EP1983282A1

EP1983282A1 - Refrigerator

Info

Publication number: EP1983282A1
Application number: EP07008086A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Katarina Esteve; Paolo Alberghetti; Lizandro Chrestenzen; Patrick Speck; Magnus Jonzon; Silvia Minetto; Martin Beeh; Arran Allesbrook
Original assignee: Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Current assignee: Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Priority date: 2007-04-20
Filing date: 2007-04-20
Publication date: 2008-10-22

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator for cooling beverage bottles, such as a wine cooler, which refrigerator is mountable at a wall. The refrigerator comprises a cabinet, which has the shape of a slab with a generally planar extension; a cool compartment, which is arranged inside the cabinet; a refrigerating unit, which is arranged to cool the cool compartment; and a single support structure for supporting several bottles, which support structure is arranged in the cool compartment. The support structure is designed to support several bottles such that the bottles are oriented in a single, common storage layer, wherein the storage layer is substantially parallel with the planar extension of the cabinet, whereby the cabinet and the storage layer, when the refrigerator is mounted along a straight wall, are at least substantially in parallel with the wall.

The present invention also relates to a user interface for such a refrigerator.

Description

Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerator for cooling beverage bottles, such as a wine cooler.

Background Art

Refrigerators for cooling bottled beverages, for example wine coolers, are known. Such wine coolers are often employed in restaurants or commercial environments, but also in domestic environments. However, particularly in domestic environments, it can be difficult to house a wine cooler. There is often simply not enough space for a wine cooler in a conventional kitchen, especially since a normal food storing refrigerator is also needed. It could be desirable to keep a wine cooler in a living room or a dining room for reasons of convenience, but there is normally not enough space in these rooms either. Furthermore, a wine cooler often looks odd and out of place in a living room or dining room, even though attempts have been made to provide wine coolers with appealing colours and designed details.

