U.S. patent application number 11/574686 was filed with the patent office on 2008-10-30 for fresh keeper.
This patent application is currently assigned to Aktiebolaget Electrolux. Invention is credited to Xavier Hue, Simin Yang.
Application Number | 20080265733 11/574686 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35051707 |
Filed Date | 2008-10-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080265733 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hue; Xavier ; et
al. |
October 30, 2008 |
Fresh Keeper
Abstract
A fresh keeper used in refrigerating apparatus comprises a lid
(1), an outer drawer (2) and at least one inner drawer (3) which is
contained in said outer drawer, a gap is formed between the outer
drawer and the inner drawer such that said outer drawer (2), said
inner drawer (3) and said lid (1) form a sealed space when they are
in mounting state. The effect of heat preservation is improved due
to the air insulating layer, thereby the temperature inside the
fresh keeper is not easily influenced by the ambience and the
temperature inside the fresh keeper is more stable. Because of the
double-layer structure used in the invention, an air layer is
formed. The pressure of the vapor in the air layer is much more
than that of the inner drawer, thus it is difficult for the vapor
in the inner drawer to diffuse into the air layer, and thereby the
moisture in the inner drawer is ensured so that the humidity is
kept to be a high value.
Inventors: |
Hue; Xavier; (Orsago,
IT) ; Yang; Simin; (Hunan Province, CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PEARNE & GORDON LLP
1801 EAST 9TH STREET, SUITE 1200
CLEVELAND
OH
44114-3108
US
|
Assignee: |
Aktiebolaget Electrolux
Stockholm
SE
|
Family ID: |
35051707 |
Appl. No.: |
11/574686 |
Filed: |
January 12, 2005 |
PCT Filed: |
January 12, 2005 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/CN2005/000044 |
371 Date: |
July 11, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/404 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25D 25/025 20130101;
F25D 17/042 20130101; F25D 2325/022 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/404 |
International
Class: |
F25D 23/00 20060101
F25D023/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 6, 2004 |
CN |
200420093067.6 |
Claims
1. A fresh keeper used in refrigerating apparatus comprising a lid
(1), characterized in that it further comprises an outer drawer (2)
and at least one inner drawer (3) which is contained in said outer
drawer, a gap is formed between the outer drawer and the inner
drawer such that said outer drawer (2), said inner drawer (3) and
said lid form a sealed space when they are in mounting state.
2. The fresh keeper according to claim 1 characterized in that said
outer drawer (2) consists of a left sidewall, a right sidewall, a
back and a bottom, said inner drawer (3) consists of a left
sidewall, a right sidewall, a back, a bottom and a front, said
front is a single-layer or double-layer front (4).
3. The fresh keeper according to claim 1 characterized in that each
said outer drawer (2) and inner drawer (3) is opened on top.
4. The fresh keeper according to claim 1 characterized in that said
outer drawer (2) is formed integrally with said lid (1), said inner
drawer (3) has a single-layer or double-layer front (4).
5. The fresh keeper according to claim 1, characterized in that an
isolating device is provided between said inner drawer and said
outer drawer.
6. The fresh keeper according to claim 5, characterized in that
said isolating device is at least one protrusion (5) provided
outside said inner drawer (3) or inside said outer drawer (2).
7. The fresh keeper according to claim 5, characterized in that
said isolating device is a flange (6) provide on at least one
sidewall of said inner drawer.
8. The fresh keeper according to claim 2, characterized in that two
integrated guides (8) are provided on the edges of the bottom of
said outer drawer (2) such that said inner drawer (3) could be
supported on the integrated guides.
9. The fresh keeper according to claim 3, characterized in that at
least one cylindrical portion (7) is provided on the bottom outside
said inner drawer (3) or the top inside said outer drawer (2).
10. The fresh keeper according to claim 1, characterized in that
said lid is formed with transparent material or translucent
material.
11. The fresh keeper according to claim 1, characterized in that
said gap is 5 mm-30 mm.
12. The fresh keeper according to claim 11 characterized in that
said gap is 10 mm.
