WINE CELLAR SHELVES

Description

[0001] The present invention relates very generally to the field of wine cellars consisting of a temperature- and humidity-controlled cabinet equipped with bottle storage shelves. These shelves constitute one of the objects of the invention, as well as the wine cellars equipped with them. The bottles stored in this type of cabinet are kept in particular conditions, allowing optimal conservation of each wine awaiting tasting. The cellar of the invention is also equipped with electronic means for managing the bottles stored therein, to facilitate the management of bottle stocks by its owners. The relevant state of the art can be found in documents EP3161398B1 and DE102019110687A1.

[0002] The front of the cabinet is equipped with a door providing access to the storage space, in which the bottles are stored horizontally on stacked shelves, which must allow storage and access to a maximum number of bottles. Each shelf is for this purpose equipped with locations for receiving a plurality of bottles, said locations being individualized and their number optimized on each shelf. This storage by stacked shelves ensures on the one hand the horizontal position of said bottles and on the other hand air circulation allowing a homogeneous distribution of temperature and humidity in the cabinet.

[0003] The wine cellar of the invention can potentially store a large number of bottles, particularly if the stacked shelves are close to each other. However, since they are preferably installed in rooms where they can be protected from light, for conservation reasons, it is not always easy for the user to determine the locations actually occupied by bottles on the shelves.

[0004] The main objective of the invention is to facilitate the management of bottles stored in the cellar, in particular by allowing immediate visualization of the occupied locations. It should be noted that the implementation of technical means to know the situation of the places occupied by bottles in the cabinet is a necessary starting point to manage more precisely, possibly with the help of suitable software applications, the precise type of bottle assigned to each location.

[0005] To fulfill the objective displayed above, the shelf of the invention, comprising in practice a rectangular frame delimited by two lateral side members and two crosspieces respectively front and rear, and equipped with individualized reception locations for a plurality of bottles, is such that each location comprises a cradle for the neck of a bottle, said cradle being provided with a sensor for detecting the presence of a bottle neck. It is further such that the front crosspiece of the shelf comprises, for each individualized location, electronic means for displaying the presence of a bottle.

[0006] The presence of a bottle is therefore detected at a particular location on the bottle, namely at its neck, and the signal from the sensor is sent to visualization means so that the cellar user can benefit from usable information on the filling rate of their wine cellar.

[0007] Preferably, the detection sensor can be placed in the bottom of the cradle, at a distance less than or equal to 3 mm from the neck of the bottle, said sensor covering a detection surface of between 8 mm and 12 mm in diameter. One of the difficulties inherent in the problem of detecting this type of article is that wine bottles have different formats, different glass colors, different collar colors, etc. It is therefore important, for detection to be carried out under good conditions, to properly control not only the distances between the detection sensor and the object to be detected, but also the spatial coverage of the detection.

[0008] According to an advantageous configuration, the sensors are in fact placed in an orifice in the bottom of the cradle with a diameter corresponding to the detection surface. This orifice delimits the range of action of the detection means, in particular by being capable of guiding incident waves emitted by a detector when, as is preferably the case in the invention, the sensors are infrared sensors.

[0009] According to the invention, the sensors also have the particularity of automatically recalibrating themselves after each bottle movement, that is to say in practice when a bottle is placed or removed. This gives the sensor greater detection sensitivity, taking into account the context in which the shapes of the bottles potentially change in the same location, depending on the use assigned to the shelf. If the sensor retained a calibration linked to the last bottle placed in a location, it would be possible that another type of bottle would no longer be detected because it had a shape such that it was less close to the sensor. By automatically recalibrating the sensors after each movement of the bottles, it is ensured that each sensor detects each bottle as closely as possible.

[0010] More preferably, the display means consist of LED-type light-emitting diodes placed in the front crosspiece. They are thus visible from the front facade of the cabinet constituting the wine cellar, either by opening the door with which said front facades are equipped in conventional cellars, or through the glass with which these doors may be equipped.

[0011] According to the invention, the cradles of a shelf open into the horizontal upper face of a central bar joining the side members of the frame and arranged parallel to the cross members, dividing the shelf into two symmetrical half-frames, said central bar comprising a succession of n through-receiving cradles oriented parallel to the side members, each cradle being of a depth capable of at least partially surrounding the neck of a bottle.

[0012] The detection location is therefore grouped according to a linear configuration, which presents a design advantage insofar as all the bottles on the same shelf can be detected regardless of their position relative to said shelf.