Summary of the Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator which alleviates at least some of the above-mentioned problems.
According to the present invention, this object is achieved by the refrigerator according to claim 1.
According to an aspect of the invention, a refrigerator for cooling beverage bottles, such as a wine cooler, which refrigerator is mountable at a wall is provided. The refrigerator comprises a cabinet, which has the shape of a slab with a generally planar extension; a cool compartment, which is arranged inside the cabinet; a refrigerating unit, which is arranged to cool the cool compartment; and a single support structure for supporting several bottles, which support structure is arranged in the cool compartment. The support structure is designed to support several bottles such that the bottles are oriented in a single, common storage layer, wherein the storage layer is substantially parallel with the planar extension of the cabinet. Thus, when the refrigerator is mounted along a straight wall, the cabinet and the storage layer are at least substantially in parallel with the wall.
According to another aspect of the invention, a user interface for activation of functions of a household appliance, such as the refrigerator for cooling beverage bottles described above, is provided, the user interface being defined in any one of appended claims 18-25.
Due to the bottles being supported such that they are oriented in a single common storage layer, the cabinet of the refrigerator need not have outer dimensions extending those of a generally planar slab in order to be able to house the storage layer. Thus, the refrigerator can suitably be mounted at a straight wall such that the cabinet and the storage layer are substantially parallel with the wall. In this position, the thickness of the refrigerator in a direction normal to the wall is considerably less than the height and breadth thereof. Consequently, the refrigerator according to the invention, when mounted along a wall, does not extend into the room in a bulky way and the refrigerator consumes only very little space. Furthermore, the shape of the refrigerator according to the invention causes it to resemble other items often present in a domestic environment, such as a flat screen of a television set or a painting. Therefore, the refrigerator according to the invention will look considerably less out of place in for example in a living room than a prior art wine cooler, at least if given a suitably designed surface.
The refrigerator according to the invention is suitable for cooling beverage bottles. However, also other items of corresponding or smaller size could of course be kept in the refrigerator, for example chocolate, cigars, cigarettes, jars or grocery products.
According to an embodiment of the invention the refrigerator is a wine cooler.
According to the invention, the refrigerator includes a shallow cabinet being generally shaped as a slab. In other words, the cabinet is shaped as shallow block. The block can be rectangular, but also other forms are possible, for example any other polygonal shape, circular shape or oval shape. However, the depth of the cabinet is considerably less than the height and breadth thereof.
A cool compartment is arranged inside the cabinet, which is cooled by a refrigerating unit. The refrigerating unit can be of any suitable kind, for example an apparatus using a vapour compression cycle. The refrigerating unit can be operable to cool the cool compartment to any desired temperature. Desired temperatures can range from only slightly below room temperature, for example 20 C°, to close to or even below O C°. The refrigerating unit can further include one or several fans for circulating cold air inside the cabinet or for enhancing the heat dissipation outside the cabinet.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the refrigerating unit comprises at least one Peltier element. This is advantageous in that the operation thereof is silent, which is suitable when the refrigerator is placed in for example a living room.
According to the invention, the refrigerator includes a single support structure arranged in the cool compartment, which support structure is designed to support several bottles.
According to the invention, the support structure can comprise any suitable means for supporting bottles, such as shelves, racks, stands and/or recesses. The support structure can comprise several discrete details or constitute an integral unit. The support structure according to the invention is single in the sense that there is only one support structure in the cool compartment supporting only one storage layer.
Within this application, a standard bottle of sparkling wine is used as a reference, these kinds of bottle being slightly larger than a standard 75 cl bottle of wine.
The support structure is constructed such that the bottles are oriented in one common storage layer when supported by the support structure inside the cool compartment of the cabinet. In other words, the longitudinal centrelines of the bottles are oriented substantially in parallel such that one common storage layer is formed. The bottles can be stored lying, standing upright or upside down, or in any other angle there between. The bottles can be arranged in rows and/or columns, however, in substantially a single layer only. Thus, the bottles can be arranged overlapping to some extent. It is also within the invention to arrange the bottles such that their centre lines deviate a few degrees from being parallel with a central plane of the storage layer. However, the storage layer has a substantially planar extension. The maximal thickness of the storage layer is less than twice the diameter of a bottle.
According to the invention, the support structure is designed such that the substantially planar storage layer is housed inside and substantially in parallel with the substantially planar cabinet.
According to the invention, the refrigerator is mountable at a wall. Due to the planar configuration of the cabinet and the storage layer, these will be substantially in parallel with the wall if the refrigerator is mounted at a straight wall. This definition is intended to encompass also a slightly tilting mounting of the refrigerator, for example such that the lower edge of the refrigerator is further away from the wall than the upper edge. However, the storage layer should not tilt more than 30° and preferably not more than 10° from the wall.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the support structure is designed such that the bottles are oriented in substantially a single, common plane only, i.e. the bottles do not overlap each other or tilt inwards or outwards with respect to the storage layer.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the storage layer is standing substantially vertically upright and when the refrigerator is operating.
