Method and appliance for refrigerating beverages

Abstract

 A method of refrigerating beverages, comprising: acquiring (605;705) an image of a beverage container (210) containing a beverage to be refrigerated; extracting, from the acquired image, image features adapted to determine the type of beverage contained in the beverage container; comparing (610;710) the extracted image features with predetermined image features representative of different types of beverage in order to determine the specific type of beverage contained in the beverage container; based on the specific beverage contained in the beverage container, determining a refrigeration temperature for the beverage, and causing (620;720) a cooling of the beverage substantially to the determined refrigeration temperature.

Description

Background of the invention

Field of the invention

[0001] The present invention generally relates to the refrigeration of food products, and more particularly of beverages. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and an appliance for the rapid and controlled chilling of beverages.

Description of the related art

[0002] Appliances for chilling beverages are known in the art. Such appliances may be integrated in refrigerators for food products in general, like refrigerators for domestic use, or they may be stand-alone units specifically devoted to the cooling of beverages (like in the case of wine cellars).

[0003] In particular, beverage chilling appliances integrated in refrigerators usually exploit, for the rapid chilling of beverages contained in beverage containers, a flow of cooling air taken from an evaporator area of the refrigerators, whereas stand-alone beverage chilling units are provided with their own evaporator.

[0004] A known beverage rapid chilling apparatus is described in EP 1821053, in the name of the present Applicant. The apparatus comprises a receptacle adapted to accommodate beverage containers of differing length, and cooling means adapted to cool down said receptacle. The receptacle comprises a plurality of electrodes arranged in succession one after the other along an inner surface of said receptacle, said inner surface being adapted to support a container in such manner that the electrodes turn out as being distributed along the whole length of the container. The electrodes are connected to circuit means adapted to detect and measure the capacitance value on each electrode as brought about by the presence of a container made of a conductive material in proximity of the same electrode so as to determine the actual length of the container, or, in the case of a container made of a non-conductive material, said capacitance value as brought about by the presence, inside the container, of beverage liquid in proximity of the same electrode, so as to determine the actual length of the container being wetted by the beverage liquid contained thereinside. Control means are provided to operate the cooling means in response to the capacitance values detected by the circuit means for a period of time, the duration of which is made dependant on the so determined length of the container.

Summary of the invention

[0005] The Applicant has observed that a problem of known beverage refrigeration appliances resides in that they are not capable of automatically determining the proper temperature to which the beverages should be chilled.

[0006] Different types of beverages require different chilling temperatures, for being best enjoyed by the consumers. For example, considering the category of wines, sparkling wines, champagne and the like are best enjoyed at temperatures around 7°C; suggested temperatures for white wines may be around 9 °C; rosé wines are preferably enjoyed at temperatures ranging from 12 to 14°C; red wines offer their best taste when drunk at temperatures from 16 to 18 °C. Most of beers are normally to be served at 4 °C, albeit there are particular types of beers that are served at higher temperatures. Other types of beverages may require different chilling temperatures.

[0007] Known beverage refrigeration appliances often allow the user to manually select the desired chilling temperature; however, the Applicant believes that it would be very desirable to have a beverage refrigeration appliance capable of automatically determining the most proper beverage chilling temperature depending on the beverage.

[0008] This involves the capability of recognizing or deducing, inferring the nature, the type of the beverage to be chilled.

[0009] In connection with the beverage chilling apparatus described in EP 1821053, the Applicant observes that it allows deriving an indication of length of the beverage container to be chilled, but it not always allows inferring, with sufficient precision, the content of a beverage container: for example, the disclosed apparatus is not capable of discriminating among the different types of wine that may be contained in a bottle. Thus, the cited prior-art apparatus is not capable of automatically determining the proper chilling temperature.

[0010] The Applicant has tackled the problem of providing a beverage refrigeration method and a related appliance which solve the problem of the systems known in the art, and that in particular are capable of automatically determining the proper chilling temperature depending on the type of beverage to be chilled.

[0011] In particular, the Applicant has found that the type of beverage contained in a container may be automatically deduced, inferred based on an optical recognition. By extracting, from an acquired image of a beverage container containing a beverage to be refrigerated, image features adapted to determine the type or nature of the beverage contained in the beverage container, and processing the extracted image features, it is possible to deduce the type of beverage to be chilled.

