JP2023102507A - Storage and rice storing system - Google Patents

Abstract

To support rice cooking of a user.SOLUTION: A refrigerator 1 includes: a container 16 which stores rice; a freshness detection substrate 17 which acquires information of rice freshness stored in the container 16: and a control unit 8 which outputs, according to the information of the rice freshness acquired by the freshness detection substrate 17, information regarding rice cooking by use of a cooking machine to an external device. The refrigerator 1 can support rice cooking of a user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to a storage such as a refrigerator capable of storing rice and a rice storage system.

Patent Literature 1 describes a refrigerator as an example of a storage for storing rice.

JP 2002-364967 A

When a user cooks rice with a heat cooker such as a rice cooker, it is necessary to perform operations according to the freshness of stored rice in order to cook the rice more deliciously. This operation is complicated and troublesome for the user.

The present disclosure is intended to solve the above problems. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE An object of the present disclosure is to provide a storage and rice storage system refrigerator capable of assisting a user in cooking rice.

The storage according to the present disclosure includes a storage unit that stores rice, a rice freshness acquisition unit that acquires information on the freshness of the rice stored in the storage unit, and an output unit that outputs information on cooking rice by a heat cooker to an external device according to the freshness information of the rice acquired by the rice freshness acquisition unit.
Also, the rice storage system according to the present disclosure includes a storage for storing rice and a heating cooker capable of cooking the rice. The storage has a storage unit for storing rice, rice freshness acquisition means for acquiring information on the freshness of the rice stored in the storage unit, and output means for outputting information on cooking of the rice by the heating cooker to the cooker according to the freshness information on the rice acquired by the rice freshness acquisition unit. The cooking device described above operates according to the information relating to rice cooking output by the output means.
Also, the rice storage system according to the present disclosure includes a storage for storing rice and a display terminal capable of displaying information to a user. The storage has a storage unit for storing rice, rice freshness acquisition means for acquiring information on the freshness of the rice stored in the storage unit, and output means for outputting information on cooking of the rice by the heating cooker to the display terminal in accordance with the freshness information on the rice acquired by the rice freshness acquisition means. The display terminal displays information about cooking rice by the heating cooker in accordance with the information output by the output means.

According to the storage and rice storage system according to the present disclosure, it is possible to assist the user in cooking rice.

1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an internal configuration of a refrigerator according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control system of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 1; 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the rice cooker according to Embodiment 1; 4 is a matrix showing an example of the relationship between the state of rice and fluorescence intensity. The matrix is an example of rice cooker control. 4 is a matrix showing another example of how to obtain rice freshness information;

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiment of the storage and rice storage system which concern on this indication is described, referring attached drawing. In each figure, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding parts. In the present disclosure, overlapping descriptions are simplified or omitted as appropriate. In the following description, for the sake of convenience, the positional relationship of each structure may be expressed based on the illustrated state. It should be noted that the present disclosure is not limited to the following embodiments and modifications thereof. Arbitrary components described in the following embodiments and modifications thereof can be freely combined, modified, or omitted without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a front view of refrigerator 1 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the configuration of refrigerator 1 according to Embodiment 1. As shown in FIG. In the present disclosure, in principle, each direction is defined with reference to when the refrigerator 1 is installed in a usable state. In addition, in each drawing including FIGS. 1 and 2, the dimensions, positional relationships, shapes, etc. of each member constituting the refrigerator 1 may not necessarily completely match the actual ones.

Refrigerator 1 is an example of a storage that stores rice. The storage according to the present disclosure is not limited to the refrigerator 1, and may be any container that can store rice. That is, the storage according to the present disclosure may store rice at room temperature instead of refrigerating it, for example. A refrigerator 1 will be described below as an example of a storage according to the present disclosure.

The refrigerator 1 has a heat insulating box body 90. - 特許庁The heat insulating box body 90 has an outer box, an inner box and a heat insulating material. The outer box is, for example, made of steel. The inner box is made of resin, for example. The inner box is placed inside the outer box. The heat insulating material is, for example, urethane foam or vacuum heat insulating material. A heat insulating material is filled in the space between the outer box and the inner box.

