JP6307700B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator that communicates food information in a warehouse via the Internet or the like.

  In general, this type of refrigerator is known as a refrigerator that communicates food information in a refrigerator to a portable terminal or the like via the Internet or the like to inform what kind of food remains in the refrigerator (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

  The refrigerator described in Patent Document 1 includes an operation input unit such as a keyboard, a bar code reader that reads bar code data of an article, or a microphone for performing voice recognition. And food information such as expiration date is entered. The management information held in the refrigerator can be viewed at any time by a terminal device such as a mobile phone through a network.

  This refrigerator has a problem that it is difficult to use because it takes time to input food information.

  Therefore, in order to solve such problems, it is attempted to attach a wireless module having food information in advance to the food and store it in the refrigerator, and to communicate information between the wireless module and the Internet. ing.

JP 2003-4368 A

  However, a refrigerator that communicates between a wireless module stored in the refrigerator and a public line such as the Internet may cause poor communication. That is, when communicating with a public line such as the Internet, WI-FI communication is used, but this WI-FI communication is easily blocked by metal, and it is good when the refrigerator exterior is made of a synthetic resin plate or the like. However, when the refrigerator exterior is made of a metal plate, the metal plate becomes an obstacle causing a communication failure.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a point, and provides the refrigerator which can ensure favorable communication even if it is a refrigerator of a metal exterior board.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a wireless module attached to food stored in a refrigerator storage room or a food packaging unit, and a refrigerator wireless communication unit that communicates with the wireless module and a public line. The refrigerator wireless communication unit is provided in the refrigerator main body or the heat insulating door, and communication between the wireless module and the refrigerator wireless communication unit is performed at a frequency of 924.0 to 928.0 MHz which is a first frequency band. Communication is performed, and communication between the wireless communication and the public line is performed in a second frequency band higher than the first frequency band.

Thereby, even if the wireless module is stored in the refrigerator storage room together with the food, the wireless module and the public line can communicate with each other well and reliably via the refrigerator wireless communication unit, and the reliability is improved.

  The present invention provides good and reliable communication between the wireless module and the public line, and can greatly improve the reliability of the refrigerator that communicates various information.

The front view of the refrigerator used for the inventory control system in Embodiment 1 of this invention Schematic sectional view of the refrigerator Explanatory drawing which shows the whole structure of the inventory control system using the refrigerator System configuration diagram with additional wireless module configuration of the inventory management system Block diagram showing the server device configuration of the inventory management system

  Hereinafter, specific and detailed embodiments of the present invention will be described. First, the main points of the embodiments of the present invention will be described.

A refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a refrigerator main body configured by an inner box and an outer box, a storage chamber configured by partitioning the refrigerator main body, and a heat insulating door that covers an opening of the storage chamber. And a wireless module attached to the food stored in the storage room or a packaging portion of the food, and a refrigerator wireless communication unit that communicates with the wireless module and a public line, the refrigerator wireless communication unit being the refrigerator It shall be provided in a main part or the heat insulation door, communication between the wireless module and the refrigerator wireless communication part shall be performed at a frequency of 924.0-928.0 MHz which is a first frequency band , and the wireless Communication and communication with the public line are configured such that communication is performed in a second frequency band higher than the first frequency band.

  Thereby, even if the wireless module is stored in the refrigerator storage room together with the food, the wireless module and the public line can communicate with each other well and reliably via the refrigerator wireless communication unit, and the reliability is improved.

  Moreover, the said wireless module and the said refrigerator wireless communication part are set as the structure which communicates by a predetermined | prescribed time interval, Thereby, the power consumption of a wireless module can be suppressed compared with the case where it communicates constantly.

  Further, when the heat insulation door is opened and closed, the wireless module and the refrigerator wireless communication unit are configured to communicate with each other, and the heat insulation door is opened and closed to put food in and out. Since communication is performed in accordance with a change in state, unnecessary communication can be omitted and power consumption can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, a human sensor is provided on the surface of the heat insulating door, and when the presence of a person is detected by the human sensor, the wireless module communicates with the refrigerator wireless communication unit.

  Thereby, when a person is detected by the human sensor, in other words, since communication is performed only when there is a possibility that the person uses the refrigerator, unnecessary communication can be omitted and power consumption can be suppressed.

  In addition, the communication between the refrigerator wireless communication unit and the public line is configured to be always performed, so that the user can always communicate with the wireless module via the public line. You can check the food status.