According to an embodiment, the refrigerator comprises fastening means for being mounted hanging on a wall. This is advantageous in that the refrigerator will consume no floor space at all and can be regarded on as a flat screen or a painting.
According to another embodiment, the refrigerator comprises a stand for supporting it on the floor, preferably at a wall.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the refrigerator is mounted in a wall and supported by the wall itself.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the refrigerator is a self-contained and stationary unit. Thus, it is kept in a home similarly to other larger household appliances or pieces of furniture and is normally not carried around. The refrigerator can be mains supplied. According to an embodiment, the cool compartment of the refrigerator is isolated and sealable.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the refrigerator is provided with means for facilitating insertion of bottles into and removal of bottles from the cool compartment. According to an embodiment of the invention this is achieved in that the support structure is slidably arranged between a cooling position inside the cool compartment and an access position at least partly outside the cool compartment. According to another embodiment, carrier elements for carrying one or several bottles, are, independently from each other, slidably arranged between a cooling position inside the cool compartment and an access position at least partly outside the cool compartment. In these embodiments the bottles are especially easily accessible.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the sliding operation of the support structure 5 is powered, for example by an electric motor.
According to another embodiment, the cool compartment is provided with an access opening, which is closable by a movable arranged front wall of the cabinet. This is advantageous in that the access opening can be made large for easy access and yet be closed in an elegant looking and sealed manner. Furthermore, the energy consumption for maintaining the desired temperature in the cool compartment is less with a closed and preferably sealed access opening. According to an embodiment of the invention, the front wall is slidably arranged. This is advantageous with respect to the required space for opening the cool compartment of the refrigerator.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the front wall of the cabinet is transparent, such that the inside of the cool cabinet is visible from outside the refrigerator. Thereby, at least some of the bottles stored in the refrigerator are visible from outside of the refrigerator.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the front wall is exchangeable, wherein the refrigerator will more easily fit into different home environments or is easily adaptable to, for example, the present fashion.
The refrigerator according to any embodiment of the present invention may comprise functions such as interior lighting, exterior lighting and selectable temperature regulations. Various temperature regulation settings may be provided in order to fulfill the conditions required by the type of beverage bottles placed inside the refrigerator. Similarly, various levels of illumination may be provided for interior and/or exterior lighting. The number of settings and functions varies in accordance with the final application. The types of beverage could be Champagne, white wine, rosé wine or red wine. Such a refrigerator would then be provided with at least four different temperature regulation settings as these four types of beverage bottles are better stored at different temperatures.
In order to activate these functions, a user interface comprising touch-sensitive selectors can be used. The user interface is provided at one of the walls of the refrigerator cabinet, preferably at the outer surface of one of these walls.
The user interface looks like a conventional planar surface when no power is provided to the refrigerator, i.e. that no selector (no button) is displayed on the refrigerator cabinet. The user interface is then discreet, i.e. unnoticeable. If some power is provided to the refrigerator, at least one of the selectors, preferably a power selector (ON/OFF button), will be revealed and displayed at a low intensity at the wall of the refrigerator cabinet. The selector would preferably display a motif or graphical element representing a function associated with the selector. As long as the illuminated power selector is not pressed, the other selectors still remain invisible. This condition is referred to as the stand-by mode in the following.
Once the illuminated power selector is activated, the other selectors shall also emit light and reveal motifs or graphical elements, each motif or graphical element representing a particular function associated with a selector.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention may be performed in many various ways, and by way of example only, an embodiment thereof will now be described in detail with reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective X-ray view of a first embodiment of a refrigerator according to the invention, where the support structure is shown supporting bottles inside the cool compartment;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the refrigerator according to the invention, where a support structure is shown in a position partly outside a cool compartment;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the refrigerator according to the invention, where a support structure is shown in a position partly outside a cool compartment;
Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the first embodiment of the refrigerator according to the invention;
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the refrigerator according to the invention, where independently slidably arranged carrier elements are shown;
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the refrigerator according to the invention, where a slidably arranged front wall is shown;
Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a fifth embodiment of the refrigerator according to the invention, where a split and slidably arranged front wall is shown;
Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a sixth embodiment of the refrigerator according to the invention, where a pivotably arranged front wall is shown;
Fig. 9 shows a user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the user interface may be employed in combination with the refrigerator as defined in any one of appended claims 1-17.
Fig. 10 shows an exploded cross-sectional view of a selector of the user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

