Abstract:
The fruit refrigerator has a cold plate which is cooled by a thermal electric unit secured underneath. Power is supplied to the thermal electric unit and to a cooling fan which blows air over the thermal electric unit. The cold plate has a depressed center, and liquid drains down through a wick. The cold plate has a transparent cover. A circulating fan on the cold plate prevents stratification within the domed cover and helps equalize cooling of fruit on the tray.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE 
   This application relies for priority on my Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/686,747, filed Jun. 3, 2005. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present distribution system for perishable foodstuffs, such as fruit, delivers almost ripe fruit for retail sale. A particular example of the fruit delivery system is the one for bananas. The time to ripeness of a banana is closely related to the environmental temperature. The temperature is regulated so that the bananas reach the proper state at each step of the distribution process. When the bananas reach the fruit retailer, they are ready to be exposed to the ambient temperature and are promptly sold. When the ambient temperature is in the comfortable range of 75 degrees F., the bananas are now ready to be eaten and become overripe in three or four days. Time and temperature are closely related in the maturity of bananas. 
   Other fresh fruits are also sold just before time and temperature have brought them to full ripeness. Sometimes several days at ambient temperatures are necessary to bring these other fruits, such as pitted fruits, to optimum temperature for eating. When such fruits have reached their optimum ripeness, they must also be refrigerated below room temperature in order to limit the speed of further ripening. Thus, there is need for a refrigerator which maintains fruit at a temperature below room ambient so that further ripening of the fruit is reduced by lower temperature. 
   A prior structure configured to store and ripen table fruit is configured to blowing air from a cooler section into the food holding section. This type of system results in more space being dedicated to the equipment and less space being available for fruit holding, than in a comparable sized structure using cold plate technology. In such a structure, the air holes from the cooler section to the fruit holding section may be covered by the fruit, thus reducing air flow and cooling capacity. This disadvantage is overcome by cooling the plate on which the fruit rests rather than bringing in cool air from the cooling device. In addition, in order to provide substantial uniformity of the air temperature in the environment in which the fruit is stored, it is desirable to circulate air around the fruit, with the circulating air being cooled by the cold plate. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In order to aid in the understanding of this invention, it can be stated in essentially summary form that it is directed to a fruit refrigerator which includes a refrigerated cold plate to hold the fruit and a dome over the fruit to provide a space for the fruit which is below room ambient temperature. The cold plate is cooled by any convenient means, such as a thermoelectric cooler. A cold air circulator is provided over the cold plate to circulate the chilled air in the closed space above the cold plate under the dome. 
   It is, thus, a purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a fruit refrigerator into which substantially ripe fruit can be introduced so that the fruit is held at a temperature below room temperature in order to maintain the fruit at a reduced temperature to delay its time of over-ripening. 
   It is another purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a fruit refrigerator for the receipt of fruit which is ready to eat, wherein the fruit refrigerator is decorative so that it can be placed on a counter or table so that an attractive presentation of the ready-to-eat fruit is provided. 
   It is another purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a fruit refrigerator which is powered by a structurally simple cooler so that the refrigerator may be made small enough to be a counter top device for the refrigeration and display of the fruit. 
   It is another purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a fruit refrigerator which has a cold plate upon which the fruit is placed for cooling and display with the cold plate being mounted on the cooler to be directly chilled, and there is a circulating fan in the enclosed space above the cold plate to circulate the chill around the fruit. 
   It is another purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a fruit refrigerator which is economic of construction so that it might be widely used and enjoyed. 
   Other purposes and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following portion of the specification, the claims and the attached drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the fruit refrigerator of this invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a central cross-section through the fruit refrigerator of this invention, with its dome in raised position. 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic electrical diagram of the electric system in the fruit refrigerator of this invention. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   The fruit refrigerator of this invention is generally indicated at  10  in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . In  FIG. 1 , the fruit refrigerator  10  is seen from the front and slightly above and is shown in perspective. In  FIG. 2 , the fruit refrigerator is shown substantially in a vertical centerline section. The fruit refrigerator  10  is configured to rest on a counter and has a base  12  with a flat bottom surface so that the fruit refrigerator can be placed on a countertop or table  14 . 
   Base  12  is a hollow body of revolution about an upright axis. Internally, it contains a power supply  18 . The power supply receives its power from a conventional household cord  20  which is suitable for plugin to a circuit such as a 120 volt AC circuit. Internally of the base, but available for access from the outside is an on/off switch  22  which controls the electric power supply  18 . The power supply provides electric power to the cooling device, which is preferably a thermoelectric cooling unit. Such units conventionally operate on twelve volt electric power. Thus, power supply  18  supplies twelve volts DC to power line  46 . 