13. The fresh keeper according to claim 1, characterized in that
one or more small holes are provided on the inner drawer (3).
14. The fresh keeper according to claim 1, characterized in that
one or more removable dividing plates are put in said inner drawer
(3).
15. The fresh keeper according to claim 1, characterized in that a
portion engaged with the supporting part of the refrigerating
apparatus is provided outside said outer drawer (2) so that said
fresh keeper could be slidablely put into the refrigerating
apparatus.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The invention relates to a fresh keeper. More particularly,
the invention relates to a fresh keeper used in refrigerating
apparatus.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] The two most important factors affecting the shelf-life of
refrigerated food are temperature and humidity. So far most of the
attention has been aimed at controlling just the temperature of the
refrigerators; there are not a method and a device keeping fresh by
controlling the humidity.
[0003] Several fresh keepers have been used in refrigerating
apparatus. A kind of fresh keeper is widely used at present. This
fresh keeper consists of a simple single-layer drawer which was not
sealed well, thus the temperature in the drawer is not stable and
water diffuses quickly while the temperature and the humidity of
ambience and their variation have influence on those inside the
drawer, thereby the food contained in the drawer is easy to perish
or dehydrate.
[0004] A kind of sealed box is also used to keep fresh. Some sealed
material are used in the sealed box while the sealed box could not
well prevent water from diffusing, because the vapor pressure of
air in the box forces the humidity in the box to balance with that
of ambience through a small aperture, therefore water would diffuse
quickly and the temperature would not be stable if there is even a
small aperture, even if the food is stored in a sealed box.
[0005] There is further a fresh keeper to adjust the humidity
thereof by means of a mechanical adjusting structure, but the
mechanical adjusting structure could not keep the humidity inside
the box stable exactly.
[0006] The prior device keeping fresh above can not provide stable
humidity and temperature which is useful to keep vegetable and
fruits fresh.
CONTENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The object of the invention is to provide a fresh keeper
which can ensure stable temperature and higher humidity thereof,
therefore the invention could prevent the water contained in the
food from diffusing.
[0008] To achieve the object, a fresh keeper for refrigerating
apparatus of the invention comprises a lid, an outer drawer and at
least one inner drawer which is contained in said outer drawer, and
with which the outer drawer forms a gap, such that said outer
drawer, said inner drawer and said lid form a sealed space when
being in mounting state.
[0009] According to the invention, said outer drawer consists of a
left sidewall, a right sidewall, a back and a bottom, said inner
drawer consists of a left sidewall, a right sidewall, a back, a
bottom and a front, said front is single-layer or double-layer.
[0010] According to the invention, said outer drawer and inner
drawer is opened on top.
[0011] According to the invention, said outer drawer is formed
integrally with said lid, said inner drawer has a single-layer or
double-layer front.
[0012] According to the invention, an isolating device is provided
between said inner drawer and said outer drawer.
[0013] According to the invention, said isolating device is at
least one protrusion provided outside said inner drawer or inside
said outer drawer.
[0014] According to the invention, said isolating device is a
flange provided on at least one sidewall of said inner drawer.
[0015] According to the invention, two integrated guides are
provided on the edge of the bottom of said outer drawer such that
said inner drawer could be supported on the integrated guides.
[0016] According to the invention, at least one cylindrical portion
is provided on the bottom outside said inner drawer or the top
inside said outer drawer.
[0017] According to the invention, said lid is formed with
transparent material or translucent material.
[0018] According to the invention, said gap is 5 mm-30 mm.
[0019] According to the invention, said gap is 10 mm.
[0020] According to the invention, one or more movable dividing
plates are put in said inner drawer.
[0021] According to the invention, a portion engaged with the
supporting part of the refrigerating apparatus is provided outside
said outer drawer so that said fresh keeper could be put into the
refrigerating apparatus slidablely.
[0022] The invention, as compared with the prior art has following
advantages:
[0023] First, the fresh keeper is equivalent to be thickened due to
the air isolating layer in the invention so that the effect of heat
preservation is improved, thereby the temperature inside the fresh
keeper is not easily influenced by ambience, and the temperature
inside the fresh keeper is more stable.
