US-20260126236-A1 - SMART FREEZING APPLIANCE WITH DEFROSTING COMPARTMENT

US20260126236A1US 20260126236 A1US20260126236 A1US 20260126236A1US-20260126236-A1

Abstract

A smart appliance having a wireless radio that receives a defrosting command from a remote wireless controller, a local controller that receives the defrosting command from the wireless radio, and a freezer section that stores a frozen item. Upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to control the freezer section to thaw the frozen item, for example, using air warmed by heat from the appliance's cooling system. In some embodiments, the smart appliance moves the frozen item from the freezer section into a defrosting section that receives the warmed air. In other embodiments, the warmed air flows into the freezer section to thaw the frozen item without moving the item.

Inventors

Daniela Capoj
Ryan William Loaiza
Taren Geddes McCullough

Assignees

CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS OPERATING, LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20241104

Claims (20)

1 . A smart appliance comprising: a wireless radio adapted to receive a defrosting command from a remote wireless controller; a local controller adapted to receive the defrosting command from the wireless radio; and a freezer section adapted to store a frozen item, wherein, upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to control the freezer section to thaw the frozen item.
2 . The smart appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a defrosting section, wherein, upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to control the smart appliance to move the frozen item from the freezer section into the defrosting section.
3 . The smart appliance of claim 2 , wherein: the freezer section has a controllable door and an angled ramp adapted to support the frozen item; and upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to open the controllable door to allow the frozen item to slide off the angled ramp into the defrosting section.
4 . The smart appliance of claim 2 , wherein: the freezer section has a controllable conveyor belt adapted to support the frozen item; and upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to control the controllable conveyor belt to move the frozen item from the freezer section into the defrosting section.
5 . The smart appliance of claim 2 , wherein the defrosting section has a respiratory window that allows external air to flow into the defrosting section.
6 . The smart appliance of claim 5 , further comprising: a cooling system; and ductwork adapted to move the external air warmed by the cooling system into the defrosting section.
7 . The smart appliance of claim 2 , wherein: the freezer section has a freezing tray located above the defrosting section and adapted to store the frozen item; the freezing tray has a controllable trap door; and upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to open the controllable trap door to allow the frozen item to drop from the freezing tray into the defrosting section.
8 . The smart appliance of claim 7 , wherein: the freezer section has a plurality of freezing trays located above the defrosting section and adapted to store a plurality of frozen items; each freezing tray has a corresponding controllable trap door; upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to open a first of the controllable trap doors to allow a corresponding first frozen item to drop from the corresponding freezing tray into the defrosting section; and upon receipt of a different defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to open a second of the controllable trap doors to allow a corresponding second frozen item to drop from the corresponding freezing tray into the defrosting section.
9 . The smart appliance of claim 1 , wherein: the freezer section has a combined freezing/defrosting space adapted to store the frozen item; and upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to control the combined freezing/defrosting space to thaw the frozen item.
10 . The smart appliance of claim 9 , further comprising: a cooling system; and ductwork adapted to move air warmed by the cooling system into the combined freezing/defrosting space.
11 . The smart appliance of claim 9 , wherein: the freezer section has a plurality of combined freezing/defrosting spaces adapted to store a plurality of frozen items; upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to control a first of the combined freezing/defrosting spaces to thaw a corresponding first frozen item; and upon receipt of a different defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to control a second of the combined freezing/defrosting spaces to thaw a corresponding second frozen item.
12 . The smart appliance of claim 11 , further comprising: a cooling system; and ductwork having independently controllable valves adapted to selectively move air warmed by the cooling system into different ones of the combined freezing/defrosting spaces.
13 . A method for thawing a frozen item using a smart appliance, the method comprising: a wireless radio of the smart appliance receiving a defrosting command from a remote wireless controller; a local controller of the smart appliance receiving the defrosting command from the wireless radio; and a freezer section of the smart appliance storing the frozen item, wherein, upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller controls the freezer section to thaw the frozen item.
14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising, wherein, upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller controls the smart appliance to move the frozen item from the freezer section into a defrosting section of the smart appliance.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein: the freezer section has a controllable door and an angled ramp that supports the frozen item; and upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller opens the controllable door to allow the frozen item to slide off the angled ramp into the defrosting section.
16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein: the freezer section has a controllable conveyor belt that supports the frozen item; and upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller controls the controllable conveyor belt to move the frozen item from the freezer section into the defrosting section.
17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising ductwork of the smart appliance moving external air warmed by a cooling system of the smart appliance into the defrosting section.
18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein, upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller open a controllable trap door of the smart appliance to allow the frozen item to drop from a freezing tray of the smart appliance into the defrosting section.
19 . The method of claim 13 , wherein, upon receipt of the defrosting command, the local controller is adapted to control a combined freezing/defrosting space of the smart appliance to thaw the frozen item.
20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising controlling independently controllable valves to selectively move air warmed by a cooling system of the smart appliance through ductwork of the smart appliance into different ones of combined freezing/defrosting spaces of the smart appliance.

