JP2003004366A - Refrigerator with internal condition transmitting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit the confirmation of condition in a refrigerator easily from the outside of a house, on shopping or the like, and permit not only the prevention of excessive purchase or forgotten purchase of food stuffs or the like, but also the confirmation of the inside of the house when locking-up is forgotten or the like. SOLUTION: A photographing device capable of automatically photographing the inside of an article receiving chamber and the inside of an opening and closing door and capable of being controlled through a telephone circuit, an angle regulating unit for the photographing device capable of being controlled through the telephone circuit, a non-volatile memory for storing a photographing image information, a data transmitting device connected to the telephone circuit and capable of transmitting the data in the memory through the telephone circuit, a control device connected to the telephone circuit and capable of controlling the photographing device and the angle regulating unit through the telephone circuit and an image display for receiving image data transmitted from the transmitting device and capable of displaying the same are provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator with an internal state transfer device that allows a user to see the internal state of the refrigerator and the situation near the refrigerator as a still image from the outside.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art According to the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-49958, it is possible to visually recognize the state of the stored items inside the refrigerator outside the refrigerator. However, when I was out, I could not check the condition of the items inside the refrigerator,
Necessary purchase items depended on "user's memory" and "user's memo record".

[0003]

[Background of the Invention] The ratio of stocking foods has increased more than before due to the recent tendency of working together as a couple. Along with this, it is desired that the refrigerator also be large-sized, and a large number of items are stored in the refrigerator. This means that in general households, when purchasing food products, the user needs to check and store the stored items inside the refrigerator before going shopping. However, the user sometimes went out "on the way home" or "while attending to something" to purchase food, returned home, opened the refrigerator, and had the same item in it. Also, when I went out to close the door, saying, "It's an errand for a little time," that errand takes time,
I was worried about the inside of the house, so I had to go home early to check the inside of the house. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to be able to visually check the internal state of a refrigerator from outside and to check the state near the refrigerator. It is to provide a refrigerator with a transfer device.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A gist of a refrigerator with an internal state transfer device of the present invention is to provide an article storage room having an article opening / closing port which is open to the front and one side portion of the article storage room. In a refrigerator provided with a door that is rotatably attached as a fulcrum and that opens and closes the article entrance / exit, in the article storage chamber when the opening / closing door reaches a certain position when the opening / closing door is closed. A camera for automatically photographing, a camera for automatically photographing the inside of the article storage chamber, a camera for automatically photographing the inside surface of the opening / closing door, and a switch for detecting that a certain position of the opening / closing door is reached and turning on the photographing device of the camera And an A / D converter for digitizing the information of the image taken by the camera, a memory for storing the image data digitized by the A / D converter, and a transmission line connected to a telephone line. A receiver for receiving signals, a transmitter for transmitting the image data in the memory via the telephone line,
The camera for the article storage room and the camera for the opening / closing door are automatically provided when the article storage room and the opening / closing door have a certain positional relationship by closing the opening / closing door with a control device for controlling data transfer. To the A /
D conversion is performed and digital data is overwritten and saved in the memory. When the receiver receives the transmission execution signal via the telephone line, the transmitter transmits the image data in the memory via the telephone line. At this time, as a device for transmitting a transmission execution signal and receiving and displaying image data at a place where the user is out, for example, a generally known Internet terminal using a mobile phone can be controlled.

In the refrigerator with an internal state transfer device according to a second aspect of the present invention, the camera for automatically photographing the inside of the storage provided at the opening / closing door is connected to the telephone line and the photographing execution control can be performed through the telephone line. The camera is connected to a controllable angle adjuster via a telephone line. With the angle adjuster, the camera for automatically taking a picture of the inside of the storage box can face the refrigerator front side. Control data can be received via the telephone line, the shooting angle can be freely controlled, and shooting can be performed arbitrarily, and the state near the refrigerator can be confirmed from the outside.

As for the refrigerator with an internal state transfer device according to claim 3, most of the recent refrigerators employ a slide type storage box, and a switch for detecting that the opening / closing door has reached a certain position. By changing the structure and the mounting position of the above, the same can be applied to the case where the storage is a slide type.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a front view of the embodiment when the door is fully opened, FIG. 3 is a top view of the door when opened and closed, and FIG. 4 is a top view of when the image is taken. The refrigerator 1 has two automatic photography cameras and a storage room photography camera 2. A camera 3 for opening and closing the door is provided. These cameras are adjusted to automatically release the shutter when they receive an activation signal. The storage room shooting camera 2 is installed in the opening / closing door 4, and the opening / closing door shooting camera 3 is installed in the article storage room 5. The photographing switch 6 for transmitting an operation signal is installed in the article storage room 5, and when the photographing switch 6 and the switch pushing unit 7 are in an appropriate positional relationship by the switch pushing portion 7 provided on the opening / closing door 4, that is, the opening / closing door. When the 4 and the article storage chamber 5 have an appropriate positional relationship, an operation signal is transmitted.

