JP2007198667A - Electric refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To visually confirm the existence and quantity of an antioxidant in food which contains the antioxidant by using an electric refrigerator. <P>SOLUTION: An ultraviolet ray LED 8 irradiating ultraviolet ray, and a two-dimensional CCD 7 detecting an image by the ultraviolet ray reflecting vegetable 9 by receiving the ultraviolet ray reflected by a surface of the vegetable 9, are disposed inside of this refrigerator, and a liquid crystal display portion 6 displaying ultraviolet ray information created on the basis of the image by the ultraviolet ray detected by the two-dimensional CCD 7, is disposed outside of the refrigerator. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric refrigerator, and more particularly, to an electric refrigerator having an ultraviolet image display.

  In recent years, antioxidant substances (for example, polyphenols) have attracted attention as substances that assist in maintaining human health. This antioxidant has an antioxidant effect such as an effect of suppressing the generation of active oxygen, an effect of eliminating active oxygen, an effect of repairing cells damaged by oxidation, and an effect of suppressing carcinogenesis, such as vegetables, fruits, It is known to be abundant in teas.

Here, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a refrigerator in which an ultraviolet lamp is installed inside a refrigerator and the polyphenol content of a harvested plant such as vegetables and fruits is increased by irradiating ultraviolet rays.
JP 2004-121228 A

  However, since the refrigerator disclosed in Patent Document 1 has only a function of increasing polyphenols contained in vegetables with ultraviolet rays irradiated from an ultraviolet lamp, for example, the presence and amount of polyphenols are visually discriminated. There is a problem that it is difficult.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, Comprising: The objective is to provide the electric refrigerator which can visually recognize presence and quantity of an antioxidant substance in the foodstuff containing an antioxidant substance. is there.

  The refrigerator according to claim 1 is an image for detecting an image image by ultraviolet rays reflecting a predetermined object by receiving irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays and ultraviolet rays reflected by the surface of the predetermined object inside the refrigerator. And a display unit for displaying ultraviolet information generated on the basis of the image image of ultraviolet rays detected by the image image detecting means outside the refrigerator. To do.

  That is, the ultraviolet light irradiated by the irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays inside the refrigerator is reflected on the surface of a predetermined object, and by receiving the reflected ultraviolet light, an image image by the ultraviolet light reflecting the predetermined object is detected. Image image detecting means is provided. Furthermore, the image image detecting means detects the image image of the predetermined object by ultraviolet light by providing a display outside the refrigerator for displaying ultraviolet information based on the image image by ultraviolet light detected by the image image detecting means. And an image of the ultraviolet rays can be displayed on the display unit. As a result, using an electric refrigerator, an image image of a predetermined object by ultraviolet rays can be visually recognized without opening the refrigerator.

  Here, the antioxidants (polyphenols, flavonols, chlorophylls, etc.) contained in foods such as vegetables and fruits have the property of absorbing ultraviolet rays, so the surface of foods that contain antioxidants in the same foods The reflectance of ultraviolet rays in is smaller than the reflectance of ultraviolet rays on the surface of food that does not contain an antioxidant. As a result, when the image image detecting means detects the image image of food such as vegetables and fruits by the image image detecting means and displays the image image corresponding to the detected amount of the ultraviolet ray on the display unit, it can be mutually determined depending on the presence or absence of the antioxidant substance. Since different image images are displayed, the presence of the antioxidant can be visually recognized.

  In addition, since the amount of ultraviolet rays detected by the image image detection means changes according to the amount of antioxidants contained in the food, the amount of antioxidants can be reduced by displaying according to the amount of ultraviolet rays detected. A corresponding image is generated and the amount of antioxidant can be relatively determined. That is, the reflectivity of ultraviolet rays on the surface of food with a large amount of antioxidant is smaller than the reflectivity of ultraviolet rays on the surface of food with a small amount of antioxidant. For this reason, if the image image detection means detects the image image of foods such as vegetables and fruits by the image image detection means, and displays the image image of the ultraviolet light on the display unit, an image image corresponding to the amount of the antioxidant substance is displayed. Therefore, the amount of antioxidant can be relatively determined.

  Therefore, using an electric refrigerator, foods such as vegetables and fruits with a high amount of antioxidants can be visually distinguished from foods such as vegetables and fruits with a low amount of antioxidants. The amount can be determined relatively.

  In addition, it is known that foodstuffs, such as vegetables and fruits, become high in maturity as the amount of antioxidant substances (polyphenol, flavonol, chlorophyll, etc.) increases. In other words, by distinguishing foods such as vegetables and fruits with a high amount of antioxidants from foods such as vegetables and fruits with a low amount of antioxidants, foods such as vegetables and fruits with high maturity and maturity It can be distinguished from foods such as low vegetables and fruits.

  In addition, by providing a display unit that displays UV information outside the electric refrigerator, it is possible to visually recognize the internal state without opening the refrigerator, and to prevent ultraviolet rays emitted by the irradiation means from leaking outside the refrigerator. can do.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electric refrigerator according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the ultraviolet information displayed on the display unit includes at least an image image generated based on an image image by ultraviolet rays detected by the image image detecting means. This object is a food containing an antioxidant substance that absorbs ultraviolet rays, and its gist is that an image according to the amount of the antioxidant substance is displayed on the display unit.

  That is, the ultraviolet information displayed on the display unit includes at least an image image generated based on an image image by ultraviolet rays detected by the image image detecting means, and the predetermined object includes an antioxidant substance that absorbs ultraviolet rays. It may be a food, and an image image corresponding to the amount of the antioxidant substance may be displayed on the display unit. With this configuration, it is easy to distinguish between foods with a high amount of antioxidants (high maturity) and foods with a low amount of antioxidants (low maturity) using an electric refrigerator. Can do.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the second aspect, the ultraviolet information displayed on the display unit includes a maturity level of a food containing an antioxidant that absorbs ultraviolet rays in addition to an image image by ultraviolet rays. The gist.

  That is, preferably, the display unit displays the maturity of a food containing an antioxidant that absorbs ultraviolet rays in addition to an image image by ultraviolet rays. If comprised in this way, the maturity degree of foodstuffs, such as vegetables and fruits, can be confirmed easily.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the second or third aspect, the electric refrigerator further comprises storage means for storing ultraviolet information, and the ultraviolet information displayed on the display unit is stored in the storage means in addition to the image image by ultraviolet light. The gist is to include the UV information.

  That is, a storage means capable of storing ultraviolet information is provided, and the current ultraviolet information and past ultraviolet information stored by the storage means can be displayed on the display unit, and the ultraviolet information that changes over time can be visually observed. Can be compared. It is known that plants after harvesting (for example, vegetables and fruits) naturally increase and decrease the antioxidants they contain depending on the species after harvesting. By constructing as described above, the amount of antioxidants is increasing (maturity is increasing) and the amount of antioxidants is decreasing (maturity) easily using an electric refrigerator. It is possible to discriminate between vegetables and fruits whose degrees are decreasing. In addition, since the change over time in the amount of the antioxidant substance (change over time in maturity) can be visually recognized for the same food, it is possible to easily determine when to eat the food. In addition, the time to eat arbitrarily is the maturity of the food that the person who eats the food chooses. For example, if the person does not like the state of highest maturity (completely matured), the state of maturity is visually low. Because it can be confirmed automatically, it is possible to determine when the person likes to eat.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the electric refrigerator which can be visually recognized in the presence or quantity of the antioxidant substance contained in vegetables, fruits, etc. which shows a maturity degree can be provided.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail below. In all the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same components, and the description will be omitted as appropriate.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electric refrigerator 10 includes a vegetable room 1 controlled at about 5 ° C. therein. The vegetable compartment 1 has a protrusion 2 on its side surface, and an opening 3 a and an opening 3 b are provided on the surface of the protrusion 2. Here, a later-described two-dimensional CCD (charge coupled device) 7 and ultraviolet LED 8 are attached to the opening 3a and the opening 3b, respectively. The refrigerator 10 has a refrigerator compartment door 4 and a vegetable compartment door 5, and a liquid crystal display device 6 is provided on the surface of the refrigerator compartment door 4. The vegetables 9a and 9b are stored in the vegetable compartment 1. The liquid crystal display unit 6 is an example of the “display unit for displaying ultraviolet light information” of the present invention, and the vegetables 9a and 9b are examples of the “predetermined object” of the present invention.

