JP2020046093A - Refrigerator and system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a system that allows even a user who is not near a refrigerator to grasp completion of ice making by the refrigerator.SOLUTION: A refrigerator 100 notifies a portable terminal 110 of completion of ice making when detecting the completion of ice making. The portable terminal 110 that has received the notification displays a message that indicates the completion of ice making.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

Description

  The present invention relates to refrigerators and systems.

  Patent Literature 1 discloses a refrigerator having an ice making function. The refrigerator of Patent Literature 1 displays that the ice making is completed or notifies the user using voice.

JP 2001-268887 A

  According to the refrigerator of Patent Literature 1, a user near the refrigerator can know that the ice making is completed. However, the user is not always near the refrigerator. Even if the completion of ice making is displayed or the refrigerator notifies the user using voice, a user who is not near the refrigerator cannot grasp the completion of ice making.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism that allows a user who is not near a refrigerator to know that ice making has been completed in the refrigerator.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the refrigerator provided by the present invention has a detection unit for detecting that ice making is completed, and ice making is completed based on the detection unit detecting that ice making is completed. Notification means for notifying the external device of the fact.

  Further, a system provided by the present invention is a system including a refrigerator and a portable terminal, wherein the refrigerator is configured to detect completion of ice making in the refrigerator, and the detection unit detects completion of ice making. Notification means for notifying the portable terminal that the ice making has been completed based on the detection of the ice making, and the portable terminal has completed the ice making based on the notification indicating that the ice making has been completed. A display unit for displaying information indicating that the operation has been performed.

  According to the present invention, even a user who is not near the refrigerator can know that ice making has been completed in the refrigerator.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a system. FIG. 2 is an external view of the refrigerator 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the refrigerator 100. FIG. 3 is a view showing a hinge cover 401 of the refrigerator 100. FIG. 3 shows an operation panel 304. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 110. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a software configuration of the mobile terminal 110. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a server. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a table managed by a server 130. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen displayed by the mobile terminal 110. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the refrigerator 100. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by a server. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen displayed by the mobile terminal 110. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen displayed by the mobile terminal 110. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the mobile terminal 110. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen displayed by the mobile terminal 110. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the refrigerator 100.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and not all combinations of the features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential for solving the invention.
(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a system according to the present embodiment. The system according to the present embodiment includes a refrigerator 100, a mobile terminal 110, an access point 120, and a server 130. Refrigerator 100 establishes a wireless connection with access point 120 by a connection procedure described later, and communicates with server 130 on the Internet. The access point 120 is, for example, a wireless LAN router. The mobile terminal 110 is, for example, a smartphone or a tablet terminal. The mobile terminal 110 establishes a wireless connection with the access point 120 and communicates with the server 130 on the Internet.

  FIG. 2 is an external view of the refrigerator 100. The refrigerator 100 includes a plurality of storage rooms, specifically, a refrigerator room 201, an ice making room 202, an upper freezing room 203, a lower freezing room 204, and a vegetable room 205. Further, inside the refrigerator compartment 201, a partial / chilled switching compartment is provided.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of refrigerator 100. The CPU 301 is a processor that reads a control program stored in the ROM 302 and executes various processes for controlling the operation of the refrigerator 100. The ROM 302 is a nonvolatile storage medium that stores various data such as a control program. The RAM 303 is a volatile storage medium used as a temporary storage area. Note that a microcontroller may be provided instead of the CPU 301, the ROM 302, and the RAM 303, and the microcontroller may control the operation of the refrigerator 100.

  Operation panel 304 receives a user operation on refrigerator 100. The operation panel 304 will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. The wireless LAN I / F 305 executes wireless LAN communication such as IEEE802.11a / b / g / n / ac. The wireless LAN I / F 305 is housed inside a hinge cover 401 of a door that closes the refrigerator compartment 201, as shown in FIG. The wireless LAN I / F 305 establishes a wireless connection with the access point 120 and communicates with the server 130 on the Internet.

