JP2009085489A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator capable of preventing an important holding function from not being appealed due to a memory loss or carelessness even in a demonstration mode by releasing the setting of a function stop by the specified setting of a condition even if setting for stopping a function such as an automatic door opening function is performed during the demonstration mode for ship display. <P>SOLUTION: This refrigerator comprises automatic door opening devices 10, 10' for which an arbitrary operation and a function stop can be set. The refrigerator has a regular mode and the demonstration mode for shop display. When the setting for stopping the automatic door opening function is performed during the demonstration mode, the setting of the function stop of the automatic door opening devices is released by specified condition setting. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a demonstration mode for store display.

  Conventionally, home refrigerators have many control functions from the viewpoint of usability as well as diversification of storage temperature ranges. In order to increase the customer's purchasing motivation by appealing these functions with storefront displays such as stores. Many have a demonstration mode for demonstration (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Unlike the normal mode, this demo mode is set by continuously pressing multiple control buttons in a special way, and the control panel LEDs, etc. are not driven and not cooled. When the power is turned off and the power is turned on again, the demo mode is set again. This is for the purpose of eliminating the trouble of having to reset again the next morning after the power is shut off when the store is closed when the display is used at a store or the like.

On the other hand, in recent years, with the enlargement of storage rooms such as refrigeration rooms and freezer rooms, in order to reduce the load of force when opening the door, the switch is operated by touching the panel on the surface of the refrigerator door of the user, For example, a refrigerator equipped with an automatic door opening mechanism that opens a door by pressing a door surface by a door push mechanism that energizes a solenoid and protrudes a push rod from the main body side is marketed and has been evaluated. In addition, among various functions in refrigerator control, there is a function provided with an “automatic door opening off” function for preventing a user who does not need the automatic door opening mechanism from operating the door push mechanism. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a control function that prevents the door push mechanism of the door opening device from operating even when the touch panel is pressed by operating a predetermined push button switch, and the storefront display mode is The "Demo mode cancellation" function to cancel is also shown.
JP 2004-333079 A JP 2007-040623 A

  However, when the refrigerator at the store is set in the demonstration mode and displayed, when explaining the “automatic door open” function to the customer, to prevent frequent door opening due to mischief of children, or accidentally If the "automatic door open off" function is set by the operation of, the automatic door open function will remain stopped unless the "automatic door open off" is canceled by manual button operation etc. . In addition, during the demonstration mode for other storefront displays, if the display of the control panel LED, etc. is set to display the demonstration display, the door alarm, or the demonstration mode for the interior light, unless it is canceled manually, The function may remain stopped, and it may remain unable to explain the owned function that should be appealed. As described above, this demo mode is not canceled even when the power is turned off or on again. If the person in charge in the store is not familiar with the release method or does not know the function itself, these functions are stopped. This causes a problem of transition.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and even when a setting such as an automatic door opening function is stopped during a demonstration mode for storefront display, a function stop setting is made with a specific condition setting. It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator that can prevent an important holding function from shifting without appealing due to forgetting or carelessness despite the demonstration mode.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 is provided with an automatic door opening device capable of arbitrarily executing and setting a function stop, and a refrigerator having a normal mode and a demonstration mode for store display, The automatic door opening device function stop setting is canceled by a specific condition setting when the automatic door opening function is set to stop during the demo mode. The invention described is a refrigerator having a normal mode and a demonstration mode for store display, and has an interior light and a cold air circulation fan provided in the main body during the demonstration mode, or a push button switch and a function for controlling various functions. When setting to stop the demo mode operation function on the display panel to be displayed, the setting of each function stop is canceled by the specific condition setting. Characterized in that was.

  According to the refrigerator of the present invention, even if it is forgotten or carelessly left while setting the stop of the retained function for some reason, the setting of the function stop is canceled in a relatively short time depending on the specific conditions, It is possible to effectively appeal the important sales appeal function in the demo mode.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The refrigerator main body (1) whose front view is shown in FIG. 1 is formed of an outer box, an inner box, and a heat insulating box body in which a heat insulating material is foam-filled between the inner and outer boxes. The ice making room (3) and the temperature switching room (4) are arranged in the left and right side through a heat insulating partition wall below the refrigerating room (2). In addition, a vegetable compartment (5) is arranged below it, a freezer compartment (6) is independently arranged at the bottom, and a dedicated door is provided at the front opening of each storage compartment so that it can be opened and closed freely. is doing.

