EP2682694B1 - Kühlschrank - Google Patents

Kühlschrank Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2682694B1
EP2682694B1 EP12752642.4A EP12752642A EP2682694B1 EP 2682694 B1 EP2682694 B1 EP 2682694B1 EP 12752642 A EP12752642 A EP 12752642A EP 2682694 B1 EP2682694 B1 EP 2682694B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
storage
light sensor
refrigerator
light
room
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EP12752642.4A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP2682694A1 (de
EP2682694A4 (de
Inventor
Kiyoshi Mori
Kenichi Kakita
Toyoshi Kamisako
Masashi Nakagawa
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Panasonic Corp
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Panasonic Corp
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    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D27/00—Lighting arrangements
    • F25D27/005—Lighting arrangements combined with control means
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D2700/00—Means for sensing or measuring; Sensors therefor
    • F25D2700/06—Sensors detecting the presence of a product

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a refrigerator that is provided with means for detecting a storage state of storage items in the refrigerator.
  • an indirect cooling system that circulates the cooling air in the refrigerator using a fan is generally used.
  • the internal temperature is maintained at an appropriate temperature.
  • a refrigerator provided with a movable cold air discharge device is known (for example, refer to PTL 1).
  • Fig. 26 is a front view illustrating an internal structure of refrigerating room 101 of refrigerator 500 in the related art.
  • movable cold air discharge device 102 in refrigerating room 101 supplies cold air to the right and left.
  • the internal temperature can be uniformly maintained.
  • the temperature is estimated by a thermistor inside.
  • PTL 2 discloses a refrigerator wherein the energy for illumination can be saved while the level of visibility is maintained.
  • the refrigerator is comprised of a refrigerating chamber having a door, an illuminator provided within the refrigerating chamber, an illuminance sensor for detecting the illumination intensity of the illuminator, and an adjusting portion which can adjust the amount of luminescence of the illuminator.
  • the adjusting portion adjusts the amount of luminescence so that the amount of luminescence decreases as the illumination intensity detected by the illuminance sensor increases.
  • PTL 3 describes an electric appliance comprising in particular an interior space which is separable from an outside environment and at least one radiation-emitting device arranged in the interior space for emitting electromagnetic radiation into the interior space.
  • PTL 4 describes a refrigerator provided with an illuminance detecting device for detecting the illuminance in the refrigerator and changing currents of light emitting diodes as well as a door opening and closing detecting means for detecting the opening and closing of the doors of a refrigerating room, wherein in closing the door of the refrigerating room, an illuminating device is lighted, and the currents of the light emitting diodes are changed by an illuminance detecting device to thereby adjust the inside of the refrigerating room to a predetermined illuminance.
  • PTL 5 describes a refrigerator having an illumination device in the refrigerator chamber and wherein respective zones in the refrigerator chamber are uniformly cooled, and a required zone alone is cooled as necessary to prevent waste of power and unfavorable effect on food.
  • the present invention is devised in view of problems in the related art described above, and provides a refrigerator as defined in claim 1, which is capable of cooling according to a storage state of storage items in the refrigerator.
  • a refrigerator in the present invention includes all the features of claim 1.
  • Fig. 1 is a front view of refrigerator 100 in an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 2 is a block diagram for the control of refrigerator 100.
  • Fig. 3A is a 3A-3A cross-sectional view of refrigerator 100 in Fig. 1 .
  • Fig. 3B is a front view of refrigerator 100 when refrigerating room door 12a of refrigerating room 12 is opened.
  • refrigerator 100 is configured to include refrigerator body 11.
  • Refrigerator body 11 is a heat insulating box body and is configured to include an outer box mainly using a steel plate, an inner box molded by resin such as ABS, and a heat insulating material injected between the outer box and the inner box.
  • refrigerator body 11 is divided into a plurality of storage rooms by heat insulating walls and heat insulating doors. Specifically, at the uppermost part of refrigerator body 11, refrigerating room 12 is disposed. In addition, at lower part of refrigerating room 12, ice making room 13 and temperature switching room 14 are provided side-by-side. At the lower part of ice making room 13 and temperature switching room 14, freezing room 15 is provided. At the lower part of freezing room 15 which is the lowermost part of refrigerator body 11, vegetables room 16 is disposed.
  • Refrigerating room door 12a is a heat insulating door of refrigerating room 12.
  • display unit 17 is disposed, that can perform the setting of internal temperature in each storage room, ice making and fast cooling and the like, and that displays a detection result of the storage state and an operating status of refrigerator 100.
  • refrigerator 100 includes internal lighting 20 that is a light source disposed inside of refrigerating room 12, light sensor 21 that detects the illumination light illuminated from the light source, calculation control unit 1 that performs the calculation process based on the detection result of light sensor 21.
  • Refrigerator 100 further includes blue LED 22a and 22b.
  • Calculation control unit 1 includes attenuation rate calculation unit 81 that calculates the attenuation rate from the reference storage room illuminance in a state that the storage items are stored, based on the reference storage room illuminance in a state that the storage items are not stored in refrigerating room 12 and the detected illuminance by light sensor 21, and storage state estimation unit 82 that estimates the storage amount of the storage items based on the calculation result of attenuation rate calculation unit 81.
  • Refrigerator 100 further includes door opening and closing detection sensor 3 which is a door opening and closing detection unit that detects the opening and closing of refrigerating room door 12a.
  • Internal lighting 20 includes top surface LEDs 20a and 20b, lighting LEDs 20c to 20f and lower side surface LEDs 20g and 20h.
  • Calculation control unit 1 further includes memory 2 and timer 4.
  • Light sensor 21 includes main light sensors 21a and 21c, and sub-light sensor 21b.
  • Refrigerator 100 includes cooling system 35.
  • Cooling system 35 includes compressor 30, cooling fan 31 and air amount control damper 32.
  • a plurality of internal storage shelves 18 are provided so that the foods which are storage items can be sorted and stored.
  • door storage shelves 19 are provided at the internal side surface of refrigerating room door 12a.
  • Internal storage shelves 18 and door storage shelves 19 are formed of material having a high transmittance of light such as glass or transparent resin.
  • the transmittance here is preferred to be equal to or higher than 50%, and if the transmittance is lower than 50%, there is a possibility that the accuracy of the storage state detection may be decreased because there may be a place where it is difficult for light to reach in the refrigerator. Practically, it is preferable to set the transmittance of internal storage shelves 18 and door storage shelves 19 being equal to or higher than 70%. The reason for this will be described below.
  • internal lightings 20 are provided near the door side (front side) than 1/2 (center) position in a depth direction in the refrigerator, seen from the front of the door opening side of refrigerator 100.
  • Internal lightings 20, as illustrated in Fig. 3B are provided on the top surface, left side wall surface and right side wall surface respectively.
  • a plurality of LEDs such as; top surface LED 20a and 20b on the top surface, lighting LEDs 20c to 20f on the right and left side wall surface, and lower side surface LEDs 20g and 20h, are used.
  • light having high luminosity is incident on light sensor 21. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the detection sensitivity of storage state by light sensor 21.
  • by sequentially lighting the plurality of LEDs provided on the different positions since the detected value of the light sensor 21 is changed by the storage state and the LEDs turned on, it is possible to estimate the storage state in more detail.
  • the LEDs of internal lightings 20 are provided on the position higher than the position of light sensor 21 in refrigerating room 12.
  • lighting LEDs 20c to 20f and lower side surface LED 20g are disposed in a vertical direction as illustrated in Fig. 3A and 3B . In this way, it is possible to evenly and entirely illuminate refrigerating room 12 which is longer in height direction than in a width direction.
  • main light sensors 21a and 21c and sub-light sensor 21b that are light sensors 21, are provided. In this way, it is possible to accurately detect the storage state of the storage items such as foods stored near the door where the influence of outside air flown in due to the opening and closing of the door is large, and possible to control so as to maintain an appropriate temperature in the refrigerator.
  • an illuminance sensor specifically a sensor which is most sensitive in a peak wavelength of 500 to 600 nm, is used in the present embodiment.
  • the light sensor may be most sensitive in another peak wavelength band. It is determined such that the light emission wavelength or the like of the light sources such as top surface LEDs 20a and 20b, lower side surface LEDs 20g and 20h, and blue LEDs 22a and 22b, can be detected.
  • top surface LED 20a and main light sensor 21c are disposed in the right section.
  • top surface LED 20b, main light sensor 21a and sub-light sensor 21b are disposed in the left section.
  • top surface LEDs 20a and 20b are disposed in the upper section.
  • Lower side surface LEDs 20g and 20h, main light sensors 21a and 21c, and sub-light sensor 21b are disposed in the lower section. In this way, LEDs and light sensors 21 that configure the storage state detection unit are disposed in the plurality of sections.
  • the detected illuminance at light sensor 21 is a detected illuminance of indirect illumination light, that includes reflection light from the wall surface and the storage items in refrigerating room 12.
  • Main light sensors 21a and 21c measure the illuminance in a state where the illumination light of top surface LEDs 20a and 20b, or lower side surface LEDs 20g and 20h repeats the reflection at the wall surface of refrigerating room 12 and the reflection and the attenuation at the storage items, and the brightness distribution in refrigerating room 12 is saturated.
  • Calculation control unit 1 using the measured value of main light sensors 21a and 21c, performs the calculation process and estimates the storage state of the storage items. In the present embodiment, as described above, by disposing the LEDs and light sensors 21 in the plurality of sections, it is possible to detect the storage state with a high accuracy regardless of the arrangement of the storage items.
  • Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating characteristics between the output current and detected illuminance at light sensor 21 that configures the storage state detection unit of refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 5 is a characteristics diagram illustrating relations between the storage rate and the detected illuminance at light sensor 21 for each reflection rate of the wall surface in same refrigerator 100.
  • Fig. 6 is a characteristics diagram illustrating relations between a storage rate and the detected illuminance at light sensor 21 for each transmittance on internal storage shelves 18 in refrigerator 100.
  • the illuminance of light sensor 21 can be output as a current value or a voltage value (hereinafter, description will be made with the current value, but can be replaced by the voltage value).
  • the inner box that configures the inner walls of refrigerating room 12 of refrigerator 100 is formed of vacuum molded white ABS resin, and reflection rate R of the inner wall surfaces in the refrigerator is equal to or higher than 0.5.
  • Reflection rate R is defined as a rate of reflecting light flux on a certain surface with respect to the incident light flux on the same surface, it can be said that the number is larger, it is more reflective.
  • the measuring is can be performed by a commercially buyable spectrophotometer. There is a measuring instrument by which transmittance T can be simultaneously measured as well as reflection rate R. In the Japanese Industrial Standards, the method of measuring and testing of reflection rate R is defined in JIS-K3106 and the like. Reflection rate R also can be estimated by the brightness measured using a luminance meter for the sample in which the reflection rate is already known (grey scale).
  • Transmittance T is a proportion of incident light having a specific wavelength passing through a test material, it can be said that the number is larger, it is easier to transmit.
  • transmittance T the method of measuring and testing of transmittance T is defined in JIS-K7361-1 and the like.
  • Internal storage shelves 18 disposed inside of refrigerating room 12 of refrigerator 100 are formed of polystyrene or glass, and door storage shelves 19 are formed of polystyrene. Then, transmittance T of internal storage shelves 18 and door storage shelves 19 are respectively equal to or higher than 70%. If the transmittance satisfies above-described relationship, the materials are not limited to the above described examples.
  • the detected illuminance at main light sensors 21a and 21c, and the output current value at that time have a linear relationship.
  • the output current value increases.
  • the output current value decreases.
  • the linear relationship with the output current is lost.
  • the output current value at this time at the storage state detection unit in the present embodiment is 0.1 ⁇ A.
  • the relationship between the illuminance and the output current value differs depending on the specification of the storage state detection unit.
  • the accuracy of the sensor which detects the illuminance deteriorates at the illuminance of lower than one Lux.
  • light sensor 21 assumed to be used in the present embodiment has a comparatively high performance, the lowest illuminance required is equal to or higher than 0.5 Lux.
  • calculation control unit 1 can improve the estimation accuracy of the storage rate.
  • the illuminance range in which the detected illuminance at light sensor 21 and the output current value do not have a linear relationship in estimating the storage state of the storage items it is possible to improve the estimation accuracy of the storage rate.
  • the detected illuminance at light sensor 21 is equal to or lower than the predetermined output value (0.5 Lux), it is also possible to use for fault diagnosis.
  • the output current value is 0.1 ⁇ A. That is, in the present embodiment, the minimum output current of main light sensors 21a and 21c is equal to or higher than 0.1 ⁇ A. As a result, based on the detected illuminance attenuation amount at main light sensors 21a and 21c from the view point of minimum output current, it is possible to improve the estimation accuracy of the storage state of the storage items.
  • the light amount that reaches main light sensors 21a and 21c depends upon reflection rate R of the wall surface having a wide area in the refrigerator.
  • the minimum illuminance at main light sensors 21a and 21c is required to be equal to or higher than 0.5 Lux. Accordingly, from the relation illustrated in Fig. 5 , it can be understood that the reflection rate R of the wall surface in the refrigerator being required to be equal to or higher than 0.5.
  • increasing the light amount from the light source can be considered.
  • the power consumption may increase or increase of the temperature in the refrigerator may occur due to the heat generation of the light source.
  • the user may feel dazzling when the light source is used both for lighting function and the detection of the storage state, and the visibility of the foods may deteriorate. Therefore, recklessly increasing the light amount may not be advantageous.
  • the LEDs in the light source are adjusted such that, when the illuminance is measured in a dark room in a state where the refrigerator is empty and refrigerating room door 12a is opened, the illuminance at the position where the illuminance is the lowest on internal storage shelf 18, is equal to or lower than 100 Lux.
  • the illuminance value equal to or lower than 100 Lux is a brightness seen by the user, and specifically is a value measured by a usual illuminance meter with a most sensitive axis of sensing unit thereof being installed in a direction horizontal to internal storage shelf 18 and in a direction toward refrigerating room door 12a side.
  • LEDs having luminosity equal to or lower than 20 candela per each LED are used in consideration of the thermal influence in the refrigerator.
  • refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment using a small quantity of LEDs and light sensors 21, the storage state in an entire space in refrigerating room 12 can be grasped in an analog manner. That is, not only the existence of the storage items but also the quantitative amount of the storage items can be grasped. That is, the configuration of refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment is suitable for detecting the entire amount of the storage items in the closed space.
  • top surface LEDs 20a and 20b, lighting LEDs 20c to 20f, lower side surface LEDs 20g and 20h, and main light sensors 21a and 21c are mounted on space ⁇ between internal storage shelf 18 and door storage shelf 19.
  • the possibility that the vicinity of light sensor 21 is blocked by foods is very low.
  • the possibility that the upper and lower space between the heat insulating door and front end of internal storage shelf 18 is blocked by the storage items is low.
  • the stable light path from the light source can be secured. Therefore, it is possible to accurately estimate the storage state of the storage items based on the detected illuminance attenuation amount at light sensor 21 due to the existence of the storage items on door storage shelf 19 and internal storage shelf 18.
  • Main light sensors 21a and 21b are installed on the front side of the vertical plane including the end portion of the front side of internal storage shelf 18, and the space between the vertical planes including the end portion of the back side of refrigerating room door 12a which is a heat insulating door. Further preferably, main light sensors 21a and 21b are installed on the part ⁇ that does not reach to door storage shelf 19, and that is the front side of the vertical plane including the end portion of the front side of internal storage shelf 18, and the space between the vertical plane including the end portion of the back side of refrigerating room door 12a which is a heat insulating door. In this way, since there is a space between internal storage shelf 18 and door storage shelf 19, it is possible to prevent main light sensors 21a and 21c that configure the storage state detection unit from being blocked by the storage items.
  • a cooling room that generates cooling air is provided.
  • a cooler and cooling fan 31 (refer to Fig. 2 ) that blows the cooling air which is cooling means cooled by the cooler, to refrigerating room 12, temperature switching room 14, ice making room 13, vegetable room 16 and freezing room 15.
  • Air amount control damper 32 (refer to Fig. 2 ) that controls air amount from cooling fan 31 is installed in the air path.
  • Calculation control unit 1 performs the temperature control for refrigerating room 12, with the non-freezing temperature as a lower limit (usually 1°C to 5°C) for refrigerated storage.
  • Calculation control unit 1 performs the temperature control for vegetable room 16, with setting the temperature similar to that of refrigerating room 12 or slightly higher temperature (for example, 2°C to 7°C).
  • Calculation control unit 1 sets the temperature for freezing room 15 to the freezing temperature zone (usually -22°C to -15°C). However, in order for the improvement of the frozen storage state, in some case, for example, it is set to a low temperature of -30°C or -25°C.
  • Ice making room 13 makes ice by an automatic icemaker provided on the upper part of the room using water supplied from a water storage tank in refrigerating room 12, and stores the ice in an ice storage container disposed on the lower part of the room.
  • Temperature switching room 14 besides the setting of temperature zone such as 1°C to 5°C (refrigerating), 2°C to 7°C (vegetables) and -22°C to -15°C (freezing), can switch the temperature to the predetermined temperature zone between the refrigerating temperature zone to the freezing temperature zone.
  • Temperature switching room 14 is a storage room provided in parallel with ice making room 13, and has an independent door, for example, a pull-out-type door.
  • temperature switching room 14 is a storage room capable of controlling the temperature zone including the refrigerating temperature zone to freezing temperature zone.
  • temperature switching room 14 is not limited to this configuration, and may be provided as a storage room which is specialized to switch the temperature zone between the refrigerating temperature zone and the freezing temperature zone by entrusting the refrigerating to refrigerating room 12 or vegetable room 16, and entrusting the freezing to freezing room 15 respectively.
  • temperature switching room 14 may be provided as a storage room that is set to a specific temperature zone, for example, the temperature zone fixed to the freezing temperature according to the fact that the demand for the frozen foods in recent years has been increased.
  • refrigerator 100 configured as described above.
  • the storage state of the storage items is detected using top surface LEDs 20a and 20b, and lower side surface LEDs 20g and 20h, among internal lightings 20.
  • the storage state is detected using main light sensor 21a and sub-light sensor 21b, among light sensors 21.
  • Fig. 7A and Fig. 7B are flow charts illustrating a control flow of an operation for detecting the storage state in refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining an operation for detecting the storage state using top surface LEDs 20a and 20b in same refrigerator 100.
  • Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating characteristics at the time of detecting the storage state using top surface LEDs 20a and 20b in same refrigerator 100.
  • Fig. 10 is a diagram for explaining an operation for detecting the storage state using lower side surface LED 20g in same refrigerator 100.
  • Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating characteristics at the time of detecting the storage state using a lower side surface LED 20g in same refrigerator 100.
  • Fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating average characteristics of the characteristics values illustrated in Fig. 9 and Fig. 11 in same refrigerator 100.
  • refrigerating room 12 usually the length in a height direction is longer than that in a width direction (vertically long shape).
  • the opening and closing of refrigerating room door 12a is detected by door opening and closing detection sensor 3 (S101).
  • calculation control unit 1 determines that there is a possibility that the storage items may be put-in or put-out, and starts the calculation process.
  • Calculation control unit 1 can also start the operation for detecting the storage state (operation for acquiring the basic data), after counting a predetermined time from the closing of refrigerating room door 12a by timer 4 (S102). In this case, calculation control unit 1 starts the controlling when the heat insulating door is detected to be closed by door opening and closing detection sensor 3, and after a predetermined time has passed.
  • step S102 the reason for counting the predetermined time period by timer 4 (reason for waiting for predetermined time period) will be described.
  • One reason is to prevent the influence on the detection of the storage state due to the minute dew condensation on the surface of internal storage shelf 18 and door storage shelf 19 where is in a low temperature, and change of the transmittance. That is, it is to detect the storage state when the dew condensation is cleared after the predetermined time period.
  • One more reason is to prevent the influence on the detection of the storage state due to the decrease of luminosity of LED caused by the heat generation of internal lighting 20 because when refrigerating room door 12a is opened, internal lighting 20 is turned on. That is, it is to detect the storage state after turning off the LED when the door is closed, and when the temperature increase is resolved after the predetermined time passes, then again turning on the LED.
  • to wait for the predetermined time is to stabilize the illuminance in the storage room.
  • Calculation control unit 1 when the operation for detecting the storage state is started, firstly turns on the light sources of top surface LEDs 20a and 20b disposed on top surface which is the upper section of refrigerator 100 (S103).
  • a case is assumed in which foods that are storage items 23a are stored on internal storage shelf 18, and storage items 23b are also stored on door storage shelf 19.
  • light 24a output from top surface LED 20a (component of light is illustrated in Fig. 8 as arrows.
  • a dotted line indicates that the luminosity is attenuated) is reflected at storage items 23a and attenuated, and diffuses to other direction as light 24b and 24c.
  • lights 24b and 24c repeat the reflection at the wall surface of refrigerating room 12 and other foods.
  • Light 24d reflected at storage items 23b on door storage shelf 19 is also attenuated, and diffuses to other direction as light 24e.
  • light 24e further repeats the reflection at the wall surface of refrigerating room 12 and other storage items such as foods. After the repeated reflection like this, the brightness distribution in refrigerating room 12 is saturated to be stabilized.
  • the illumination light of the LED is emitted with a predetermined illumination angle.
  • light 24a and 24d indicated by arrows in Fig. 8 are a part of component of light emitted from the LED.
  • the depiction of light is similar to this.
  • Optical axis of top surfaces LED 20a and 20b are forwarding the vertically downward direction, and the detecting direction of main light sensors 21a and 21c are forwarding the horizontal direction, thus, both are disposed so as not to face each other. As a result, most of the component of light generated from top surface LEDs 20a and 20b are not directly incident on main light sensors 21a and 21c but the light reflected at the wall surface and the storage items are incident on main light sensors 21a and 21c.
  • main light sensors 21a and 21c may be disposed on the position shifted from the optical axis of top surface LEDs 20a and 20b which are light sources. That is, since LEDs have high directivity, it is preferable to dispose main light sensors 21a and 21c on the position where the light from top surface LEDs 20a and 20b is not directly incident on, or to dispose so as not to be incident on.
  • Fig. 9 One example of storage state detection characteristics detected by main light sensor 21a at this time is illustrated in Fig. 9 .
  • Fig. 9 it can be seen that the illuminance decreases when the storage amount increases.
  • error CEA occurs between maximum value (when the storage items are biased downward) MACA and minimum value (when the storage items are biased upward) MICA.
  • Calculation control unit 1 stores the measured illuminance information in memory 2 as detection data A (S104).
  • the vertical axis of the graph represents "illuminance".
  • a relative value such as a "relative illuminance” or an "illuminance attenuation rate” with respect to the reference storage room illuminance when the storage items are not stored in the storage room, can also be used. That is, attenuation rate calculation unit 81 in the calculation control unit 1 calculates the attenuation rate from the reference storage room illuminance in a state where the storage items are stored, based on the reference storage room illuminance in a state where the storage items are not stored in the storage room and the detected illuminance at light sensor 21. In this case, it is easy to correspond to the luminosity variations or the like that is initial characteristics of LEDs'.
  • the vertical axis can also represent an "illuminance attenuation amount" with respect to the reference storage room illuminance when the storage items are not stored in the storage room.
  • a same concept will be used regarding the illuminance.
  • Top surface LEDs 20a and 20b can be controlled by calculation control unit 1 such that the detected illuminance at light sensor 21 in a state where the storage items are not stored in the storage room becomes a predetermined value.
  • the controlling of the illuminance of top surface LEDs 20a and 20b is performed before the user uses refrigerator 100. In this way, it is possible to absorb the illuminance variations of each individual top surface LEDs 20a and 20b.
  • the output value based on the detected illuminance at light sensor 21 is a current value or a voltage value, thus, the attenuation rate (%) is calculated by comparing the output values.
  • the relative data between the illuminance attenuation rate and the storage amount is experimentally acquired in advance for each different types in a capacity, the width, the height of refrigerator 100 to be stored in calculation control unit 1.
  • the detected illuminance of light sensor 21 is a read out value after a predetermined time (for example, two seconds) from the time when top surface LEDs 20a and 20b is turned on. An average time during top surface LEDs 20a and 20b is turned on may be the detected illuminance.
  • calculation control unit 1 After top surface LEDs 20a and 20b are turned off, turns on lower side surface LED 20g disposed on the wall surface in the lower side that is a lower section of refrigerator 100 (S105).
  • a case where storage items 23c and 23d (for example, foods) are stored on internal storage shelf 18 as illustrated in Fig. 10 is assumed.
  • light 24f output from LED 20g (component of light is illustrated in Fig. 10 as arrows.
  • a dotted line indicates that the luminosity is attenuated) is reflected at storage items 23c and attenuated, and diffuses to another direction as light 24g.
  • Light 24g further repeats the reflection at the wall surface of refrigerating room 12 and other storage items.
  • light 24h reflected at storage items 23d is also attenuated and diffuses to other direction as light 24i and 24j, and further repeats the reflection at the wall surface of refrigerating room 12 and other storage items. After the repeated reflection like this, the brightness distribution in refrigerating room 12 is saturated to be stabilized.
  • At least any one of lower side surface LEDs 20g and 20h may be turned on.
  • lower side surface LEDs 20g When lower side surface LEDs 20g is turned on, the detection is performed by main light sensor 21a. Since lower side surface LED 20g and main light sensor 21a are mounted on the same wall surface ( Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B ), both are not facing each other. Since the detection is performed with this combination, most of the components of light from lower side surface LED 20g are not directly incident on main light sensor 21a but are incident on via the reflection at the wall surface and the storage items. As a result, it is possible to detect the indirect illumination light that includes the light reflected at the storage items in the storage room.
  • FIG. 11 An example of storage state detection characteristics by main light sensor 21a at this time is illustrated in Fig. 11 .
  • Fig. 11 it can be understood that the illuminance decreases with the increase of the storage amount.
  • a case where only lower side surface LED 20g is turned on a case where top surface LEDs 20a and 20b are not turned on
  • a method for the correction will be described below. Accordingly, it is possible to decrease the reason of variations caused by the bias of the storage items in the storage room, and possible to improve the estimation accuracy of the storage amount caused by the storage state of the storage items.
  • Calculation control unit 1 stores the measured illuminance information in memory 2 as detection data B (S106).
  • top surface LEDs 20a and 20b that are in the upper section are turned on, the sensitivity with respect to the storage items in the upper section is high, and when the lower side surface LED 20g that is on lower section is turned on, the sensitivity with respect to the storage items in the lower section is high.
  • the detection of the storage state of the storage items is performed by combining the detection result detected by sequentially turning on top surface LEDs 20a and 20b in the upper section and lower side surface LED 20g in the lower section.
  • calculation control unit 1 calculates an average value of the detection data A (characteristics in Fig. 9 ) and the detection data B (characteristics in Fig.11 ) as detection data C (S107).
  • the storage state detection characteristics of the detection data C that is, maximum value after averaging MACC and the minimum value after averaging MICC are illustrated in Fig. 12 .
  • calculation control unit 1 functions as an attenuation rate calculation correction unit that corrects the reference data of attenuation rate calculation unit 81 based on the storage state of the storage items in a vertical direction in the storage room. In this way, it is possible to reliably improve the estimation accuracy of the storage amount caused by the bias in placement of the storage items in the vertical direction.
  • refrigerating room 12 may be divided into two sections and LEDs or light sensor 21 may be provided respectively.
  • the number of LEDs and light sensor 21 may be increased, but it is possible to detect the storage state with higher accuracy.
  • calculation control unit 1 performs a process of correcting the errors generated when the there is an obstacle in the path of light incident on main light sensor 21a (obstacle correction process).
  • Calculation control unit 1 includes attenuation rate calculation unit 81 that calculates the attenuation rate of the detected illuminance based on the detected illuminance at light sensor 21 and the reference data.
  • Calculation control unit 1 functions as an attenuation rate calculation correction unit in the obstacle correction process and below-described reflection object correction process.
  • storage state estimation unit 82 estimates the storage amount of the storage items based on the calculation result of attenuation rate calculation unit 81 and the calculation result of attenuation rate calculation correction unit.
  • Fig. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of storage in the vicinity of main light sensor 21a in refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 14 is a diagram for explaining an example of error occurrence due to the storage items in the vicinity of main light sensor 21a in same refrigerator 100.
  • Fig. 15 is a diagram illustrating storage state detection characteristics in the vicinity of main light sensor 21a in same refrigerator 100.
  • a case where storage item 23e (hereinafter, also referred to as obstacle) is placed on door storage shelf 19 in the lower part is assumed.
  • storage item 23e exists in the vicinity of main light sensor 21a, there is possibility that storage item 23e may be an obstacle that narrows the path of light incident on main light sensor 21a.
  • FIG. 14 An example of storage state detection characteristics by main light sensor 21a when the obstacle exists like this is illustrated in Fig. 14 (detection data C).
  • a maximum value (a) of determination characteristics F when the obstacle does not exist attenuates to a maximum value (b) of determination characteristics G when the obstacle exists (dotted line). That is, an error DE is generated according to the existence of obstacles.
  • a minimum value (c) of determination characteristics F when the obstacle does not exist attenuates to a minimum value (d) of determination characteristics F when the obstacle exists, and the error DE is generated.
  • the storage state of storage item 23e is detected using lower side surface LED 20h that is provided on the wall surface in the opposite side where lower side surface LED 20g is provided, and sub-light sensor 21b disposed in the shifted position on the door side of the same wall surface as where main light sensor 21a is disposed.
  • calculation control unit 1 turns off lower side surface LED 20g and turns on lower side surface LED 20h (S108), and acquires detection data D of sub-light sensor 21b (S109).
  • the characteristics of detection data D is illustrated in Fig. 15 . If the size of storage items 23e is large enough to a level of narrowing the path of light incident on the main light sensor 21a, the path of light linking lower side surface LED 20h and sub-light sensor 21b is shielded. For this reason, detection data D of sub-light sensor 21b rapidly decreases (refer to Fig. 15 ).
  • calculation control unit 1 determines the existence of the obstacle by comparing detection data D and predetermined threshold value E (S110). When detection data D is larger than threshold value E, it is determined that the obstacle does not exist (region (a) in Fig. 15 ), when detection data D is smaller than threshold value E, it is determined that the obstacle exists (region (b) in Fig. 15 ). When it is determined that the obstacle exists, calculation control unit 1 determines the storage state using determination characteristics F at the time when the obstacle does not exist illustrated in Fig. 14 (S111). When it is determined that the obstacle does not exist, calculation control unit 1 determines the storage state using determination characteristics G at the time when the obstacle exists illustrated in Fig. 14 (S112).
  • calculation control unit 1 has two kinds of reference data (determination characteristics F and G) of both the cases where the obstacle exists and does not exist in advance, and determines the storage state by selecting any one thereof in the obstacle correction process.
  • main light sensor 21a may be disposed on the position to be in shadow when storage items 23e are disposed on door storage shelf 19.
  • calculation control unit 1 functions as the attenuation rate calculation correction unit that corrects the reference data of attenuation rate calculation unit 81 based on the storage state of the storage items in the heat insulation door in the storage room.
  • Calculation control unit 1 functions as the attenuation rate calculation correction unit that corrects the reference data of attenuation rate calculation unit 81 based on the storage state of the storage items in the vicinity of light sensor 21. In this way, it is possible to reliably improve the estimation accuracy of the storage amount caused by the bias in placement of the storage items in the heat insulation door.
  • refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment can perform the correction of the error generated in a case where storage item 23f having a high reflection rate (hereinafter, referred to as a reflection object) exists in the vicinity of main light sensor 21a.
  • This method of correction processing of correcting the reflection object
  • Fig. 16 is a diagram for explaining a storing example of a reflection object in the vicinity of main light sensor 21a in refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 17 is a diagram for explaining an example of error occurrence due to the reflection object in the vicinity of main light sensor 21a in refrigerator 100.
  • Fig. 18A to Fig. 18C are diagrams illustrating relationship between wavelength and reflection rate of the light in same refrigerator 100.
  • Fig. 19 is a diagram illustrating reflection object detection characteristics in the vicinity of main light sensor 21a in same refrigerator 100.
  • the storage items having a high reflection rate are the objects having a white color or a color close to white.
  • an object that has a low diffusion of light on the surface and a light-condensing property such as a metal container, is also defined as a reflection object.
  • Fig. 16 it is assumed that storage item 23f disposed in the vicinity of main light sensor 21a is a reflection object.
  • the reflection rate of storage item 23f is high, the light attenuation due to the reflection is small, or in some case, the light is condensed without being diffused. For this reason, there is a tendency that the illuminance in the vicinity of storage item 23f increases. Accordingly, the illuminance in the vicinity of main light sensor 21a also increases.
  • errors are generated due to the difference in reflection rate of storage item 23f.
  • error J is generated in characteristics (b) at the time when the storage item having a slightly high reflection rate exists indicated by a dotted line, with respect to characteristics (a) at the time when the reflection object does not exist indicated by a solid line
  • error H is generated in characteristics (c) at the time when the storage item having a high reflection rate exists indicated by a dashed line.
  • a reflection influence caused by storage item 23f is detected using blue LED 22a and main light sensor 21a.
  • a white object has a high reflection rate, therefore, an example of identifying a white object will be described here.
  • blue LED 22a For example, as illustrated in Fig.18A (reflection rate characteristics at a red object), light of blue wavelength band BW having a peak wave length of 400 to 500 nm (light of blue LED 22a having peak wave length band) has a low reflection rate at the red object. In addition, as illustrated in Fig.18B (reflection rate characteristics at a blue object), light of blue LED 22a having peak wave length band BW also has a low reflection rate of equal to or lower than 50% at the blue object. On the other hand, as illustrated in Fig.
  • the white object since the white object has characteristics of strongly reflecting the light of the entire wavelength band, the reflection rate thereof is also high with respect to the light of blue LED 22a having peak wave length band BW. That is, since the wavelength of blue light has difficulty in reflecting at the object other than white object, it is suitable for distinguish a white object. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the white object is identified using blue LED 22a.
  • red wavelength band RW having a peak wave length of approximately 650 nm
  • red object It is a similar reflection rate to the reflection rate at the white object as illustrated in Fig. 18C . That is, since the red light reflects in a certain level even at the red object which has low reflection rate, it is difficult to distinguish the white and red objects. Therefore, in order to perform the identification reflection object, it is preferable to use blue LED 22a.
  • the reflection rate is affected by the color of the object, for example, if a chromaticity sensor using wavelength of RGB is used for detecting the reflection object, it is possible to identify with higher accuracy.
  • an object that has a low diffusion of light such as a metal container condenses the light regardless of the wavelength of the light.
  • the error component is corrected utilizing such relationship.
  • calculation control unit 1 turns off internal lighting 20 and turns on blue LED 22a (S113), and stores detection data K detected by main light sensor 21a in memory 2 (S114).
  • calculation control unit 1 compares threshold value L determined as illustrated in Fig. 19 and detection data K (S115).
  • Fig. 19 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between the influence of error due to the reflection object when the blue LED is turned on and the illuminance (detection data K).
  • detection data K is smaller, the error is determined to be ES which means the influence of error due to the reflection object is small, and the correction is not performed (S116).
  • detection data K is larger, the error is determined to be EL which means the influence of the error exists, the value of the error J or the error H is estimated based on error determination characteristics M of error due to the reflection object, and the correction of detection data C illustrated in Fig. 17 is performed (S117).
  • correction of detection data C is performed by subtracting the value of the error J or the error H.
  • calculation control unit 1 calculates storage amount detection characteristics after the correction. At this time, calculation control unit 1 functions as an attenuation rate calculation correction unit that corrects the reference data of attenuation rate calculation unit 81 based on the reflection rate of the storage items in the storage room. As a result, it is possible to reliably improve the estimation accuracy of storage amount caused by the reflection rate of the storage items.
  • Fig. 20 is a storage state detection characteristics diagram after the correction calculation in the present embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 20 illustrates the detection characteristics (after the correction) of the storage amount after performing the acquiring of basic data, obstacle correction and reflection object correction by calculation control unit 1 through each STEP illustrated in Fig. 7A and Fig. 7B .
  • the error between the maximum value after the correction (a) and minimum value after the correction (b) is extremely small, it is understood that the storage state can be accurately estimated in an analog manner.
  • Calculation control unit 1 performs the detection of the storage amount using the characteristics after the correction.
  • storage state estimation unit 82 estimates the storage amount of the storage items based on the calculation result by attenuation rate calculation unit 81 (STEP 118).
  • Storage state estimation unit 82 estimates the storage state of the storage items by the output value based on the illumination light from light sensor 21.
  • storage state estimation unit 82 of calculation control unit 1 determines the storage amount as; a storage amount of level one when the threshold value is equal to or larger than P, a storage amount of level two when the threshold value is in P to Q, a storage amount of level three when the threshold value is in Q to R, a storage amount of level four when the threshold value is in R to S, and a storage amount of level five when the threshold value is equal to or less than S. That is, in a case where the attenuation rate calculated by attenuation rate calculation unit 81 is large, storage state estimation unit 82 estimates that the storage amount is large.
  • storage state estimation unit 82 estimates the storage amount of the storage items based on the value of attenuation rate calculated by attenuation rate calculation unit 81. That is, the description is regarding the estimation of storage amount by the absolute value of illuminance.
  • the present invention is not limited to this example.
  • it may be configured to have a configuration in which storage state estimation unit 82 estimates storage amount based on the calculation result of attenuation rate calculation unit 81, specifically, a configuration in which the attenuation rate calculation unit calculates the attenuation rate from a reference storage room illuminance, by setting the calculation result up to the previous calculation (both of the previous calculation results or earlier calculation results may be good) as a reference storage room illuminance.