  The ice making unit 306 includes an ice tray provided at an upper portion of the ice making room 202, a detection lever for detecting that the ice is fully loaded in the ice storage box of the ice making room 202, and a water supply tank provided in the refrigeration room 201. It is composed of Ice is produced by freezing the water supplied from the water supply tank to the ice tray. When the ice is manufactured, the ice tray rotates under the control of the CPU 301, and the ice falls from the ice tray into the ice storage box. Water is again supplied to the ice tray from which the ice has fallen from the water supply tank to produce ice. Ice production is performed until the detection lever detects that the ice is full in the ice storage box.

  Although not shown in FIG. 3, the refrigerator 100 includes a refrigeration cycle including a compressor, a condenser, a cooler, and the like. Each storage room such as the refrigerator compartment 201 is cooled to a predetermined temperature zone by the cool air generated by the cooler.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation panel 304. The operation panel 304 is provided on a side wall inside the refrigerator compartment 201. The quick ice button 501 is a button for instructing the refrigerator 100 to rapidly produce ice. The ice making stop button 502 is a button for instructing the refrigerator 100 to stop making ice. The refrigerating button 503 and the freezing button 504 are buttons for adjusting the temperatures of the refrigerating room 201 and the lower freezing room 204, respectively. The partial button 505 is a button for adjusting the temperature of the partial / chilled switching room. The display unit 506 displays information such as an error code.

  Next, the remote control button 507 will be described. When the user presses the remote control button 507 in a state where the remote control setting of the refrigerator 100 is OFF, the remote control setting turns ON. When the remote control setting is turned on, the setting of the refrigerator 100 can be changed according to an instruction from the refrigerator application 702 described later. On the other hand, if the user presses the remote control button 507 while the remote control setting is ON, the remote control setting turns OFF. When the remote operation setting is turned off, the setting of the refrigerator 100 cannot be changed by an instruction from the refrigerator application 702 described later.

  When the user presses the remote control button 507 for a predetermined time (for example, 3 seconds) for more than a predetermined time while the remote control setting is ON, not only the remote control setting is turned OFF, but also the power supply to the wireless LAN I / F 305 is cut off. Is done. By shutting off the power supply to the wireless LAN I / F 305, the power consumption of the refrigerator 100 can be reduced. When the user presses the remote control button 507 in a state where the remote control setting is OFF and the power supply to the wireless LAN I / F 305 is shut off, the remote control setting turns ON and the wireless LAN I / F 305 Power supply is started.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 110. The CPU 601 is a processor that reads a control program stored in the flash memory 602 and executes various processes for controlling the operation of the mobile terminal 110. The flash memory 602 is a non-volatile storage medium that stores various data such as a control program and a program of an application installed in the mobile terminal 110. The RAM 603 is a volatile storage medium used as a temporary storage area. The operation unit 604 is a key, and a plurality of keys are provided on the mobile terminal 110. The display unit 605 is a touch panel, displays information such as images and moving images, and receives an instruction from a user through a touch operation. The wireless LAN I / F 606 executes wireless LAN communication such as IEEE802.11a / b / g / n / ac. The wireless LAN I / F 606 establishes a wireless connection with the access point 120 and communicates with the server 130 on the Internet. The camera 607 has a photographing function and a reading function of reading a two-dimensional code such as a QR code (registered trademark).

  Next, a software configuration of the mobile terminal 110 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of software realized by the CPU 601 reading out a control program and an application program stored in the flash memory 602.

  An OS (Operating System) 701 is basic software for controlling the entire operation of the mobile terminal 110, and is realized by the CPU 601 reading out a control program. Various applications can be installed on the mobile terminal 110. The OS 701 exchanges information with these applications and controls the operation of the portable terminal 110 according to instructions received from the applications.

  The refrigerator application 702 is one of applications installed in the mobile terminal 110. The refrigerator application 702 is an application provided to the user for the refrigerator, and changes settings of the refrigerator 100 from the refrigerator application 702 and displays a notification (for example, a notification indicating completion of ice making) transmitted from the refrigerator 100 on the mobile terminal 110. Or The flash memory 602 stores a refrigerator application program for realizing the refrigerator application 702. When the CPU 601 reads the refrigerator application program, the refrigerator application 702 is realized.