Description

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure The present disclosure relates to smart appliances such as smart freezers and smart refrigerators having freezer sections. Description of the Related Art This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is prior art or what is not prior art. Many frozen foods stored in a home freezer or the freezer section of a home refrigerator need to be defrosted before they are cooked and/or eaten. Such defrosting is typically accomplished by the consumer manually moving the frozen item from the appliance to a location where the frozen item will defrost over time, such as into the refrigerator section, onto a countertop, or into a microwave oven having a defrost function. All of these manual options involve the consumer being present in the home, which can result in delays in cooking and/or eating the food. SUMMARY Problems in the prior art are addressed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure by a smart appliance, such as a smart standalone freezer or a smart refrigerator having a freezer section, that can be remotely controlled to defrost a frozen item stored within the appliance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals identify similar or identical elements. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating one possible implementation of the present disclosure; FIGS. 2A and 2B respectively show schematic front and back X-ray views of a smart appliance according to certain embodiments of the disclosure, while FIG. 2C shows a schematic front X-ray view of a portion of the smart appliance of FIGS. 2A and 2B; FIG. 3 is a schematic front X-ray view of a portion of a shelf of an alternative smart appliance of the disclosure; FIG. 4 is a schematic back X-ray view of another alternative smart appliance of the disclosure; FIGS. 5A and 5B respectively show schematic front and back X-ray views of a smart appliance according to certain other embodiments of the disclosure, while FIG. 5C shows a schematic front X-ray view of a portion of the smart appliance of FIGS. 5A and 5B; FIG. 6A is a schematic front X-ray view of a smart appliance according to certain embodiments of the disclosure, while FIG. 6B shows a schematic side X-ray view of a portion of the smart appliance of FIG. 6A; FIGS. 7A and 7B respectively show schematic front and back X-ray views of a smart appliance according to certain embodiments of the disclosure, while FIG. 7C shows a schematic front X-ray view of a portion of the smart appliance of FIGS. 7A and 7B. FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of electronics, some or all of which may be employed for at least some of the smart appliances shown in FIGS. 1-7 according to certain embodiments of the disclosure; FIG. 9 represents some of the information that may be stored on the user's mobile device or in the cloud for the smart appliance app; and FIGS. 10A-10C represent processing involved in scheduling the thawing of a particular frozen item stored in a smart appliance of the disclosure according to certain implementations of the smart appliance app running on a user's mobile device. As used herein, the term “X-ray” implies that the corresponding figure shows internal features that would not be visible from an exterior view or a single cross-sectional view. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Detailed illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein. However, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely representative for purposes of describing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The present disclosure may be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein. Further, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the,” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It further will be understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “contains,” “containing,” “includes,” and/or “including,” specify the presence of stated features, steps, or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, or components. It also should be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functions/acts involved. FIG. 1 is a schemat