JP2010151367A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator utilizable for energy saving. <P>SOLUTION: The refrigerator is provided with: a refrigerating chamber 103 having a door 108; illumination 1; and an illuminance sensor 2 which is a detecting means for estimating a vacant space by the difference of change in the quantity of light from the illumination 1. When storing food 3 from the outside, a storable place is easily recognized to shorten the open time of the door 108, thereby attaining energy saving. Since the situation of the vacant space is thus detected comparatively accurately, which part in the storage space of the refrigerating chamber is vacant, is easily recognized, and food is quickly stored. The opened time of the door is shortened to suppress the rise of temperature in the refrigerator due to door opening, thus achieving energy saving. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a household refrigerator.

  In recent years, as demand for increasing the capacity of refrigerators has increased, refrigerators aiming to improve volumetric efficiency by reducing ineffective space have been put on the market.

  However, the larger the capacity that can be stored in the refrigerator, the more time is required to find the storage location when storing food in the refrigerator. In other words, when food is stored, after opening the door, the state of the existing stored food must be checked, and sometimes the stored food must be searched for and stored. In the meantime, the door is opened and high temperature outside air flows into the cabinet and the temperature inside the cabinet rises, so the energy required to cool down to the set temperature after closing the door increases. .

  As a solution to this problem, recently, a method for confirming the presence or absence of food using a pressure sensor has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  Hereinafter, the conventional refrigerator will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a front view of the refrigerator opened as an example of a conventional refrigerator, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the main part in the refrigerator.

  The refrigerator main body 101 shown in FIG. 2 is provided with a refrigerator compartment 103, an ice making room 104, a vegetable room 106, and a freezing room 107 from above in an inner box 102 provided via a heat insulating wall. On the other hand, a switching room 105 that can switch the room to multiple temperatures is provided.

  The refrigerating room 103 with the highest use frequency of storage and storage and the large storage capacity closes the front opening with a double door revolving door 108 pivotally supported by hinges on both sides. The freezer compartment 107 is provided with a drawer-type door, and the main control unit 109 of the refrigerator 101 is composed of a microcomputer and is disposed on the back of the main body.

  The refrigerating chamber 103 is divided into a room maintained at a refrigerating temperature vertically by a plurality of shelves 110 provided at appropriate intervals, and a water tank for supplying ice-making water into the ice making chamber 104 or a chilled temperature is maintained at the bottom thereof. A low-temperature chamber 113 is provided.

  The shelf 110 is a rectangular plate-like body made by injection-molding a synthetic resin material, and has a side edge portion on a shelf receiving bead 102 a that is formed to protrude in the front-rear direction on the side wall of the inner box 102 that forms the refrigerator compartment 103. As shown in FIG. 3, a pressure sensor 111 is disposed at a position corresponding to the corner of the lower surface of each shelf 110.

  The pressure sensor 111 is fixed on the shelf receiving bead 102a, is formed of single crystal silicon having a width of 7 mm × 5 mm and a thickness of about 3 mm, and is diffused as a gauge resistance on the diaphragm which is a pressure receiving film. A spherical sensing unit composed of a resistor and a steel ball is arranged, and the weight load on the shelf 110 is detected by electrically converting the resistance change of the diffusion resistance caused by the stress applied to the diaphragm by pressurization. .

  Then, the pressure sensor 111 and other spherical sensing parts are placed in contact with the corners on the bottom surface of the shelf 110 to detect a minute load placed on the shelf 110 with high accuracy. It is possible to specify whether the food 112 is on the surface of the shelf 110 based on the detection value at each corner.

  Next, the control configuration will be described. The pressure sensor 111 is connected to the main control unit 109 via an amplifier, and the reading data based on the pressure (weight) when the food 112 is placed on the shelf 110 is input to the main control unit 109 and managed.

  The main control unit 109 includes information input devices such as a pressure value reading device by the pressure sensor 111 and a door opening / closing detection unit that controls a door switch for detecting the opening / closing of the door 108 of the refrigerator compartment 103 and each drawer type door. It has.

  Further, the main control unit 109 includes a memory for storing data.

  Thus, the detected data value read by the pressure sensor 111 is stored in the memory of the main control unit 109, and the state where the shelf 110 is placed on the shelf receiving bead 102a is set to “0” and is placed on the shelf. The pressure (weight) when the food 112 is placed is read by the pressure sensor 111, and the weight of the food is known from the pressure (gravity) value when the food 112 is placed on the shelf, and is stored in the memory. Therefore, the remaining amount can be calculated from the difference in increase / decrease by checking the pressure (gravity) change and the removal outside the storage.

  That is, when the food 112 that has been placed is removed, the pressure value disappears, so the information is “no food”, and when the amount is reduced by being used like butter or seasoning Since the value decreases, the remaining amount can be detected.