  Next, a hardware configuration of the server 130 will be described with reference to FIG. The CPU 801 is a processor that reads a control program stored in the ROM 802 and executes various processes for controlling the operation of the server 130. The ROM 802 is a nonvolatile storage medium that stores a control program. The RAM 803 is a volatile storage medium used as a temporary storage area. The HDD 804 is a nonvolatile storage medium that stores various data. The network I / F 805 communicates with an external device on the network. The communication executed by the network I / F 805 may be either wired LAN communication or wireless LAN communication.

  Next, a management table stored in the server 130 will be described with reference to FIG. The notification management table 900 in FIG. 9A is information stored in the HDD 804 of the server 130. For each mobile terminal, it is determined whether to notify the mobile terminal of a specific event among the events that occurred in the refrigerator. To manage. Field 901 stores identification information for identifying a mobile terminal. The field 901 may store the MAC address of the mobile terminal. Field 902 stores identification information of the refrigerator corresponding to the mobile terminal. In the case of the notification management table 900, it is managed that the portable terminal with the portable terminal ID “AAAAA” corresponds to the refrigerator with the refrigerator ID “RF001”. A field 903, a field 904, and a field 905 store whether or not to notify the portable terminal about ice making completion, water supply to a water supply tank, and occurrence of an error among events that have occurred in the refrigerator. In the case of the notification management table 900, the portable terminal having the portable terminal ID “AAAAA” is notified that the ice making has been completed and the water has been supplied to the water supply tank, and that no error has occurred.

  The refrigerator management table 910 in FIG. 9B is information stored in the HDD 804 of the server 130 and manages information related to the operation of the refrigerator. Field 911 stores identification information of the refrigerator. Field 912 stores the current operation state of the refrigerator. The operation state of the refrigerator in the present embodiment is of three types: normal operation, energy saving operation, and cooling operation. The normal operation is a state where the compressor of the refrigerator is rotating at a normal rotation speed. The energy saving operation is a state in which the compressor of the refrigerator is rotating at a lower rotation speed than the rotation speed in the normal operation. The cooling operation is a state where the compressor of the refrigerator is rotating at a higher rotation speed than the rotation speed in the normal operation. The state where the refrigerator is performing the energy saving operation is the state where the power consumption of the refrigerator is the lowest. Field 913 stores the date and time when the refrigerator performed an energy saving operation. A field 914 stores the reason why the energy saving operation of the refrigerator has been canceled.

  In the present embodiment, the user can set whether or not to notify the portable terminal of each of the ice making completion, the water supply to the water supply tank, and the occurrence of an error among the events generated in the refrigerator. The notification setting screen 1000 in FIG. 10 is a screen displayed on the display unit 605 of the mobile terminal 110, and is provided by the refrigerator application 702. On the notification setting screen 1000, the user of the mobile terminal 110 sets whether or not notification is necessary for each of the completion of ice making, the water supply to the water supply tank, and the occurrence of an error. When the user touches the setting button 1001, the mobile terminal 110 transmits a setting result on the setting screen 1000 to the server 130. Specifically, the refrigerator application 702 instructs the OS 701 to transmit the setting result by the setting screen 1000 to the server 130, and the wireless LAN I / F 606 transmits the setting result to the server 130 under the control of the OS 701. The server 130 that has received the setting result from the setting screen 1000 updates the notification management table 900 in FIG. 9A based on the received setting result.

  Next, a process in which the refrigerator 100 notifies the server 130 of an event will be described using the flowchart of FIG. Each step shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11 is realized by the CPU 301 expanding the control program stored in the ROM 302 in the RAM 303 and executing the control program.

  In operation 1101, the refrigerator 100 in operation determines whether an event to be notified to the server 130 has occurred. The events to be notified to the server 130 are ice making completion, water supply to a water supply tank, occurrence of an error, and a change in the operation state of the refrigerator 100. If refrigerator 100 determines that an event to be notified to server 130 has occurred, the process proceeds to step 1102. On the other hand, if refrigerator 100 determines that an event to be notified to server 130 has not occurred, the process proceeds to step 1103.

