JP5667805B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator.

  As a conventional refrigerator, an operation part (for example, a push button) is provided in the front part of the door, and by operating the operation part, various functions such as adjustment of storage room temperature, quick freezing, quick refrigeration, automatic ice making device, etc. Configurations that operate are known. As the operation unit, a mechanical switch such as a micro switch is known.

  Further, in recent home appliances, one using a capacitive touch sensor is known. As an example of a home appliance provided with a touch sensor, there is JP-A-2005-25104 (Patent Document 1).

  Patent Document 1 includes a cooker body, a top plate mounted on the top surface of the cooker body, a heat source disposed below the top plate, and an operation unit disposed in front of the top plate heat source; And a control circuit for controlling a heat source and the like based on input information from the operation unit, etc., and three or more non-contact type touch keys for detecting an input operation from a change in electrostatic capacitance in the operation unit. In the arrangement, the control circuit is configured such that an input operation is not accepted when a plurality of touch keys adjacent to each other among the touch keys are simultaneously input.

JP 2005-251504 A

  However, in the configuration described in Patent Document 1, wiring in the touch key and the control circuit is not considered. For this reason, when a change in capacitance occurs in the wiring pattern portion, there is a risk of erroneous detection as an input from the touch key. In this case, it is determined that a plurality of touch keys are input at the same time against the user's intention, and the operation intended by the user may not be executed. For example, touch keys are often provided on a flat surface, and it is difficult to visually determine an area where input can be detected. For this reason, even when a plurality of touch keys are not operated at the same time, it may be determined that a plurality of touch keys are simultaneously input when the user touches the wiring pattern portion.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent erroneous detection of an operation unit in a refrigerator including a capacitive touch switch operation unit.

  In order to solve the above problems, for example, the configuration described in the claims is adopted.

The present application includes a plurality of means for solving the above-described problems. For example, a storage room provided in a refrigerator main body, a storage room door that opens and closes a front opening of the storage room, and the storage room door A translucent glass plate provided on the front surface of the glass plate, a planar operation unit provided in a row on the front side of the glass plate, a heat insulating material provided behind the glass plate, and the plurality of operations. Capacitance-type switch electrodes provided in contact with or in close proximity to the rear surface of each glass plate and the rear surface of the glass plate, touch sensor elements for detecting changes in the capacitance of the switch electrodes, and the plurality of operations A display unit that is provided above the display unit and displays the operation results of the plurality of operation units, an illumination unit that projects light from the rear to the display unit , and a wiring pattern that connects the switch electrode and the touch sensor element And equipped with Said switch electrode, said illumination means, provided the wiring pattern, and the touch sensor device on the same surface of the substrate, the wiring pattern is characterized by Ru passing between said illuminating means and said switch electrode.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the misdetection of an operation part can be prevented in the refrigerator provided with the operation part of the electrostatic capacitance type touch switch.

The front view of the refrigerator in one Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram of the display part and operation part of the refrigerator in one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a display unit and an operation unit in FIG. 2. AA sectional drawing of the door shown in FIG. The circuit block diagram of the board | substrate part of FIG. Schematic which shows the positional relationship of a user's finger, a switch electrode, and a wiring pattern.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 20 is a refrigerator main body. The refrigerator main body 20 has a refrigerator compartment 22, a lower freezer compartment 25, a vegetable compartment 26, and the like in order from the top. An upper freezer compartment 24 is provided between the refrigerator compartment 22 and the lower freezer compartment 25, and an ice making chamber 23 is provided next to the upper freezer compartment 24.

  Moreover, the door which opens and closes this front opening is provided in the front opening of each store room. That is, the front opening of the refrigerator compartment 22 is provided with a left refrigerator compartment door 22a and a right refrigerator compartment door 22b, and the front opening of each of the upper freezer compartment 24, the lower freezer compartment 25, the ice making compartment 23 and the vegetable compartment 26 is provided. An upper freezer compartment door 24a, a lower freezer compartment door 25a, an ice making room door 23a, and a vegetable compartment door 26a are provided.

  The left refrigerator compartment door 22a and the right refrigerator compartment door 22b are rotatably supported by upper hinges 20a (left hinge 20a1 and right hinge 20a2) provided on the upper part of the refrigerator body 20, respectively. That is, it constitutes a French door configured in a left-right opening manner.

