compartment 45 does not reach the middle section 25 and the partition 26 creates a barrier between said sections. Thereby, section 25 will have a temperature that is higher than the temperature of the sections 21, 22 and in this section 25 items can be placed which do not need to be cooled. The cooling system illustrated shows the principals of a Peltier refrigerating system. Therefore, a practical system may include more components and or other details. It may also be mounted in a different way inside the cabinet in order to be able to transfer heat in an effective way. An important reason for choosing a Peltier refrigerating system is that the noise level is low. However, as far as cooling is concerned also other kinds of refrigerating systems, such as a compressor system, may be used.

Claims

C l a i m s

1. Article of furniture having an upper surface (12) and a lower surface (60) intended to rest on a floor, directly or via legs or the like, said article of furniture having an interior refrigerated compartment (45) for storing of food items, bottles, cans and the like, access to which is given by an opening (13) provided in said upper surface (12), wherein said opening (13) is covered by at least one plate (14, 15) made of transparent material, said plate (14, 15) being arranged to be moved between a first position in which it covers said opening (13), flush with the remainder of the upper surface (12), and a second position in which it is retracted essentially below the remainder of said upper surface (12) to give access to said interior compartment (45), a drive mechanism (62) being provided for moving the transparent plate (14, 15) between said first and second positions, characterized by an arrangement (24, 36) for illuminating the interior compartment (45).

2. Article of furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that a control arrangement (64) is provided adapted to synchronize the operation of the drive mechanism (62) and the illumination arrangement (24, 36) so that movement of the plate (14, 15) from the first position to the second position causes the illumination arrangement (24, 36) to be activated.

3. Article of furniture according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the illuminating arrangement (24, 36) comprises an array of light emitting diodes (24).

4. Article of furniture according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the interior compartment (45) comprises a refrigerated section (21, 22).

5. Article of furniture according to claim 4, characterized in that the refrigerated section (21, 22) is cooled by a Peltier cooling arrangement.

6. Article of furniture according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it consists of a table.

7. Article of furniture according to claim 6, characterized in that the table comprises an interior compartment (45) including a refrigerated first section (21, 22) and a non-refrigerated second section (25), wherein the illuminating arrangement (24, 36) is disposed in the refrigerated section (212, 22) and the two sections are separated by a partition (26) made of transparent material.

8. Article of furniture according to claim 7, characterized in that the refrigerated section (21, 22) has a bottom wall (18) made of transparent material, wherein the illuminating arrangement (24,36) comprises at least one illuminating member (36) disposed below said bottom wall (18).

9. Article of furniture according to claim 8, characterised in that the illuminating member (36) is an incandescent light source.

10. Article of furniture according to claim 9, characterised in that the illuminating arrangement (24, 36) comprises an array of light emitting diodes (24) disposed around the opening (13) in the upper surface of the article, below the plate (14, 15) adapted to cover said opening (13).

11. Article of furniture according to claim 10, characterised in that the array of light emitting diodes (24) are mounted in walls (18;32) forming the refrigerated and non- refrigerated sections (21, 22; 25) of the interior compartment (45).

12. Article of furniture according to any of claims 2-11, characterized in that the control arrangement (64) is adapted to control the activation of the illuminating arrangement (24, 36) such that when the plate (14, 15) is moved to its second position the illuminating arrangement (24, 36) is activated gradually from a low to a high illuminating level.

13. Article of furniture according to any of claims 2-12, characterized in that the control arrangement (64) is adapted to control the illuminating arrangement (24, 36) during a disconnecting operation thereof so that the level of illumination decreases gradually.