[0013] More specifically, according to the invention, each half-frame is provided with at least two bottle supports joining the side members, each support comprising centering hoops for n / 2 bottles; said hoops each being arranged in the axis of one cradle out of two of the central bar, the hoops of the supports placed in a half-frame being offset by the transverse width of a cradle relative to the hoops placed in the other half-frame.

[0014] The bottles are therefore arranged head to tail on a shelf, so as to maximize storage possibilities, while allowing their presence to be measured in a single place: the central bar. It should be noted that the shelves are movable like a drawer, to allow easy access to each location, even those which are further back in the interior volume of the cabinet.

[0015] According to one possible configuration, each cradle can have a flat bottom and rounded edges with an arc-shaped section. The hole housing the detection sensor is then preferably placed centrally in the transverse dimension of the cradle, which offers the best latitude of detection in the event of slightly imprecise positioning of the bottles in their hoops.

[0016] Given that each shelf has n sensors and, for example, n light signaling devices, it has an electronic module for processing signals from and to the sensors and electronic display means. It is obviously necessary for the signals from each pair of components - composed of a sensor and an LED diode - corresponding to a bottle location to be managed, first at the shelf level but potentially also more generally, so that the user can get an idea, for example, of the filling rate of his wine cabinet, or the presence of certain wines.

[0017] Thus, the electronic module may include means for transmitting / receiving data from the processing, for example to a central electronic unit fitted to the cabinet (see more detail below). Centralizing the data from the various shelves fitted to the cabinet may then allow for more extensive management of the shelf occupancy status, where appropriate and as mentioned previously using appropriate software applications.

[0018] The invention also relates to a wine cellar provided with shelves as described above, conventionally provided with a door for access to said stacked shelves, and such that it comprises a door contact connected to a power supply for the sensors and the display means, said contact being closed when the door is open, and open when it is closed. The existence of this contact makes it possible to keep the energy level necessary for managing the shelves to a minimum, knowing that said shelves do not necessarily need to be powered permanently, in particular when the cabinet is closed. This is therefore an energy-saving mode.

[0019] Furthermore, as mentioned previously, the wine cellar of the invention may comprise a central electronic unit for managing the sensors and the display means, equipped with transmitter and receiver devices capable of exchanging information with the transmitter / receiver means of the shelves. Preferably, said transmitter and receiver devices and the transmitter / receiver means of the shelves operate without wired connections, using radiofrequency waves.

[0020] This type of wireless connection is particularly more suitable due to the mobile nature of the shelves, which move by sliding like a drawer, and for which the wired connections are reserved for the necessary power supply. According to an example of radio frequency connections used for data exchange between the shelves and the central unit of the cabinet, it could be the communications standard known as Bluetooth (for example in low energy), which is based on radio waves operating on the same frequency band as Wi-Fi, namely in the 2.4 GHz band.

[0021] Other aims and advantages of the present invention will become apparent during the description which follows, which is in particular based on a particular embodiment which is given only as an indicative and non-limiting example. Understanding of this description will be facilitated in particular by referring to the figures attached in the appendix and for which: There figure 1 represents a perspective view of a shelf according to the invention, in a three-quarter rear view; The figure 2 shows a perspective view of this shelf, this time seen from three-quarter front; The figure 3 illustrates the central bar in longitudinal section view; The figure 4 represents an elevational view of a bottle support with hoops preferentially used in the shelves of the invention; and The figure 5 represents a perspective view of a complete shelf, i.e. equipped with four bottle holders as shown in figure 4 .

[0022] In reference to the figures 1 et 2 , the shelf 1 very generally comprises a frame formed of two side members 2, 3, two cross members 4, 5 and a central bar 6 provided with cradles 7 shaped to accommodate bottle necks / necks. The side members 2, 3 are provided with rails 8 (only that of the side member 2 appears in figure 2 ) which allow them to slide in runners fitted to the side walls of the wine cellar cabinet (not shown). The front crosspiece 5 also includes light-emitting diodes 9 (LEDs), in a number equal to the number of bottles which can be stored in the shelf 1, in this case twelve.

