Multi-Function Table with Integrated Refrigeration and Drawer Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
People often need to get up and retrieve refrigerated or frozen items from a different room, making it inconvenient to access them while seated in a living area.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a refrigerator and freezer into a multifunction table, such as a coffee table, with a drawer for easy access and integrating audio speakers with air ports to enhance heat dissipation for the refrigeration system, along with additional features like audio, lighting, and electronic device charging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a refrigerator is placed in a different room, then refrigeration function is provided, but accessibility to refrigerated items deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the refrigerator with a coffee table into a single integrated unit. The refrigerator compartment is built into the table structure, allowing users to access refrigerated items directly at the coffee table without traveling to a separate kitchen or storage room. This merging of functions resolves the accessibility issue by placing the refrigerator in the same space where items are consumed.
2Ease of operation
If a small refrigerator with pivoting door is used, then refrigeration is provided, but ease of access deteriorates due to spacing constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the refrigerator access mechanism into a drawer-style compartment that slides horizontally on tracks, segmented from the main table structure. This segmentation allows the refrigerator compartment to be accessed by pulling out a drawer rather than opening a pivoting door, requiring minimal clearance space and enabling easy access even when the table is positioned close to couches or walls.
3Adaptability or versatility
If audio speakers are integrated into the table, then audio functionality is added, but heat generation from speakers increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces air ports as intermediary channels that allow air to flow between the speaker compartments and the refrigerator compartment. These air ports serve as mediators that enable the refrigerator's cooling system to remove heat generated by the audio speakers, converting a harmful thermal byproduct into a manageable condition through the existing refrigeration infrastructure.
4Ease of operation
If compressor and refrigeration system are integrated into the table, then refrigeration function is provided, but heat generation from compressor increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful heat generated by the compressor into a beneficial cooling resource for the audio speaker compartments. The compressor's thermal output is directed through air ports to cool the speaker areas, transforming waste heat into a useful cooling function that benefits another component of the integrated system.
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
Enables convenient access to refrigerated items without leaving the seating area, improves heat management for the refrigeration system, and provides additional functional features like audio and charging capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
a compressor located within the rear portion of the primary cavity and being operably coupled to the first storage area of the first storage unit to cool the first storage area
Implementation Method 2
The air moved by the speakers through the air ports can, in turn, move the air directly adjacent to the heat generating portions to create air circulation around the heat generating portions
Implementation Method 3
This air circulation can remove heat from the heat generating portions to help cool them
Data Source
AI summary
A furniture unit in the form of a multi-function table including a base having front end, a rear end, and a primary cavity. A first storage unit is located within the primary cavity to define a first storage area having a first opening at the front end of the base that is closed by a first closure member. A second storage unit is located within the primary cavity to define a second storage area having a second opening at the front end of the base that is closed by a second closure member. The primary cavity may have a rear portion located between the first and second storage units and the rear end of the base. A compressor may be located within the rear portion of the primary cavity and may be operably coupled to the first storage area to cool the first storage area.