[0012] For the purposes of the present description, image features adapted to determine the type or nature of the beverage contained in the beverage container include any image features that can be extracted from an acquired image of the container containing the beverage to be chilled, and that are adapted, by suitable image processing, to infer the nature of the beverage to be chilled, for example image features from which the shape of the beverage container can be derived, image features from which the shape of the beverage container closure cap can be derived, image features from which details of a label affixed on the beverage container can be derived, image features from which a color or a degree of transparency of the beverage container and/ or of the beverage contained therein may be derived.

[0013] For example, different kinds of wine are usually bottled in bottles of different shapes: for instance, the champagne bottles are different from the bottles used for important red wines, and the red wine and champagne bottles are in turn different from the bottles used for white wines; the bottles used for beers are also typically different in shape from the bottles used for wines. Being able to gain information about the shape of the beverage container, it may be possible to infer, with a relative precision, the nature of the beverage to be chilled.

[0014] According to an aspect of the present invention, a method as set forth in appended claim 1 is provided.

[0015] Essentially, the method comprises:

• acquiring an image of a beverage container containing a beverage to be refrigerated;
• extracting, from the acquired image, image features adapted to determine the type of beverage contained in the beverage container;

comparing the extracted image features with predetermined image features representative of different types of beverage in order to determine the specific type of beverage contained in the beverage container;

• based on the specific type of beverage contained in the beverage container, determining a refrigeration temperature for the beverage, and
• causing a cooling of the beverage substantially to the determined refrigeration temperature.

[0016] In particular, said comparing the extracted image features with predetermined image features may comprise identifying a shape of the beverage container among a plurality of predetermined beverage container shapes.

[0017] The extracted image features may include chrominance image features, which in particular may be adapted to assess a color (by identifying the color among a plurality of predetermined colors) of at least one among the beverage container and the beverage contained therein; said comparing the extracted image features with predetermined image features may comprise exploiting the extracted chrominance image features. For example, the chrominance image features may be useful in case, from the shape of the beverage container, it is not possible to univocally determine the type of beverage.

[0018] In alternative, or in addition, the extracted image features may include luminance image features, in particular adapted to assess a degree of transparency of at least one among said beverage container and the beverage contained therein; said comparing the extracted image features with predetermined image features may comprises exploiting the extracted luminance image features. For example the degree of transparency is identified among a plurality of predetermined degrees of transparency. Similarly to the chrominance image features, the luminance image features may be useful in case, from the shape of the beverage container, it is not possible to univocally determine the type of beverage.

[0019] Further or different image features may be extracted and used to determine the type of beverage, for example image features related to a beverage container cap, and/or image features related to a label attached to the beverage container.

[0020] In order to acquire the image, the beverage container may be illuminated, for example with light at at least two different wavelengths, so that an indication of the colour and/or degree of transparency of the beverages can be obtained even in case of relatively dark beverage containers (e.g., glass bottles).

[0021] According to another aspect of the invention, a beverage refrigeration appliance as set forth in appended claim 13 is provided.

[0022] Essentially, the beverage refrigerating appliance comprises:

• a cabinet comprising a receptacle for accommodating beverage containers of beverages to be refrigerated;
• a cooling arrangement associated with said cabinet and adapted to cause the cooling of an inner space of said receptacle;
• a control unit controlling the cooling arrangement.

[0023] An image capturing device is provided, arranged to capture images of beverage containers inserted in said receptacle. An image processing system is also provided in said control unit and coupled to said image capturing device, the image processing system being in operation adapted to:

• acquire captured beverage container images captured by the image capturing device;
• extract, from the acquired image, image features adapted to determine a type of beverage contained in the beverage container;
• comparing the extracted image features with predetermined image features representative of different types of beverage in order to determine the specific type of beverage contained in the beverage container;
• based on the specific type of beverage contained in the beverage container , determine a refrigeration temperature for the beverage, and
• cause the cooling arrangement to refrigerate the beverage substantially to the determined refrigeration temperature.