  FIG. 2 shows an enlarged front view of the protrusion 2 including the opening 3a and the opening 3b. A two-dimensional CCD 7 is attached to the opening 3a, and an ultraviolet LED 8 is attached to the opening 3b. Hereinafter, in order to explain the internal structure of each opening, a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ of the opening 3a is shown in FIG. 3, and a cross-sectional view taken along line BB ′ of the opening 3b is shown. As shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a protective filter 11, a two-dimensional CCD 7, and a lens 12 are arranged in a portion corresponding to the opening 3a. The two-dimensional CCD 7 is an example of the “image image detecting means” in the present invention. Specifically, the protective filter 11 is attached so as to close the opening 3 a of the protrusion 2. The two-dimensional CCD 7 includes a plurality of pixels (not shown) arranged two-dimensionally, and is integrated with the protrusion 2 so that the light receiving surface 7a of each pixel faces the protective filter 11. It is attached to the attachment part 3c. The lens 12 is attached between the protective filter 11 and the two-dimensional CCD 7. The lens 12 has a function of condensing the ultraviolet rays that have passed through the protective filter 11 onto the light receiving surface 7 a of the two-dimensional CCD 7. Thereby, in the two-dimensional CCD 7 of the first embodiment, when imaging food in the refrigerator, only the ultraviolet light reflected by the food is incident on the light receiving surface 7a, so that an image image of the food by ultraviolet light is detected. Is possible. The detected image of the food by ultraviolet rays is converted into an electrical signal and output from the two-dimensional CCD 7. Incidentally, the two-dimensional CCD 7 can suppress the generation of dark current under a low temperature environment such as in a refrigerator, and can improve its accuracy.

  Here, an ultraviolet filter may be used instead of the protective filter 11. If this ultraviolet filter is configured so that only ultraviolet rays of about 400 nm or less are transmitted, even when visible light enters the refrigerator, only ultraviolet rays can be incident on the two-dimensional CCD 7.

As shown in FIG. 4, an ultraviolet LED (light emitting diode element) 8 that emits ultraviolet light is attached to the opening 3 b of the protrusion 2 so that the light emission surface 8 a protrudes outside the protrusion 2. Yes. The ultraviolet LED 8 is an example of the “irradiation unit” in the present invention. The emission wavelength of the ultraviolet LED 8 is set to about 365 nm, and the intensity of the ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet LED 8 is set to about 0.15 W / m ² or less. Then, by causing the ultraviolet LED 13 to emit light, an image image of the food by ultraviolet rays is detected in the two-dimensional CCD 7 in a closed refrigerator where no visible light exists. The ultraviolet LED 8 can stabilize light output under a low temperature environment such as in a refrigerator.

  Here, antioxidant substances (polyphenols, flavonols, chlorophylls, etc.) contained in vegetables and fruits have the property of absorbing ultraviolet rays, so ultraviolet rays on the surface of vegetables 9a (see FIG. 1) with a large amount of antioxidants. The reflectance of becomes smaller than the reflectance of ultraviolet rays in the vegetable 9b having a small amount of antioxidant. As a result, the amount of ultraviolet light incident on the pixel corresponding to the vegetable 9a with a large amount of antioxidant substance is smaller than the amount of ultraviolet light incident on the pixel corresponding to the vegetable 9b with a small amount of antioxidant substance. For this reason, in the pixel corresponding to the vegetable 9a with a large amount of antioxidant substance, an electric signal different from the electric signal generated in the pixel corresponding to the vegetable 9b with a small amount of antioxidant substance is generated.

In Japan, the city with the smallest amount of ultraviolet irradiation is Sapporo, and the season with the smallest amount of ultraviolet irradiation throughout the year is winter. In the winter season of Sapporo City, the amount of ultraviolet rays (ultraviolet B wave) having a wavelength of about 280 nm to about 320 nm irradiated between 10:00 and 14:00 (about 14400 seconds) is about 1500 Ws / m ² , The average ultraviolet intensity of is about 0.10 W / m ² . In addition, ultraviolet light (ultraviolet A wave) having a wavelength of about 320 nm to about 400 nm has an intensity about five times that of ultraviolet light (ultraviolet B wave) having a wavelength of about 280 nm to about 320 nm (about 0.10 W / m ² ). Therefore, the average intensity of ultraviolet light (ultraviolet A wave) having a wavelength of about 320 nm to about 400 nm between 10 o'clock and 14 o'clock in the winter season of Sapporo is about 0.5 W / m ² . That is, in the natural world, the minimum intensity of ultraviolet light (ultraviolet A wave) having a wavelength of about 320 nm to about 400 nm is about 0.5 W / m ² .

