Chair or sofa with refrigerated compartment

Details Chair or sofa with refrigerated compartment Chair or sofa with refrigerated compartment

2000-04-20

2001-08-21

Nelson, Jr., Milton (Department: 3636)

Chairs and seats

With holder or receptacle for disparate article

On or integral with armrest

C297S217300

Reexamination Certificate

active

06276753

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a chair or sofa including a refrigeration compartment mounted within an armrest.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Chairs and sofas including a refrigerated storage compartment are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,764 to Cook (the “Cook patent”) teaches a chair having an armrest with a beverage holding cooler incorporated therein, operatively associated with a refrigeration system and a small refrigeration compartment in the vertical side portion of the chair. The Cook patent utilizes a conventional mechanical compression expansion type refrigeration system including a compressor coil and motor compressor unit, having adequate capacity to cool the contents of the cold storage unit and the beverage can or bottle holding cooler. The system disclosed in the Cook patent is not adaptable to provide heat to the compartment.
The refrigeration compartment disclosed in the Cook patent is accessed by an exposed side door. Its beverage cooling holder consists of an cylindrical opening in the upper surface of an armrest, extending into the armrest, into which a can or bottle may be inserted. Evaporation coils are positioned adjacent to the beverage cooling holder and extend into the interior of the refrigeration compartment in order to maintain a reduced temperature.
The components of the refrigeration system disclosed in the Cook patent require substantial space. Additionally, access to the refrigeration compartment through the exposed side door may not be as convenient as access through an upwardly opening lid. As such, there is a need for a chair or sofa with a compartment which utilizes a more space efficient cooling means, which may easily be converted to a heating compartment and which may be easily accessed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved chair or sofa including a refrigeration compartment therein. In accordance with an aspect of the invention there is provided a chair or sofa comprising a seat, an enclosed armrest adjacent to the seat, and a thermoelectric refrigeration compartment, mounted within the armrest.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the compartment may include an upwardly opening lid. The armrest may include an upper portion movable away from a home position against a main portion of the armrest, the compartment being mounted in the main portion, whereby moving the upper portion away from the home position exposes the lid.
The compartment may be sized and shaped to store a number of standard sized beverage containers or in the alternative it may be sized to accept one upright cylindrical beverage container such that the container may be accessed by the occupant of the chair. The compartment may be thermoelectrically cooled or heated.
The invention as described herein provides the advantage of including a thermoelectric refrigeration compartment which requires less space, which may be converted to a heating compartment, and which may be more easily accessed by an occupant of the chair or sofa than the chairs with refrigeration compartments disclosed in the prior art. A further advantage is provided as the compartment may be concealed when not in use, thus improving the aesthetics of the chair.
Further features of the invention will be described or will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description.


REFERENCES:
patent: 1702955 (1929-02-01), Zaday
patent: 2494838 (1950-01-01), Slaughter
patent: 2812227 (1957-11-01), Hill
patent: 3168816 (1965-02-01), Petrie
patent: 4146279 (1979-03-01), Stahel
patent: 4191420 (1980-03-01), Fassett et al.
patent: 4474407 (1984-10-01), Nazar
patent: 4543798 (1985-10-01), Page
patent: 4650245 (1987-03-01), Nazar
patent: 4652048 (1987-03-01), Nazar
patent: 4719764 (1988-01-01), Cook
patent: 4818017 (1989-04-01), Dykstra et al.
patent: 4854536 (1989-08-01), Lorence et al.
patent: 4928865 (1990-05-01), Lorence et al.
patent: 5025639 (1991-06-01), Thomas
patent: 5062557 (1991-11-01), Mahvi et al.
patent: 5086769 (1992-02-01), Vianello et al.
patent: 5116099 (1992-05-01), Kwasnik et al.
patent: 5230450 (1993-07-01), Mahvi et al.
patent: 5269157 (1993-12-01), Ciminelli et al.
patent: 5282671 (1994-02-01), Funk
patent: 5350215 (1994-09-01), DeMars
patent: 5395157 (1995-03-01), Rollo et al.
patent: 5448788 (1995-09-01), Wu
patent: 5515564 (1996-05-01), Lyons
patent: 5628544 (1997-05-01), Goodman et al.
patent: 5641197 (1997-06-01), Springmann
patent: 5660296 (1997-08-01), Greenwich
patent: 5722717 (1998-03-01), Rettenberger
patent: 3137671 A1 (1983-04-01), None
“Cool-Tooler”; Advertisement for U.S. Patent No. 4,543,798; Published prior to Apr. 20, 2000; entire publication.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Chair or sofa with refrigerated compartment does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Chair or sofa with refrigerated compartment, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Chair or sofa with refrigerated compartment will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2542176