  The CPU 301 of the refrigerator 100 determines that "ice making completed" has occurred as an event to be notified to the server 130 at the timing when the ice tray is rotated to drop ice into the ice storage box. Further, the CPU 301 of the refrigerator 100 determines that “water supply to the water supply tank” has occurred as an event to be notified to the server 130 at a timing when it is detected that the water supply tank has run out of water. Further, the CPU 301 of the refrigerator 100 determines that “error occurred” has occurred as an event to be notified to the server 130 at a timing when some error has occurred in the refrigerator 100. Further, the CPU 301 of the refrigerator 100 determines that “change of the operation state of the refrigerator 100” has occurred as an event to be notified to the server 130 at the timing when the operation state of the refrigerator 100 has been changed.

  Next, in step 1102, the refrigerator 100 notifies the server 130 of the event that has occurred. Specifically, the wireless LAN I / F 305 of the refrigerator 100 transmits an event generated in the refrigerator 100 to the server 130 via the access point 120. For example, if the event to be notified is “ice making completed”, the refrigerator 100 notifies the server 130 that the ice making has been completed in the refrigerator 100.

  If the event to be notified is “change of operation state of refrigerator 100”, refrigerator 100 notifies server 130 of the operation state before the change and the operation state after the change. At this time, the refrigerator 100 may notify the server 130 of the rotation speed of the compressor, and the server 130 may specify the operation state of the refrigerator 100 based on the notified rotation speed of the compressor. When the operation state of refrigerator 100 is changed from the energy saving operation to another operation state, refrigerator 100 notifies server 130 of the reason why the energy saving operation is canceled.

  Next, in step 1103, refrigerator 100 determines whether or not to end the processing. If the refrigerator 100 determines that the processing is to be ended by turning off the power or the like, the processing of the flowchart in FIG. On the other hand, if the refrigerator 100 determines that the process is not to be ended, the process returns to step 1101.

  Next, a process executed by the server 130 when an event notification is received from the refrigerator 100 will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. Each step shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 is realized by the CPU 801 expanding a control program stored in the ROM 802 in the RAM 803 and executing the control program.

  First, in step 1201, the server 130 specifies the type of event notified from the refrigerator 100. If the event notified from the refrigerator 100 is any of ice-making completion, water supply to the water supply tank, and occurrence of an error, the process proceeds to step 1202. On the other hand, if the event notified from refrigerator 100 is a change in the operation state of refrigerator 100, the process proceeds to step 1204.

  Next, step 1202 will be described. In step 1202, the server 130 determines whether there is a portable terminal to which an event occurred in the refrigerator 100 is to be notified. If it is determined that there is a portable terminal to be notified of an event that has occurred in refrigerator 100, the process proceeds to step 1203. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no portable terminal to which an event occurred in refrigerator 100 should be notified, the process of the flowchart in FIG. 12 ends without notification of the event to the portable terminal.

  The determination in step 1202 is made based on the identification information of the refrigerator in which the event has occurred, the type of event that has occurred in the refrigerator 100, and the information managed by the notification management table 900 in FIG. For example, assume that "ice making completed" has occurred in the refrigerator with the identification information "RF001". In this case, a mobile terminal whose mobile terminal ID is “AAAAA” is specified as a mobile terminal to which an event occurred in refrigerator 100 should be notified, and it is determined that a mobile terminal to which an event occurred in refrigerator 100 should be notified exists. On the other hand, it is assumed that “water supply to the water supply tank” has occurred in the refrigerator having the identification information “RF003”. In this case, a mobile terminal to which an event occurred in refrigerator 100 should be notified is not specified, and it is determined that there is no mobile terminal to which an event occurred in refrigerator 100 should be notified.

  Next, in step 1203, the server 130 notifies the portable terminal identified as the notification destination in the processing in step 1202 of the event that has occurred in the refrigerator 100. For example, if the mobile terminal identified as the notification destination in the processing of step 1202 is the mobile terminal 110, and “ice making is completed” in the refrigerator 100, “ice making is completed” is notified from the server 130 to the mobile terminal 110. You.