The refrigerator wireless communication unit is provided at an end portion of the heat insulating door, whereby the end portion of the heat insulating door serves as a seam of a metal exterior plate that constitutes the outer surface of the door. Therefore, it is possible to establish communication with higher accuracy and improve reliability.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a refrigerator applied to a system for managing food inventory using a wireless module will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

(Embodiment 1)
1 and 2, the refrigerator body 1 includes a metal (for example, iron plate) outer box 2 that opens forward, an inner box 3 that is made of hard resin (for example, ABS), an outer box 2, and an inner box 3. It is made of a heat insulating material 4 such as hard foam urethane filled with foam. Further, in the heat insulating material 4, a vacuum heat insulating material 4a constituted by sealing a core material with a covering material made of a metal film such as an aluminum sheet is embedded to enhance the heat insulating property.

  The refrigerator main body 1 has a plurality of compartments formed therein. This storage room is located from the upper part of the refrigerator body 1 to the refrigerator compartment 5, the switching chamber 6 located below the refrigerator compartment 5, the ice making chamber 7 juxtaposed to the switching chamber 6, the switching compartment 6, and the ice making chamber 7 below. A freezer compartment 8 and a vegetable compartment 9 located below the freezer compartment 8. The front face of the refrigerator compartment 5 is closed freely by a double door 10 and the front parts of the switching compartment 6, ice making compartment 7, freezer compartment 8, and vegetable compartment 9 are drawer type doors 11, 12, 13 (Hereinafter referred to as a pull-out door) is freely closed and opened.

  In addition, each said doors 10-13 are filled with hard foaming urethane like the refrigerator main body 1, and embedded the vacuum heat insulating material 4a, and it has heat insulation. In addition, a door opening / closing detection unit 14 that detects opening and closing of the door that is performed when food is taken in and out and a human sensor 15 that senses a person by infrared rays or the like are provided.

  There is a cooling chamber 16 on the back surface of the refrigerator main body 1, a cooler 17 that generates cool air, a blower fan 18 that supplies the cool air to each chamber, and a damper (not shown) for adjusting the air volume to the refrigerator compartment. Are provided. In addition, a compressor 19 is provided at the back of the main body top of the refrigerator body 1, and a condenser (not shown), a heat radiating pipe 20, a capillary tube 21, and the cooler 17 described above are sequentially provided. A refrigerant is enclosed in a refrigeration cycle connected in a ring shape, and a cooling operation is performed.

  Next, the whole inventory management system constructed | assembled using said refrigerator is demonstrated using FIGS.

  FIG. 3 shows the overall configuration of the inventory management system 30 using the above refrigerator. As shown in FIG. 3, the inventory management system 30 includes a refrigerator 31, a wireless module 32 attached to food in the refrigerator 31, a refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 that wirelessly communicates with the wireless module 32, and a router device 34. A public line 35 such as the Internet for wireless communication with the refrigerator wireless communication unit, a server device 36, and a portable terminal 37.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the wireless module 32 includes a communication unit 38 that communicates with the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33, and a power supply unit 39 that supplies power to the communication unit 38.

The wireless module 32 further includes an attribute specifying unit 40 that indicates the food attribute of the wireless module 32 itself. That is, the wireless module 32 itself has food attributes such as meat, fish, vegetables, milk, etc., and attaches the food attributes to the meat, fish, vegetables, milk, etc. Use in the form of storing in a refrigerator. Therefore, the wireless module 32 is formed in a form that is easy to attach to food, such as a clip, and illustrations such as meat, fish, vegetables, and milk are attached so that the food attributes can be seen at a glance.

  In addition, the wireless module 32 can perform good communication even if a metal plate or the like is interposed between communication partners, for example, a communication system using radio in a specific low power radio frequency band (924.0 to 928.0 MHz). In this configuration, power is supplied from the power supply unit 39 at predetermined time intervals to perform intermittent communication.

  Further, the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 is incorporated in the refrigerator control unit 41, and performs wireless communication with the communication unit 38 of the wireless module 32, and at the same time, the server device 36 or the portable terminal via the router device 34 and the public line 35 such as the Internet. 37 also communicates wirelessly. The refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 includes a first wireless communication method for communicating with the communication unit 38 of the wireless module 32 and a second wireless communication method for wirelessly communicating with the server device 36 or the portable terminal 37 via the public line 35. Two types of wireless communication units are provided. The first wireless communication method with the communication unit 38 of the wireless module 32 is a radio wave having a frequency that allows good wireless communication even if a metal plate or the like is interposed between the communication unit 38 of the wireless module 32 as described above. On the other hand, the second wireless communication method with the public line 35 is a WI-FI wireless communication that can perform good wireless communication even if the distance is higher than the frequency of the first wireless communication method. As a wireless communication system. Further, the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 is configured to always communicate with the portable terminal 37 and the server device 36 via the public line 35.