  • the storage amount when determining the increase of the storage amount, if the storage amount before being changed is in level three, the storage amount is determined so as to move to level four only when the change of illuminance is larger than difference of "threshold value Q - threshold value R", and is held in level 3 in the other cases.
  • the detection can be performed in the same concept. In this way, it is possible to estimate the relative change of the storage amount based on the relative value of the change of illuminance.
  • calculation control unit 1 may be configured to normally estimate the relative changes of the storage amount based on the relative value of the change of illuminance, and periodically estimate the absolute value of the storage amount based on the absolute value of illuminance.
  • storage state estimation unit 82 of calculation control unit 1 uses the detection result of door opening and closing detection sensor 3, estimates the storage state (increase or decrease) of the storage items in the storage room based on the output value of light sensor 21 before opening the door and the output value of light sensor 21 after closing the door.
  • storage state estimation unit 82 in a case where the change amount of the output value from light sensor 21 before opening the door and the output value from light sensor 21 after closing the door is small, estimates that the storage amount of the storage items in the storage room are not changed.
  • refrigerator 100 in an energy-saving operation, the change of storage amount before and after the door opening and closing is small, it is determined that there is no need to cancel the energy-saving operation, thus, refrigerator 100 continues the energy-saving operation, eventually it is possible to save power.
  • the output value based on the detected illuminance at light sensor 21 is a current value or a voltage value, and the attenuation rate (%) is calculated by comparing the output value.
  • the attenuation rate (%) may be stored in memory 2, and the control in calculation control unit 1 becomes easy.
  • the basic flow in Fig 7A and Fig. 7B is similar.
  • the obstacle correction may be performed by selecting any one of those threshold values.
  • the reflection object correction when the reflection object exists, the reflection object correction may be performed by subtracting a certain value such that the storage amount is determined to be large.
  • intervals between threshold values P to S are set to be wide when the storage amount is small, and to be narrow when the storage amount is large. This setting is set under the consideration that, as the storage amount decreases, the slope of the storage amount detection characteristics (after correction) increases, and as the storage amount increases, the slope decreases.
  • Each of intervals P to S is set such that the intervals between the storage levels one to five be equal.
  • the determination may be performed in a complete analog manner (that is, based on the characteristics diagram in Fig. 20 , calculating the absolute value of the storage amount corresponding to the absolute value of illuminance), without performing the step dividing using the plurality of threshold values as described above.
  • calculation control unit 1 controls cooling system 35 such as compressor 30, cooling fan 31, and air amount control damper 32, according to the storage amount, the change of the storage amount or the position of the storage or the like, and changes the conditions in order for performing the optimal cooling operation.
  • calculation control unit 1 can also notify the user by causing the lamp of display unit 17 to flicker. Furthermore, calculation control unit 1, after the detection of the storage state, can also notify the user by displaying the detection result on display unit 17.
  • Fig. 7A and Fig. 7B an example of performing all of the process such as the process of acquiring the basic data, the obstacle correction process, and the reflection object correction process, is described.
  • the present invention is not limited to the example.
  • any of the obstacle correction processes and the reflection object correction processes may be skipped.
  • any of them may be turned on first.
  • refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment may have a configuration to include; top surface LCDs 20a and 20b and lower side surface LEDs 20g and 20h disposed in refrigerating room 12, and main light sensor 21a and 21c that are light sensor 21 which detects the illumination light.
  • Refrigerator 100 can estimate the storage state of the storage items based on the illuminance attenuation amount at main light sensors 21a and 21c. In this way, it is possible to cope with the variations of the initial characteristics of LEDs which are light sources, and possible to estimate the entire storage state in refrigerating room 12 with high accuracy.
  • STEPs S105 to S107 are not essential, but acquiring data A may be regarded as a process of acquiring the basic data.
  • the obstacle correction process and the reflection object correction process are not essential, the storage state of the storage items may be estimated only by the process of acquiring the basic data.
  • the process can be moved to the process of acquiring the basic data after the confirmation that output value at light sensor 21 is equal to or less than the predetermined value (the state of no illumination light) by calculation control unit 1. In this way, the influence by the external light can reliably eliminated. It is also possible to detect the abnormality such as a failure of light sensor 21, and possible to improve the reliability of refrigerator 100.
  • the illumination light from the light source repeats the reflections in the storage room to go around the entire positions in the refrigerator, and is incident on light sensor 21 in the storage room. In this way, it is possible to detect the storage state with a simple configuration in which the number of parts is small. Only any one of main light sensors 21a and 21c may be disposed. In this way, it is possible to further reduce the cost.
  • calculation control unit 1 is to estimate the storage state of the storage items from the storage situations with respect to each light source, based on the result of the light receiving from the plurality of light sources and single light sensor 21 in the storage room.
  • the storage room is divided into a plurality of sections (divided into two sections in a height direction, depth direction and horizontal width direction)
  • at least one of the light sources among the plurality of light sources is provided in the section where light sensor 21 is disposed, and estimates the storage state of the storage items based on the detection result at light sensor 21, of the illumination light from the light sources of each section.
  • the attenuation amount of illuminance detected by main light sensors 21a and 21c can be used as the attenuation amount of illuminance in an actual storage state with respect to the standard illuminance in the storage room in a state where there is no storage item in the storage room, it is possible to estimate the storage state of the storage items using this. In this way, it is possible to cope with not only the variations of the LEDs which are light sources but also the individual variation in the storage room in refrigerator 100, and possible to further improve the estimation accuracy of the storage state of the storage items.
  • the attenuation amount of illumination detected by main light sensors 21a and 21c is the amount in which the indirect illumination light that includes the reflection light at the storage items in the storage room is detected and calculated. In this way, it is possible to easily estimate the storage state of the storage items with high accuracy.
  • Main light sensors 21a and 21c are disposed so as to be shifted from the optical axis of the light sources. In this way, since main light sensors 21a and 21c do not receive the direct light from the light sources, it is possible to easily estimate the storage state of the storage items entirely in the refrigerator with high accuracy.
  • Main light sensors 21a and 21c and the light sources have a configuration to be disposed either on the surface not facing each other or so as not to face each other, in the storage room. In this way, main light sensors 21a and 21c can reliably be prevented from receiving the direct light from the light sources, and it is possible to easily estimate the storage state of the storage items in the entire refrigerator with high accuracy.
  • the attenuation rate calculation correction unit that corrects the attenuation amount of illuminance at main light sensors 21a and 21c according to the storage state, the variation factors due to the bias in placement of the storage items in the storage room can be absorbed, and it is possible to improve the estimation accuracy of the storage amount caused by the storage state of the storage items.
  • Attenuation rate calculation correction unit that corrects the attenuation amount of illuminance at main light sensors 21a and 21c by the storage state, by providing means for correcting the vertical storage state of the storage items in the storage room, it is possible to reliably improve the estimation accuracy of the storage amount caused by the vertical bias in placement of the storage items.
  • Attenuation rate calculation correction unit that corrects the attenuation amount of illuminance at main light sensors 21a and 21c by storage state, by providing means for correcting the storage state of the storage items at the heat insulation door in the storage room, it is possible to reliably improve the estimation accuracy of the storage amount caused by the bias in placement of the storage items in the heat insulation door.
  • Attenuation rate calculation correction unit that corrects the attenuation amount of illuminance at main light sensors 21a and 21c by storage state, by providing means for correcting the storage state of the storage items in the vicinity of light sensor 21 in the storage room, it is possible to reliably improve the estimation accuracy of the storage amount caused by the generation of the shadow by the storage items with respect to light sensor 21.