[0024] Second, because of the double-layer structure used in the
invention, an air layer is formed. The pressure of the vapor in the
air layer is much more than that in the inner drawer, thus it is
difficult for the vapor in the inner drawer to diffuse into the air
layer, and thereby the moisture in the inner drawer is ensured so
that the humidity therein is kept to be a higher value.
DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
[0025] The invention is described in more detail below, with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0026] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the fresh keeper according to
the first embodiment of the invention;
[0027] FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the fresh keeper in FIG. 1, in
the tightly engaged state;
[0028] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the fresh keeper according to
the second embodiment of the invention;
[0029] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the fresh keeper in FIG. 3, in
the tightly engaged state;
[0030] FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG.
4;
[0031] FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the fresh keeper according to
the third embodiment of the invention;
[0032] FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the fresh keeper in FIG. 6, in
the tightly engaged state;
[0033] FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the fresh keeper according to
the forth embodiment of the invention;
[0034] FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the fresh keeper in FIG. 8, in
the tightly engaged state;
[0035] FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG.
9;
[0036] FIG. 11 is a graph showing the comparison between the
variation of the relative humidity in the fresh keeper of the
invention and that in the vegetable drawer of prior art;
[0037] FIG. 12 is a graph showing the comparison between the
variation of the temperature in the fresh keeper of the invention
and that in the vegetable drawer of prior art.
EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
[0038] The fresh keeper shown in FIG. 1 consists of a lid 1, an
outer drawer 2 and an inner drawer 3. The inner drawer 3 could be
several drawers in which different foods may be put. The inner
drawer 3 is smaller than the outer drawer by a predetermined size.
When the inner drawer 3 is put into the outer drawer 2, the lid 1
is installed on the outer drawer 2, a front wall 4 of the inner
drawer 3 lies against two sidewalls, a bottom and the lid 1 of the
outer drawer 2, thereby a sealed space is formed inside the inner
drawer 3. At least one protrusion 5 is provided in the sidewalls
and the bottom of the inner drawer 3, when the inner drawer 3 is
set in the outer drawer 2, a desired distance is kept between the
inner drawer 3 and the outer drawer 2 due to the protrusion 5, thus
an air insulation is formed between the inner drawer 3 and the
outer drawer 2, as shown in FIG. 2, the protrusions 5 could also be
provided on the sidewall and the bottom of the outer drawer 2. The
gap of the air insulation between the inner drawer 3 and the outer
drawer 2 is 5 mm-30 mm because of the difference of their sizes.
Preferably, the gap is 10 mm. Preferably, the front 4 of the inner
drawer is double-layer.
[0039] A flange 6 may be provided in the predetermined position of
the two sidewalls and the back of the inner drawer 3, the flange 6
is preferably provided on the top, as shown in FIG. 3, thus a
desired distance exists between the sidewalls and the back of the
outer drawer 2 and those of inner drawer 3; preferably, two
integrated guides 8 are provided on the edge of the bottom of the
inner drawer 2, as shown in FIG. 5, thus the inner drawer 3 is
supported on the integrated guides 8 of the outer drawer 2, when
the fresh keeper is in close state, a desired distance exists
between the bottom of the inner drawer and that of the outer
drawer, as shown in FIG. 4.
[0040] As shown in FIG. 6, an outer drawer 2 having four sidewalls
and a bottom, and a inner drawer 3 having four sidewalls and a
bottom could also be used, the inner drawer 3 could be put into the
outer drawer 2 directly, a cylindrical portion 7 is provided on the
bottom of said inner drawer 3, the cylindrical portion 7 could also
be provided in the corresponding position inside said outer drawer
2, therefore a desired distance exists between the bottom of the
inner drawer and that of the outer drawer. A flange 6 could be
provided at predetermined position in the four sidewalls of the
inner drawer 3, the flange is preferably set on the top, as shown
in FIGS. 6 and 7, therefore a desired distance exists between the
sidewalls of the inner drawer 3 and those of the outer drawer 2
when the inner drawer 3 is put into the outer drawer 2. The
distance between the sidewalls and the bottoms of the two drawers
forms an air isolating layer. When the lid 1 covers the outer
drawer 2, a sealed space is formed inside. Preferably, a handle may
be provided on the lid 1 to facilitate to open/close the lid 1.