[0023] The upper face of the central bar 6 comprises a succession of identical cradles 7, the bottoms of which have, on their flat central portions, a detector 10 placed in an orifice with a diameter in this case equal to 10 mm. The detectors 10 are installed on a non-visible printed circuit board placed in the hollow body of the central bar 6, which manages in particular their power supply and the signals which come from them. The association of the detector 10 and the orifice makes it possible to control the spatial coverage of the detection, which is guided in the manner of a waveguide by the tube which in practice constitutes the orifice. The necks, and more particularly the necks of the bottles, are placed in the cradles 7, at a maximum distance of 3 mm from the detectors 10, allowing the detection of a bottle.

[0024] In the hypothesis shown in the figures, the shelf 1 is equipped with twelve infrared IR sensors all installed on a single elongated electronic card located inside the central bar 6 of the shelf 1. The shape of said shelf 1 has in fact been designed to accommodate very different bottle formats, for example but not exclusively bottles of Champagne, Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Jura, Anjou, Prosecco, Mateus, etc. In short, it is possible to store any bottle up to 10-12 cm in diameter, depending on the spacing between shelves, with bottle formats up to 100 cl. The shelf 1 of the invention allows optimized head-to-tail storage of all these bottle formats and shapes.

[0025] There figure 3 shows with greater precision the shape of the cradles 7, showing each time the precise location allocated to the detectors 10 (indicated by the vertical parallel lines protruding from the flat segments indicating the flat bottom of the cradles 7). This location is in practice linked to the orifice connecting the printed circuit board on which the detectors 10 are installed, which is housed inside the central bar 6, and the cradles 7 housing the necks of the bottles, on the upper face of said central bar 6.

[0026] In the same way, the front crossbar 5 is equipped with an electronic card managing the power supply of twelve indicator lights connected to the sensors of the central bar, reflecting the movements of the bottles by indicating the presence or absence of said bottles, resulting from the individualized signals from the sensors. The appearance given to the front facade of this crossbar 5 preferably makes it possible to distinguish the exact positions of the bottles, placed either at the front or at the rear of the shelf 1, on either side of the central bar 6. The two printed circuit cards are connected by wiring arranged inside one of the lateral rails 8 (see in figure 2 ).

[0027] The bottle holder 20 illustrated in figure 4 is the same regardless of its positioning in shelf 1, it is only mounted in one direction when it is in one half-frame and in the opposite direction in the other half-frame of shelf 1, as explained in detail below (see in figure 5 ). These supports 20 are rods, for example metal rods of uniform diameter shaped to present hoops 25 for supporting the barrels of the bottles. More precisely, the ends 23, 24 of the support 20 take two perpendicular orientations, the end 23 being vertical while the opposite end 24 is horizontal. The support 20 is shown - in the figure 4 - with the same generally horizontal orientation as when mounted in shelf 1 as it appears in the figure 5 .

[0028] Returning to the figures 1 et 2 showing the frame of the shelves 1 without the supports 20, the inner sides of the side members 2, 3 have orifices 21, 22 which are not oriented in the same way, on each side member 2, 3, according to the half-frame to which they belong. Thus, in one half-frame, the orifices 21 are horizontal, consequently provided to cooperate with the ends 24 of the supports 20. In the other half-frame, on the same side member but on the other side of the central bar 6, the orifices 22 are made vertically in a shoulder, and they are consequently provided to cooperate with the ends 23 of the supports 20. Each half-frame has in practice the two types of orifices 21, 22, on the opposite side members 2, 3. Thus, in the same half-frame, the horizontal holes 21 are on the side member 3, while the vertical holes 22 are made in the side member 4. In the other half-frame, it is the opposite.

[0029] Therefore, the metal supports 20 as shown in figure 4 are mounted in one direction in one half-frame, and turned horizontally by 180° in the other half-frame, as shown in figure 5 . This results, from one half-frame to the other, in an offset of the hoops 25 which makes it possible to "target" other cradles 7 of the central bar 6 when the bottles are stored and rest on the hoops 25. Said hoops 25 having a lower periodicity than that of the cradles 7, the two supports 20 which are installed in a half-frame support bottles whose necks are placed in one cradle 7 out of two of the central bar 6, consequently leaving one out of two empty. The supports 20 fixed in the other half-frame, due to this offset, place the bottles in the axis of the unoccupied cradles, so that if all the bottle locations are occupied, all the cradles 7 are also occupied. The bottles are then found head to tail, in reverse direction depending on the half-frame in which they are stored.

