JP2001317860A - Inventory controller for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inventory controller for refrigerators which can detect the residence time of foods and obtain the consumption time or quality maintaining time from the movement of the foods. SOLUTION: The inventory controller comprises racks for mounting foods, food detector having a touch panel provided at the top of the rack for detecting the existence of the food, time counter disposed on the touch panel for counting the residence time of the food, reset unit for resetting the time counter by detecting the movement of the food put on the food detector, and display for displaying the residence time of the food with the count provided by the time counter.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator for managing inventory.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the advance of computerization of home appliances, an operation panel and the like for displaying a temperature in a refrigerator and manually inputting a food name in advance have been mounted.

[0003] In the computerization of such home appliances, it is difficult to manage the stock of food, and it has not been possible to implement much labor, such as manually inputting a food name in advance or inputting a bar code.

[0004] Such conventional inventory management is as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-39882.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional refrigerator.
Conventional inventory management will be described with reference to a schematic perspective view of foods to be stored in a refrigerator in FIG.

In FIG. 8, 1 is a refrigerator room, 2 is a freezing room, 3 is a bottle room, 4 is an ice making room, 5 is a door, and 6 is an image scanner provided near the center of rotation behind the door 5. ,
7 is an information display device provided on the front side of the door of the ice making room 4;
Is a fresh food, 9 is an information display section provided on the fresh food 8, and the information display section 9 has food information, ie, food name, weight,
The date of manufacture is displayed in printed characters.

[0007] That is, each time the fresh food 8 is put in or taken out, the information on the information display section 9 is read by the image scanner 6 and the information is displayed on the information display device 7 to perform inventory management.

[0008]

However, in the above-described configuration, every time freshly purchased fresh food is taken in and out of the refrigerator, it must pass through the vicinity of the image scanner, and all the food information of the fresh food is input. You have to check if it is output.

[0009] In addition, the food which has been used once, and the remaining food is usually removed by removing the information display part of the food, wrapping it in a wrap, a tapper, etc., storing it, and then storing it again in the refrigerator. Cannot input or output information.

[0010] Food information such as fresh food at home is information for which the expiration date or the shelf life is important, and the sense changes depending on the food or individual. It is very troublesome to manage by weight and date of manufacture.

[0011]

In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a shelf provided in a refrigerator for loading food,
A food detection device that detects the presence or absence of food from a touch panel provided on the upper part of the shelf, a period counting device that counts a stay period of the food placed on the food detection device, and a food detection device that is placed on the food detection device A reset device that detects that the food has moved and resets the period counting device;
A display device is provided for displaying the stay period of the food from the count value of the period counting device.

[0012] Further, a shelf for food prepared for each expiration date or shelf life of food is stored on the shelf, and a term storage for storing a predetermined expiration date or shelf life of food for each shelf on the display device. From the apparatus, the period counting device and the expiration date storage device, a remaining period expiration date for each food, or a remaining period counting device that counts the quality preservation period, the food shelf, the expiration date, or setting the quality retention period Is switched from a period setting switching device.

[0013] With this arrangement, shelves in the refrigerator are provided with separate shelves according to the expiration date or the shelf life, and the presence or absence of food is detected for each food shelf, the period is counted, and the food is moved. If so, reset the count to detect how long the food has been left on the shelf and indicate the presence of expired or shelf-life food and alert the user. Can be.

Further, since there is a shelf for each expiration date or quality retention period, when storing in a refrigerator, the expiration date or quality retention period can be naturally selected according to the sense of the individual. Inventory management can be realized rationally.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is a food detection device for detecting the presence or absence of food from a shelf provided in a refrigerator for placing food thereon and a touch panel provided on the upper portion of the shelf. A device, a period counting device that counts a stay period of the food placed on the food detection device, and a reset that detects that the food placed on the food detection device has moved, and resets the period counting device. The device, from the count value of the period counting device, by comprising a display device for displaying the stay period of food, it is possible to detect the stay period of the food, from the movement of the food, the expiration date,
Alternatively, it has the effect of being able to ascertain the quality retention period.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a shelf for food prepared for each expiration date or shelf life of food and a shelf life or shelf life of predetermined shelf for food are stored. From the expiration date storage device, the period counting device and the expiration date storage device, the remaining expiration date for each food item, the remaining expiration date for each food item, or the remaining quality preservation date period can be displayed, and a warning is given to the user. It has the effect of being able to.