[0041] The outer drawer 2 may also be formed integrally with said
lid 1, a flange 5 is provided on the left and right sidewalls of
the inner drawer 3 respectively, a flange 10 is also provided on
the left and right sidewalls of the outer drawer 2 respectively, as
shown in FIG. 8, a stiffener 9 extending in the direction parallel
to the back is provided on the lid of the outer drawer 2 at the
distance from the back of the outer drawer, as shown in FIG. 9,
when the inner drawer 3 is put into the outer drawer 2, the flanges
5 of the inner drawer 3 could overlap with the flanges 10 of the
outer drawer 2; the back of the inner drawer could put against the
stiffener 9, therefore a distance could be formed between the left
and right sidewalls, the back, the bottom of the inner drawer and
those of the outer drawer.
[0042] A removable dividing plate which divides the inner drawer
into several areas is provided in the inner drawer 3 to facilitate
to store the food.
[0043] Perishable products like vegetables that are not closely
packed in moisture proof material stand the risk of dehydration. To
avoid this they require an environment with high (>95%) and
stable relative humidity and a low (-1-0.degree. C.) and stable
temperature to keep them fresh. The fluctuations of temperature and
humidity should lie within .+-.0.5.degree. C. and .+-.5%
respectively.
[0044] A test was performed on the fresh keeper of the invention
with a 10 mm air gap. A lettuce head was put in the fresh keeper as
shown in FIG. 6 and one into the vegetable drawer of the prior art.
Lettuce was chosen because it is a perishable vegetable with a
large surface area. The duration of the test was 18 days without
opening the refrigerator. Temperature and relative humidity were
measured.
[0045] The weight of each lettuce was measured before and after
they were placed in the refrigerator, and the results are as
follows:
TABLE-US-00001 Initial weight (g) Weight reduction (g) Loss (%)
Fresh keeper of 290 20.7 7 the invention Conventional 313 57.7 18
fresh keeper
[0046] From the test results, it can be seen that, the weight
reduction of the lettuce in the fresh keeper of the invention is
only 7% compared to 18% in the conventional vegetable drawer. It
should be noted that, before the test started the lettuce head put
into the conventional vegetable drawer was physically larger
compared to the one put into the fresh keeper of the invention, and
an appreciable difference could be observed when comparing the two
lettuce heads after the test.
[0047] A test was performed on the fresh keeper of the invention as
shown in FIG. 1. The results of the test show that, the relative
humidity in the fresh keeper of the invention varies between
87-90%, and a fluctuation of only .+-.1.5% relative humidity is
achieved much less than the allowable fluctuation of .+-.5%, as
shown in FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a graph showing the variation of the
humidity in the fresh keeper of the invention and that in the
vegetable drawer. It could be seen appreciably that the fluctuation
of relative humidity in the fresh keeper of the invention is less
than that in the vegetable drawer of the prior art. The temperature
in the fresh keeper of the invention fluctuates between
approximately 4.8-5.1.degree. C., a fluctuation of only
.+-.0.15.degree. C., far below the desired value of .+-.0.5.degree.
C., as shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is a graph showing the variation
of the temperature in the fresh keeper of the invention and that in
the vegetable drawer of the prior art. It could be seen appreciably
that the fluctuation of relative humidity in the fresh keeper of
the invention is far below that in the vegetable drawer of the
prior art.
[0048] The results show that between the inner drawer and the outer
drawer an air insulating layer is formed which has the damping
effects to temperature and humidity so that the temperature and
humidity inside the fresh keeper are kept stable.
[0049] For one skilled in the art, it is obvious that the invention
is not limited to the above described preferable embodiments only,
but it can be modified within the scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *