Interactive transparent touch screen doors for wine cabinets

• US 9,144,328 B2
• Filed: 11/05/2012
• Issued: 09/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Inventors: Seeley, Michael S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehta, Bhavesh
• Assistant Examiner(s): CONNER, SEAN M
• Application Number:
  US13/668,548
• Publication Number:
  US 20140125599A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,058 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 73/00 Bottle cupboards; Bottle racks
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 3/043 Doors, covers A47F3/0434 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

Interactive transparent touch screen doors for wine cabinets are disclosed. An interactive touch screen door for use with a wine cabinet having a refrigerated compartment and a rack in the refrigerated compartment to hold bottles of wine provides access to the refrigerated compartment and includes a transparent touch display embedded in the door having a size at least corresponding to a portion of the refrigerated compartment intended to store wine, and a controller operatively connected to the transparent touch display configured to provide information associated with wine stored in the cabinet on the transparent touch display.

Claims

1. An interactive touch screen door for use with a wine cabinet having a refrigerated compartment and a rack in the refrigerated compartment to hold bottles of wine, the touch screen door to provide access to the refrigerated compartment and comprising:

a transparent touch display embedded in the door and having a size at least corresponding to a portion of the refrigerated compartment intended to store wine; and

a controller operatively connected to the transparent touch display and configured to;

provide on the transparent touch display information associated with wine stored in the cabinet;

receive via the transparent touch display a wine search parameter; and

display on the transparent touch display one or more indicators at the physical locations of one or more bottles of wine in the cabinet corresponding to the wine search parameter, wherein the one or more indicators are superimposed on the transparent touch display to be in line with at least a portion of a contour of at least one of the one or more bottles of wine corresponding to the wine search parameter.

2. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 1, wherein the wine search parameter comprises at least one of a food type, a price, a year, a location/origin, a vineyard, or a wine type.

3. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to:

receive via the transparent touch display a wine selection; and

display on the transparent touch display information associated with a bottle of wine corresponding to the wine selection.

4. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 3, wherein the information associated with the bottle of wine comprises an image of a label on the bottle of wine.

5. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 3, wherein the information associated with the bottle of wine comprises at least one of a suggested food pairing, a price, a year, a location/origin, a vineyard, or a wine type.

6. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to:

receive via the transparent touch display a wine consumption indication; and

update a wine database to represent that a bottle of wine corresponding to the wine consumption indication is no longer stored in the wine cabinet.

7. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to:

receive via the transparent touch display an add wine bottle indication;

display on the transparent touch display one or more menus that enable a user to provide information to be associated with a bottle of wine to be stored in the wine cabinet;

receive via the transparent touch display an indication of a location where the bottle of wine is to be stored in the wine cabinet; and

store the information and the location in a wine database.

8. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to present on the transparent touch display one or more menus that enable a user to configure potential locations of bottles of wine in the wine cabinet.

9. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 1, wherein the door is configurable for use with different wine cabinets.

10. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 1, further comprising a handheld computing device communicatively coupled to the controller, the handheld computing device configured to:

receive a wine search parameter; and

direct the controller to display on the transparent touch display one or more indicators corresponding to physical locations of one or more bottles of wine in the cabinet corresponding to the wine search parameter.

11. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to receive via the transparent touch display a wine selection, and the handheld computing device is configured to display information associated with a bottle of wine corresponding to the wine selection.

12. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 11, wherein the information is displayed on the transparent touch display.

13. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 1, further comprising a handheld computing device communicatively coupled to the controller, the handheld computing device configured to:

receive an add wine bottle indicator; and

receive via the transparent touch display an indication of where a bottle of wine is to be stored in the wine cabinet.

14. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 13, wherein the handheld computing device is configured to capture an image of a label of the bottle of wine.

15. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 14, wherein the handheld computing device is configured to perform image processing on the captured image to identify the bottle of wine and to automatically obtain information to be associated with the bottle of wine based on the determined identity.

16. An interactive touch screen door as defined in claim 13, wherein the handheld computing device is configured to display on the handheld computing device one or more menus that enable a user to provide information to be associated with the bottle of wine to be stored in the wine cabinet.

17. A method of controlling an interactive wine cabinet including a refrigerated compartment, a rack to hold bottles of wine in the refrigerated compartment, a door to provide access to the refrigerated compartment, and a transparent touch display embedded in the door having a size at least corresponding to a portion of the refrigerated compartment intended to store wine, the method comprising:

receiving via the transparent touch display a wine search parameter; and

displaying on the transparent touch display one or more indicators at the physical locations of one or more bottles of wine in the cabinet meeting the wine search parameter, wherein the one or more indicators are superimposed on the transparent touch display to be in line with at least a portion of a contour of at least one of the one or more bottles of wine corresponding to the wine search parameter.

18. A method as defined in claim 17, wherein the wine search parameter comprises at least one of a food type, a price, a year, a location/origin, a vineyard, or a wine type.

19. A method as defined in claim 17, further comprising:

receiving via the transparent touch display a wine selection; and

displaying on the transparent touch display information associated with a bottle of wine corresponding to the wine selection.

20. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein the information associated with the bottle of wine comprises an image of a label on the bottle of wine.

21. A method as defined in claim 17, further comprising:

receiving via the transparent touch display a wine consumption indication; and

updating a wine database to reflect that a bottle of wine corresponding to the wine consumption indication is no longer stored in the wine cabinet.

22. A method as defined in claim 17, further comprising:

receiving via the transparent touch display an add wine bottle indicator;

displaying one on the transparent touch display or more menus that enable a user to provide information to be associated with a bottle of wine to be stored in the wine cabinet;

receiving via the transparent touch display an indication of a location where the bottle of wine is to be stored in the wine cabinet; and

storing the information and the location in a wine database.

23. A method as defined in claim 17, further comprising presenting one or more menus on the transparent touch display that enable a user to configure potential locations of bottles of wine in the wine cabinet.