  Moreover, the lower freezer compartment door 25a, the upper freezer compartment door 24a, the ice making room door 23a, and the vegetable compartment door 25a are each a drawer-type door and can be pulled out together with the containers of the respective storage rooms.

  And the left refrigerator compartment door 22a, the right refrigerator compartment door 22b, the lower stage freezer compartment door 25a, the upper stage freezer compartment door 24a, the ice making room door 23a, and the vegetable compartment door 26a are provided with the door front member 6 on the outer surface. As the door front member 6, a transparent glass plate 6a is provided.

  The foam heat insulating material (not shown) is filled and foamed between the door front member 6 made of the glass plate 6a and the door rear member (not shown). The plate thickness of the glass plate 6a which is the door front member 6 is 2 mm to 3.5 mm in this embodiment. This plate thickness is a dimension in which the glass plate 6a is not broken or cracked by an impact generated when the refrigerator is assembled, when the refrigerator is transferred, and when the refrigerator is used.

  Further, when further securing the strength or reducing the plate thickness, the glass plate 6a may be subjected to a heat strengthening process, a chemical strengthening process, or the like. The glass plate 6a is an insulator.

  Next, in FIGS. 1 and 3, 10 is a display unit, and 11 is an operation unit. The operation unit 11 is operated by the user from the outside to set the room temperature of each storage room such as the refrigerating room 22 and the lower freezing room 25, or to rapidly cool the refrigerating room 22 or the upper freezing room 24, The size of ice making in the ice making chamber 23 is set. In addition, the temperature of a storage room (not shown) that is provided in the refrigerator compartment 22 to reduce the storage space in a reduced pressure or low oxygen state to maintain the freshness of stored foods and to suppress oxidative deterioration, or to reduce the pressure or reduce oxygen. Or set to turn off the function. That is, various functions of the refrigerator can be set by operating the operation unit 11 by the user.

  Further, the display unit 10 displays the input result from the operation unit 11 on the outside of the refrigerator main body 20. Thereby, it is possible to confirm the operation performed by the user with the operation unit 11 or to confirm the states of various functions set in advance.

  The operation unit 11 and the display unit 10 are not provided with a special panel, but are provided on the glass plate 6a. That is, the glass plate 6a provided in the left refrigerator compartment door 22a is provided so that it may become a plane over the whole outer surface of this left refrigerator compartment door 22a including the operation part 11 and the display part 10. FIG.

  In other words, the operation unit 11 and the display unit 10 are provided in a planar shape on the door front member 6 that is the glass plate 6a. For this reason, conventional mechanical switches such as microswitches and operation panels are omitted.

  Further, a colored paint is applied to the back surface of the glass plate 6a except for the display unit 10. Thereby, the foamed heat insulating material is processed so as not to be seen from the front side, and the display unit 10 is clearly visually recognized, so that a door having excellent appearance is configured.

  Next, the operation unit 11 and the display unit 10 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

  In FIGS. 2 and 3, the display of the character portion (characters of freezing, refrigeration, ice making, rapid cooling, and vacuum chilling) corresponding to the operation unit 11 is represented by direct printing or the like on the back surface of the glass plate 6a. It is. The operation unit 11 refers to the front surface (front surface of the glass plate 6a which is the door front member 6) at a position facing the back surface on which the character portion is printed. In addition, as a means for providing the operation display (the character portion) on the back surface of the glass plate 6a, a processing method such as etching or inlaying may be used in addition to printing.

  In FIG. 3, the display unit 10 indicates a setting state of various functions in accordance with an input by the operation of the operation unit 11 described above. And this character display ("strong (low temperature), medium, weak", "strong (chilled), medium, weak", "large, standard, stop", "quick refrigeration, quick freezing", "vacuum ice temperature, vacuum "Chilled, cut (ice temperature)") is represented on the surface of the sheet 12 by printing or the like.

  The sheet 12 is attached to the back surface of the glass plate 6a which is the door front member 6 so that the contact or the gap is very small. Therefore, the character display can be clearly confirmed from the front of the left refrigerator compartment door 22a through the glass plate 6a. In other words, the door has an excellent appearance and has a highly visible and flat glass plate 6a.

  The operation unit 11 and the display unit 10 are provided side by side as shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. The display unit 10 is configured to display, as a function of the refrigerator body 20, that rapid refrigeration or quick freezing is in operation.