From this, in the first embodiment in which the intensity of the ultraviolet light (wavelength: about 365 nm) emitted from the ultraviolet LED 13 is set to about 0.15 W / m ² or less, the intensity of the ultraviolet light (about about .0. 15 W / m ² or less) is less than the intensity of ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of about 320 nm to about 400 nm in nature (about 0.5 W / m ² ). It is possible to suppress the occurrence of inconvenience that the immunity of the human body is reduced due to the irradiation.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the liquid crystal display device 6, the two-dimensional CCD 7, and the ultraviolet LED 8 are connected to a control unit 13 including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like inside the protrusion 2 (see FIG. 1). ing. The control unit 13 has a function of controlling the imaging operation of the two-dimensional CCD 7 and the light emission operation of the ultraviolet LED 8. Moreover, the control part 13 produces | generates the video signal corresponding to the image image by the ultraviolet rays of the vegetables 9a and the vegetables 9b based on the electrical signal corresponding to the image images by the ultraviolet rays of the vegetables 9a and the vegetables 9b generated by the two-dimensional CCD 7. In addition, it has a function of outputting the video signal to the liquid crystal display device 6. Thereby, in the liquid crystal display device 6, the image image by the ultraviolet-ray of the vegetables 9a and the vegetables 9b is displayed.

  Here, as described above, the electrical signal generated by the pixel corresponding to the vegetable 9a having a large amount of antioxidant substance and the electrical signal generated by the pixel corresponding to the vegetable 9b having a small amount of antioxidant substance are Since they are different from each other, the control unit 13 can make the video signal corresponding to the vegetable 9a with a large amount of antioxidant substance different from the video signal corresponding to the vegetable 9b with a small amount of antioxidant substance. In this embodiment, the control unit 13 generates a video signal so that the display color of the vegetable 9a with a large amount of antioxidant substance is darker than the display color of the vegetable 9b with a small amount of antioxidant substance. As a result, the electric refrigerator 10 can be used to discriminate between the vegetable 9a having a large amount of antioxidant (high maturity) and the vegetable 9b having a small amount of antioxidant (low maturity).

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the control part 13 is comprised so that the maturity degree of any one of vegetables 9a and 9b can be calculated. The maturity level of the vegetables 9a or 9b is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 6 with an indicator 14.

  In this embodiment, the control unit 13 calculates the maturity level M (%) of the vegetable 9a or 9b using the following equation (1).

M = ((S _AR −S _R ) / S _AR ) × 100 (1)
S _AR of the formula (1), when the ultraviolet surface of vegetables 9a (9b) is assumed to reflect all without being absorbed, an electrical signal obtained by converting the ultraviolet ultraviolet sensor of the two-dimensional CCD7 Of strength. Further, S _R in the formula (1) is indeed the strength of the electrical signal obtained by converting the ultraviolet light reflected by the surface of vegetables 9a (9b) in the two-dimensional CCD7 ultraviolet sensor.