The front surface (front) of the heat insulating box 90 is open. A storage space is formed inside the heat insulating box body 90 . The storage space is a space in which objects to be stored such as food are stored. A storage space formed inside the heat-insulating box body 90 is partitioned into a plurality of storage chambers for storing and storing food by one or more partition members.

As an example, the refrigerator 1 includes a refrigerator compartment 100, a switching compartment 200, an ice making compartment 300, a freezer compartment 400, and a vegetable compartment 500 as a plurality of storage compartments, as shown in FIGS. Each of these storage chambers is arranged in four stages in the vertical direction inside the heat insulating box body 90 .

The refrigerator compartment 100 is arranged on the uppermost level inside the heat insulating box body 90 . As shown in FIG. 2, inside the refrigerator compartment 100, as an example, a plurality of shelf boards are provided. The interior of the refrigerating compartment 100 is vertically partitioned into a plurality of spaces by these shelf boards. A chilled compartment 110 may be provided inside the refrigerated compartment 100 .

Switching compartment 200 is arranged on one side on the left and right under refrigerating compartment 100 . The temperature zone in the switching chamber 200 can be selectively switched to one of a plurality of temperature zones. A plurality of temperature zones that can be selected as the temperature zone in the switching compartment 200 are, for example, a freezing temperature zone, a refrigerating temperature zone, a chilled temperature zone, a soft freezing temperature zone, and the like. The freezing temperature zone is, for example, a temperature zone of about -18°C. The refrigerating temperature zone is, for example, a temperature zone of about 3°C. The chilled temperature zone is, for example, a temperature zone of about 0°C. The soft freezing temperature zone is, for example, a temperature zone of about -7°C.

The ice making chamber 300 is arranged adjacent to the side of the switching chamber 200 . The ice making chamber 300 is arranged in parallel with the switching chamber 200 . That is, the ice making chamber 300 is arranged on the other left and right sides below the refrigerating chamber 100 .

Freezer compartment 400 is arranged below switching compartment 200 and ice making compartment 300 . The freezer compartment 400 is used for freezing and preserving objects to be stored for a relatively long period of time. The vegetable compartment 500 is arranged at the bottom of the heat insulating box body 90 . The vegetable compartment 500 stores, for example, vegetables and large-capacity PET bottles. Vegetable compartment 500 is arranged below freezer compartment 400 .

A front portion of the refrigerator compartment 100 is provided with a refrigerator compartment door 7 for opening and closing the refrigerator compartment 100 . The refrigerator compartment door 7 is, for example, a double-opening rotary door. The double-opening refrigerator compartment door 7 is composed of a right door 7a and a left door 7b. An operation panel 6 is provided on the outer surface of the refrigerator compartment door 7 . In the configuration example shown in FIG. 1, the operation panel 6 is provided on the left door 7b.

As an example, the switching compartment 200, the ice making compartment 300, the freezing compartment 400, and the vegetable compartment 500 are each opened and closed by a drawer-type door. These drawer-type doors can be slid in the depth direction of the refrigerator 1 along rails horizontally formed on the left and right inner wall surfaces of each storage compartment. A user of refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment can open and close switch compartment 200, ice making compartment 300, freezer compartment 400, and vegetable compartment 500 by sliding the drawer-type door back and forth.

Inside the switchable compartment 200, a switchable compartment storage case 201 capable of storing food and the like is stored so as to be pulled out. Inside the freezer compartment 400, a freezer compartment storage case 401 capable of storing food and the like is stored so as to be pulled out. Similarly, the vegetable compartment 500 is provided with a vegetable compartment upper case 14 and a vegetable compartment lower case 15 in which food and the like can be stored. The vegetable compartment upper case 14 stores, for example, small vegetables such as eggplant and parsley. In the vegetable compartment lower case 15, for example, large vegetables such as radish, Chinese cabbage and watermelon, or PET bottles are stored.

The number of storage compartments provided in the refrigerator 1, the arrangement of the storage compartments, the configuration of the doors for opening and closing the storage compartments, and the like are not limited to the examples described above. For example, a door for opening and closing refrigerator compartment 100 may be of a sliding type. Moreover, the door for opening and closing the switching compartment 200, the ice making compartment 300, the freezing compartment 400, and the vegetable compartment 500 may be a rotary type.

