Cooler Control Housing That Retains Bottles on a Sloped Floor
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Solution Overview
Problem
Compact cooler units face issues with maximizing interior space for storage, as the sloped liner floor causes items to fall when the door is opened, and the placement of controllers and user inputs is challenging, especially in terms of accessibility and heat protection.
Innovation Solution
A control unit housing is mounted to the liner floor near the cabinet opening, featuring a base wall, display wall, and retaining wall with a curved section, allowing for the storage of consumable items and housing the controller, display, and user inputs, while maximizing space and preventing items from falling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the liner floor is sloped downward towards the door opening, then drainage is improved, but consumable items fall out when the door is opened
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit housing serves as an intermediary structure between the sloped liner floor and the stored items. It provides a retaining wall that prevents items from falling out while allowing the liner floor to maintain its drainage slope. The housing acts as a mediator that reconciles the conflicting requirements of drainage and item retention.
2Ease of operation
If the control unit is positioned near the cabinet opening for accessibility, then user input ease is improved, but the control components are exposed to excessive heat
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit is nested within the control unit housing, which provides thermal protection while maintaining accessibility. The housing structure creates a protected environment for the control components, shielding them from excessive heat near the cabinet opening while allowing users to access controls through the housing's front face.
3Reliability
If the control unit housing includes a retaining wall, then item retention is improved, but the housing structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit housing performs multiple functions: it houses the control unit, provides a retaining wall for item storage, and serves as a structural mounting point on the liner floor. By combining these functions into a single integrated structure, the design achieves item retention without proportionally increasing complexity, as the housing is essential regardless for controlling the cooler unit.
Data Source
AI summary
A cooler unit has a control housing that is mounted to a floor of a cabinet liner that is sloped in a downward direction toward the opening of the cooler unit. The control housing retains consumable items that are stored on the floor of the cabinet liner so that the items do not fall out of the cooler unit. Particularly, the control housing can retain wine bottles. The control housing houses a controller that controls the operation of the cooler unit. The control housing can include a display and user inputs so that a user can easily manage the cooler unit.