Brief description of the drawings

[0024] These and further features and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent by the following detailed description of some embodiments thereof, provided merely by way of non-limitative example. The description will be made in conjunction with the attached drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 schematically shows a refrigerator for food products with an integrated beverage refrigeration appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 schematically shows, in greater detail, the beverage refrigeration appliance of Figure 1;

Figure 3 schematically depicts, in terms of functional blocks, the main components of a control unit of the beverage refrigeration appliance of Figure 2;

Figure 4 schematically depicts, in terms of functional modules, a structure of a program executed by the control unit of Figure 3, in an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5 pictorially shows the content of a database of beverage containers shape of the control unit, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 6 is a schematic flowchart with the main steps of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 7 is a schematic flowchart with the main steps of a method according to another embodiment of the present invention, which can be used in alternative or in combination with the embodiment of Figure 6.

Detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention

[0025] Making reference to the drawings, in Figure 1 there is schematically shown a refrigerator 100, particularly for domestic use, for the refrigeration of food products. The refrigerator 100 comprises a fresh food compartment 105, which in use is normally kept at a temperature of some °C above 0 °C, for the refrigeration and short-term conservation of fresh products like dairy products, vegetables, fruit. The refrigerator 100 may also comprise a freezer compartment 110, normally kept at temperatures below 0 °C, for the long-term storage of frozen food products. The fresh food compartment 105 and the freezer compartment 110 are provided with respective cooling systems, comprising one or more evaporators. Doors are provided, which when closed thermally isolate the respective compartment from the environment, while, when open, allow accessing the compartment. In the drawing, the freezer compartment 110 is depicted as located below the fresh food compartment 105, however it could as well be located in different positions, for example above or aside the fresh-food compartment.

[0026] A beverage refrigeration appliance 115 is housed in the fresh food compartment 105. The beverage refrigeration appliance 115, shown in enlarged scale and in greater detail, although schematically, in Figure 2, comprises a cabinet 200 defining thereinside a receptacle 205 adapted to accommodate one or more beverage containers 210, like for example glass or plastic bottles, or cans, or other types of beverage containers. The beverages may be water, different types of wine, juices, beer and any other beverage. The cabinet 200 has a door 213 which can be open to allow accessing the receptacle 205.

[0027] Cooling means (not shown in the drawing for the sake of simplicity) are associated with the cabinet 200 for cooling the internal environment thereof. The cooling means may include means adapted to take a cool air flow from a cooling system of the refrigerator 100, for example from the area of the evaporator associated with the fresh food compartment 105 or the evaporator associated with the freezer compartment 110, and to convey the cool air flow to the cabinet 200, particularly to the receptacle 205 where the beverage containers 210 may be accommodated.

[0028] More generally, the cooling means may include a heat-pump cooling circuit of the type comprising a compressor, an evaporator, a condenser, or a thermo-electric cooling system, for example a Peltier cooling system, or any other cooling systems know in the art.

[0029] In alternative embodiments of the invention, the beverage refrigeration appliance may be a stand-alone unit, in which case the cooling means comprise a dedicated cooling system, like a dedicated a heat-pump cooling circuit.

[0030] The cooling of the beverage containers receptacle 205 of the appliance 115 by the cooling means is controlled by a control unit 215, to be described in greater detail later on.

[0031] Within the cabinet 200, an image capturing device 220 is provided, arranged in a position adapted to capture still or moving images of the beverage containers 210 placed within the cabinet 200. The image capturing device 220 may for example include a still camera or a camcorder, or equivalent devices; a low-price, low-resolution camera may for example be used. Preferably, a light source 225, for example a white-light lamp, or a light source adapted to emit light at one or more, e.g. at least two wavelengths, is also provided within the cabinet 200, arranged so as to illuminate the beverage containers 210, and preferably located within the cabinet 200 opposite to the image capturing device 220, so that the beverage containers 210, when present, are interposed between the image capturing device 220 and the light source 225.

[0032] The beverage refrigerator appliance 115 also includes a man-machine interface 230, comprising a display and pushbuttons.

[0033] Figure 3 schematically shows, partly in terms of functional blocks, the structure of the control unit 215, in an embodiment of the present invention. Essentially, the control unit 215 comprises a data processor 305 (Central Processing Unit or CPU), for example a microprocessor or a microcontroller, with volatile (RAM) and non-volatile (ROM, EPROM, EEPROM. Flash) memory resources 310 and 315.