In Fig. 1, 2 and 4, a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown. The refrigerator according to this embodiment is a wine cooler for cooling wine bottles 1. The refrigerator comprises a cabinet 2, which has the form of a slab with generally planar extension. The cabinet 2 is shaped as a shallow rectangular block.
A cool compartment 3 is arranged inside the cabinet 2. The cool compartment has walls on all sides, wherein the back wall 4 is of a heat conducting material, in this case metal. The metal back wall 4 advantageously extends over a large surface of the back of the cool compartment 3. The cool compartment 3 is cooled by a refrigerating unit which includes two Peltier elements (not shown). The Peltier elements are coupled to the metal back wall 4 such that the cool compartment 3 is cooled thereby. The cool compartment 3 is isolated and closable in a sealing manner.
A single support structure 5 is arranged inside the cool compartment 3. In this embodiment, the support structure 5 is one unit comprising a frame element and several carrier elements in the form of wire shelves 6.
The shelves 6 are releasable mounted on the frame element and can be poisoned at different heights. When the shelves 6 are mounted as shown in Fig. 4, wine bottles 1 can be arranged lying in one column. When the shelves 6 are mounted as shown in Fig. 1, there is room for wine bottles 1 standing in one row on a bottom part of the frame element and one column of lying bottles 1 above this row of standing bottles. The support structure supports the wine bottles 1 in a common storage layer, wherein all bottles are oriented in one common, vertical plane.
When a bottle 1 is placed on a shelve 6, the bottle 1 extends over the wires that are located below the lying bottle 1. Thus, the shelf 6 is substantially hidden by the bottle 1 such that the bottle 1 seems to be floating.
The frame element of the support structure 5 is slidably arranged in the cabinet 2 by means of a telescopic rail 7, which is schematically indicated in Fig. 4. The stationary rail of the telescopic rail 7 is mounted in the cabinet 2 and the running rail of the telescopic rail 7 is mounted on the frame element (not shown). Furthermore, the telescopic rail is provided with a stop (not shown) such that the running rail can not be protracted over a certain length. This length is chosen with respect to the maximum weight of a fully loaded refrigerator. The telescopic rail 7 is preferably arranged hidden behind the frame element at a top end thereof. Finally, the frame element is provided with a handle portion 8.
The front wall of the cabinet comprises a transparent, insulated double glass wall 9. The glass wall 9 is covered with a patterned, at least semi-transparent cover of acrylic 10. This cover is releasable affixed to the glass wall 9 such that the cover can be easily exchanged in accordance to the preferences of the user. The cover is provided with light protecting film. Consequently, the interior of the cabinet 2 is visible from outside the refrigerator, while at the same time any stored bottles are protected from light which could be harmful to the wine.
The back wall of the cabinet includes a back cover 11. The back cover 11 is provided with an opening for housing a heat sink 12. The heat sink 12 is isolated from the cool metallic back wall 4 of the cool compartment 3 and is coupled to the hot side of the Peltier element (not shown).
Finally, the refrigerator according to the described embodiment comprises a fastening device for mounting it hanging on a wall. When the refrigerator is mounted on a wall, any bottles 1 supported by the support structure 5 will be arranged in a common vertical plane which is oriented in parallel with the wall.
A refrigerator according to the invention can be opened by pulling the handle 8 such the support structure 5 is slid out of the cool cabinet 3 by relative motion of the rails of the telescopic rail 7. If the refrigerator is mounted on a wall, the sliding direction of the support structure will be horizontal and in parallel with the wall. When the support structure is in its maximally protracted position, bottles 1 can easily be removed from or placed on the shelves 6. Thereafter, the support structure 5 can be pushed back into the cabinet 2 and the cool compartment 3 for continued cooling of any supported bottles 1.
In Fig. 3, a second embodiment of the invention is shown, which differs from the described first embodiment in that the sliding direction of the support structure 5, when the refrigerator is mounted on a wall, is vertical and parallel with the wall.
In Fig. 5, a third embodiment of the invention is shown, which differs from the described first embodiment in that the support structure 5 comprises several discrete element in form of shelves 6. The shelves 6 are, independently of each other, slidably arranged in the cabinet 2. Thereby, bottles can be removed or inserted separately. When the refrigerator is mounted on a wall, the sliding direction of the shelves is horizontal and parallel with the wall.
In fig. 6, a fourth embodiment of the invention is shown, which differs from the described first embodiment in that the support structure 5 is arranged stationary inside the cabinet 2. The cool compartment 3 is accessible for insertion and removal of bottles by a slidably mounted front wall 9, 10. However, the front wall 9, 10 comprises a glass wall 9 and a cover 10 with the same construction as in the first embodiment. When the refrigerator is mounted on a wall, the sliding direction of the front wall 9, 10 is horizontal and parallel with the wall.
In Fig. 7 a fifth embodiment of the present invention is shown, which differs from the described fourth embodiment in that the front wall comprises two parts 9', 10' 9", 10", respectively, which are slidably arranged in opposed directions.
In Fig. 8 a sixth embodiment of the present invention is shown, which differs from the described fifth embodiment in that the front wall is pivotably arranged at the cabinet 2.