  Next, step 1204 will be described. In step 1204, server 130 updates field 912 of refrigerator management table 910 in FIG. 9B based on the received event. If the received event indicates that the operation state of refrigerator 100 has changed from the energy saving operation to another operation state, server 130 also updates fields 913 and 914.

  Next, a process executed by the portable terminal 110 when the portable terminal 110 receives a notification of an event occurring in the refrigerator 100 from the server 130 will be described. The mobile terminal 110 that has received the notification of the event displays a message corresponding to the notified event. When the refrigerator application 702 is operating in the foreground on the mobile terminal 110, the TOP screen 1300 of FIG. 13A displays the display unit 605 of the mobile terminal 110 at the timing when the mobile terminal 110 receives the notification of “ice making completed”. Is a screen to be displayed. The TOP screen 1300 is a screen provided by the refrigerator application 702. In message 1301 of TOP screen 1300, the user of portable terminal 110 can grasp that ice making in refrigerator 100 has been completed.

  In addition, when the refrigerator application 702 is operating in the foreground on the mobile terminal 110, the TOP screen 1310 in FIG. 13B indicates the mobile terminal 110 at the timing when the mobile terminal 110 receives the notification of “water supply to the water supply tank”. 110 is a screen displayed by the display unit 605. The TOP screen 1310 is a screen provided by the refrigerator application 702. In the message 1311 of the TOP screen 1310, the user of the portable terminal 110 can know that the water supply to the water supply tank of the refrigerator 100 is necessary. When the user touches button 1312 on TOP screen 1310, refrigerator application 702 displays an explanation screen indicating to the user how to wash the water tank and ice tray.

  At the timing when the portable terminal 110 receives the notification of the event occurred in the refrigerator 100, the refrigerator application 702 may not be operating in the portable terminal 110, or the refrigerator application 702 may be operating in the background. In these cases, refrigerator 100 displays notification 1321 on standby screen 1320 of FIG. 13 (C). When the refrigerator application 702 is not operating on the mobile terminal 110, the refrigerator application 702 starts operating when the user touches the notification 1321. Then, the display unit 605 of the mobile terminal 110 displays a TOP screen 1300 including the message 1301. When the refrigerator application 702 is operating in the background on the mobile terminal 110, the user touches the notification 1321 and the refrigerator application 702 operates in the foreground. Then, the display unit 605 of the mobile terminal 110 displays a TOP screen 1300 including the message 1301.

  As described above, the refrigerator 100 notifies the portable terminal 110 via the server 130 that the ice making in the refrigerator 100 has been completed. Then, the user of the portable terminal 110 can know that the ice making has been completed in the refrigerator 100 without being near the refrigerator 100 by the message 1301 in FIG. 13A and the notification 1321 in FIG. Further, refrigerator 100 notifies portable terminal 110 via server 130 that refrigerator 100 needs to supply water to the water supply tank and that an error has occurred in refrigerator 100. Then, the user of the portable terminal 110 can recognize that the water supply to the water supply tank is required in the refrigerator 100 and that an error has occurred in the refrigerator 100 without being near the refrigerator 100.

  Subsequently, the function of the refrigerator application 702 will be described. The refrigerator application 702 displays an operation state of the refrigerator 100 on a TOP screen initially displayed when the refrigerator application 702 is activated so that the user can recognize the operation state. When the refrigerator application 702 displays the TOP screen, the refrigerator application 702 acquires, from the server 130, information on the refrigerator (the refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment) corresponding to the mobile terminal 110 on which the refrigerator application 702 is installed.