  The refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 is, for example, in the vicinity of the edge of the door 10 or the refrigerator main body 1 where the joint portion of the metal outer plate constituting the refrigerator outer plate exists, and in the heat insulating material of the door 10 or the refrigerator main body 1. It is provided in the position which does not oppose the vacuum heat insulating material 4a currently embed | buried in.

  The refrigerator control unit 41 operates the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 when the door opening / closing detection unit 14 detects the door opening / closing or the human sensor 15 detects a person, and the communication unit 38 of the wireless module 32 is operated. It is configured to perform wireless communication.

  On the other hand, the mobile terminal 37 is a general-purpose terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet PC (personal computer), for example, and has a function (means) for connecting to a public line 35 such as the Internet and a function (means) for communicating with the router device 34. ).

  The portable terminal 37 is configured to be connected to a public line 35 such as the Internet via a telephone line network (for example, a 3G line network).

  The portable terminal 37 is also configured to be connected to the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 by wireless communication such as Wi-Fi communication and to directly communicate with the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 without using the public line 35 such as the Internet. ing. A device for that purpose (for example, a Wi-Fi antenna or the like) is incorporated in the portable terminal 37.

  That is, in this system, communication via the public line 35 such as the Internet (that is, the first communication via only the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33) and communication via the public line 35 such as the Internet (in this system) In other words, the second communication via the public line 35 such as the Internet and the router device 34) can be executed. The reason for this configuration is to enable speedy communication using the first communication when the user is in the house and the public line 35 such as the Internet is congested.

The portable terminal 37 can acquire software that communicates with the wireless module 32 via the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 from the website of the manufacturer of the refrigerator 31 by connecting to the public line 35 such as the Internet. By installing the acquired software on the mobile terminal 37 and starting the installed software, the mobile terminal 37 can acquire food information and the like in the refrigerator. That is, the portable terminal 37 can generate and transmit an instruction signal for obtaining food information of food in the refrigerator by operating the operation screen of the display 37a.

  The server device 36 is prepared by a manufacturer of the refrigerator 31, for example. The server device 36 manages information and the like necessary for access and authentication regarding the portable terminal 37, the wireless module 32, and the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33. For example, the server device 36 includes identification information of the portable terminal 37 included in the communication request signal, and identification information of the portable terminal 37 stored (registered) in association with the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 (wireless module 32). Authenticate (determine) whether or not the two match. Then, if they match, the server device 36 authenticates the mobile terminal 37 to be accessed as a regular mobile terminal and permits communication with the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 provided in the refrigerator 31 in the residence A. To do.

  The server device 36 stores food information in the refrigerator transmitted from the wireless module 32 described above. This information is transmitted to the portable terminal 37 based on the information call signal from the portable terminal 37. That is, the user can confirm the food information in the refrigerator on the display 37a by operating the portable terminal 37.

  FIG. 5 shows a configuration of the server device 36, which includes a server interface 44, a server control unit 45, and a data storage unit 46.

  The server interface 44 is a communication unit that exchanges data and the like between the portable terminal 37 and the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 and the server device 36 via the public line 35 such as the Internet, under the control of the server control unit 45. .

  The server control unit 45 controls the overall operation of the server device 36. As described above, the server control unit 45 stores the food information transmitted from the wireless module 32 in the data storage unit 46, and when there is a signal for requesting the food attribute and the date of receipt information from the portable terminal 37, the data The food information stored in the storage unit 46 is transmitted to the portable terminal 37.

  The data storage unit 46 stores necessary data such as a management program and application program for executing the inventory management system. Further, the data storage unit 46 rewrites and stores the food information transmitted from the wireless module 32 under the control of the server control unit 45. The data storage unit 46 includes, for example, an HDD (Hard Disc Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or the like.

  The server device 36 can be constructed by either a server composed of a single large computer or a cloud server composed of a large number of computers.

  Next, the operation of the inventory management system configured as described above will be described.

  The user attaches the wireless module 32 to the food. For example, if the food is meat, the wireless module 32 having the food attribute of meat is attached, and if the food is milk, the wireless module 32 having the food attribute of milk is attached. In this embodiment, the wireless module 32 is provided with an illustration showing the food attribute, so that even a child or the like can attach it to the food without making a mistake. Since the wireless module 32 is in the form of a clip, it can be easily attached to food.

  Next, the food to which the wireless module 32 is attached is stored in the refrigerator, for example, in the refrigerator compartment 5. As a result, the communication unit 38 of the wireless module 32 communicates wirelessly with the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33, and the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 wirelessly communicates with the server device 36 or the portable terminal 37 via the public line 35.