  Next, FIG. 4 is an AA sectional view of the door shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, 8 is a case cover. The case cover 8 serves to isolate the substrate case 17 from the heat insulating material 7. Further, the substrate case 17 is held in the case cover 8 so that the sheet 12 on the surface of the substrate portion 13 is in close contact with or close to the door front member 6 (glass plate 6a).

  A protective film (not shown) is provided on the back surface of the glass plate 6a. The protective film protects the glass plate 6a from being scattered and improves reliability even when a large impact is applied to the glass plate 6a and the glass is broken or cracked. Moreover, this protective film is affixed on the same surface as the colored paint surface. By this, the heat insulating material 7 is transparent from the front side of the door, thereby preventing the appearance from being damaged.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the board unit 13 is provided with illumination means such as a plurality of LEDs 15 (light emitting diodes). And the character display of the display part 10 shown in FIG. 3 is comprised so that each display may be lifted by LED15 projecting to the glass plate 6a front surface.

  In the substrate unit 13, the touch sensor element 3 and the switch electrode 1 (detection unit for detecting a change in capacitance) using a copper foil pattern as a touch pad are connected by the wiring pattern 2. When the user touches the operation unit 11 (see FIG. 3) with a finger or the like, the capacitance of the switch electrode 1 corresponding to the position changes, and the touch sensor element 3 detects this via the wiring pattern 2. As a result, it is determined that the operation unit 11 is operated by the user.

  More specifically, the switch electrode 1 (touch sensor using a touch pad electrode) of the substrate unit 13 and the operation unit 11 (see FIG. 3) of the seat 12 are in contact with the door front member 6 so as to overlap in the front-rear direction. Alternatively, they are arranged close to each other. In other words, the operation unit 11 is in contact with or close to the back surface of the door front member 6 when assembled into the left refrigerator compartment door 22a. That is, the glass plate 6a, the sheet 12, and the substrate part 13 which are insulators are provided so that the operation part 11 overlaps the front side and the switch electrode 1 overlaps the back side. With this configuration, when the user operates the operation unit 11 via the glass plate 6a, the capacitance detected by the switch electrode 1 changes compared to when it is stable. When the touch sensor element 3 detects this change, it recognizes that the switch operation has been performed.

  Further, on the board portion 13, there are a buzzer 4 as a notification means for notifying the input result of the switch electrode 1 by sound, a connector 19 for supplying power to the board portion 13, and a microcomputer for controlling each component. Control means (not shown) and the like are provided.

  In addition, a resistor, a capacitor, and the like for operating the LED 15, the buzzer 28, and the control unit are arranged on the substrate unit 13.

  Next, the wiring pattern 2 will be described. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the operator's fingers, switch electrodes, and wiring patterns. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the glass plate 6a and the like are omitted.

  The wiring pattern 2 passes above the switch electrode 1 and is connected to the touch sensor element 3. A plurality of switch electrodes 1 are arranged side by side corresponding to the plurality of operation units 11. Above the plurality of switch electrodes 1, a plurality of LEDs 15 that are turned on / off corresponding to each switch electrode 1 are arranged side by side. The wiring pattern 2 is disposed between the switch electrode 1 and the LED 15 and connected to the touch sensor element 2.

  Here, the display part 10 and the operation part 11 are provided in the door surface of the refrigerator main body 20 (refer FIG. 1 etc.). That is, the operation unit 11 is provided in a planar shape with respect to the wall surface rising in the vertical direction. When the user operates the operation unit 11, the operation unit 11 is in a position facing the user while standing. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the finger 18 comes into contact with the switch electrode 1 and the position below the switch electrode 1.

  Based on this, for example, when the wiring pattern is arranged below the switch electrode, the user touches the finger so as to cover the lower side of the switch electrode. Therefore, not only the target switch electrode but also the wiring pattern of the adjacent switch electrode may be touched unintentionally, and it may be recognized that the non-target switch is determined to be ON.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the wiring pattern 2 is disposed above the switch electrode 1 as shown in FIG. In other words, the wiring pattern 2 is arranged so as to avoid the projected portion of the user's finger 18, that is, below the switch electrode 1. Thereby, it can avoid misdetecting by contacting the wiring pattern of the switch electrode 1 with a user's finger | toe, and the several adjacent switch electrode 1. FIG.

