Cooling Cosmetic Cabinets For Bathroom

Abstract

A cosmetic cabinet incorporating a Peltier cooling unit in the door thereof, the cooling unit removing heat from the interior of the cabinet and dissipating heat by means of a finned heat dissipator arrangement having a plurality of elongated vertically disposed cooling fins, the cabinet also incorporating a mirror at the outer surface of the cabinet's door, the rear surface of the mirror being adjacent the cooling fins whereby the mirror absorbs a portion of the heat dissipated by the cooling fins and prevents fogging of the mirror's outer surface.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The background of the invention will be set forth in two parts.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains generally to the field of cosmetic cabinets and more particularly to cabinets containing medicines and cosmetics which are installed usually in bathroom and dressing rooms and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Typically, cosmetic cabinets are installed in bathroom and dressing rooms and are designed to store cosmetic articles and supplies such as, for example, perfumes, creams, lotions and medications and the like. In the past, these cabinets were constructed of thin metal frames and include several shelves and a relatively broad spaced door in front. In many cases, the door was provided with a mirror to aid in applying the cosmetics and medications.

As noted above, these cabinets are typically found in bathrooms and rooms immediately adjoining such and, as a consequence, are subject to severe fogging when hot water is run in a basin, tub or shower. This, of course, obscures the image reflected by the mirror and causes frustration since the person looking at the mirror and applying a cosmetic must stop and wipe off the mirror with a towel, for example.

It is also a fact that many cosmetics and medicines last longer and have improved quality if kept below normal room temperatures. There are in fact many medicines which must be kept at a refrigerated temperature and could never be placed in a conventional medicine or cosmetic cabinet because it is always at room temperature and it normally is at a higher than ambient temperature of the building because of its proximity to bathroom and dressing room fixtures which dispense hot water. As a consequence, most such temperature sensitive medicines and cosmetics are kept in refrigerators installed in kitchens, and thus readily accessible to children who may be injured by contact with these materials. From the foregoing, it should be evident that a new and improved cosmetic cabinet which does not exhibit the disadvantageous mirror-fogging problem and which safely stores cosmetics and medicines at temperatures below normal room temperatures in locations not readily accessible to small children, would constitute a significant advancement of the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing factors and conditions characteristic of the prior art, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved cosmetic cabinet.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple and economical way to fabricate cosmetic cabinets which includes means for cooling the interior of the cabinet while preventing the fogging of a mirror mounted on the cabinet door.

According to the present invention, a cosmetic cabinet is provided including a cabinet frame having a hinged door defining a cabinet compartment, and cooling unit mounted in the door. The cooling unit has a heat absorbing portion communicating with the compartment and has a heat dissipating portion on the opposite side thereof. A mirror is attached to the door and the rear surface of the mirror is disposed adjacent the heat dissipating portion of the cooling unit and absorbs a portion of the heat thus dissipated to prevent moisture condensation on the outer surface of the mirror.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by making reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which like reference characters refer to like elements in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side elevation schematic, in section, of a cosmetic cabinet constructed in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a plan view representation, in section, of the cosmetic cabinet of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a cabinet 11 designed to store cosmetics and medicines and the like, the cabinet being typically mounted on or extending into a wall of a bathroom or dressing room. The cabinet 11 includes an outer frame structure 13 of steel or aluminum sheets, for example, which are formed by any suitable conventional process. The fabrication of such skeleton frame is well known in the art and will thus not be described here in detail. Also included in the cabinet 11 is a door generally identified by reference 15, the door being hingedly mounted by conventional means to a front edge 17 of the frame 13. The door 15, when closed, thus defines a cabinet storage compartment 19 wherein conventional shelving, not shown, may be disposed to support containers, such as jars and viles, for example, containing cosmetics and medicines.

The frame portion of the cabinet 11 is thermally insulated by a layer 21 of conventional cellular or foam synthetic material disposed between an inner wall 23 of the frame 13 and a mounted plastic liner 25. The door 15, on the other hand, generally comprises a multi-layer sandwiched arrangement enclosed in a relatively thin plastic or light metal doorframe 27. The doorframe includes an inner wall portion 29 with a peripheral decreased depth shoulder portion 31 in order to reduce the overall depth of the door that extends beyond the cabinet frame's front edge 17. Supported within the doorframe 27 is a generally rectangular cast aluminum finned cooling unit 33 having a broad base portion 35 and a plurality of spaced parallel and vertically oriented fin portion 37 extending outwardly and perpendicularly from the base portion 35. A broad surfaced outer conductive plate 39 of aluminum or any other material having relatively good heat conductive qualities is uniformly attached by any conventional means to an inner surface 41 of the base portion 35 to provide thermo transfer between the plate 39 and the finned cooling unit 33.