  14A is a TOP screen displayed by the refrigerator application 702 when the current operation state of the refrigerator 100 is a normal operation. An area 1401 indicates that the current operation state of the refrigerator 100 is a normal operation. A TOP screen 1410 in FIG. 14B is a TOP screen displayed by the refrigerator application 702 when the current operation state of the refrigerator 100 is the energy saving operation. An area 1411 indicates that the current operation state of the refrigerator 100 is an energy saving operation. A TOP screen 1420 in FIG. 14C is a TOP screen displayed by the refrigerator application 702 when the current operation state of the refrigerator 100 is the cooling operation. An area 1421 indicates that the current operation state of the refrigerator 100 is a cooling operation. Further, by displaying the area 1401, the area 1411, and the area 1421 using colors and animations corresponding to the respective operation states, the user can easily intuitively understand the current operation state of the refrigerator 100.

  When the user touches button 1402 on TOP screen 1400, refrigerator application 702 displays notification setting screen 1000 in FIG. When the user touches button 1403 on TOP screen 1400, refrigerator application 702 displays a refrigerator setting screen 1600 of FIG. 16A described later.

  When the user touches button 1404 on TOP screen 1400, refrigerator application 702 displays energy saving result screen 1430 in FIG. 14 (D). The energy saving result screen 1430 presents the result of the energy saving operation of the refrigerator 100 to the user based on the information of the refrigerator 100 acquired from the server 130. The circumference of the area 1431 is divided into 24, and is displayed so that the user can recognize the time during which the refrigerator 100 is performing the energy saving operation. In the case of the energy saving result screen 1430, it can be seen that the refrigerator 100 performed the energy saving operation in the period from 0:00 to 6:00, 11:00 to 17:00, and 21:00 to 22:00. In the center of the area 1431, a ratio of the time during which the refrigerator 100 is performing the energy saving operation in the 24 hours is displayed.

  In the area 1432 of the energy saving result screen 1430, the reason why the energy saving operation was canceled and the time when the energy saving operation was canceled are displayed. By confirming the reason why the energy saving operation has been canceled, the user can reconsider how to use the refrigerator 100 and extend the time during which the refrigerator 100 performs the energy saving operation. Further, when the user touches the icon 1433 and the icon 1434 on the energy saving result screen 1430, the result of the energy saving operation displayed on the energy saving result screen 1430 is changed to the result of one day before or after one day.

  Next, a process executed by the refrigerator application 702 when changing the settings of the refrigerator 100 using the refrigerator application 702 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Each step shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15 is realized by the CPU 601 developing and executing the control program and the refrigerator application program stored in the flash memory 602 in the RAM 603. A screen displayed by the display unit 605 of the mobile terminal 110 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The refrigerator setting screen 1600 in FIG. 16A is a screen for the user to change the settings of the refrigerator 100, and is provided by the refrigerator application 702. When displaying the refrigerator setting screen 1600, the refrigerator application 702 acquires the latest setting information from the refrigerator 100 and displays the refrigerator setting screen 1600 after reflecting the acquired setting information. On the refrigerator setting screen 1600, the user selects a desired setting and touches a setting button 1601.

  When the user touches setting button 1601, refrigerator application 702 transmits to refrigerator 100 a setting change instruction corresponding to the setting result on refrigerator setting screen 1600 in step 1501 of FIG. The setting change instruction is transmitted from portable terminal 110 to refrigerator 100 via server 130.

  Next, in step 1502, the refrigerator application 702 determines whether a response from the refrigerator 100 to the setting change instruction has been received. When the refrigerator application 702 receives a response from the refrigerator 100 to the setting change instruction, the process proceeds to step 1503. On the other hand, if there is no response from the refrigerator 100 for a predetermined time (for example, one minute) after transmitting the setting change instruction, the process proceeds to step 1506.

  Next, in step 1503, the refrigerator application 702 determines whether the setting of the refrigerator 100 has been successfully changed based on the response received from the refrigerator 100. If the setting of refrigerator 100 has been successfully changed, the process proceeds to step 1504. On the other hand, if the change of the setting of refrigerator 100 has failed, the process proceeds to step 1505.

  Next, in step 1504, the refrigerator application 702 notifies the user of the setting completion. Like the refrigerator setting screen 1610 in FIG. 16B, the refrigerator application 702 displays a message 1611 to notify the user that the setting change of the refrigerator 100 has been completed.