A refrigerator 1 includes a compressor 2, a cooler 3, a blower 4, and the like as a cooling mechanism for cooling each storage compartment. The compressor 2 and the cooler 3 form a refrigeration cycle circuit with a condenser, a throttle device and the like (not shown). The compressor 2 compresses and discharges the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle circuit. The condenser condenses the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2 . The expansion device expands the refrigerant that has flowed out of the condenser. The cooler 3 cools the air supplied to each storage compartment with the refrigerant expanded by the expansion device. The compressor 2 is arranged, for example, in the lower part of the back side of the refrigerator 1, as shown in FIG.

When the blower 4 operates, the air cooled by the cooler 3, ie cold air, is sent to each storage compartment through the duct. The air warmed by cooling each storage compartment is returned to the space where the cooler 3 is installed through the duct. The air returned to the space where the cooler 3 is installed is cooled again by the cooler 3 and circulates inside the refrigerator 1 .

A thermistor (not shown) is installed in each storage room. This thermistor detects the temperature inside each reservoir. The blower 4 and the compressor 2 are controlled based on the detection result of this thermistor. The blower 4 and the compressor 2 are controlled so that the temperature inside each storage chamber reaches a preset temperature.

Refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment also includes control device 8 . For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the control device 8 is provided on the upper part of the back side of the refrigerator 1 . The control device 8 has a function of controlling the compressor 2, the blower 4, and the like. The control device 8 is provided with a control circuit and the like for controlling the operation of the refrigerator 1 . Each function of the control device 8 is realized by this control circuit.

The refrigerator 1 includes a door open/close sensor 13, as shown in FIG. The door opening/closing sensor 13 is for detecting the opening/closing state of the door for opening/closing the vegetable compartment 500 . The door open/close sensor 13 is an example of door open/close detection means for detecting opening/closing of the door of the storeroom provided in the refrigerator 1 . Although illustration is omitted, a sensor capable of detecting opening and closing of doors of storage compartments other than the vegetable compartment 500 may be provided.

The refrigerator 1 also includes a container 16 as shown in FIG. The container 16 is an example of a container that stores rice. The container 16 is arranged in the vegetable compartment 500, for example. The container 16 may be provided in a storage compartment other than the vegetable compartment 500 . The container 16 can be placed in any storage compartment with a refrigerated temperature range, such as the refrigerated compartment 100 and the chilled compartment 110 . Also, the container 16 may be detachable.

Note that the refrigerator 1 does not necessarily have to include the container 16 . For example, any storage compartment provided in the refrigerator 1 itself may be configured as a storage unit according to the present disclosure. In the present embodiment, as an example, the container 16, which is a storage portion, is partitioned in a storage compartment of a refrigerating temperature zone.

A freshness detection board 17 is provided outside the bottom surface of the container 16 . In this embodiment, the freshness detection board 17 is provided on the floor surface of the vegetable compartment 500 so as to face the container 16 . The freshness detection board 17 acquires information on the freshness of the rice stored in the container 16, and constitutes an example of the rice freshness acquiring means according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control system of refrigerator 1 according to Embodiment 1. As shown in FIG. The control circuit of the control device 8 comprises, for example, a processor 8a and a memory 8b. The control device 8 controls the refrigerator 1 by executing preset processing by the processor 8a executing a program stored in the memory 8b.

The processor 8a is also called a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a central processing unit, a processing unit, an arithmetic unit, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, or a DSP. The memory 8b corresponds to, for example, non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as RAM, ROM, flash memory, EPROM and EEPROM, magnetic disk, flexible disk, optical disk, compact disk, mini-disk and DVD.

Note that the control circuit of the control device 8 may be formed as dedicated hardware, for example. A part of the control circuit of the control device 8 may be formed as dedicated hardware, and the control circuit may include the processor 8a and the memory 8b. Control circuitry, partly formed as dedicated hardware, includes, for example, single circuits, multiple circuits, programmed processors, parallel programmed processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations thereof.

As shown in FIG. 3, the operation panel 6 of this embodiment includes an operation section 6a and a display section 6b. The operation unit 6a is an operation switch or the like for setting the cold insulation temperature or the like of each storage compartment. The user can switch the temperature zone of the switching chamber 200 by operating the operation unit 6a. The display unit 6b is a liquid crystal display unit that displays various information such as the temperature of each storage chamber. The operation panel 6 may include a touch panel that serves as both the operation section 6a and the display section 6b. The operation unit 6a outputs a signal to the control device 8 according to the user's operation of the operation unit 6a. The control device 8 also outputs a display signal to the display section 6b of the operation panel 6 to control the operation of the display section 6b.

A signal is input to the controller 8 from a thermistor that detects the temperature inside each storage chamber. The control device 8 controls the compressor 2, the cooler 3, the blower 4, etc. based on the input signal so that the inside of each storage chamber is maintained at the set temperature.

The control device 8 according to this embodiment has, for example, a communication function with an external device such as a smart phone. The control device 8 may have a communication function with an external server or the like on the network. That is, the control device 8 also functions as a communication interface for the refrigerator 1 to communicate with the outside. Communication between the refrigerator 1 and the outside of the refrigerator 1 by the control device 8 may be via the Internet, or may be other various types of wired communication or wireless communication. Refrigerator 1 may receive an instruction to change the set temperature from the outside, or may transmit information such as the conditions inside the refrigerator to the outside by means of control device 8 . The control device 8 is an example of output means for outputting various kinds of information to an external device.

A signal from the freshness detection board 17 is input to the control device 8 . In the present embodiment, the control device 8 outputs information regarding cooking of rice by the heating cooker to an external device in accordance with information on the freshness of rice acquired by the freshness detection board 17 .

As an example, the freshness detection board 17 has an ultraviolet light LED 17a for emitting ultraviolet light and a light receiving element 17b. The ultraviolet light LED 17a emits ultraviolet light including light having a wavelength that excites fluorescence in rice. The light-receiving element 17b receives fluorescence excited by rice. In this embodiment, the bottom of the container 16 is configured to allow the fluorescence emitted from rice to pass therethrough.

In general, when short-wavelength light is applied to rice, the longer the storage period, that is, the less fresh the rice, the stronger the fluorescence emitted. Substances that contribute to the intensity of fluorescence emitted from rice are present on the rice surface.
The intensity of fluorescence emitted from rice is affected by various factors such as fatty acid oxidation, changes in starch properties, and oxidoreductase activity.

The excitation light emitted by the ultraviolet light LED 17a is included in a wavelength range from ultraviolet light to blue light. The excitation light emitted by the ultraviolet light LED 17a preferably has a wavelength range of 315 nm to 400 nm in the UV-A region. More desirably, the wavelength range of the excitation light emitted by the ultraviolet light LED 17a should be included in the range from 340 nm to 400 nm. Moreover, since the fluorescence emitted by rice spreads over the entire visible light range, it is desirable that the light receiving element 17b be an element capable of receiving light in the entire visible light range excluding the excitation wavelength of rice.

By irradiating the rice with ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light LED 17a and detecting the amount of fluorescence emitted by being excited by the ultraviolet light with the light receiving element 17b, it is possible to obtain information on the freshness of the rice. Of the members constituting the refrigerator 1 and the container 16, it is desirable that the portion exposed to the ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light LED 17a be made of a material that is not or less deteriorated by the ultraviolet light.

In the present embodiment, the freshness detection board 17 is arranged at the bottom of the container 16, which is an example of a container for storing rice. Thereby, the distance from the surface of the stored rice to the freshness detection board 17 can be made constant. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to improve the accuracy of acquiring information on the freshness of rice.

For example, the top surface of the container 16 may be made transparent, and the freshness detection substrate 17 may be arranged on the top surface side of the container 16 . In this case, in order to cope with changes in the distance from the freshness detection board 17 to the surface of the rice, it is preferable to provide a distance sensor for measuring the distance from the freshness detection board 17 to the rice. Alternatively, by providing a weight sensor on the bottom side of the container 16 and estimating the height of the rice from the change in weight, the change in the distance from the freshness detection board 17 to the surface of the rice may be handled. By arranging the freshness detection board 17 on the upper surface side of the container 16, it is possible to obtain information on the freshness of the rice on the surface portion of the stored rice, that is, the rice that is likely to be used next for cooking.