In the invention according to a third aspect of the present invention, the food-specific shelves are constituted by a period setting switching device capable of switching the setting of the expiration date or the quality keeping period. It is possible to change the configuration of the separate shelves so as to match the actual usage of the user, and has the effect of improving usability.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

When the same configuration and parts are used as in the prior art, the same reference numerals are given and the detailed description is omitted. (Embodiment 1) In FIG.
Reference numeral 2 denotes a display device.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a shelf on which food is placed. On the shelf 10, a position in the X- and Y-axis directions is detected, and positional information (X, Y) of the food is detected by a food detecting device 13; To the touch panel 14.

Further, on the touch panel 14, there are a food A15 which has been present and a food B16 which has been present before.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to the first and second aspects of the present invention.

When there is a food output from the food detecting device 13, the period counting device 17 counts the period of staying of the food, and when the food is no longer present, the count of the period counting device 17 is reset. A reset device 18, a pre-stored expiration date or preservation date of food, and a expiration date storage device 19 for obtaining a difference between the count value of the period counting device 17, and a display of the result to warn the user. It comprises a display device 12.

FIG. 4 shows the term storage devices 19, 19a, 19
B, 19c, and 19d constitute a food-specific shelf.

The expiration date storage device 19 is a food-specific shelf 20 for foods whose expiration date or quality retention date is “3 to 4 days”.

The expiration date storage device 19a is a food-specific shelf 20a for foods whose expiration date or quality retention date is "7 days".

The expiration date storage device 19b is a food-specific shelf 20b for foods whose expiration date or quality retention date is "1 to 2 weeks".

The expiration date storage device 19c is a food-specific shelf 20c for foods whose consumption expiration date or quality retention expiration date is “long”.

Next, in FIG. 5, the term storage devices 19 to 19d
In the case where food is put on the foodstuff, it shows an example of a specific foodstuff.

The expiration date or the quality preservation date does not need to be caught so much because there is a difference in sense between individuals.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In Step 1, a plurality of position coordinates (X, Y) of the food A15 are detected from the touch panel 14,
The food detection device 13 determines the presence or absence of the food A15,
If es, move to Step2; if No, move to Step3.

In Step 2, when there is a food, the stay period of the shelf 10 is counted by the period counting device 17, and the count value is output to the term storage device 19.

In Step 3, when the food A15 is taken out of the food separate shelves 20 at least once and becomes present as in the food B16, the period counting device 17
The count value being counted is reset to zero by the reset device 18.

In Step 4, a predetermined period value is calculated from the count value of the period counting device 17, which is a count of the stay period, by the period value of the period storage device (in this case, 3 to 4 days. .5 days) is subtracted from the count difference value.

In Step 5, if the count difference value calculated by the term storage device 19 is ">0", it is determined that the consumption term or the quality keeping term has passed, and the process moves to Step 3.

If "<0", it is determined that the expiration date or the quality preservation period is in progress, and the process moves to Step 1.

In Step 6, since it is determined that there is a food on the shelf that has passed the expiration date or the shelf life,
The contents are displayed on the display device 12 using characters, lamps, etc.
A warning is displayed to the user, and the process ends.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the food separate shelves 20 are distinguished by a predetermined period value set in the period storage device 19, so that the expiration date of the food or the shelf life is used. Judge for the sense of the person, shelf 2 for each food
0, 20a, 20b, and 20c.

With such a configuration and operation, shelves in the refrigerator are provided with different food shelves according to the expiration date or the shelf life, and the presence or absence of food is detected for each of the different food shelves. By counting and resetting the count if the food has moved, it can detect how long the food has been left on its shelf and indicate the presence of expired or shelf-life food,
The user can be warned.

Further, since there is a shelf for each expiration date or quality retention period, when storing in a refrigerator, the expiration date or quality retention period can be naturally selected according to the sense of the individual. Inventory management can be realized rationally.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 7 is a structural view of a shelf of the refrigerator compartment 1 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The term storage devices 19, 19a, 19 in FIG.
Expiration date setting switching devices 21, 21 a, 21 b, 2, which can switch a predetermined expiration value, which is a consumption expiration date or a quality retention expiration date, with a switch or the like instead of b and 19 c.
1c.

Therefore, the configuration of the food-specific shelves can be changed so as to match the actual use situation of the user, and the usability is greatly improved.

That is, the shelf in the refrigerator is provided with a shelf for each food according to the expiration date or the shelf life, and the presence or absence of food is detected for each shelf for each food, and the period is counted.
By resetting the count if food has moved, it can detect how long the food has been left on its shelf and indicate the presence of expired or shelf-life food, and inform the user. Can warn.

Further, since there is a shelf for each expiration date or quality preservation date, when storing in a refrigerator, the expiration date or quality preservation date can be naturally selected according to the sense of the individual. Inventory management can be realized rationally.