  Next, step 1505 will be described. In step 1505, the refrigerator application 702 notifies the user of the first error information. That the response from the refrigerator 100 indicates that the setting change of the refrigerator 100 has failed means that the remote control setting in the refrigerator 100 is set to OFF. Therefore, the refrigerator application 702 displays a message 1621 as first error information, as in a refrigerator setting screen 1620 in FIG. 16C. The message 1621 allows the user to know that the remote control setting in the refrigerator 100 has been set to OFF.

  Next, step 1506 will be described. In step 1506, the refrigerator application 702 notifies the user of the second error information. When there is no response from the refrigerator 100 to the setting change instruction, it is considered that there is a high possibility that a network problem (for example, the refrigerator 100 is not connected to the access point 120) has occurred. Therefore, the refrigerator application 702 displays a message 1631 as the second error information as in a refrigerator setting screen 1630 in FIG. Message 1631 allows the user to review the network connection.

  Next, a process executed by the refrigerator 100 when receiving the setting change instruction transmitted in step 1501 of FIG. 15 will be described using a flowchart of FIG. Each step shown in the flowchart of FIG. 17 is realized by the CPU 301 expanding the control program stored in the ROM 302 in the RAM 303 and executing the control program.

  In step 1701, the refrigerator 100 that has received the setting change instruction transmitted from the mobile terminal 110 checks the set value of the remote operation setting. If the setting value of the remote operation setting is ON, the process proceeds to step 1702. On the other hand, if the setting value of the remote operation setting is OFF, the process proceeds to step 1704.

  Next, in step 1702, refrigerator 100 changes the settings of refrigerator 100 in accordance with the received setting change instruction. Then, in step 1703, refrigerator 100 notifies portable terminal 110 that the setting change has been successful. Note that the setting of “fast ice” and the setting of “stop ice making” are contradictory settings. Therefore, if the received setting change instruction specifies “fast ice” and “stop ice making” at the same time, refrigerator 100 ignores these two items and changes the setting of refrigerator 100 according to the remaining instructions. change.

Next, step 1704 will be described. In step 1704, refrigerator 100 notifies portable terminal 110 that the setting change has failed. At this time, since the setting value of the remote control setting of the refrigerator 100 is OFF, the setting of the refrigerator 100 is not changed based on the received setting change instruction. Note that the notifications of Step 1702 and Step 1704 are transmitted from the refrigerator 100 to the portable terminal 110 via the server 130.
(Modification 1)
When the setting of the refrigerator 100 can be changed from the refrigerator application 702, that is, the mobile terminal 110 as in the above-described embodiment, the setting change by the operation panel 304 and the setting change by the mobile terminal 110 may be performed almost simultaneously. is there. In this case, the change of the setting by the operation panel 304 may be given priority over the change of the setting by the mobile terminal 110. For example, the refrigerator 100 may refuse to change the setting of the refrigerator 100 by the mobile terminal 110 until a predetermined time (for example, two seconds) elapses after the setting is changed by the operation panel 304.
(Modification 2)
In the embodiment described above, the server 130 is described as a single device, but a system in which a plurality of servers cooperate may realize the role of the server 130. For example, the system is configured by a server that communicates with external devices such as the refrigerator 100 and the portable terminal 110, a server that manages the notification management table 900, a server that manages the refrigerator management table 910, and a server that controls the entire system. Alternatively, the role of the server 130 may be realized.

100 Refrigerator 110 Portable terminal 305 Wireless LAN I / F
306 Ice making unit 605 Display unit 606 Wireless LAN I / F
702 Refrigerator application

Claims (2)

Detecting means for detecting completion of ice making;
A refrigerator comprising: a notifying unit that notifies an external device that ice making has been completed based on the detection unit detecting that ice making has been completed. A system having a refrigerator and a mobile terminal,
The refrigerator is
Detection means for detecting completion of ice making in the refrigerator,
Notifying means for notifying the portable terminal that ice making has been completed, based on the detection means detecting that ice making has been completed,
The mobile terminal,
A system comprising: display means for displaying information indicating that ice making has been completed based on receiving a notification indicating that ice making has been completed.

Images