The intensity of the fluorescence emitted by the rice varies depending on the pounding accuracy of the rice. Therefore, the user may input the information on the pounding accuracy of the rice stored in the container 16 through the operation unit 6a or the like, and the information on the freshness of the rice may be obtained according to the input information on the pounding accuracy. In this example, it is possible to improve the acquisition accuracy of information on the freshness of rice.

In addition, the method of acquiring information on the freshness of rice is not limited to using the ultraviolet light LED 17a and the light receiving element 17b. The moisture content of rice decreases as the storage period increases. Therefore, the moisture content of rice may be measured as a parameter that correlates with the freshness of rice. The moisture content of rice can be measured indirectly by using an LED that emits near-infrared light, which is light with a wavelength that absorbs water, and an element that receives near-infrared light. In addition, acquisition of rice freshness information can be realized by any of various other methods such as a method using an image captured by a camera.

For example, the control device 8 outputs information about rice cooking by the rice cooker 18 to the rice cooker 18, which is an external device and a heat cooker, according to the freshness information of the rice acquired by the freshness detection board 17. The rice cooker 18 can automatically perform appropriate cooking according to the output information. Thus, according to the present embodiment, cooking of rice using the rice cooker 18 can be supported.

Note that the heating cooker according to the present disclosure is not limited to the rice cooker 18 . The heating cooker according to the present disclosure may be anything that has the function of cooking rice, and may be, for example, a gas stove, an IH cooking heater, a microwave oven, or an electric pot.

Information may be output from the control device 8 to the cooker via, for example, a smartphone, tablet, HEMS controller, external server, or other external device separate from the cooker. That is, the control device 8 may output the information regarding the cooking of rice by the heat cooker to an external device other than the heat cooker. An external device other than the cooking device may output the information output from the control device 8 to the cooking device.

A signal from the door opening/closing sensor 13 is also input to the control device 8 . For example, controller 8 may count the time the door is open or closed and utilize the results as various control parameters. Further, the control device 8 may perform control to notify by the display section 6b or a buzzer sound when the door is open for a certain period of time or longer.

The control device 8 may, for example, output information about cooking rice with a heating cooker to a display terminal 19, which is an example of an external device. The display terminal 19 is a device capable of displaying information to the user. The method of displaying information on the display terminal 19 may be visual display using images or videos, audio display using speaker output or the like, or any other display method. The display terminal 19 displays information about rice cooking by the heating cooker according to the information output by the control device 8 . By checking the information displayed by the display terminal 19, the user can easily operate the cooking device, such as selecting the type of rice such as new rice or old rice, selecting the polishing precision, and adjusting the heat power. By displaying information on the display terminal 19, it is possible to assist the user in cooking rice.

The rice storage system according to the present embodiment includes a refrigerator 1 as an example of a storage and at least one of a cooking device and a display terminal 19 . According to this rice storage system, as with the refrigerator 1, it is possible to assist the user in cooking rice.

Here, an operation example of the refrigerator 1 and the rice storage system according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to flowcharts. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the refrigerator 1 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. This flowchart shows an example of the operation of the refrigerator 1 to acquire information on the freshness of rice. Moreover, FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the rice cooker 18 according to the first embodiment.

The operation of the refrigerator 1 to acquire information on the freshness of rice is started, for example, when the user opens and closes the door of the vegetable compartment 500 (step S1). The process of detecting opening/closing of the door of the vegetable compartment 500 is performed by the door opening/closing sensor 13 and the control device 8 .

When the door of the vegetable compartment 500 is opened and closed, the amount of rice in the container 16 may change. Therefore, the irradiation of ultraviolet light by the ultraviolet light LED 17a of the freshness detection board 17 and the intensity of the fluorescence received by the light receiving element 17b are confirmed (step S2).

FIG. 6 is a matrix showing an example of the relationship between the state of rice and fluorescence intensity. The information of the matrix in FIG. 6 is stored in advance in the memory 8b of the control device 8, for example. Based on the information in the matrix of FIG. 6, the presence or absence of rice stock is determined (step S3).