The storage room photographing camera 2 and the opening / closing door photographing camera 3 are connected to a memory 9 through an A / D converter 8. Further, the storage room photographing camera 2 and the opening / closing door photographing camera 3 perform photographing by the operation signal transmitted from the photographing switch 6. The A / D conversion device 8 converts analog information of an image captured by the storage room photographing camera 2 and the opening / closing door photographing camera 3 into digital information and sends it to the memory 9. The memory 9 is connected to the telephone line via the control device 10 and the transmission device 11. The control device 10 is connected to the receiving device 12 connected to the telephone line, and transmits the image data in the memory 9 from the transmitting device 11 to the telephone line based on the transmission execution signal received by the receiving device 12.

At this time, the portable terminal 13 used at the place of going out
As for the above, it can be controlled by an Internet terminal using a generally known mobile phone or the like, which is capable of transmitting a transmission execution signal, receiving image data, and displaying received data via a telephone line.

The specific operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be described below. First, when the user operates the opening / closing door 4 from the open state to close it and the opening / closing door 4 is located at a certain position, the photographing switch 6 sends an operation signal, and the storage room photographing camera 2 and the opening / closing door photographing are performed. The camera 3 photographs the state of the storage chamber and the inner surface of the door at that time. The captured data is stored in the memory 9 as digital data by the A / D conversion device 8.
At this time, the latest data is always written in the memory 9 and the previous data is erased. When the receiving device 12 receives the transmission execution signal from the portable terminal 13 via the telephone line,
The control device 10 transmits the image data stored in the memory 9 from the transmission device 11 to the telephone line. The transmitted image data can be received by the portable terminal 13 and the state of the storage room and the inner surface of the door can be confirmed.

FIG. 5 shows the basic configuration of claim 2.
FIG. 6 shows the angle adjusting mechanism. Camera 2 for storage room photography
Is attached to the angle adjusting machine 20. The angle adjusting machine 20 is connected to the telephone line via the control device 10 and the receiving device 12 and can be controlled via the telephone line. The angle adjuster 20 can rotate 180 degrees or more,
The storage room photographing camera 2 can be completely directed to the surface of the refrigerator 1 to photograph the vicinity of the refrigerator 1. With the configuration described above, the device of the terminal 13 that is carried around at a place where you are out, or the like, can confirm not only already captured data in the memory but also the current situation near the refrigerator. FIG. 7 shows a top view of an embodiment of claim 3, and FIG. 8 shows a side view of claim 3. If the camera 2 for photographing in the storage room is installed in the upper part of the main body, the photographing switch pushing portion 7 is provided in the container lower portion 31 of the slide container 30, and the photographing switch 6 is provided on the slide extension of the container lower portion 31, a slide type article storage is provided. The same as in claim 1 can be performed in the warehouse as well.

[0012]

According to the refrigerator with an internal state transfer device of the present invention, the condition inside the refrigerator can be easily confirmed even when going out for shopping or the like, and it is possible to prevent excessive purchase of food or forgetting to buy it. Not only can you check inside the house when you forget to close the door.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of claim 1.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the door according to the first embodiment when the door is fully opened.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the first embodiment when the door is opened and closed.

FIG. 4 is a top view at the time of photographing of an embodiment of claim 1;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of claim 2.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an angle adjusting mechanism according to an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a top view of an embodiment of claim 3;

FIG. 8 is a side view of an embodiment of claim 3;

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 3L045 AA02 LA01 LA18 NA19 PA02                       PA04                 5C054 AA05 CA04 CC03 CD03 CE02                       CE16 CF06 CH04 DA09 EA01                       GA04 GB02 GD06 HA00                 5C064 BA07 BB03 BC23 BD02 BD08

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An article storage chamber having an article opening / closing port that is open to the front, and an opening / closing door that is rotatably mounted with one side of the article storage chamber as a fulcrum to open and close the article loading / unloading port. In a refrigerator equipped with, the switch is provided on the side wall of the opening / closing door of the opening / closing door of the opening / closing door, and is operated by a switch pushing part provided on the opening / closing door. A photographing device for automatically photographing the inside surface of the door, a memory for storing information of an image photographed by the photographing device, a receiving device connected to a telephone line and receiving a transmission command signal via the telephone line, and a telephone line A refrigerator with an internal state transfer device, which is provided with a data transmission device capable of transmitting image data in the memory via a CPU and a CPU for controlling them. 2. The photographing apparatus for the article storage room is connected to a photographing direction adjuster capable of controlling a photographing direction via a telephone line, the photographing direction can be changed, and the photographing can be performed via the telephone line. The refrigerator with an internal state transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator can be controlled. 3. An article storage chamber having an article loading / unloading port whose upper surface is open, and a drawer type door that slides back and forth to open / close the article loading / unloading port, and the drawer type door and the article. In a refrigerator provided with a storage room storage section, provided in a slide operation section of the article storage room storage section in the refrigerator,
The refrigerator with an internal state transfer device according to claim 1, further comprising: a photographing device for automatically photographing the inside of the article storage chamber when the opening / closing door is closed by a switch operated by a switch pushing portion provided on the drawer type opening / closing door.