   Shell body  24  is mounted on the base  12 . It is also a hollow body of revolution about a central upright axis. The bottom  26  of the shell body is larger than the base  12 . Cooling air inlet openings  28  are arranged about the flat bottom  26  around the outside of base  12 . Partway up the shell body  24 , between the bottom  26  and top edge  30 , is divider  32 . Divider  32  directs air flow and supports part of the interior structure. An insulating layer  33  lies on top of the divider  32 . Control unit  34  is mounted on the divider  32 . There is an opening  36  in the center of divider  32 , and an air shroud  38  above the opening. Fan  40  and its fan motor  44  are mounted on the divider  32  within the shroud  38 . 
   Power supply  18  is connected to supply power to controller  34  through line  46 . Thermal overload sensing switch  48  is serially connected in this line, see  FIG. 3 . When the sensed temperature indicates overheating, the power supply is shut off from the control unit  34 . 
   Support tray  50  rests on top of shell body  24  on its top edge  30 . Tray  50  is also a body of revolution. Its central axis is upright and the tray  50  is dished downward in the center. The outer edge has a down rolled lip  54  which engages over the upper edge of the shell body. Support tray  50  has a shoulder  51  which supports cold plate  53 . In the space between the cold plate  53  and tray  50  is thermal insulation  56 . The center downward dish  52  of the cold plate  53  is flat, and underneath the center flat section is mounted thermal electric unit  58 . The thermal electric unit has downwardly extending heat exchange fins  60  which dispel heat from the thermal electric unit into the air. The fins are in the path of the air flow, which is up through air inlet openings  28  in the bottom of the body and through shroud  38 , where it is propelled by fan  40 . The fan drives the air flow over the fins  60 . The air exits from the upper portion of the shell body through air outlet openings  62 . Insulation  33  reduces the heat flow downward from this warm air into the air in the bottom of the shell body  24 , thus maintaining low air temperature under the thermal electric cooling unit  58 . The air outlet openings are arranged around the upper shell body near top edge  30 . 
   Power from the control unit  34  to the thermal electric unit  58  is through line  68 . This powers the thermal electric unit, which draws heat from the cold plate and rejects it downwardly out through fins  60 . The control unit also supplies the fan motor  44  through line  70 . High/low switch  72  is connected to the controller  34  through line  70 . The controller is connected to the fan motor  44  through line  71 . The high/low switch  72  permits the user to control the speed of fan  40 . It would be used at high speed for initial cooling in hot weather and would be used at low speed when the cooling demands are not as great. 
   Domed cover  74  fits down over the cold plate and engages in the shoulder of the tray to close the space above the cold plate. The domed cover is transparent so that the materials on the cold plate may be viewed. Also mounted on the cold plate is circulating fan  64 . The circulating fan  64  is within the enclosure of the dome and circulates air so that the coolness provided by the heat extraction of the thermal electric unit will be fairly uniformly circulated within the domed cover. The fan is powered from the control unit by line  76 . The circulating fan  64  is always on when the switch  22  is on. 
   Temperature sensor  66  is in the same housing as the circulating fan  64 . Therefore, the temperature sensor senses temperature which is rather indicative of the temperature inside the domed cover. The temperature sensor is connected to the control unit by line  78 . When the cool set point is reached, this is signaled to the control unit, and the control unit turns off the thermal electric unit. When the temperature rises within the domed cover, this is sensed by the sensor  66 , and the thermal electric unit is again actuated. 
   The fruit refrigerator  10  is placed at an appropriate location where it is plugged into an electric supply circuit. The on/off switch  22  is turned on. If the temperature within the dome-enclosed space is above the set point of sensor  66 , the thermal electric unit  58  is energized. When the fruit placed on the tray is bananas, an appropriate temperature is 60 degrees F., to extend the shelf life of the bananas. The space is thus cooled. 
   When cooling occurs, there is often condensation. It is undesirable to have water accumulate on the cold plate. To preclude growth of mold and other types of spoilage, the cold plate has drain holes. Four drain holes are seen in  FIG. 1 , and one is indicated by the reference character  78 . The drain holes are around the flat center section  52  at the outer edges thereof. Below the drain holes are wicks, one of which is indicated at  80  in  FIG. 2 . Instead of dripping into the mechanism, the wicks retain the moisture and position it within the outlet warm air stream. Thus, the moisture is evaporated and exhausted with the exhaust air stream before liquid can accumulate and do damage. The fruit refrigerator  10 , thus holds the fruit at an optimum temperature and keeps it visible to be chosen by the consumer. 
   This invention has been described in its pre-ferred embodiment, and it is clear that it is susceptible to numerous modifications and embodiments within the ability of those skilled in the art and within the scope of the following claims.