If the fluorescence intensity is equal to or less than a predetermined value, that is, if there is no rice in stock, freshness information cannot be acquired, and the subsequent processing does not proceed. At this time, the refrigerator 1 may notify the user that there is no rice in stock. In other words, the refrigerator 1 may have the function of managing the stock of rice. In addition, by notifying that there is no rice in stock, the user can be notified of the situation that, for example, although rice is put in the rice cooker 18, the freshness information cannot be obtained because there is not enough rice in the refrigerator 1.例文帳に追加This notification can be made, for example, by the display section 6b of the operation panel 6 or the like.

If the intensity of the fluorescence received by the light receiving element 17b is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, that is, if rice is in stock, the freshness of the rice is determined based on the matrix information in FIG. 6 (step S4). As shown in FIG. 6, the fluorescence intensity increases as the freshness of the rice decreases. Information on the freshness of rice is acquired by the processing from step S1 to step S4.

The control device 8 of the refrigerator 1 may output information about cooking rice by the heating cooker to the external device every time the information on the freshness of the rice is acquired. Also, the acquired information on the freshness of the rice may be stored in the memory 8b, for example. The control device 8 may output information on rice cooking by the heating cooker to an external device at regular intervals or at a predetermined timing according to the latest rice freshness information stored in the memory 8b. Also, the acquired information on the freshness of rice may be stored in an external device such as an external server, for example. Thereby, the capacity of the memory 8b can be reduced.

For example, when the control device 8 receives information indicating that cooking of rice by a heat cooker such as the rice cooker 18 is started, the control device 8 may output information related to cooking of rice by the heat cooker. As a result, useless operations by the control device 8 can be omitted.

The elapsed time from the rice freshness determination in step S4 is counted (step S5), and when a certain period of time, for example, one day has passed since the freshness determination (step S6), regardless of whether the door is opened or closed, the processing from step S2 onward may be performed again. As a result, the latest rice freshness information can be automatically obtained periodically.

The user of the rice cooker 18, for example, sets an inner pot filled with rice in the rice cooker 18 and presses a rice cooking start button or the like to start rice cooking by the rice cooker 18 (step S8). As described above, this operation allows the refrigerator 1 to acquire and output information on the freshness of rice. Rice cooker 18 receives information about cooking of rice by the heating cooker from refrigerator 1 (step S9).

The rice cooker 18 is generally preheated for about 15 minutes. Therefore, even if the information about the freshness of the rice is acquired after the button of the rice cooker 18 is pressed, it is possible to sufficiently adjust the rice cooking conditions.

FIG. 7 is a matrix showing an example of control of the rice cooker 18. As shown in FIG. "DEF" in FIG. 7 means "default", ie normal setting. The rice cooker 18 corrects the operating conditions such as the preheating time and the boiling heat power based on the matrix of FIG. 7 (step S10), and cooks rice with the corrected values (step S11).

For example, fresh rice in the season when new rice is on the market contains a lot of water, so the amount of water supply during cooking may be small. Therefore, by shortening the preheating time and increasing the boiling heat, a large amount of water escapes as steam and the rice does not absorb excess moisture. On the other hand, rice with low freshness such as old rice needs to be supplied with a large amount of water. Therefore, it is preferable to make the preheating time longer so that the rice is sufficiently supplied with water to cook the rice. It should be noted that the time and thermal power control shown in FIG. 7 is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

In the example of FIG. 7, preheating thermal power is not subject to adjustment. This is to avoid a drastic change in the time required to reach and maintain the activation temperature of the enzyme that brings out the sweetness of the rice during the preheating step.

When information is displayed on the display terminal 19, for example, information that assists cooking, such as "add sake or olive oil to reduce the smell of old rice", may be displayed.

The refrigerator 1 and the rice storage system may be configured to learn the correlation between the frequency of opening and closing the door of the refrigerator 1 by the user, the temperature change in the storage room such as the vegetable compartment, and the change in fluorescence of rice. The learning result may be used to control the temperature in the storage room where the rice is stored. For example, when the freshness of rice drops quickly, control such as lowering the storage temperature in the storage chamber may be performed.