Here, it is known that vegetables 9a (9b) containing antioxidant substances (polyphenols, flavonols, chlorophylls, etc.) that absorb ultraviolet rays increase in maturity as the amount of antioxidant substances increases. That is, the reflectivity of ultraviolet rays on the surface of the vegetable 9a having a high maturity level is smaller than the reflectivity of ultraviolet rays on the surface of the vegetable 9b having a low maturity level due to the large amount of the antioxidant. Therefore, the intensity of the electrical signal obtained by converting the ultraviolet light reflected on the surface of the vegetable 9a having a high maturity level is the intensity of the electrical signal obtained by converting the ultraviolet light reflected on the surface of the vegetable 9b having a low maturity level. Less than strength. For example, in the above formula (1), in the vegetable 9a having a high maturity (a large amount of antioxidant), the _SAR is 1 when the surface of the vegetable 9a (9b) is not absorbed by ultraviolet rays and is totally reflected. with the S _R 0.3, (small amounts of antioxidants) low maturity when the 0.7 _{S R} in vegetable 9b, next to 70% maturity M is maturity higher vegetable 9a The maturity level M of the vegetable 9b having a low maturity level is 30%. In this way, the electric refrigerator 10 is used to easily discriminate between the vegetable 9a having a large amount of antioxidant (high maturity) and the vegetable 9b having a small amount of antioxidant (low maturity). be able to.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a storage medium 15 such as a hard disk is connected to the control unit 13, and an image image by ultraviolet rays displayed on the liquid crystal display device 6 is recorded on the storage medium 15. Not only the image 9d as an image image but also the vegetable 9c as an image image by past ultraviolet rays can be displayed on the liquid crystal display device 6. Here, it is known that vegetables and fruits naturally increase the antioxidants contained after harvesting by seeds. With the above configuration, the display color of the vegetable 9d, which is the current ultraviolet image of the vegetable 9b, is blacker than the display color of the vegetable 9b, which is the past ultraviolet image of the vegetable 9b (see FIG. 5). It can be determined that the amount of the antioxidant has increased, that is, it can be determined that the maturity level has improved. As described above, since the time-dependent change in the amount of the antioxidant substance (time-dependent change in maturity) can be visually recognized for the same food, it is possible to easily estimate the time of eating the food.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description of the embodiments but by the scope of claims, and further includes meanings equivalent to the scope of claims and all modifications within the scope.

  Modifications within the scope of the claims in the above embodiment will be exemplified as modifications below.

  (First Modification) In this embodiment, an image image of vegetables with ultraviolet rays is displayed on the liquid crystal display device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in addition to the image images of vegetables with ultraviolet rays, It is also possible to display UV information such as intensity on a liquid crystal display device.

  (Second Modification) In this embodiment, the case of determining the maturity of vegetables has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any food other than vegetables can be used as long as it contains an antioxidant that absorbs ultraviolet rays. It is also possible to determine the maturity level. Examples of foods containing antioxidants that absorb ultraviolet rays other than vegetables include fruits, rice, and tea.

  (Third Modification) In the present embodiment, both an image image of vegetables with ultraviolet rays and an indicator showing the maturity level of vegetables are displayed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and only an image image of vegetables with ultraviolet rays is displayed. May be displayed, or only an indicator indicating the maturity of vegetables may be displayed.

  (Fourth Modification) In this embodiment, polyphenols, flavonols, and chlorophylls are listed as antioxidant substances. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any antioxidant substance that absorbs ultraviolet rays can be applied. Other antioxidants include flavones, anthocyanins, rutin and chlorophyll.

  (Fifth Modification) In the present embodiment, the presence or absence and amount of an antioxidant substance in the ultraviolet image is expressed by the shade of the display color. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the antioxidant substance can be used by using different colors. It is also possible to express the presence / absence and amount of

It is the perspective view which showed the electric refrigerator by one Embodiment of this invention. It is the front view which expanded a part of electric refrigerator by one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows a part of electric refrigerator by one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows a part of electric refrigerator by one Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the internal structure of the electric refrigerator by one Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the internal structure of the electric refrigerator by one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vegetable room 2 Protrusion part 3 Opening part 4 Refrigerator door 5 Vegetable room door 6 Liquid crystal display device 7 Two-dimensional CCD
8 UV LED
9 Vegetables 10 Electric refrigerator

Claims (4)

Irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays inside the refrigerator,
An image image detecting means for detecting an image image by ultraviolet rays reflecting the predetermined object by receiving the ultraviolet rays reflected by the surface of the predetermined object; and
An electric refrigerator comprising: a display unit configured to display ultraviolet information generated based on the image image of the ultraviolet rays detected by the image image detection means outside the refrigerator. The ultraviolet information displayed on the display unit includes at least an image image generated based on the image image by the ultraviolet light detected by the image image detecting means,
The predetermined object is a food containing an antioxidant that absorbs the ultraviolet rays;
The electric refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein an image according to the amount of the antioxidant substance is displayed on the display unit. 3. The electric refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the ultraviolet information displayed on the display unit includes a maturity level of a food containing the antioxidant that absorbs the ultraviolet rays in addition to an image image of the ultraviolet rays. . A storage means for storing the ultraviolet information;
The electric refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the ultraviolet information displayed on the display unit includes the ultraviolet information stored in the storage means in addition to an image image of the ultraviolet rays.

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