Bottle storage and system

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional wine coolers either require large and cumbersome equipment for temperature control or risk excessively cooling wine, causing the bottle to become wet and making label visibility difficult.

Innovation Solution

A bottle storage system with a housing portion, cooling-warming portion, rotation mechanism, image capture portion, controller, information manager, and output portion that captures and analyzes the bottle image to identify the brand and display relevant information, ensuring label visibility and optimal temperature control.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Temperature

If ice water is used to cool wine bottles, then cooling capability is improved, but the bottle becomes wet and label visibility deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewine cooling capabilityVSAvoidlabel visibility
Core Design Contradiction:
TemperatureVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an intermediary cooling mechanism that does not involve direct contact with liquid ice water. Instead, it uses a cooling device that maintains wine bottles at appropriate temperatures while preventing condensation and moisture on the bottle surface, thus preserving label visibility while achieving cooling capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the traditional mechanical ice water cooling system with an alternative cooling mechanism that avoids direct liquid contact. This substitution eliminates the harmful effect of moisture on labels while maintaining the beneficial cooling effect through a different physical approach.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Temperature

If conventional wine cellars with compressors are used, then temperature management is improved, but device size increases and portability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetemperature management capabilityVSAvoiddevice size
Core Design Contradiction:
TemperatureVSVolume of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the essential cooling function from the bulky conventional wine cellar system. By removing the compressor and large insulation structure, it retains only the necessary cooling capability in a compact form factor suitable for tabletop use, achieving temperature management without the volume penalty.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent employs a simpler, more compact cooling mechanism that does not require the heavy-duty components of conventional cellars. This approach accepts reduced durability in exchange for significantly smaller size and portability, making the device suitable for temporary or mobile use scenarios.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

3Temperature

If conventional wine cellars with compressors are used, then temperature management is improved, but noise from compressors and fans increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetemperature management capabilityVSAvoidnoise
Core Design Contradiction:
TemperatureVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces the noisy mechanical compressor and fan system with a quieter cooling mechanism. This substitution eliminates the primary noise sources while maintaining cooling capability, making the device suitable for quiet environments such as dining areas or bedrooms.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses a simpler cooling approach that does not rely on heavy mechanical components. This results in significantly reduced noise levels, though it may have limitations in sustained cooling performance compared to robust compressor-based systems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The system effectively presents brand information and maintains suitable wine temperatures while keeping the bottle dry, enhancing user experience and label visibility.

Implementation Method 1

cooling-warming portion that is provided around the housing portion

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectHeat transfer: Conduction (thermal)

Data Source

PatentUS10621712B2Bottle storage and system
Publication Date: 2020.04.14 PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO LTD
  • US10621712B2 patent drawing
  • US10621712B2 patent drawing
  • US10621712B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A bottle storage includes: a housing portion that houses a bottle therein; a cooling-warming portion (cooling-warming devices) that is provided around the housing portion; a rotation portion (rotation motor) that rotates the bottle housed in the housing portion; an image capture portion that captures an image of the bottle housed in the housing portion; a controller that controls the bottle rotation performed by the rotation portion and the image capture performed by the image capture portion, based on the bottle image captured by the image capture portion; an information manager (storage manager) that identifies at least a brand of the bottle, based on the bottle image captured by the control of the controller; and an output portion (display portion) that outputs at least one of the brand identified by the information manager and relevant information regarding the identified brand.