Refrigerator having power outage duration feature

Details Refrigerator having power outage duration feature Refrigerator having power outage duration feature

2002-07-15

2004-03-30

Norman, Marc (Department: 3744)

Refrigeration

With indicator or tester

Condition sensing

C062S230000, C340S652000, C368S121000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06711908

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for a household appliance such as, but not limited to a refrigerator. More specifically, this invention relates to such an appliance being able to monitor power outage duration.
Refrigerating appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, and related appliances require electrical power for refrigeration. For example, electrical power can be used for powering a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, an evaporator for generating cool air and/or a refrigerating fan for discharging cool air, or otherwise using external power to refrigerate. When this external power is interrupted such as during a power outage, refrigeration ceases. If the power outage is sufficiently long in duration, the contents of the refrigerator, typically food, can spoil.
Thus, if an individual is aware that a power outage has occurred, an individual is suspect of the food in the refrigerator and its fitness for consumption. If only a very short power outage has occurred, then there is no real cause for concern. However, if a power outage of sufficient duration has occurred, an individual may find it desirable to discard food from the refrigerator and/or otherwise avoid consuming it. Problems relating to power outages can occur in other types of household appliances as well.
Unfortunately, an individual may not be able to tell that a power outage has occurred or the duration of that power outage.
Thus, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for a household appliance that improves over the state of the art.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a household appliance capable of automatically determining that a power outage has occurred.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a household appliance that determines the duration of a power outage.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a household appliance that is capable of discerning that multiple power outages have occurred.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a household appliance that alerts a user that a power outage has occurred.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a household appliance that requires an acknowledgement from the user that the user acknowledges that a power outage has occurred.
These and other objects, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims that follow.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a method and apparatus for monitoring of power outages in a household appliance such as a refrigerator. The household appliance determines that a power outage has previously occurred. The household appliance then determines the duration of the power outage. The household appliance then alerts a user of the duration of the power outage.
One methodology of the present invention includes periodically storing a time. A current time is compared to a previously stored time. Based on this comparison, the duration of a power outage can be determined, as the current time is maintained but the times are not stored during power outages. Thus, upon reset after a power outage, the current time can be compared to the last stored time in order to determine the occurrence and duration of a power outage.
A refrigerating appliance according to one aspect of the present invention includes a refrigeration system, an external power source operatively connected to the refrigeration system and an intelligent control operatively connected to the external power source. A clock is operatively connected to the intelligent control and a second power source is electrically connected to the clock such that the clock is operable during a power outage of the external power source. The intelligent control is adapted for determining the duration of the power outage.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides for determining if more than one power outage has occurred, as well as determining the time and duration of each power outage or a total duration for multiple power outages.


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