Cooling appliance with interior lift

Abstract

A cooling appliance is disclosed herein. The cooling appliance includes a chest defining a cavity and an opening to the cavity. The cooling appliance also includes a lid operably engaged with the chest and moveable between a first position in which the lid covers the opening and closes the cavity and a second position spaced from the first position. The cooling appliance also includes at least one storage structure disposed in the cavity. The cooling appliance also includes a lift disposed in the cavity and operable to move the at least one storage structure out of the cavity when the lid is in the second position.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A cooling appliance comprising:
 a chest defining a cavity and an opening to said cavity;   a lid operably engaged with said chest and moveable between a first position in which said lid covers said opening and closes said cavity and a second position spaced from said first position;   at least one storage structure disposed in said cavity; and   a lift disposed in said cavity and operable to move said at least one storage structure out of said cavity when said lid is in said second position.   
     
     
         2 . The cooling appliance of  claim 1  wherein said lid is further defined as being moved out of said first position in response to movement of said at least one storage structure. 
     
     
         3 . The cooling appliance of  claim 1  wherein said lid is further defined as fixedly associated with said at least one storage structure such that said lid moves out of said first position in response to movement of said at least one storage structure by said lift. 
     
     
         4 . The cooling appliance of  claim 1  wherein said lid is further defined as operably associated with said at least one storage structure such that said lid moves as a cam follower out of said first position concurrently with movement of said at least one storage structure out of said cavity by said lift. 
     
     
         5 . The cooling appliance of  claim 1  wherein said at least one storage structure is further defined as:
 a plurality of storage structures, each being moved out of said cavity by said lift. 
 
     
     
         6 . The cooling appliance of  claim 5  further comprising:
 a frame supporting said plurality of storage structures for concurrent movement out of said cavity by said lift. 
 
     
     
         7 . The cooling appliance of  claim 6  wherein said frame is further defined as supporting said plurality of storage structures for individual movement relative to said frame. 
     
     
         8 . The cooling appliance of  claim 6  wherein said frame defines one of said plurality of storage structures. 
     
     
         9 . The cooling appliance of  claim 6  wherein said lid is further defined as hingedly engaged with said chest and acts as a cam follower and said frame acts as a cam such that said lid is moved out of said first position in response to movement of said frame. 
     
     
         10 . The cooling appliance of  claim 6  wherein said lid is further defined as fixed to said frame such that said lid moves out of said first position in response to movement of said frame by said lift. 
     
     
         11 . The cooling appliance of  claim 6  wherein said lift is disposed beneath said frame in said cavity. 
     
     
         12 . The cooling appliance of  claim 5  wherein said plurality of storage structures includes at least first and second storage structures differently configured from one another. 
     
     
         13 . The cooling appliance of  claim 12  wherein said first storage structure is a tray and said second storage structure is one of a drawer and a basket. 
     
     
         14 . The cooling appliance of  claim 1  wherein said at least one storage structure is further defined as one of a tray, a drawer, and a basket. 
     
     
         15 . The cooling appliance of  claim 1  wherein movement of said at least one storage structure is further defined as rectilinear. 
     
     
         16 . The cooling appliance of  claim 15  wherein movement of said at least one storage structure is further defined as only vertical. 
     
     
         17 . The cooling appliance of  claim 1  wherein said lift is further defined as one of an hydraulic lift, an electric lift, a mechanical lift, a pneumatic lift, a magnetic lift, and a manual lift. 
     
     
         18 . The cooling appliance of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a sensor operable to sense a rate of movement over time of said at least one storage structure and emit a movement signal corresponding to the rate of movement over time; and 
 a controller electronically communicating with said sensor and operable to receive the movement signal, wherein said controller is operable to control said lift and change the operation of said lift in response to said movement signal. 
 
     
     
         19 . The cooling appliance of  claim 18  wherein said controller is further defined as being operably to monitor an amount of power drawn by said lift and correlate the amount of power to the movement signal. 
     
     
         20 . The cooling appliance of  claim 19  wherein said controller is further defined as including an internal memory having a table correlating a plurality of rates of movement with a plurality of amounts of drawn power.