초록 ▼

A modular utility supply unit that includes a utility supply module housing having removable engageability to a surface of an appliance. Also included is at least one refillable reservoir capable of storing a plurality of utilities and receiving at least one utility from the appliance when the utili

A modular utility supply unit that includes a utility supply module housing having removable engageability to a surface of an appliance. Also included is at least one refillable reservoir capable of storing a plurality of utilities and receiving at least one utility from the appliance when the utility supply unit is operably engaged to the appliance. Further included is an interface capable of engaging a plurality of feature modules, where the interface includes a recognition device that prompts the utility supply unit to provide the engaged feature module with at least one of the storage utilities within the utility supply from at least one of the refillable reservoirs.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An appliance modular system comprising: an appliance wherein the appliance comprises: a cabinet having an exterior surface and an interior surface and defined by a rear wall section, a first side wall section, a second side wall section, a top, a bottom, and at least one appliance door, that toge

1. An appliance modular system comprising: an appliance wherein the appliance comprises: a cabinet having an exterior surface and an interior surface and defined by a rear wall section, a first side wall section, a second side wall section, a top, a bottom, and at least one appliance door, that together define an interior volume of the appliance; anda refrigerator section within the appliance interior volume and having the same or a smaller volume than the interior volume of the appliance, wherein the appliance door has an exterior surface and an interior surface having a door liner;at least one feature module configured to be removably engaged and disengaged with the appliance without the use of tools and wherein the feature module comprises a utility engagement system that provides at least one utility engagement system, a utility sourced from the appliance to the feature module and includes a protrusion and a recess that releasably and matingly engages the protrusion and either the recess or the protrusion of the utility engagement system is on a wall of the module that engages a mounting location of the feature module exterior surface or the interior surface of the cabinet on the appliance and is configured to allow one or more utilities to be delivered to the feature module for use by the feature module from the appliance through the exterior surface or interior surface of the cabinet using the utility engagement system when the protrusion and the recess are matingly engaged with one another and the mounting location of the feature module on the appliance further comprises the protrusion or recess not located on the wall of the feature module; andutility supply module comprising: a common interface configured to removably engage at least one feature module without the use of tools, wherein the interface comprises a module recognition device for identifying the feature module; andat least one refillable reservoir configured to store a plurality of supplemental utilities and provide supplemental utilities via the common interface to the feature module in excess of utilities the feature module receives from the utility engagement system and wherein at least one of the plurality of utilities is supplied to the feature module when the utility supply module is engaged to the feature module. 2. The appliance modular system of claim 1, wherein the utility supply module comprises a plurality of refillable reservoirs within the utility supply module where each reservoir is configured to separately store a supplemental utility and each reservoir is configured to provide the supplemental utility to the feature module that is the same utility the feature module receives from the appliance via the utility engagement system and wherein the appliance further comprises a top cap structure located on an exterior surface of the appliance, the top cap structure including at least one charging station configured to engage the utility supply module and supply at least one of the refillable reservoirs with at least one of the supplemental utility via the charging station when the utility supply module is operably engaged with the charging station. 3. The appliance modular system of claim 2, wherein the engaged feature module is removably engaged with the interior surface or exterior surface of the appliance door and configured to be repeatedly, operably engaged and disengaged from the interior surface or exterior surface of the appliance door and wherein the feature module further comprises an access door that allows user access to an interior volume of the feature module defined and enclosed by a feature module housing and the access door and wherein the common interface is configured to engage a plurality of different feature modules that each provide different functionality and wherein the top cap structure is positioned on the exterior surface of the top of the appliance. 4. The appliance modular system of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of supplemental and utility engagement system utilities are selected from the group consisting of a battery, fuel cell, water, gas, chemical reactant, desiccant, gas absorbent, foodstuff, flavorant, heat sink, pressurized air, and combinations thereof and wherein the exterior surface and the interior surface of the appliance door define a space therebetween and wherein the recess or protrusion of the utility engagement system on the mounting location engages an appliance utility supply line through the space between the exterior surface and the interior surface of the appliance door. 5. The appliance modular system of claim 4, wherein the at least one reservoir is manually refilled with at least one of the plurality of supplemental utilities and at least one reservoir provides at least one of the utilities stored in the reservoir at a faster rate than the rate the same utility can be supplied from the appliance and wherein the recess or protrusion of the utility engagement system is on a rear wall of the module that engages the mounting location of the feature module. 6. The appliance modular system of claim 4, wherein the at least one reservoir is refilled automatically from the appliance and the utility supply module comprises a utilities bus that is configured to refill the reservoir with at least one of the plurality of utilities and the at least one reservoir provides at least one of the utilities stored in the reservoir at a faster rate to the feature module than can be supplied to the feature module from the appliance by a supply line of the utility operably coupled to either the protrusion or the recess of the utility engagement system located at the mounting location on the appliance. 7. The appliance modular system of claim 4, wherein the module recognition device includes a computer control system operatively connected to the utility supply module, wherein the computer control system comprises a processor and a memory subsystem coupled to the processor where the memory subsystem stores code that, when executed based upon input received from the engaged feature module, at least one of the plurality of supplemental utilities is identified and selected to be supplied to the engaged feature module from the utility supply module that is operatively connected to the feature module. 8. The appliance modular system of claim 4, wherein the module recognition device comprises a communication and detection system, wherein the communication and detection system is selected from the group consisting of a reed switch, dip switch, and a comparator circuit, and wherein at least one of the plurality of utilities is automatically identified and selected to be supplied to the engaged feature module from the utility supply module based upon the communication and detection system and wherein the common interface is configured to engage a plurality of different feature modules that each provide different functionality. 