  The opening of the refrigerating room (2), which has the largest storage volume, is hermetically closed inside and outside of the storage room by the rotary left and right doors (7) and (8) using the double door method and the magnet gasket attached to the door periphery. One control, in this embodiment, a control panel (9) for displaying the operating state and setting the temperature at the height position of the user's line of sight above the right door (8) is installed. A touch panel (11) for operating a door opening device (10) that automatically opens the right door (8) by a touch operation is disposed below the touch panel. In addition, a touch panel (11 ′) for automatically opening the left door (7) is disposed at a position facing the touch panel (11) of the left door (7). By the touch operation, the door opening device (10 ′) is activated to open the left door (7).

  The touch panel (11) (11 ') is formed by, for example, applying a metal plating to a touch area touched by a human finger when opening the door to form an electrode, and an electrode and a contact portion that change when the human touches the touch area. It is controlled to detect the electrostatic capacity and send a signal for opening the door to the door opening control unit. By the door opening signal, the left and right doors (7) and (8) at the front part on the upper surface of the refrigerator body (1) are controlled. The door push mechanism of the door opening device (10) (10 ') consisting of mechanical means such as a solenoid provided at the opposing position is operated to open each refrigerator door (7) (8) individually. Has been.

  As shown in an enlarged view of FIG. 2, the control panel (9) has a liquid crystal display panel (12) and a plurality of pushbutton switches (13) arranged vertically below and right below. The pushbutton switch (13) includes, for example, a refrigerator temperature control button (13a), a freezer temperature control button (13b), a quick freeze button (13c), a quick ice making button (13d), and a high power freezing button (13e). When pressed, the operation of the refrigerator is controlled so as to perform the displayed functions.

  As described above, the refrigerator has various functions other than the above, and in addition to pressing each push button switch (13) for a short time, the refrigerator can be pressed for a long time, or two push button switches can be pressed simultaneously. By doing so, it is configured to correspond to different functions.

  As the different function, there is an “automatic door opening off” function. This "automatic door open off" function is a control that prevents the door push mechanism of the door opening device (10) (10 ') by the touch panel (11) (11') described above from operating. In this case, the door control signal is controlled to be cut off by continuously pressing the refrigerator compartment temperature adjustment button (13a) for 5 seconds with all the refrigerator doors closed. In this example, the function related to the refrigerator temperature control button (13a) is set to the “illumination off” function in addition to the “automatic door opening off” function. The “illumination off” function is to turn off the illumination of the display panel (12) for 5 seconds after pressing each push button switch (13) for 5 seconds.

  On the other hand, the demonstration mode is a special mode for increasing the customer's purchasing motivation by appealing many control functions possessed by the refrigerator with storefront displays such as a store, and does not perform cooling operation. For example, if all the doors are closed and the refrigerator temperature control button (13a) and the quick ice making button (13d) in the control panel (9) are simultaneously pressed for 5 seconds or longer, the display panel is displayed as shown in FIG. The “Demo” display (12a) is turned on in (12) and the mode is set. Even if the customer opens the door for a long time, it is turned off in about 1 minute to prevent overheating and save power. In this mode, the display panel (12) is displayed for demonstration purposes, and is controlled to repeat lighting and flashing.

  This demo mode also has a release function for returning to normal control. When releasing the demo mode, all the doors are closed as described above, and the refrigerator temperature control button is used. (13a) and the quick ice making button (13d) must be pressed at the same time for 5 seconds or more, and it is set so that the demo mode cannot be canceled unless this release operation is performed. .

  Therefore, during the demonstration mode of the display refrigerator at the storefront, the door push mechanism in the door opening device (10) (10 ') is not operated for the purpose of explaining the product to the customer. Even if the “automatic door opening off” function is set, in the present invention, when three minutes have elapsed since the “automatic door opening off” function is set, for example, the “automatic door opening off” function That is, the function setting for stopping the door opening device is canceled.