Fig. 9 shows an embodiment of the user interface of the present invention. In this embodiment, the user interface 9 comprises selectors 901-911 arranged along a vertical line. The power selector 901 is positioned at the top and the selectors 902-911 for temperature settings and illumination levels are positioned below the power selector 901. It is to be understood that the selectors 901-911 may be arranged in any other order along such a vertical line and that the selectors 901-911 may be arranged in any other pattern adapted to fit one of the walls of the refrigerator cabinet. The selectors 901-911 may also be spread over several walls but, for convenience purposes, all of the selectors 901-911 are preferably arranged at a similar wall.
Fig. 10 shows an exploded cross-sectional view of one of the selectors of the user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch-sensitive selector 10 comprises a touch-sensitive member 101, at least one light emitting diode (LED) 102 and a printed circuit board (PCB) 103. The PCB 103 is arranged at a wall 104 of the refrigerator cabinet. The touch-sensitive member 101 is connected to the PCB 103, and arranged between the PCB 103 and the outer surface of the wall 104, such that it can sense touches on the outer surface of the wall 104 and such that any sensed touch causes the PCB 103 to output a signal for activation of other selectors or for activation of a function. The LED 102 is connected to the PCB 103 and is arranged between the PCB 103 and the touch-sensitive member 101.
In a particular embodiment, the touch-sensitive members 101 may be capacitive sensors. Further, each of the touch-sensitive members 101 may be arranged to let the light emitted from the LED 102 passing through it.
The PCB 103, the touch-sensitive member 101 and the LED 102 are preferably arranged inside a wall of the refrigerator cabinet.
In a particular embodiment, the outer surface of the cabinet wall 104 is made of an assembly comprising an acrylic front cover or white backprint 106 against which a mask 105 defining a window is applied. The light emitted by the LED is then emitted from this window. As an alternative, the mask 105 may be a backprint light mask of black colour, which may be obtained by spraying a dark grey or black colour on the inside of the assembly, thus enabling the inner structure of the selectors, i.e. the touch-sensitive member 101, the LED 102 and the PCB 103, to be hidden. A technique called in-mould film can be used to produce such an assembly. The resulting outer surface of the wall provides a solid touch feeling and acts as a touch screen when the user interface is activated.
In a particular embodiment, the LED 102 preferably is a white LED. In addition to their small size, one of the advantages of LEDs is that their intensity can easily be regulated. Thus, the selectors can fade in or out on the user interface.
In the following, referring again to Fig. 9, the operation principle of the user interface is described in more detail. In stand-by mode, the power selector 901 emits light at a low intensity and the other selectors 902-911 do not emit any light, thus remaining hidden. When the power selector 901 is pressed, the other selectors 902-911 will emit light at a high intensity and therefore become apparent to the user. If one of the illuminated selectors 902-911 is pressed by a user, for instance selector 902, this selector 902 will continue to emit light at a high intensity while the intensity of the light emitted from the LEDs of the other selectors 903-911 will fade out smoothly to a low intensity, thereby indicating what selection has been made on the user interface. In the present example, the user interface will indicate that selector 902 has been selected and the function associated with selector 902 will be implemented. Thus, the PCB 103 will output a signal enabling the regulation of a refrigerator temperature suitable for Champagne, which is the beverage associated with the symbol used for the selector 902.
As an alternative, starting from the stand-by mode, only some of the selectors 906-911 may emit light when the power selector is pressed by a user. This is advantageous if the selectors 906-908 and 909-911 can be regrouped by e.g. a type of function. In an embodiment, the user interface is provided with a selector 906 whose motif represents a "lighting" function, e.g. a lamp, and two other selectors 907 and 908 whose motifs represent a first and a second level of illumination, respectively. Similarly, the user interface may be provided with a selector 909 whose motif represents a "temperature" function, e.g. a thermometer, and two other selectors 910 and 911 whose motifs represent first and second temperature settings, respectively. Starting from the stand-by mode, if the power selector 901 is pressed, then the "lighting" selector 906 and the "temperature" selector 909 only would emit light, the other selectors 907, 908, 910 and 911 remaining hidden. Then, if e.g. the "lighting" selector 906 is selected, the two corresponding selectors 907 and 908 for first and second illumination levels would appear on the user interface so that the user can select the illumination level of her choice. In other words, the two initially hidden selectors 907 and 908 for selection of the illumination levels are revealed on the user interface. Similarly, if e.g. the "temperature" selector 909 is selected, the two selectors 910 and 911 for first and second temperature settings would appear on the user interface so that the user can select the temperature of her choice. In other words, the two initially hidden selectors 910 and 911 for selection of the temperature settings are revealed on the user interface. The user can then activate a desired function (or regulation) by pressing one of the illuminated selectors.
The user interface of the present invention is not only limited to refrigerators but is also applicable to any other household appliances such as ovens, microwave ovens, cookers, dish-washing machines, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and any other similar products.