9. The appliance modular system of claim 1, wherein the module recognition device comprises the communication and detection system, wherein the communication and detection system is selected from the group consisting of a reed switch, dip switch, and a comparator circuit. 10. A modular, utility supply unit comprising: a utility supply module housing configured to be removably engaged and disengaged with a surface of an appliance without the use of tools;at least one refillable reservoir configured to receive and store a plurality of supplemental utilities wherein the supplemental utilities are supplied to and delivered into the at least one refillable reservoir by the appliance when the utility supply unit is operably engaged to the appliance;an interface configured to engage a plurality of different feature modules that provide different features to a user and wherein the interface is configured to deliver at least one utility sourced from the appliance to the plurality of different feature modules through the interface, wherein the interface includes a recognition device that prompts the utility supply unit to provide the engaged feature module with at least one of the stored supplemental utilities within the utility supply module from at least one of the refillable reservoirs; andwherein the recognition device comprises a communication and detection system, wherein the communication and detection system is selected from the group consisting of a reed switch, dip switch, and a comparator circuit. 11. The modular, utility supply unit of claim 10, wherein the unit is configured to engage both the appliance and at least one of a countertop stand and a wall mounted bracket and the plurality of utilities chosen from the group consisting of electricity, water or both electricity and water and wherein the at least one refillable reservoirs are configured to be refilled with a plurality of supplemental utilities supplied received from the appliance into the at least one refillable reservoirs. 12. The modular, utility supply unit of claim 10, wherein the appliance is a refrigerator and at least one of the plurality of supplemental utilities is selected from the group consisting of: a battery, fuel cell, water, gas, chemical reactant, desiccant, gas absorbent, foodstuff, flavorant, heat sink, pressurized air, and combinations thereof and wherein the utility supply module housing is configured to be removably engaged and disengaged with a surface of the plurality of different feature modules without the use of tools. 13. The modular, utility supply unit of claim 12, wherein the at least one reservoir is manually refilled with at least one of the plurality of supplemental utilities and the modular, utility supply unit comprises a plurality of reservoirs capable of storing a plurality of supplemental utilities. 14. The modular, utility supply unit of claim 12, wherein the at least one reservoir is refilled automatically from the appliance and the utility supply module comprises a utilities bus that is connectable to a source and is configured to refill the reservoir with at least one of the plurality of supplemental utilities. 15. The modular, utility supply unit of claim 10, wherein the recognition device includes a computer control system operatively connected to the utility supply module, wherein the computer control system comprises a processor and a memory subsystem coupled to the processor where the memory subsystem stores code that, when executed based upon input received from the engaged feature module, selects and automatically identifies at least one appropriate utility selected from the plurality of supplemental utilities stored in the utility supply module to be provided from the modular, utility supply unit to the feature module and wherein the plurality of different feature modules provide different features. 16. A method for supplying utility to various feature modules comprising: providing: an appliance cabinet having a rear wall section, a first side wall section, a second side wall section, a top, a bottom, at least one appliance door, and having an interior;a refrigerator section within the appliance interior and having the same or a smaller volume than the interior of the appliance, wherein the appliance door has an exterior surface and an interior surface defining a space therebetween and wherein the appliance door closes to create an insulated volume;a utility supply module configured to be removably engaged and disengaged with the appliance without the use of tools, the utility supply module having a common interface that provides engageability to a plurality of feature modules, the interface having a module recognition device for identifying the class of feature module the utility supply module is engaged with, the utility supply module having at least one refillable reservoir capable of storing a plurality of utilities, wherein at least one of the plurality of utilities is selectively supplied to the engaged feature module from an engaged utility supply module via a utility engagement system when the feature module is engaged with the appliance and wherein the utility engagement system includes a protrusion and a recess that releasably and matingly engages the protrusion and either the recess or protrusion of the utility engagement system is on an exterior wall of module that engages a mounting location of the feature module on a surface of the appliance cabinet;engaging the utility supply module with the appliance;replenishing the at least one refillable reservoir of the utility supply module with a utility sourced and received from the appliance, wherein the utility supply module has access to a plurality of utilities from the appliance;engaging the feature module with the utility supply module, wherein the feature module engaging step includes operably connecting the feature module to the utility supply module through the common interface, wherein the module recognition device is capable of recognizing which of the plurality of stored utilities is appropriate to supply the engaged feature module based upon input from the module recognition device; andsupplying the engaged feature module with at least one of the stored utilities at a second rate that is the same rate or a faster rate than the first rate. 17. The method for supplying utility to various feature modules of claim 16, wherein the step of engaging the feature module to the utility supply module takes place before the step of engaging the utility supply module to the appliance and the utility supply module has a plurality of reservoirs within the supply module each capable of storing a plurality of utilities and wherein the feature module functions independently when operably engaged with a countertop stand, a wall bracket, or the appliance door and without the utility supply module engaged to the feature module. 18. The method for supplying utility to various feature modules of claim 16, further comprising engaging the feature module to the appliance and the utility supply module has a plurality of reservoirs each capable of storing a plurality of utilities and wherein the utility sourced and received from the appliance includes a residential utility received by the appliance from a residential utility supply line between the appliance and a residential utility supply source. 19. The method for supplying utility to various feature modules of claim 16, wherein the at least one of the stored utilities supplied to the engaged feature module is chosen from the group consisting of a battery, fuel cell, water, gas, chemical reactant, desiccant, gas absorbent, foodstuff, flavorant, heat sink, pressurized air, and combinations thereof. 20. The method for supplying utility to various feature modules of claim 16, wherein the step of replenishing each refillable reservoir is done automatically via a utility conduit within the appliance configured to deliver a utility to the utility supply module.