In addition, it is possible to provide a refrigerator inventory detecting device that can change the configuration of the food-specific shelves so that the food-specific shelves match the actual use of the user, and can greatly improve the usability.

[0047]

As described above, according to the refrigerator inventory management device of the present invention, it is possible to detect the presence / absence of food from a shelf provided in a refrigerator for placing food and a touch panel provided on the upper part of the shelf. A detecting device, a period counting device that counts the stay period of the food placed on the food detecting device, and detecting that the food placed on the food detecting device has moved, and resets the period counting device. It is composed of a reset device and a display device for displaying the stay period of food based on the count value of the period counting device.

Further, a shelf for food prepared for each expiration date or shelf life of food, a shelf life storage device for storing the expiration date or shelf life of predetermined shelf for food, and the period counting device. It is composed of the term storage device.

Since the shelf for each food is constituted by a period setting switching device which can switch the setting of the expiration date or the shelf life, the shelf in the refrigerator can be stored in the shelf by the expiration date or the shelf life. Provide shelves, detect the presence / absence of food for each food-specific shelf, count the period,
By resetting the count if food has moved, it can detect how long the food has been left on its shelf and indicate the presence of expired or shelf-life food, and inform the user. Can warn.

Further, since there is a shelf for each expiration date or quality preservation date, when storing in a refrigerator, the expiration date or quality preservation date can be naturally selected according to the sense of the individual. Inventory management can be realized rationally.

In addition, it is possible to provide a refrigerator inventory detecting device that can change the configuration of the food-specific shelves so that the food-specific shelves match the actual use of the user, and can greatly improve the usability. The user interface can be managed and alerted without changing the daily usage of the user at all, without having to be aware of the food name, for the expiration date or shelf life that the user originally wants to know. A friendly inventory control device can be provided.

In the present invention, the presence / absence of food is detected by the touch panel. However, the present invention can also be realized by arranging pressure, weight sensors, image sensors and the like for each food and each shelf.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a shelf according to claims 1 and 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to claims 1 and 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a food separate shelf according to claims 1 and 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example displayed on the display device according to claim 1 or 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation according to claims 1 and 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a shelf of the refrigerator compartment 1 according to claim 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of a refrigerator according to the related art.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of a food to be stored in a refrigerator according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator room 2 Freezer room 3 Bottle room 4 Ice making room 5 Door 8 Fresh food 9 Information display part 10 Shelf 11 Shelf 12 Display device 13 Food detection device 14 Touch panel 15 Food A 16 Food B 17 Period counter 18 Reset device 19 Term storage Device 19a expiration date storage device 19b expiration date storage device 19c expiration date storage device 20 food-specific shelves 20a food-specific shelves 20b food-specific shelves 20c food-specific shelves 21 expiration-time setting switching device 21a expiration-time setting switching device 21b expiration-time setting switching device 21c expiration-time setting switching device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shinji Okamoto 4-5-2-5 Takaidahondori, Higashiosaka-shi, Osaka Inside Matsushita Refrigerating Machinery Co., Ltd. (72) Yasuhiro Tsujii 4-chome Takaidamotodori, Higashiosaka-shi, Osaka No. 2 Matsushita Refrigeration Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshiaki Mamemoto 4-5-2 Takaida Hondori, Higashi-Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture No. 2 Matsushita Refrigeration Machine Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Jin Oishi Takaida, Higashi-Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Refrigerating Machinery Co., Ltd. 4-5-2, Hondori (72) Miwa Takayama, Inventor 1006 Ojidoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomoaki Iruji Takaidamoto, Higashi-Osaka-shi, Osaka Matsushita Refrigeration Machine Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A shelf provided in a refrigerator for placing food thereon,
A food detection device that detects the presence or absence of food from a touch panel provided on the upper part of the shelf, a period counting device that counts a stay period of the food placed on the food detection device, and a food detection device that is placed on the food detection device A reset device that detects that the food has moved and resets the period counting device;
An inventory management device for a refrigerator, comprising a display device for displaying a stay period of food from a count value of the period counting device. 2. A shelf for food, prepared for each expiration date or shelf life of food, a shelf life storage device for storing a shelf life or shelf life of a predetermined food shelf, a period counting device, An inventory management device for a refrigerator, comprising: a remaining period counting device that counts a remaining expiration date or a quality keeping period for each food from the expiration date storage device. 3. An inventory control device for a refrigerator, comprising a period setting switching device for switching a setting of a consumption expiration date or a quality retention expiration date on a separate shelf of food.