  At this time, in this refrigerator, the wireless communication from the communication unit 38 of the wireless module 32 can perform good communication even if a metal plate or the like is interposed between the communication partner, for example, a specific low power wireless frequency band (924.0 The wireless communication unit 33 wirelessly communicates with the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 using the wireless of 928.0 MHz), and the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 can perform good wireless communication even if there is a distance, for example, with the server device 36 via a public line by WI-FI wireless. Perform wireless communication. Therefore, even if the wireless module 32 is stored in the refrigerator together with the food and the communication unit 38 is surrounded by the metal exterior plate constituting the refrigerator main body 1 and the door 10, the communication unit 38 of the wireless module 32 Communication with the server device 36 can be reliably and satisfactorily performed via the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33.

  The refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 is embedded in the heat insulating material of the door 10 or the refrigerator body 1 near the edge of the door 10 or the refrigerator body 1 where the joint portion of the metal exterior plate constituting the refrigerator exterior plate exists. Since it is attached at a position that does not face the vacuum heat insulating material 4a, the communication with the wireless module 32 can be improved, and the communication reliability can be improved. That is, since the radio wave easily passes through the joint portion of the metal exterior plate, communication can be established with higher accuracy. Further, the vacuum insulation material 4a is often made of a metal film or the like, but even such a vacuum insulation material 4a is not opposed to the vacuum insulation material 4a. Communication can be established with accuracy.

  Further, in this embodiment, the wireless module 32 is configured to perform wireless communication by being supplied with power at a predetermined time interval. Therefore, the power consumption of the wireless module 32 can be suppressed compared to the case of performing constant communication.

  Further, when the door 10 is opened and closed, the door opening and closing detection unit 14 detects this, and the refrigerator control unit 41 causes the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 and the wireless module 32 to communicate with each other. When putting food in and out, in other words, communication is performed when there is a change in the food storage state in the warehouse, and unnecessary communication can be omitted to reduce power consumption.

  Furthermore, even when the presence of a person is detected by the human sensor 15, communication is performed between the wireless module 32 and the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33. In other words, communication is performed only when a person may use the refrigerator. It is possible to reduce power consumption by omitting unnecessary communication.

  Further, since the communication between the refrigerator wireless communication unit 33 and the portable terminal 37 or the server device 36 via the public line 35 is always performed, the user always communicates with the wireless module 32 via the public line 35. For example, the contents of the refrigerator can be confirmed even from outside.

  As mentioned above, although the refrigerator concerning this invention was demonstrated using the said embodiment, this invention is not limited to this. That is, the embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. That is, the scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description but by the scope of claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

As is clear from the description of the above embodiment, the present invention provides good and reliable communication between the wireless module and the public line, and can greatly improve the reliability of the refrigerator that communicates various information. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to various refrigerators, showcases, etc. including home refrigerators.

1 Refrigerator body 4 Heat insulation material 4a Vacuum heat insulation material 5 Refrigerated room (storage room)
6 Switching room 7 Ice making room 8 Freezing room 9 Vegetable room 10, 11, 12, 13 Door (insulated door)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 Door opening / closing detection part 15 Human sensor 30 Inventory management system 31 Refrigerator 32 Wireless module 33 Refrigerator wireless communication part 34 Router apparatus 35 Public line 36 Server apparatus 37 Portable terminal 37a Display 38 Communication part 39 Power supply part 40 Attribute specification part 41 Refrigerator control Unit 44 Server interface 45 Server control unit 46 Data storage unit

Claims (6)

A refrigerator body composed of an inner box and an outer box;
A storage room configured by dividing the refrigerator body;
A heat insulating door covering the opening of the storage room;
A wireless module attached to food stored in the storage room or a packaging portion of food;
A refrigerator wireless communication unit for communicating with the wireless module and the public line,
The refrigerator wireless communication unit is provided in the refrigerator body or the heat insulating door,
Communication between the wireless module and the refrigerator wireless communication unit is performed at a frequency of 924.0 to 928.0 MHz which is a first frequency band , and communication between the wireless communication for the refrigerator and the public line is Communication is performed in a second frequency band higher than the first frequency band. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the wireless module communicates with the refrigerator wireless communication unit at a predetermined time interval. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the heat insulating door is opened and closed, communication between the wireless module and the refrigerator wireless communication unit is performed. The human body sensor is provided on the surface of the heat insulation door, and communication between the wireless module and the refrigerator wireless communication unit is performed when the presence of a person is detected by the human sensor. The refrigerator of any one. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein communication between the refrigerator wireless communication unit and the public line is always performed. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the refrigerator wireless communication unit is provided at an end of the heat insulating door.

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