[0034] The CPU 305 controls, as mentioned in the foregoing, the cooling means (in the drawing schematized as a block 320) provided for cooling the beverage containers receptacle 205; the cooling means 320 may be controlled in order to be activated (for example, to enable the intake into the cabinet 200 of a cool air flow coming from the evaporator area of the fresh food compartment 105) for a certain time. In alternative embodiments of the invention, a temperature sensor might be provided inside the receptacle to monitor the internal temperature, and the cooling means might be controlled in order reach and maintain in the beverage containers receptacle 205 a desired, pre-set temperature.

[0035] The CPU 305 is coupled (for example over a Universal Serial Bus - USB - connection or other data transfer link, or through an analog video signal interface like a composite video interface, or a video signal components interface like an RGB - Red Green Blue - interface) to the image capturing device 220, and also controls the switch-on/switch-off of the light source 225. The CPU 305 controls the display 330 of the man-machine interface 230 to display to the user information like for example the temperature within the beverage containers receptacle, or a suggested temperature for chilling the beverages, and receives commands from the user inputted through the pushbuttons 335.

[0036] In operation, the control unit 215, particularly the CPU 305, is adapted to execute a program, stored for example in the non-volatile memory 315 (as a resident firmware governing the operation of the control unit 215).

[0037] Figure 4 schematically shows, in terms of functional blocks, the main components of the program executed by the control unit 215 when in operation.

[0038] Essentially, an image acquisition module 405 acquires the images captured by the image capturing device 220. The acquired images are provided to an image processing module 410, adapted to process the acquired images in order for example to extract therefrom image features useful to automatically determine the proper refrigeration for the beverages contained in the beverage container or containers 210 housed in the cabinet 200. The extracted image features, provided to a beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415, are used by the latter module to determine the proper refrigeration conditions as a function of the type, the nature of beverage to be chilled; to do this, information stored in a database 420 are exploited, like for example a number of different classified shapes of beverage containers, as described in greater detail later on. The refrigeration conditions determined by the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 may be used as input parameters for a cooling means controller module 425, adapted to control the operation of the cooling means 320 so as to achieve the target beverage cooling, and/or they may be displayed to the user, through the display 330 (driven by a man-machine interface driver module 430); through the pushbuttons 335, the user may also autonomously set desired cooling conditions.

[0039] Figure 5 pictorially shows the structure of the database 420, in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] Data 505 related to several classified beverage container shapes are stored in the database 420. To each classified beverage container shape, one or more types of beverage may be associated, because a same beverage container shape may be used to contain different beverages: in this case, the database 420 stores data 510 related to a colour of the beverage/beverage container, and/or to a degree of transparency of the beverage/beverage container; these data may be absent in case the shape of the beverage container univocally identifies the beverage contained therein. Data 515 are also stored providing an indication of the type of beverage contained in a beverage container of a certain shape, and, possibly, corresponding to certain colour/degree of transparency. For each type of beverage, data 520 indicating a proper chilling temperature of that beverage are stored in the database, and, associated therewith, data 525 providing control parameters for controlling the cooling means appropriately, for example a cooling time.

[0041] Figure 6 is a schematic flowchart showing the main actions performed by the control unit 215 when in operation, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] An image of the beverage container or containers 210 that are accommodated in the receptacle 205 is taken by the image capturing device 220, and the image is acquired by the image acquisition module 405; salient, relevant features of the beverage container 210 accommodated in the receptacle 205 are extracted from the acquired image by the image processing module 410. In particular, the extracted image features may contain information related to the shape of the beverage container 210 present in the receptacle 205. These operations are reassumed and schematized by block 605.

[0043] The extracted image features are used by the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 to conduct a search in the database 420, so as to assess whether the shape of the beverage container 210 present in the receptacle 205 corresponds to one of the classified beverage container shapes in the database 420 (action 610).

[0044] If the search conducted in the database 420 allows identifying the shape of the beverage container 210 present in the receptacle 205 as one of the classified shapes, and if, based on the information stored in the database 420, it is possible to univocally deduce the beverage contained in the container 210 (exit branch Y of decision block 615), then the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 is able to determine the proper chilling temperature of the beverage contained in the container 210 present in the receptacle 205; for example, based on the information stored in the database 420, the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 determines/retrieves the proper time of activation of the cooling means 320 (block 620).