  • Attenuation rate calculation correction unit that corrects the attenuation amount of illuminance at main light sensors 21a and 21c by the storage state, by providing means for correcting the reflection rate of the storage items in the storage room, it is possible to reliably improve the estimation accuracy of the storage amount caused by the reflection of the storage items.
  • light sensor 21 By disposing light sensor 21 at the lower position than the light source, the influence of dew condensation due to the flow-in of outside air in the opening and closing of the door can be decreased by light sensor 21, it is possible to estimate the storage state of the storage items with a high accuracy based on the attenuation amount of illuminance at light sensor 21.
  • Internal lighting 20 and light sensor 21 are provided at refrigerating room door 12a side than the center position in the depth direction of refrigerating room 12. In this way, it is possible to reliably detect the storage state of the storage items near the entrance where the flowed-in outside air by the opening and closing of the door, easily influences.
  • Internal lighting 20 and light sensor 21 are provided between the front end portion of internal storage shelf 18 included in refrigerating room 12 and refrigerating room door 12a.
  • the vertical space between refrigerating room door 12a and the front end portion of internal storage shelf 18 has a low possibility of being blocked by the storage items. In this way, a stable light path from the light source can be secured, and it is possible to estimate the storage state of the storage items with high accuracy based on the attenuation amount of illuminance at light sensor 21 by the existence of the storage items at the heat insulation door or internal storage shelf 18.
  • refrigerating room 12 is divided into a plurality of sections, it is possible to perform the detection of the storage state with high accuracy regardless of the bias in placement of the storage items.
  • the detection is performed with the combination in which the LED and light sensor 21 are disposed so as not to face each other, the light component directly incident on light sensor 21 from the LED can be suppressed, it is possible to increase the attenuation rate of the light by the storage items, and to improve the detection accuracy.
  • Fig. 21 is a cross-sectional view seen from the side of exemplary refrigerator 200.
  • Fig. 22 is a diagram for explaining the state in which storage item 23h is stored in the back of the refrigerating room in refrigerator 200.
  • Fig. 23A is a cross-sectional view seen from the top illustrating an example of arranging light sensor 21 in exemplary refrigerator 201.
  • Fig. 23B is a cross-sectional view seen from the top illustrating an example of arranging light sensor 21 in exemplary refrigerator 202.
  • Fig. 24A is a cross-sectional view seen from the side illustrating an example of arranging light sensor 21 in exemplary refrigerator 203.
  • Fig. 24B is a cross-sectional view seen from the side illustrating an example of arranging light sensor 21 in exemplary refrigerator 204.
  • Fig. 25 is a cross-sectional view seen from the top illustrating an example of arranging light sensor 21 to the air path in exemplary refrigerator 205.
  • main light sensors 21d and 21e are disposed on the top surface. Lights from lighting LEDs 20c to 20f illuminated from refrigerating room door 12a side to the depth direction and light from lower side surface LED 20g are reflected at the inner wall in the refrigerator and the foods, cross the inside of the whole refrigerator, and are incident on main light sensors 21d and 21e. For this reason, main light sensor 21d is disposed at the outer side with an illumination angle ⁇ where the emission luminosity of lighting LEDs 20c to 20f and lower side surface LED 20g is equal to or higher than 50%, such that lights from lighting LEDs 20c to 20f and light from lower side surface LED 20g are not directly incident on main light sensor 21d.
  • top surface light sensor 21d is provided on the position of refrigerating room door 12a side than 1/2 (center) position in depth direction in the refrigerator.
  • main light sensor 21e is installed in a supplement to main light sensor 21d. Therefore, main light sensor 21e is disposed on the back side in the refrigerator and within the incident angle ⁇ of lighting LED 20c.
  • main light sensor 21a On account of the structural design, there is a case that this condition cannot be met. Those are cases in which it is difficult to provide main light sensor 21a on the refrigerating room door 12a side, or main light sensor 21a comes within the illumination angle of LED. In such cases, it is necessary that main light sensor 21a is not installed so as to face LED light source as possible, such that the illumination light of LED is not directly incident on main light sensor 21a.
  • main light sensors 21d and 21e even in a case where any one of the sensors (in this case, main light sensor 21e) is blocked by storage items 23h, it is possible to detect the storage state by another main light sensor 21d.
  • main light sensor 21d is disposed on the top surface of refrigerating room door 12a side than 1/2 (center) position in the depth direction in the refrigerating room.
  • main light sensor 21e is provided on the top surface in the back side than 1/2 (center) position in the depth direction.
  • the present invention is not limited to this example.
  • main light sensor 21f may be disposed on the door side in the left than 1/2 (center) position in the storage room in the horizontal direction
  • main light sensor 21g may be disposed on the door side in the right than 1/2 (center) position in the horizontal width in the refrigerator.
  • main light sensor 21h may be disposed on refrigerating room door 12a, and main light sensor 21i may be disposed on the back side in the right than 1/2 (center) position in the horizontal width in the refrigerator.
  • main light sensor 21h By providing main light sensor 21h on refrigerating room door 12a, main light sensor 21h becomes to be disposed so as to look over the inside of the whole refrigerator toward the depth direction, the storage amount in the refrigerator can easily be detected.
  • main light sensor toward the depth direction it is also possible to provide the main light sensor on the wall surface in the refrigerator.
  • main light sensor 21j may be disposed on the top portion in the storage room and refrigerating room door 12a side, and main light sensor 21k may be disposed on the lower portion of the storage room and refrigerating room door 12a side.
  • main light sensor 21j may detect the light amount in the upper storage space than 1/2 (center) position of the height in the refrigerator by main light sensor 21j, and to detect the light amount in the lower storage space than 1/2 (center) position of the height in the refrigerator by main light sensor 21k.
  • main light sensors 21j and 21k are provided on the upper and lower portion in refrigerating room 12 where the height is highest compared to other storage room, it is possible to detect the food storage state in detail.
  • main light sensor 21m may be disposed on the top portion in the storage room and refrigerating room door 12a side and main light sensor 21n may be disposed on the lower portion of the storage room and on the back side.
  • main light sensors 21p and 21q may be provided in cooling air path 25 provided for blowing the cooling air into refrigerating room 12.
  • the light is incident on sub-light sensor 21b via discharge port 26, but since discharge port 26 for cooling air path 25 to the storage room is surely opened, main light sensors 21p and 21q can secure the light incident path without being blocked by the storage items.
  • discharge port 26 is blocked by the storage items such as foods, since the luminosity deteriorates, it is possible to detect the decrease of cooling air blowing efficiency into refrigerating room 12.
  • Light sensor 21 as well as discharge port 26 of the air path may be provided near the suction port.
  • the number of light sensors 21 used is not limited thereto, one light sensor may be used for reducing the amount of materials used, or a plurality of light sensors may be provided for improving the detection accuracy easily.
  • the placement of the plurality of light sensor 21 is not limited to the above-described pattern either, when refrigerator 200 is divided into two sections, the light source or light sensor 21 may be disposed in both sections.
  • the angle may be freely changed by driving light sensor 21 or the LEDs by a motor-actuator.
  • lighting LEDs 20c to 20f, lower side surface LEDs 20g and 20h and main light sensor 21a to 21q are provided as the storage state detection unit that detects the storage state.
  • at least one of light sensors 21 is provided on the door side than the center position in the depth direction in refrigerating room 12. In this way, the temperature of the food affected by the storage state can be controlled in cooling so as to be in proper temperature, and it is possible to improve the retaining of freshness and to control the power consumption by suppressing the "excessive cooling".
  • light sensor 21 that configures the storage state detection unit on the refrigerating room door 12a side than the center position in the depth direction of storage room, it is possible to accurately detect the storage state of the food near the entrance where the food is easily affected by the outside air flowed-in due to the opening and closing of the door, and is possible to maintain an appropriate temperature. Since, in case of refrigerating room 12, for example, there is a space between internal storage shelf 18 and door storage shelf 19, by disposing light sensor 21 here, it is possible to prevent the storage state detection unit from being blocked by the stored foods.