Claims

A refrigerator for cooling beverage bottles, such as a wine cooler, which refrigerator is mountable at a wall, comprising
a cabinet, which has the shape of a slab with a generally planar extension,

a cool compartment, which is arranged inside the cabinet,

a refrigerating unit, which is arranged to cool the cool compartment,

a single support structure for supporting several bottles, which support structure is arranged in the cool compartment, wherein

the support structure is designed to support several bottles such that the bottles are oriented in a single, common storage layer, wherein the storage layer is substantially parallel with the planar extension of the cabinet, whereby

the cabinet and the storage layer, when the refrigerator is mounted along a straight wall, are at least substantially in parallel with the wall.
The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the support structure is designed to support several bottles such that the bottles are oriented in the storage layer without overlapping each other in a transverse direction of the storage layer.
The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the thickness of the cool compartment is less than 180 cm, and preferably less than 115 cm.
The refrigerator according to any of the claims 1 - 3, wherein the support structure comprises a preferably rectangular frame element, which encircles the storage layer along the edges thereof, and carrier elements for carrying bottles, which are arranged at the frame element.
The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the carrier elements are designed such that, when they carry a bottle substantially only the bottle is visible.
The refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein the carrier elements comprises a transparent, non-coloured shelf or a thin wire shelf.
The refrigerator according to any of the claims 4 or 6, wherein the carrier elements, independently from each other, are slidably arranged between a cooling position inside the cool compartment and an access position at least partly outside the cool compartment.
The refrigerator according to any of the claims 1 - 7, wherein the support structure is slidably arranged between a cooling position inside the cool compartment and an access position at least partly outside the cool compartment.
The refrigerator according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the sliding motion takes place in a direction, which direction, when the refrigerator is mounted along a straight wall, is horizontal and substantially parallel with the wall.
The refrigerator according to any of the claims 1-9, wherein the cabinet comprises a front wall which is at least semi-transparent such that the inside of the cool compartment is visible from outside the refrigerator.
The refrigerator according to claim 10, wherein the at least semi-transparent front wall is provided with a light protecting means, for example a film or a colouring.
The refrigerator according to any of the claims 1-11, wherein the cabinet comprises a front wall, the front wall is movable arranged, the cool compartment comprises an access opening for enabling insertion and removal of bottles, and wherein the access opening is closable by the front wall.
The refrigerator according to claim 12, wherein the front wall is slidably arranged.
The refrigerator according to any of the claims 1 - 13, wherein the refrigerating unit comprises at least one Peltier element.
The refrigerator according to any of the claims 1 - 14, wherein the refrigerator is a self-contained, stationary and mains supplied unit.
The refrigerator according to any of the claims 1 - 15, further comprising a fastening device for hanging the refrigerator on a wall.
The refrigerator according to any of the claims 1 - 16, further comprising a stand for holding the refrigerator in a substantially vertical position.
A user interface comprising a plurality of selectors arranged at a wall of a household appliance, such as a refrigerator, for activation of functions of said household appliance, wherein each of the selectors comprises:
a touch sensitive member arranged under the outer surface of said wall for sensing a touch on the outer surface of said wall;

a printed circuit board connected to said touch sensitive member and arranged at said wall, wherein the touch sensitive member is located between the printed circuit board and the outer surface of the wall, for generating at least one output signal in response to the sensed touch; and

at least one light emitting diode electrically connected to said printed circuit board, and arranged between said printed circuit board and said touch-sensitive member, for illuminating, in response to said output signal, a motif arranged at said wall,
wherein the user interface remains discreet when no power is supplied to the household appliance.
The user interface as defined in claim 18, wherein said touch-sensitive element is a capacitive sensor.
The user interface as defined in claim 18 or 19, wherein the motif is formed at the inner surface of the wall for displaying an image of the motif at the outer surface of the wall.
The user interface as defined in any one of claims 18-20, wherein the function to be activated is one of the group comprised of the control of the temperature in the household appliance and the control of the illumination in the household appliance.
The user interface as defined in any one of claims 18-21, wherein one of the selectors is a power selector for illumination of some of the other selectors in response to an output signal corresponding to a sensed touch on said power selector.