  Data detection by the pressure sensor 111 is performed when the door is opened as described above. That is, since the door 108 is opened and closed when the food 112 is put in and out, the door opening and closing detector detects the opening and closing of the door 108, and the data of the pressure sensor 111 is detected when the door is opened. Can be detected.

  Further, when the door is closed, the information of the pressure sensor 111 is reset and the zero point correction is performed, and the information up to that time is stored in the main control unit 109, thereby comparing with the information data before the door. The presence / absence of the food continuously placed on the shelf 110, the state of the remaining capacity, and the presence / absence of the newly stored food are determined by analyzing the increase / decrease in the data value of each pressure sensor 111.

In this way, heat leakage due to opening the door is reduced by detecting the position of the food and estimating where the food is present.
JP 2007-10208 A

  However, in the above conventional configuration, the shelf is directly equipped with a sensor, but since the density differs for each food, the occupied area of the shelf and the food weight can be detected, but it occupies the storage space including the height direction of the food. The percentage of food volume cannot be detected. That is, when detecting where the empty space exists, a difference occurs, and it is likely that it takes time to search for an empty space that can store food.

  For this reason, a means for accurately detecting the state of an empty space is desired.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a refrigerator according to the present invention includes a refrigerator main body, a storage chamber provided in the refrigerator main body, an interior of the storage chamber, and an empty space in a storage space in the storage chamber. The non-contact detecting means is provided, so that the proportion of the food volume in the storage space including the height direction of the food can be detected in a non-contact manner. As a result, it is possible to detect the situation of the empty space with relatively high accuracy, making it easier to recognize where the refrigerated room storage space is empty, allowing food to be stored quickly, and the door opening time to be reduced. Energy saving can be realized by suppressing the rise in the internal temperature accompanying the opening of the door due to the short time.

  According to the present invention, energy saving can be realized by suppressing an increase in the internal temperature accompanying the opening of the door. Therefore, it is possible to provide a refrigerator that realizes energy saving assuming that the user actually uses it. .

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, a refrigerator main body, a storage chamber provided in the refrigerator main body, and a storage space in the storage chamber are detected in a non-contact manner. Therefore, the position of the empty space is easy to understand, and food can be stored smoothly from the outside, which saves energy. In other words, the non-contact sensor can detect the status of the empty space with relatively high accuracy, making it easier to recognize where the empty space is in the storage space of the refrigeration room, allowing food to be quickly stored, and the door Energy saving can be realized by suppressing the rise in the internal temperature accompanying the opening of the door due to the shorter opening time.

  The invention of the refrigerator according to claim 2, since the detection means is an illuminance sensor, when large food or a large amount of food is stored, the light from the illumination is blocked and the amount of light detected by the detection means decreases, When a small food or a small amount of food is stored, the amount of light leaking from the periphery of the food increases and the amount of light detected by the detection means increases. Thereby, the situation of the empty space can be detected with relatively high accuracy. Further, by using the illuminance sensor, the empty space can be easily understood and food can be smoothly stored from the outside, and the detected light quantity can be easily converted into a numerical value as a voltage output and easily controlled.

  Since the invention of the refrigerator according to claim 3 has a space for storing food between the detection means and the illumination, in addition to the fact that the empty space can be easily understood and food can be stored smoothly from the outside, the light from the illumination is Since the light passes through the detection means via the food, the change in the amount of light passing easily depends on the change in the volume of the stored food, and the detection accuracy of the empty space is further improved.

  In the invention of the refrigerator according to claim 4, since the illumination is installed in front of the storage room and the detecting means is installed in the rear of the storage room, the empty space can be easily understood and food can be stored smoothly from the outside. Thus, even when the door is not securely closed, that is, when outside light enters the storage chamber, the empty space can be detected, and the accuracy is further improved.

  Since the invention of the refrigerator of Claim 5 displays the information of the empty space estimated by the detection means on the outer surface of the door, in addition to making the empty space easy to understand and smoothly storing food from the outside, It is possible to provide a place for storing food stored from outside before opening, and the time for opening the door can be further shortened.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that detailed descriptions of parts that are the same as those in the conventional configuration and that have no difference are omitted. Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a front projection view of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a refrigerator body 101 is provided with a refrigerator compartment 103, an ice making room 104, a vegetable room 106, and a freezing room 107 from above in an inner box 102 provided via a heat insulating wall. On the other hand, a switching room 105 that can switch the room to multiple temperatures is provided.

  The refrigerating room 103 with the highest usage frequency of storage / removal and the large storage capacity has its front opening closed by a double door revolving door 108 pivotally supported by hinges on both sides, and an ice making room 104, a switching room 105, and a vegetable room 106. The freezer compartment 107 is provided with a drawer-type door.

