Thermoelectric temperature controlled drawer assembly
First Claim
1. A temperature controlled drawer assembly comprising:
- a cabinet having at least top, front and side walls, said cabinet defining an interior drawer space;
a drawer selectively slidable into and out of said drawer space, said drawer including a back wall, opposing side walls, a bottom wall and a front wall always exposed from the outside of the cabinet;
a thermoelectric temperature adjusting device mounted inside said cabinet;
a power source connected to said temperature adjusting device;
a fan, disposed adjacent to said temperature adjusting device, said fan being adapted to generate a flow of air across said temperature adjusting device; and
a plenum defined inside said cabinet and extending from adjacent the fan to along a portion of the drawer, said plenum being formed with at least one outlet opening into the drawer space at a position remote from the fan, said plenum being adapted to receive the flow of air generated by the fan and to direct the flow of air into the drawer space through the at least one outlet.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A temperature controlled drawer assembly incorporates a thermoelectric device and a control system to selectively heat or cool the contents of a drawer which is selectively movable into and out of a cabinet designed to be part of an end table, such as a nightstand, or other cabinet remote from a household kitchen. In a cooling mode of operation, a fan, disposed in the cabinet, draws air from inside the drawer and blows the air over a cold side of a heat sink to cool the air. The treated air is blown through plenums, back into the drawer. At the same time, heat is drawn away from the cold side and directed out of the cabinet. The current through the heat sink may be reversed to flip the cold and hot sides of the heat sink to enable the contents of the drawer to be heated.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A temperature controlled drawer assembly comprising:
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a cabinet having at least top, front and side walls, said cabinet defining an interior drawer space;
a drawer selectively slidable into and out of said drawer space, said drawer including a back wall, opposing side walls, a bottom wall and a front wall always exposed from the outside of the cabinet;
a thermoelectric temperature adjusting device mounted inside said cabinet;
a power source connected to said temperature adjusting device;
a fan, disposed adjacent to said temperature adjusting device, said fan being adapted to generate a flow of air across said temperature adjusting device; and
a plenum defined inside said cabinet and extending from adjacent the fan to along a portion of the drawer, said plenum being formed with at least one outlet opening into the drawer space at a position remote from the fan, said plenum being adapted to receive the flow of air generated by the fan and to direct the flow of air into the drawer space through the at least one outlet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A temperature controlled drawer assembly comprising:
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a cabinet having at least top, front and side walls, said cabinet defining an interior drawer space;
a drawer selectively slidable into and out of said drawer space, said drawer including a back wall, opposing side walls, a bottom wall and a front wall;
a thermoelectric temperature adjusting device mounted inside said cabinet;
a power source connected to said temperature adjusting device;
a fan, disposed adjacent to said temperature adjusting device, said fan being adapted to generate a flow of air across said temperature adjusting device; and
a plenum defined inside said cabinet and extending from adjacent the fan to along a portion of the drawer and along at least one of said side walls of said cabinet, said plenum being formed with at least one outlet opening into the drawer space at a position remote from the fan, said plenum being adapted to receive the flow of air generated by the fan and to direct the flow of air into the drawer space through the at least one outlet, wherein said plenum includes first and second plenum sections, with each plenum section extending along a respective one of the side walls of the cabinet, each of said plenum sections including a plurality of fore-to-aft spaced outlets arranged along the respective one of said side walls of said cabinet. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A temperature controlled drawer assembly comprising:
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a cabinet having at least top, front and side walls, said cabinet defining an interior drawer space;
a drawer selectively slidable into and out of said drawer space, said drawer including a back wall, opposing side walls, a bottom wall and a front wall;
a thermoelectric temperature adjusting device mounted inside said cabinet;
a power source connected to said temperature adjusting device;
a fan, disposed adjacent to said temperature adjusting device, said fan being adapted to generate a flow of air across said temperature adjusting device;
an enlarged opening, formed in the back wall of the drawer, opposing said fan, said fan being adapted to draw the flow of air from the drawer through said enlarged opening; and
a plenum defined inside said cabinet and extending from adjacent the fan to along a portion of the drawer, said plenum being formed with at least one outlet opening into the drawer space at a position remote from the fan, said plenum being adapted to receive the flow of air generated by the fan and to direct the flow of air into the drawer space through the at least one outlet.
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Specification