Cover for a drawer, and vacuum drawer device with a cover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Refrigerators consume significant energy and contribute to environmental pollution, and the internal climate can harbor harmful bacteria, making them inefficient for storing all types of food, especially perishable items that do not require cooling.
Innovation Solution
A vacuum drawer system that allows existing drawers to be converted into evacuable units, using a cover with integrated evacuation means to create a vacuum environment for storing food at room temperature, reducing energy consumption and preventing bacterial growth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If refrigeration is used to store food, then food preservation is improved, but energy consumption increases and harmful bacteria can still grow
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies vacuum packaging to create an inert environment by removing air (oxygen) from the storage space. This prevents aerobic bacteria from growing and extends food shelf life without requiring continuous refrigeration energy, directly resolving the contradiction between food preservation and energy consumption
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical parameter of the storage environment from atmospheric pressure to vacuum pressure. This parameter change creates conditions that inhibit bacterial growth and extend food preservation without the need for continuous energy input to maintain low temperatures
2Reliability
If vacuum packaging is used to preserve food, then shelf life is extended, but plastic waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the drawer itself vacuum-sealed and multi-functional by integrating the sealing function into the drawer structure. The drawer serves both as storage container and as the vacuum seal, eliminating the need for separate plastic vacuum bags and reducing plastic waste while maintaining extended shelf life
3Reliability
If refrigerators are used to store all food types, then food safety is improved, but environmental pollution increases from refrigerants
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the food that does not require refrigeration from the refrigerated environment and places it in a separate vacuum-sealed drawer. This separation allows the refrigerator to focus only on foods that need cooling, reducing the overall need for refrigerants and minimizing environmental pollution while maintaining food safety through vacuum sealing
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
This solution maintains food quality and safety without refrigeration, reduces plastic waste, and minimizes environmental impact by using less energy and eliminating the need for harmful refrigerants, while extending the shelf life of food items.
Implementation Method 1
the at least one drawer interior can be evacuated by means of evacuation means
Data Source
AI summary
To configure existing drawers as evacuable drawers of a vacuum drawer device, a cover for installation in the drawer body can be used. The cover evacuates at the drawer interior with an evacuation system, so that the interior is evacuated when the drawer is closed and ventilated before the drawer is opened. The cover is airtight, is profiled in such that evacuation with a controller, a pump and a valve are fixedly integrated in at least one recess in the cover and the cover has at least one air channel leading into the inside of the cover or, respectively, into the at least one recess, with the air channel operatively connected to the evacuation system such that when the cover is placed onto the drawer, air from the interior can be pumped out of the interior, the inside of the cover interior or, respectively, the at least one recess through the air duct.