  Therefore, after 3 minutes, the door opening device (10) (10 ') is set to be operable again, and the person in charge in the store forgets that the automatic door opening function is stopped. Even if you are not familiar with the existence of the function itself or the release method, the door opening function automatically recovers, so you will not miss the opportunity to explain the important merit mechanism and effectively appeal to customers it can.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Normal operation is performed after the power is turned on, but when setting to the demo mode (S1), the refrigerator compartment doors (7) and (8) are opened, and the button operation on the control panel (9) is performed. At that time, if the “automatic door open off” function that prevents the door push mechanism in the door opening device (10) (10 ′) from operating is already set up to this point, “automatic door open off” In addition to determining whether or not to cancel the function (S2), if necessary, press the quick freeze button (13c) and the quick ice making button simultaneously for 5 seconds or more with all doors closed. When the function is released (S3) and not released, the "Demo" display (12a) is turned on on the display panel (12) and the demo mode is set and started (S4).

  Here, when the person in charge in the store sets “automatic door open off” for explanation (S5), the refrigerator compartment temperature control button (13a) is continuously pressed for 5 seconds with all the doors of the refrigerator closed. As a result, the door opening signal is blocked and the door push mechanism in the door opening device (10) (10 ′) is prevented from being operated “automatic door opening off” (S6). Thereafter, if the “automatic door opening off” function is canceled as required (S7), the “automatic door opening off” function is canceled manually by performing the same operation as described above (S8). The corresponding door (7) or (8) of the refrigerator compartment can be automatically opened by a normal touch operation on the touch panel (11) (11 ′).

  Even when the “automatic door-off” function is not canceled, when 3 minutes have elapsed from the setting of the “automatic door-off” function in this embodiment (S9), the “automatic door-off” function is forcibly It is controlled so that “open door off” is released.

  Also, when canceling the demo mode, the refrigerator compartment temperature control button (13a) and the quick ice making button (13d) are simultaneously pressed for 5 seconds or more with all the doors closed (S10). The demo mode is canceled by this, but if the "automatic door open off" function has not been canceled by this time, it is canceled at this stage (S11), and then the demo mode is canceled. (S12).

  By configuring as described above, when the “automatic door opening off” function is set, the “automatic door opening off” function is canceled when a predetermined time has elapsed since the function setting regardless of whether or not the canceling operation is performed. Even if you forget to cancel the function setting after explaining the function by setting “Automatic door open off” to actually explain the demonstration, such as when explaining to the customer, etc. Since the “automatic door-off” function is forcibly released in a relatively short time, it is possible to effectively appeal the sales appeal function during the demo mode without leaking important function descriptions as a refrigerator. it can.

  In addition, in the said Example, although the door opener was demonstrated in the example applied to the rotary refrigerator door (7) (8), it is not restricted to this, Vegetable room door (5), Freezer compartment door (6 Needless to say, it can also be applied to drawer-type doors such as).

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but when the demonstration LED of the control panel, the door alarm, the demonstration mode of the interior lamp is set to stop, or for the store display about the rotation control of the cool air circulation fan Even when “function off” in the demo mode is set, that is, when the operation function stop is set, the stop function setting may be canceled after a predetermined time, and the person in charge in the store forgets to release the stop function. Even if it is left as it is, the function stop is automatically released after a predetermined time and the demo mode function is restored, so that the function that should be originally appealed can be restored and contributed to sales.

  The condition for canceling the function stop setting when the function to stop the automatic door opener function or the operation function for the demo mode is set is not limited to the predetermined time after the function stop setting. May be canceled every predetermined period, for example, every hour.

It is a front view of the refrigerator which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged view of the control panel part in FIG. It is a control operation flowchart which shows one Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator body 2 Refrigeration room 7, 8 Refrigeration room door 9 Control panel 10, 10 'Door opening device 11, 11' Touch panel
12 Display panel 12a Demo display 13 Pushbutton switch
13a Cold room temperature control button 13b Freezer room temperature control button
13c Quick freezing button 13d Quick ice making button 13e High power freezing button

Claims (4)

  A refrigerator equipped with an automatic door opening device that can be arbitrarily set to execute and stop function, and with a normal mode and a demo mode for store display, when the automatic door opening function is set to stop during the demo mode Is a refrigerator in which the automatic door opening device function stop setting is canceled by a specific condition setting.   In a refrigerator equipped with a normal mode and a demonstration mode for store display, an interior lamp or a cold air circulation fan provided in the main body during the demonstration mode, or a push button switch for controlling various functions and a display panel for displaying functions The refrigerator characterized by canceling the setting of each function stop by a specific condition setting when the setting for stopping the operation function for the demo mode is performed.   3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the setting is released after a predetermined time from the setting of the function stop.   3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the setting is released every predetermined period from the time of setting the function stop.

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