[0030] Line L (see in figure 4 ), which significantly shows the level of support of the bottle barrels, is placed under the flat bottom of the cradles 7 as shown by the location of the horizontal orifices 21 for attaching the ends 24 (see in particular in figure 1 ), so that when the bottle rests in a hoop 25, its neck is at least partially housed in a cradle 7. Detection of the bottles then becomes possible. It should be noted that it would certainly be possible to detect the bottle in other positions along said bottle, for example at the level of the barrel, but that this would involve the management of two sets of detectors linked to two separate electronic cards, which is economically less advantageous.

[0031] The shelf 1 of the invention makes it possible to detect the presence or absence of bottles at the level of the central bar 6 alone, with information on the presence or absence of bottles being sent to the indicator lights 9 installed on the front face of the front crosspiece 5. The shape of the cradle 7, which is simple in appearance, is in reality designed to accommodate various bottle shapes. Thus, its axial length is such that the part of the bottle which cooperates with the cradle 7, or even comes into contact with it, is not always the same: it may in fact be the neck, the shoulder or the neck of the bottle.

[0032] For very elongated bottles, for example of the type used for Alsace wine bottles, there is no clear separation between the neck and the barrel, but a continuity of shape which allows for a smooth transition from the barrel to the neck. In this case, the shoulder of the bottle can rest on the axial end edge of the cradle 7, maintaining, according to the invention, the neck within the limit of 3 mm of distance from the detector 10.

[0033] In practice, the shelf configuration ensures optimal operation of the detection management of different bottle shapes and configurations, as well as collar colors.

[0034] It should be noted that the configuration example given above with reference to the appended figures is not exhaustive or limiting of the invention, which is defined by the claims which include in particular the variants of shape for the cradles 7, the supports 20, and other structural elements, provided that they fall within the scope of the technical characteristics claimed.

Claims

1. Rack (1) for storing bottles in a wine cellar consisting of a cabinet, each rack (1) comprising a rectangular frame delimited by two lateral longitudinal members (2, 3) and two cross members (4, 5) respectively front and rear, and being equipped with individualised locations for receiving a plurality of bottles, the front cross member (5) of the rack (1) including, for each individualised location, electronic means (9) for displaying the presence of a bottle, each location including a cradle (7) for the neck of a bottle, said cradle (7) being provided with a sensor (10) for detecting the presence of a bottle neck, characterised in that the cradles (7) of a rack (1) open into the horizontal upper face of a central bar (6) joining the longitudinal members (2, 3) of the frame and arranged parallel to the cross members (4, 5), dividing the rack (1) into two symmetrical half-frames, said central bar (6) including a succession of n traversing receiver cradles (7) oriented parallel to the longitudinal members (4, 5), each cradle (7) being of a depth capable of at least partially surrounding the neck of a bottle, and in that each half-frame is provided with at least two bottle supports (20) joining the longitudinal members (4, 5), each support (20) including centring arches (25) for n / 2 cylinders, said arches (25) being arranged each in the axis of one cradle (7) out of two of the central bar (6), the arches (25) of the supports (20) placed in a half-frame being offset by the transverse width of one cradle (7) with respect to the arches (25) placed in the other half-frame.

2. Rack (1) according to the preceding claim, characterised in that the detection sensor (10) is placed in the bottom of the cradle (7), at a distance less than or equal to 3 mm from the neck of the bottle, said sensor (10) covering a detection surface lying between 8 mm and 12 mm in diameter.

3. Rack (1) according to the preceding claim, characterised in that the sensors (10) are placed in a hole in the bottom of the cradle (7) with a diameter corresponding to the detection surface.

4. Rack (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the sensors (10) are infrared sensors.

5. Rack (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the display means consist of light-emitting diodes (9) of the LED type placed in the front cross member (5).

6. Rack (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that each cradle (7) has a flat bottom and rounded edges with across-section in an arc of a circle.

7. Rack (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises at least one electronic module for processing signals from and to the sensors and the electronic display means.

8. Rack (1) according to the preceding claim, characterised in that each electronic module comprises means for transmitting / receiving data.

9. Wine cellar equipped with racks the front face provided with a door for accessing stacked racks (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises a door contact connected to an electrical supply of the sensors (10) and the display means (9), said contact being closed when the door is open, and open when it is closed.

10. Wine cellar according to the preceding claim, characterised in that it includes a central electronic unit for managing the sensors (10) and the display means (9), fitted with transmitter and receiver devices capable of exchanging information with the transmission / reception means of the racks (1).

11. Wine cellar according to the preceding claim, characterised in that the transmitting and receiving devices and the transmitting / receiving means of the racks (1) operate without wired connections, in radio frequency waves.