[0045] If instead the search conducted in the database 420 does not allow to identify the shape of the beverage container 210 present in the receptacle 205 as one of the classified shapes, or if, even though the shape of the container 210 is identified, the information stored in the database in relation to said container shape does not allow to univocally determine the nature of the beverage (for example because in the database 420 that shape of the container 210 is associated with two or more different beverages, requiring different chilling temperatures) ((exit branch N of decision block 615), then the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 performs a supplemental analysis directed to determine the proper refrigeration conditions.

[0046] In particular, the light source 225 is switched on to illuminate the beverage container 210 present in the receptacle 205 (block 625).

[0047] An image of the beverage container 210 is again taken by the image capturing device 220, and the image is acquired by the image acquisition module 405; salient, relevant features of the beverage container 210 are extracted from the acquired image by the image processing module 410. In particular, the extracted image features may contain information related to the colour of the light that passes through the beverage container 210 present in the receptacle 205. The colour of the light that reaches the image capturing device 220 depends in general on the properties of the beverage container 210 (for example, glass bottles for wines may have different colours depending on the type of wine they are intended to contain), and also on the nature of the beverage contained therein (for example, if the beverage container 210 contains red wine, the detected colour differs from that detected in case the beverage is white wine). In order to conduct an analysis based on the colour of the captured image, a colour image capturing device 220 needs to be used, and chrominance data are extracted from the captured image.

[0048] The extracted image features are used by the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 to conduct a further search in the database 420, so as to compare the colour of the beverage container 210 extracted from the acquired image to a range of classified colours stored in the database 420 (action 630). The colour that most closely fits the colour extracted from the captured and acquired image is selected, and, based on the information stored in the database 420 in connection with the selected colour, the beverage refrigeration determination module 415 determines the time of activation of the cooling means 320 (block 620).

[0049] The control unit 215 may thus control the cooling means 320 so as to refresh the beverage contained in the container 210 at the proper temperature. The control unit 215 may also, or alternatively, display to the user (through the display 330) the determined chilling temperature; the user may accept the suggestion provided by the appliance 115 and command the chilling at the suggested temperature, or he/she may modify of his/her own motion the chilling temperature, by acting on the pushbuttons 335.

[0050] Figure 7 is a schematic flowchart showing the main actions performed by the control unit 130 when in operation, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0051] Similarly to what described in connection with Figure 6, an image of the beverage container or containers 210 that are accommodated in the receptacle 205 is taken by the image capturing device 220, and the image is acquired by the image acquisition module 405; salient features of the beverage container 210 are extracted from the acquired image by the image processing module 410. In particular, the extracted image features may contain information related to the shape of the beverage container 210 present in the receptacle 205. These operations are reassumed and schematized by block 705.

[0052] The extracted image features are used by the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 to conduct a search in the database 420, so as to assess whether the shape of the beverage container 210 present in the receptacle 205 corresponds to one of the classified beverage container shapes in the database 420 (action 710).

[0053] If the search conducted in the database 420 allows univocally identifying the shape of the beverage container 210 present in the receptacle 205 as one of the classified shapes, and if, based on the information stored in the database, it is possible to univocally deduce the beverage allegedly contained in the container 210 (exit branch Y of decision block 715), then the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 is able to determine the proper degree of chilling of the beverage contained in the container 210 present in the receptacle 205; for example, based on the information stored in the database 420, the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 determines the time of activation of the cooling means 320 (block 720).

[0054] If instead the search conducted in the database 420 does not allow to identify the shape of the beverage container 210 present in the receptacle 205 as one of the classified shapes, or if, even though the shape of the container 210 is identified, the information stored in the database in relation to said container shape does not allow to univocally determine the nature of the beverage (for example because that shape of container is associated with two or more different beverages, requiring different degrees of chilling) (exit branch N of decision block 715), then the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 performs a supplemental analysis directed to determine the proper refrigeration conditions.

[0055] In particular, the light source 225 is switched on to illuminate the beverage container 210 present in the receptacle 205 (block 725).

[0056] An image of the beverage container 210 is again taken by the image capturing device 220, and the image is acquired by the image acquisition module 405; salient features of the beverage container 210 are extracted from the acquired image by the image processing module 410. In particular, the extracted image features may contain information related to a degree of transparency or impurity of the beverage contained in the container 210 (a less transparent beverage, having a higher degree of impurity, attenuates more the light compared to a more transparent beverage, having a lower degree of impurity). In order to conduct an analysis based on the degree of transparency, either a black-and-white or a colour image capturing device 220 can be used, and luminance data are extracted from the captured image.