Also mounted within the doorframe 27 is a conventional solid state thermoelectric couple arrangement or Peltier cooling element 43. The cooling element's heat dissipating side 45 is directly mounted on a broad inner surface 47 of the plate 39 for heat transfer purposes, and the cooling element's heat absorbing side 49 is similarly mounted to an outer surface 51 of a broad and relatively highly thermo-conducting inner plate 53. The inner plate's inner wall 55 may preferably make thermal contact with a broad surfaced conductive plate 56 of aluminum, for example, or it could itself comprise a broad portion of the door's inner wall 29, and high thermo-insulation between the cabinet's compartment 19 and the heat dissipating portion of the door-mounted, built-in cooling system is provided by a foam insulation layer 57 surrounding the plates 39 and 53 and the cooling element 43. The inner plates 53 and 56 thus act as a heat exchanger, and may be additionally supported in position by plastic bolts or screws (not shown) attached to the cooling unit 33. In order to prevent undesirable transfer between the compartment 19 and the exterior of the cabin 11, the cabinet further includes a resilient gasket 58 disposed about the frame's front edge 17. Additionally, heat transfer between the insulation 57 and the cooling unit 33 may be kept as small as possible by providing an air space 60 between the insulation 57 and the inner surface 41 of the cooling unit's base. Further, another air space 62 may be provided between the plate 56 and the insulation 57.

The cabinet 11 is further provided with a conventional mirror 59 having an opaque inner surface 61 and an outer surface 63 through which a reflected image may be viewed. The mirror 59 may be mounted by means of an adhesive to the outer edge 65 of the cooling unit 33, and/or it may be supported on spacers such as flanges 67 that extend outwardly from the door frame's outer edge.

As noted previously, the cosmetic cabinet 11 may be either flush or surface mounted to a suitable room wall. The power required by the Peltier cooling element 43 may be supplied by conventional wire means, and once energized, the cooling element will in effect conduct heat from the compartment 19 to the finned cooling unit 33, where the heat radiates from the fins 37 into vertical passages or chimneys 69 defined by the fins 37. In order not to obstruct the passages 69, the doorframe 27 is provided with passage-conforming slots or opening 71 at its upper and lower edges. Thus, as heat is radiated by the finned cooling unit 33, conventional currents will be set up in an upward or rising direction in the passages 69, as indicated by arrow 73.

A portion of the heat that is thus radiated is absorbed by the mirror's inner surface 61 which acts to help prevent condensation from accumulating on the mirror's outer surface 63, and fogging up the mirror. This defogging action has been found to be effective even in highly moisture-saturated environments such as found in bathrooms and dressing rooms.

From the foregoing, it should be evident that there has herein been described a novel and highly useful cosmetic cabinet that combines the advantages of a refrigerated cosmetic and medicine compartment and a fog-inhibited mirror.

Although specific materials have been identified in the cabinet's structure, it should be understood that the materials used in fabricating the invention are not critical and any material generally considered to be suitable for particular purpose or function may be utilized. It should further be noted that other embodiments and modifications of the invention are possible within the scope of the invention. For example, an air space may be provided along the outer surfaces of the door's insulation layer 57 in order to lessen heat transfer about the periphery of the thermoelectric cooling element 43 and its attached plates 39 and 53.

Claims

I claim:

1. A cosmetic cabinet for use in bathrooms, dressing rooms and the like, comprising:

a cabinet frame having a hinged door defining a cabinet compartment;

a cooling unit mounted in said door, said cooling unit having a heat absorbing portion communicating with said compartment and a heat dissipating portion on the opposite side thereof; and

a mirror attached to said door providing the outer surface thereof, the rear surface of said mirror being disposed adjacent said heat dissipating portion of said cooling unit and absorbing a portion of the heat dissipated thereby to prevent moisture condensation on the outer surface of said mirror.

2. The cosmetic cabinet according to claim 1, wherein said cooling unit includes a Peltier cooling element and a finned cooling structure with a broad base portion and a plurality of spaced vertically oriented parallel fins extending perpendicularly therefrom, said Peltier cooling element having a broad heat absorbing surface disposed inwardly toward the interior of said compartment and having an oppositely disposed broad heat dissipating surface thermally conductively coupled to said broad base portion of said finned cooling structure, the outer extremities of said fins being disposed adjacent said rear surface of said mirror.

3. The cosmetic cabinet according to claim 2, wherein said cooling unit also includes a broad thermally conducting inner plate mounted on said heat absorbing surface of said Peltier cooling element and wherein said cooling unit further includes a broad thermally conducting outer plate mounted on said heat dissipating surface of said Peltier cooling element, said outer plate being disposed between and in thermally conductive contact with both said Peltier cooling element and said finned cooling structure.

4. The cosmetic cabinet according to claim 3, wherein said inner plate has an inwardly facing broad surface directly communicating with the interior of said compartment when said door is closed.

5. The cosmetic cabinet according to claim 4, wherein said cabinet frame and hinged door include thermal insulation material, and wherein said Peltier cooling element and said inner and outer plates are dimensioned to at least partially extend inwardly into said compartment thereby lessening the extent said door extends outwardly from the forward edges of said cabinet frame.