  Further, if it is other than the lower side in the lateral width of the switch electrode 1, the wiring may be connected from the left end or the right end of the switch electrode 1. In this case, it is possible to prevent the fingers from touching the wiring patterns of a plurality of adjacent switch electrodes by passing the wiring pattern along the side of the switch electrode 1, so that the same effect can be achieved.

  The wiring pattern 2 is disposed above the switch electrode 1 and below the LED 15. Thereby, the arrangement | positioning efficiency of the component of the board | substrate part 13 can be improved, and a board | substrate part can be reduced in size. That is, it is preferable in terms of design that the operation unit 11 and the display unit 10 are arranged with a certain distance therebetween. Then, an invalid space is created on the substrate unit 13 between the operation unit 11 and the display unit 10. Therefore, in this embodiment, since the wiring pattern 2 is arranged in the invalid space of the substrate portion 13, not only erroneous detection can be prevented but also the efficiency of circuit arrangement can be improved.

  In the case of a configuration in which the operation units are arranged in the vertical direction, the switch electrode 1 is also arranged in the vertical direction. In this case, if the wiring pattern 2 is arranged in the left-right direction of the switch electrode 1, the projected portion of the finger 18 can be avoided, and erroneous detection by the user's finger touching the wiring pattern can be avoided.

  The operation unit 11 and the display unit 10 provided in the refrigerator are generally arranged horizontally or vertically from the viewpoint of layout. In the case of the configuration arranged horizontally, the wiring pattern is also arranged so as to extend horizontally. When arranged vertically, the wiring pattern is also arranged to extend vertically. By doing so, the circuit arrangement can be made efficient and the substrate portion can be downsized.

  As described above, the wiring is arranged on the upper part or the side part of the switch electrode. Thereby, in the capacitive touch switch operation unit, when the user operates the touch switch, it is possible to avoid an erroneous operation or malfunction caused by contacting the wiring pattern for the switch electrode.

  For example, when a touch switch type operation unit is provided on a flat surface extending in the height direction, such as a refrigerator door, the wiring pattern is arranged avoiding the projected position of the finger when operating the switch electrode. Thereby, in the refrigerator provided with the operation part of the electrostatic capacitance type touch switch, the erroneous detection of the operation part can be prevented.

1 Switch electrode (detector)
3 Touch sensor element 4 Buzzer (notification means)
6 Door front member 6a Glass plate 7 Heat insulating material 8 Case cover 10 Display unit 11 Operation unit 12 Sheet 13 Substrate unit 15 LED
17 Substrate case 18 Finger 19 Connector 20 Refrigerator body 22a Left refrigerator compartment door

Claims (2)

A storage room provided in the refrigerator body;
A storage room door for opening and closing the front opening of the storage room;
A transparent glass plate provided on the front surface of the storage room door;
A planar operation unit provided in a plurality on the left and right sides of the front surface of the glass plate;
A heat insulating material provided behind the glass plate;
And switch electrode of the capacitance type which is provided in contact with or in proximity to the rear surface of each of the rear and the glass plate of the plurality of operation portions,
A touch sensor element for detecting a change in capacitance of the switch electrode;
A display unit provided above the plurality of operation units and displaying operation results of the plurality of operation units,
Illuminating means for projecting light respectively from behind on the display unit,
A wiring pattern connecting the switch electrode and the touch sensor element,
The switch electrode, the illumination means, the wiring pattern, and the touch sensor element are provided on the same surface of the substrate,
Refrigerator said wiring pattern, wherein the Ru passing between said illuminating means and said switch electrode. A storage room provided in the refrigerator body;
A storage room door for opening and closing the front opening of the storage room;
A transparent glass plate provided on the front surface of the storage room door;
A planar operation section provided in a plurality on the front surface of the glass plate;
A heat insulating material provided behind the glass plate;
A capacitance type switch electrode provided in contact with or close to the rear surface of each of the plurality of operation units and the rear surface of the glass plate;
A touch sensor element for detecting a change in capacitance of the switch electrode;
A display unit provided on the left or right side of the plurality of operation units to display operation results of the plurality of operation units,
Illuminating means for projecting light respectively from behind on the display unit,
A wiring pattern connecting the switch electrode and the touch sensor element,
The switch electrode, the illumination means, the wiring pattern, and the touch sensor element are provided on the same surface of the substrate,
Refrigerator said wiring pattern, wherein the Ru passing between said illuminating means and said switch electrode.

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