[0057] The extracted image features are used by the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 to conduct a further search in the database 420, so as to compare the degree of transparency of the beverage contained in the container 210 and extracted from the acquired image to a scale of beverage transparency stored in the database 420 (action 730). Based on the scale of transparency stored in the database 420, the beverage refrigeration temperature determination module 415 determines the nature of the beverage in the container 210, and the time of activation of the cooling means 320 (block 720).

[0058] Also in this case, the control unit 215 may thus control the cooling means 320 so as to refresh the beverage contained in the container 210 at the proper temperature. The control unit 215 may also, or alternatively, display to the user (through the display 330) the determined chilling temperature; the user may accept the suggestion provided by the appliance 115 and command the chilling at the suggested temperature, or he/she may modify of his/her own motion the chilling temperature, by acting on the pushbuttons 335.

[0059] The actions described above may be performed repeatedly, for example on a periodic basis, or upon detecting the insertion of a beverage container into the cabinet 200 (for example, by detecting the opening and subsequent closure of the door 213 of the cabinet 200).

[0060] Several alternatives to the described embodiments are possible. For example, the inspection of the degree of transparency of the beverage contained in the container 210, described in connection with Figure 7, may be combined with the inspection of the colour described in connection with Figure 6. A preliminary set-up of the control unit 215 may also be required, conducted when the receptacle 205 is empty, for establishing the base colour or degree of transparency of the image captured in absence of beverage containers 210. Also, light at different wavelengths (for example, two or more wavelengths) may be used to illuminate the beverage containers when capturing the images, so that an indication of the colour and/or degree of transparency of the beverages can be obtained even in case of relatively dark beverage containers (e.g., glass bottles).

[0061] Still other alternatives are possible. For example, the captured image may be processed for extracting therefrom information for determining the volume of the beverage container 210, and thus the potential mass of beverage to be chilled.

[0062] Also, the captured image of the beverage container 210 could be processed to extract therefrom information about the shape of the beverage container cap; for example, the detection of a wire cage associated to a bottle is an indication that the content of the beverage container 210 is presumably wine, and particularly sparkling wine. By combining the information about the shape of the beverage container 210 with that about the shape of its cap and, possibly, the colour of the container and/or the beverage contained therein, a rather precise determination of the nature of the beverage is possible, and thus of the proper chilling temperature. Thus, the exposition time of the beverage to the flow of cold air necessary for achieving the proper chilling temperature can be determined with rather good precision.

[0063] A still further possibility resides in a recognition of the label that is almost always attached to a beverage container; the features extracted from the captured image may be compared to data stored in the database and corresponding to classified beverage container labels for determining the type of beverage, and thus the proper chilling temperature.

[0064] In case the control unit is not capable of determining univocally the proper chilling temperature, for example because two or more beverage containers 210 are accommodated in the receptacle 205 and the beverages contained therein have significantly different chilling temperatures (e.g., a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine or sparkling wine or a bottle of beer are accommodated in the receptacle 205), the control unit 215 can, through the display 330, alert the user of the impossibility to determine and achieve an optimal chilling temperature; the user may thus take the desired action, for example removing one or more beverage containers from the receptacle, or set a chilling temperature of his/her own choice.

[0065] The present invention may be applied to known beverage chilling apparatuses, and in particular it can be used in combination with the apparatus described in the already cited EP 1821053. Also, the present invention can be applied both to appliances that are embedded in refrigerators, and to stand-alone units, like for example wine cellars.

[0066] The present invention has been here described presenting some possible embodiments thereof. Those skilled in the art will recognize that several modifications to the described embodiments are possible, as well as different embodiments of the invention, which however do not depart from the scope of protection defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of refrigerating beverages, comprising:

- acquiring (605;705) an image of a beverage container (210) containing a beverage to be refrigerated;

- extracting, from the acquired image, image features adapted to determine the type of beverage contained in the beverage container;

- comparing (610;710) the extracted image features with predetermined image features representative of different types of beverage in order to determine the specific type of beverage contained in the beverage container;

- based on the specific beverage contained in the beverage container, determining a refrigeration temperature for the beverage, and

- causing (620;720) a cooling of the beverage substantially to the determined refrigeration temperature.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said comparing the extracted image features with predetermined image features comprises identifying a shape of the beverage container among a plurality of predetermined beverage container shapes.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein said extracting, from the acquired image, image features further comprises:

- extracting, from the acquired image, chrominance image features,

and wherein said comparing the extracted image features with predetermined image features comprises exploiting the extracted chrominance image features.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said chrominance image features are adapted to assess a color of at least one among the beverage container and the beverage contained therein.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said assess the color comprises identifying the color among a plurality of predetermined colors.

6. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said extracting, from the acquired image, image features further comprises:

- extracting, from the acquired image, luminance image features,

and wherein said comparing the extracted image features with predetermined image features comprises exploiting the extracted luminance image features.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said luminance image features are adapted to assess a degree of transparency of at least one among said beverage container and the beverage contained therein.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said assess the degree of transparency comprises identifying the degree of transparency among a plurality of predetermined degrees of transparency.

9. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said extracting, from the acquired image, image features further comprises extracting from the acquired image features related to a beverage container cap, and said comparing the extracted image features with predetermined image features comprises exploiting the extracted beverage container cap features.

10. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said extracting, from the acquired image, image features further comprises extracting from the acquired image features related to a label attached to the beverage container, and said comparing the extracted image features with predetermined image features comprises exploiting the extracted label features.

11. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said acquiring an image includes illuminating the beverage container.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said illuminating the beverage container comprises illuminating with light at at least two different wavelengths.

13. A beverage refrigerating appliance, comprising:

- a cabinet (200) comprising a receptacle (205) for accommodating beverage containers (210) of beverages to be refrigerated;

- a cooling arrangement associated with said cabinet and adapted to cause the cooling of an inner space of said receptacle;

- a control unit (215) controlling the cooling arrangement,

characterized by comprising

- an image capturing device (220) arranged to capture images of beverage containers inserted in said receptacle;

- an image processing system (405,410,415,425) provided in said control unit and coupled to said image capturing device, the image processing system being in operation adapted to:

- acquire captured beverage container images captured by the image capturing device;

- extract, from the acquired image, image features adapted to determine a type of beverage contained in the beverage container;

- compare the extracted image features with predetermined image features (220) representative of different types of beverage in order to determine the specific type of beverage contained in the beverage container;

- based on the specific beverage contained in the beverage container, determine a refrigeration temperature for the beverage, and

- cause the cooling arrangement to cool the beverage substantially to the determined refrigeration temperature.

14. The appliance of claim 1, wherein said image processing system is adapted to identify a shape of the beverage container among a plurality of predetermined beverage container shapes.

15. The appliance of claim 13 or 14, wherein said image processing system is adapted to extract, from the acquired image, chrominance image features, and to exploit the extracted chrominance image features to determine the specific type of beverage contained in the beverage container.

16. The appliance of claim 15, wherein said chrominance image features are adapted to assess a color of at least one among the beverage container and the beverage contained therein.

17. The appliance of claim 16, wherein said image processing system is adapted to identify the color among a plurality of predetermined colors.

18. The appliance of any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein said image processing system is adapted to extract, from the acquired image, luminance image features, and to exploit the extracted luminance image features to determine the specific type of beverage contained in the beverage container.

19. The appliance of claim 18, wherein said luminance image features are adapted to assess a degree of transparency of at least one among said beverage container and the beverage contained therein.

20. The appliance of claim 19, wherein said image processing system is adapted to identify the degree of transparency among a plurality of predetermined degrees of transparency.

21. The appliance of any one of claims 13 to 20, wherein said image processing system is adapted to extract, from the acquired image, image features related to a beverage container cap, and determining the refrigeration temperature for the beverage exploiting the extracted beverage container cap features.

22. The appliance of any one of claims 13 to 21, wherein said image processing system is adapted to extract from the acquired image features related to a label attached to the beverage container, and determining the refrigeration temperature for the beverage exploiting the extracted label features.

23. The appliance of any one of claims 13 to 21, further comprising an illuminating device (225) provided in said receptacle and operable to illuminate the beverage container for capturing the image.

24. The appliance of any one of claims 13 to 23, adapted to be integrated in a refrigerator, said cooling arrangement comprising a cooling system of the refrigerator.

Drawing