  • light sensor 21 When light sensor 21 is provided on refrigerating room door 12a, it is possible to provide light sensors 21 so as to look over the inside of the whole refrigerator toward the depth direction from the door side in the refrigerator.
  • light sensors 21 can be provided in each section. In this way, generally, in refrigerating room 12 where the height is highest, by disposing light sensors 21 on the upper and lower side, it is possible to accurately detect the storage state in the whole refrigerator.
  • refrigerators 100 and 200 to 205 Using the configurations of refrigerators 100 and 200 to 205 described above, it is possible to apply such configurations to the refrigerators for home use or industrial use. In this way, using the functions of detecting the storage amount in refrigerators 100 and 200 to 205, it is possible to implement and apply to the control for switching the operation mode to power saving operation and the like.
  • refrigerators 100 and 200 to 205 in each embodiment can estimate the whole storage amount as well as detecting the position of the storage items in the storage room, by performing the control of the temperature according to the storage state. Therefore, it is possible to exert a beneficial effect of improving the freshness retaining and suppressing the excessive cooling, and then controlling the power consumption.
  • the description is made using an example of detecting the storage state of the storage items in refrigerating room 12 as the storage room.
  • the present invention is not limited to this example. It may be also applicable to other storage rooms, for example, such as ice making room 13, temperature switching room 14, freezing room 15, and vegetable room 16.
  • the refrigerator that is provided with means for detecting the storage state of the storage items in the refrigerator, is useful.

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Claims (5)

  1. Kühlschrank (100), umfassend:
    einen Lagerraum (12), der von einer Wärmedämmwand und einer Wärmedämmtür (12a) in Abschnitte unterteilt wird und dazu eingerichtet ist, Lagergüter zu lagern;
    eine Vielzahl von Lichtquellen (20), einschließlich einer Innenbeleuchtung (20), die in dem Lagerraum (12) angeordnet ist;
    einen Lichtsensor (21), der dazu eingerichtet ist, Beleuchtungslicht zu detektieren, das von der Vielzahl von Lichtquellen (20) ausgestrahlt wird; und
    eine Berechnungssteuereinheit (1), die dazu eingerichtet ist, einen Rechenprozess auf der Grundlage eines Detektionsergebnisses des Lichtsensors (21) durchzuführen, wobei
    die Berechnungssteuereinheit (1) eine Dämpfungsrate-Berechnungseinheit (81), die dazu eingerichtet ist, eine Dämpfungsrate anhand einer Lagerraum-Referenzbeleuchtungsstärke in einem Zustand, in dem die Lagergüter gelagert sind, auf der Grundlage der Lagerraum-Referenzbeleuchtungsstärke in einem Zustand, in dem die Lagergüter nicht in dem Lagerraum (12) gelagert sind, und einer vom Lichtsensor (21) detektierten Beleuchtungsstärke zu berechnen, und eine Lagerzustand-Abschätzungseinheit (82) umfasst, die dazu eingerichtet ist, eine Lagermenge der Lagergüter auf der Grundlage eines Rechenergebnisses der Dämpfungsrate-Berechnungseinheit (81) abzuschätzen, und
    eine Türöffnungs- und Türschließungs-Detektionseinheit (3), die dazu eingerichtet ist, das Öffnen und Schließen der Wärmedämmtür (12a) zu erkennen, wobei in einem Fall, in dem die Türöffnungs- und Türschließungs-Detektionseinheit (3) einen geschlossenen Zustand erkennt, die Berechnungssteuereinheit (1) den Rechenprozess startet,
    dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass
    die Berechnungssteuereinheit (1) dazu eingerichtet ist, zugehörige Daten zu speichern, die die Dämpfungsrate der vom Lichtsensor (21) detektierten Beleuchtungsstärke mit der Lagermenge verknüpfen, auf deren Grundlage die Lagermenge abgeschätzt wird,
    wobei der Kühlschrank (100) ferner eine blaue LED (22a, 22b) umfasst und der Lichtsensor (21) einen Hauptlichtsensor (21a) und einen Nebenlichtsensor (21b) umfasst,
    wobei die Berechnungssteuereinheit (1) dazu eingerichtet ist, als Dämpfungsrate-Berechnungskorrektureinheit zu fungieren, und
    wobei die Lagerzustand-Abschätzungseinheit (82) dazu eingerichtet ist, die Lagermenge der Lagergüter auf der Grundlage des Rechenergebnisses der Dämpfungsrate-Berechnungseinheit (81) und des Rechenergebnisses der Dämpfungsrate-Berechnungskorrektureinheit abzuschätzen,
    wobei die Lagerzustand-Abschätzungseinheit (82) dazu eingerichtet ist, die Lagermenge der Lagergüter unter Verwendung einer zweiten unteren Seitenflächen-LED (20h), die auf der Wandfläche gegenüberliegend einer ersten unteren Seitenflächen-LED (20g) vorgesehen ist, und unter Verwendung des Nebenlichtsensors (21b), der in einer versetzten Position auf der Türseite derselben Wandfläche vorgesehen ist, auf der der Hauptlichtsensor (21a) angeordnet ist, abzuschätzen,
    wobei die Lagerzustand-Abschätzungseinheit (82) dazu eingerichtet ist, unter Verwendung der blauen LED (22a) und des Hauptlichtsensors (21a) einen Reflexionseinfluss abzuschätzen, der durch ein Lagergut (23f) verursacht wird, und
    wobei in einem Fall, in dem die von der Dämpfungsrate-Berechnungseinheit (81) berechnete Dämpfungsrate groß ist, die Lagerzustand-Abschätzungseinheit (82) schätzt, dass die Lagermenge groß ist.
  2. Kühlschrank nach Anspruch 1,
    wobei der Lichtsensor (21) näher an einer Seite einer Wärmedämmtür (12a) als an einer Mittelposition in einer Tiefenrichtung in dem Lagerraum (12) angeordnet ist und Reflexionslicht detektiert, das das von einer Wandfläche in dem Lagerraum (12) oder von den Lagergütern reflektierte Beleuchtungslicht ist.
  3. Kühlschrank nach Anspruch 2,
    wobei der Lichtsensor (21) zwischen einer senkrechten Fläche, die einen Endabschnitt einer Vorderseite einer in dem Lagerraum (12) vorgesehenen Ablagefläche umfasst, und einer senkrechten Fläche, die einen Endabschnitt einer Rückseite der Wärmedämmtür (12a) umfasst, vorgesehen ist.
  4. Kühlschrank nach Anspruch 2 oder 3,
    wobei die Vielzahl von Lichtquellen (20) in einer höheren Position als eine Vielzahl von Lichtsensoren (21) in dem Lagerraum (12) angeordnet ist.
  5. Kühlschrank nach Anspruch 4,
    wobei die Vielzahl von Lichtsensoren (21) in einer von einer optischen Achse der Vielzahl von Lichtquellen (20) versetzten Position in dem Lagerraum (12) angeordnet ist.
EP12752642.4A 2011-03-02 2012-02-29 Kühlschrank Active EP2682694B1 (de)

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CN103940191B (zh) * 2014-04-18 2016-04-13 河南新飞家电有限公司 一种基于传感技术的冰箱感应控制系统及感应控制方法
CN105592347A (zh) * 2015-12-15 2016-05-18 天脉聚源(北京)传媒科技有限公司 一种材料贮存状态的确定方法及装置
CN110864478B (zh) * 2018-08-28 2021-04-23 海尔智家股份有限公司 冰箱冷藏室的制冷控制方法和冰箱
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