  The refrigerating room 103 divides the room maintained at the refrigerating temperature vertically by a plurality of shelves 110 provided at appropriate intervals, and at the bottom thereof is maintained at a water supply tank for supplying ice making water into the ice making room 104 or at a chilled temperature. A low greenhouse 113 is provided.

  Specifically, the upper space of the shelf 110 is a storage space for storing food. In the present embodiment, the shelf 110a on which food to be stored in the storage space formed in the uppermost stage as the shelf 110 is placed, and two from the top. A shelf 110b for placing food to be stored in the storage space at the stage and a shelf 110c for placing food to be stored in the storage space immediately below the shelf 110b are provided, and a water supply tank or chilled is provided in the lowermost storage section. A low temperature chamber 113 that holds the temperature is disposed.

  The refrigerating room 103 is provided with an illumination 1 in which a plurality of LEDs are incorporated at equal intervals in the vertical direction on the front side of the side of the storage room, and an illuminance sensor 2 is installed on the back side of the storage room. The illuminance sensor 2a is provided on the back wall above the shelf 110a on which food to be stored in the storage space formed on the top and below the inner box 102 on the top surface side. An illuminance sensor 2b is provided on the back wall above the shelf 110b on which food to be stored is placed and below the shelf 110a.

  Moreover, in this Embodiment, the state in which the foodstuff 3 is put on the shelf 110b is shown.

  About the refrigerator comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement is demonstrated below.

  The lighting 1 is turned on with the door 108 closed.

  In the shelf 110, the light from the illumination 1 reaches the illuminance sensor 2a that detects the illuminance of the uppermost storage space via the air. In the lower shelf 110, a part of the light from the illumination 1 passes through the food 3 and reaches the illuminance sensor 2 b that detects the illuminance of the second storage space. The other part of the food 3 is absorbed by the food 3 and part of the food 3 is reflected and scattered, so that the opposite side of the food 3 to the lighting 1, that is, the back side of the food 3 that becomes a shadow is dark with little light. .

  This means that the greater the height of the food 3 or the greater the amount of food stored, the lower the amount of light that blocks the light of the illumination 1 and reaches the illuminance sensor behind.

  Therefore, the illuminance sensor 2 functions as a detection means for detecting an empty space in the storage space in the storage room without contact. What is displayed by this notification means is more easily understood, for example, if it is an image of the storage space in the warehouse.

  Then, the illuminance sensor 2 detects the amount of light in this manner, and displays on the outer surface of the door 108 that there is a space that can be stored in the upper stage with respect to the lower stage of the shelf 110. That is, the user is notified of the state of the stored items in the refrigerator compartment 103 by a recognition means (not shown) displayed on the outer surface of the door 108 provided on the front side of the refrigerator compartment 103 which is a storage compartment provided with the illuminance sensor 2.

  The user confirms the display shown on the recognition means, opens the door 108, puts food on the shelf 110a which is the uppermost storage space where there is little storage without hesitation, and quickly The door 108 can be closed.

  As a result, the opening time of the door 108 is shortened, the high temperature outside air flowing in from the door 108 can be suppressed and energy can be saved, and the temporary temperature rise in the refrigerator compartment 103 is also suppressed. And quality degradation can be reduced.

  In particular, when there is a possibility that a wide variety of foods may be stored, such as a household refrigerator, the effect is higher than in the past.

  In the present invention, the empty space of the storage space is detected by the illuminance sensor 2, but it is also possible to detect the storage space in which food is stored at the same time. In addition, cold air may be supplied mainly to the portion where the food is stored, and in that case, quick and efficient cooling can be performed to further save energy.

  As described above, the refrigerator according to the present invention can be used for a household refrigerator, a commercial refrigerator, a store showcase, and the like having a plurality of storage spaces.

Front projection view at the time of opening the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Front view of a conventional refrigerator Front view of the main parts in the refrigerator

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Illumination 2 Illuminance sensor 3 Food 101 Refrigerator body 103 Refrigeration room (storage room)
108 doors 110 shelves

Claims (5)

  The refrigerator provided with the refrigerator main body, the storage room with which the said refrigerator main body was equipped, and the detection means which detects the empty space in the storage space in the said storage room without contact while being provided in the inside of the said storage room.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is an illuminance sensor, and detects an empty space in the storage space of the storage room based on a difference in illumination provided in the storage room and a change in the amount of light from the illumination.   The refrigerator of Claim 2 arrange | positioned so that it may have the storage space which accommodates a foodstuff between a detection means and illumination.   The refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the illumination is installed on the front side of the storage room, and the detection means is installed on the rear side of the storage room.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a recognizing unit configured to display information on an empty space estimated by the detecting unit on an outer surface of a door provided on the front side of the storage room.