Also, FIG. 8 is a matrix showing another example of a method of obtaining information on the freshness of rice. For example, the refrigerator 1 may have a calendar function to determine the freshness or moisture content of rice depending on the season. For example, the freshness and moisture content are high from October to December when new rice is on the market, the freshness and moisture content are low from August to September when the rice is stored for nearly a year, and the freshness and moisture content are moderate from January to July. In this example, even in the refrigerator 1 in which it is difficult to install the freshness detection board 17, it is possible to easily acquire information on the freshness of rice.

The refrigerator 1, which is an example of a storage, may be configured so that rice can be subdivided and stored in a plurality of locations. The refrigerator 1 may be able to store, for example, each brand of rice or each portion used at one time. Then, information on the freshness of each of the rice divided and stored may be acquired. For example, the refrigerator 1 may have a function of selecting rice according to cooking.

1 Refrigerator 2 Compressor 3 Cooler 4 Blower 6 Operation Panel 6a Operation Unit 6b Display Unit 7 Refrigerator Chamber Door 7a Right Door 7b Left Door 8 Controller 8a Processor 8b Memory 13 Door Opening/Closing Sensor 14 Vegetable Compartment Upper Case 15 Vegetable Compartment Lower Case 16 Container 17 Freshness Detection Substrate 17a Ultraviolet light LED 17b Light receiving element 18 Rice cooker 19 Display terminal 90 Thermal insulation box body 100 Refrigerator compartment 110 Chilled compartment 200 Switchable compartment 201 Switchable compartment storage case 300 Ice making compartment 400 Freezer compartment 401 Freezer compartment storage case 500 Vegetable compartment

Claims (9)

a storage unit for storing rice;
Rice freshness acquisition means for acquiring information on the freshness of the rice stored in the storage unit;
output means for outputting information on rice cooking by a heating cooker to an external device according to the information on the freshness of rice acquired by the rice freshness acquisition means;
vault with. 2. The storage according to claim 1, wherein, when receiving the information indicating that the cooking of the rice by the heat cooker is started, the output means outputs the information on the cooking of the rice by the heat cooker in accordance with the information on the freshness of the rice acquired by the rice freshness acquisition means. Having an operation unit for a user to input information on the stamping accuracy of the rice stored in the storage unit,
3. The storage according to claim 1, wherein said rice freshness acquiring means acquires rice freshness information in accordance with the stamping precision information input by said operation unit. 4. The storage according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said rice freshness acquiring means has an ultraviolet light LED that emits ultraviolet light and a light receiving element that receives visible light. 5. The storage according to claim 4, wherein said rice freshness acquisition means is arranged at the bottom of said storage unit. a vault for storing rice;
a heating cooker for cooking rice;
with
The storage is
a storage unit for storing rice;
Rice freshness acquisition means for acquiring information on the freshness of the rice stored in the storage unit;
output means for outputting information about rice cooking by the heating cooker to the heating cooker in accordance with the rice freshness information acquired by the rice freshness acquiring means;
has
The rice storage system in which the cooker operates according to the information relating to the cooking of the rice output by the output means. 7. The rice storage system according to claim 6, wherein, when receiving the information indicating that the cooking of rice by the heat cooker is started, the output means outputs information on the cooking of the rice by the heat cooker to the heat cooker according to the information on the freshness of the rice acquired by the rice freshness acquisition means. a vault for storing rice;
a display terminal capable of displaying information to a user;
with
The storage is
a storage unit for storing rice;
Rice freshness acquisition means for acquiring information on the freshness of the rice stored in the storage unit;
output means for outputting to the display terminal information on rice cooking by a heating cooker according to the information on the freshness of the rice acquired by the rice freshness acquisition means;
has
The rice storage system, wherein the display terminal displays information about cooking of rice by the heating cooker in accordance with the information output by the output means. 9. The rice storage system according to claim 8, wherein, when receiving the information indicating that the cooking of the rice by the heat cooker is started, the output means outputs the information on the cooking of the rice by the heat cooker in accordance with the information on the freshness of the rice acquired by the rice freshness acquisition means.

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