JP6948213B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to refrigerators.

In recent years, in order to reduce wasteful delivery and improve user convenience, a system has been proposed that determines the home status and notifies the delivery company. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes that, for example, it is used for a delivery service of a delivery company by determining whether a person is at home or absent based on the power usage status of a home electric appliance and providing the home status to an external device. There is.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-181026

However, in recent years, the technology for remotely operating home appliances from outside has become widespread, and for example, refrigerators, which are home appliances, operate refrigeration cycles and ice-making devices even when the user is absent. For this reason, it has become difficult to determine the home status based on the power usage status. In this case, although it is possible to correctly determine the home situation by installing a plurality of home sensors for detecting people in the house, there is a problem that the cost burden is large if the home sensors are provided for delivery.

Therefore, we provide a refrigerator that can accurately determine the home status while reducing the burden of cost and can provide the home status to an external device.

The refrigerator of the embodiment has a communication unit that communicates with an external device, an open / close detection unit that detects the open / closed state of the door that opens / closes the storage room, and a time when the open / close detection unit detects the opening / closing of the door. We set a home index that indicates that the possibility of staying at home is the maximum and that the possibility of staying at home decreases as time passes, and it is calculated based on the time that has passed since the opening and closing of the door was detected. It includes a control unit that executes a process of providing the current home index to an external device via the communication unit.

The figure which shows typically the refrigerator of an embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the operation panel schematically Figure 1 that schematically shows the change in the home index Figure 2 schematically showing changes in the home index Figure 3 schematically showing changes in the home index Figure 4 that schematically shows the change in the home index Figure 5 that schematically shows the change in the home index Figure 6 that schematically shows the change in the home index Figure 7 schematically showing changes in the home index

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9.
As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment has, in order from the top, a refrigerator compartment 3, a vegetable compartment 4, an ice making chamber 5 and a small freezer compartment 6 arranged side by side, and a large freezer compartment 7 in the main body 2. It has multiple storage rooms. Of these, the small freezing chamber 6 functions as, for example, a storage chamber for quick freezing. The configuration of the refrigerator 1 is an example, and the number, type, and arrangement of the storage chambers are not limited to those shown in FIG.

The refrigerating room 3 is opened and closed by the left door 3a and the right door 3b having double doors arranged side by side. The vegetable compartment 4, the ice-making chamber 5, the small freezer compartment 6 and the large freezer compartment 7 are opened and closed by a pull-out vegetable compartment door 4a, an ice-making chamber door 5a, a small freezer compartment door 6a and a large freezer compartment door 7a, respectively. An operation panel 8 is provided on the left door 3a of the refrigerator compartment 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the operation panel 8 includes an operation unit 81 composed of a plurality of illuminated electrostatic switches, and an illuminated display unit 82 for notifying the operating state of the refrigerator 1. There is. The operation unit 81 inputs the operation by touching the user, and prevents the user from going out in connection with the temperature adjustment of the refrigerator compartment 3 and the freezing chamber, the quick freezing operation, the ice making operation, and the present embodiment. It has an outing button 81a or the like for notifying the refrigerator 1. When the outing button 81a is operated, the outing display unit 82a shown as “outing” in FIG. 2 lights up.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 1 is provided with a door open / close sensor 9 for detecting the open / closed state of the door. Specifically, the left door 3a is provided with a door opening / closing sensor 9a, the right door 3b is provided with a door opening / closing sensor 9b, the vegetable room door 4a is provided with a door opening / closing sensor 9c, and the ice making room door 5a is provided with a door opening / closing sensor 9c. Is provided with a door open / close sensor 9d, a small freezer door 6a is provided with a door open / close sensor 9e, and a large freezer door 7a is provided with a door open / close sensor 9f. These door open / close sensors 9 correspond to open / close detection units.

Further, the refrigerator 1 is provided with a plurality of temperature sensors 10 for detecting the temperature of the storage chamber in the storage chamber. Specifically, a temperature sensor 10a is provided in the refrigerator compartment 3, a temperature sensor 10b is provided in the vegetable compartment 4, a temperature sensor 10c is provided in the small freezer compartment 6, and the inside of the large freezer compartment 7 is provided. Is provided with a temperature sensor 10d.

Further, the refrigerator 1 is provided with a human detection sensor 11 on the front side, for example, on the front side of the left door 3a. The human detection sensor 11 is a so-called human sensor, and is composed of a well-known infrared sensor, electrostatic sensor, ultrasonic sensor, optical sensor, image camera, or the like. The human detection sensor 11 detects a person existing in the vicinity of the refrigerator 1, particularly in front of the refrigerator 1 at a position where the refrigerator 1 is considered to be used, for example, by lighting the operation panel 8 to facilitate operation. It is used to control.

The refrigerator 1 is controlled by the control unit 12. The control unit 12 is connected to the various sensors described above, and controls the entire refrigerator 1 by operating a refrigerating cycle (not shown) based on the detection results and the like.

Further, although the details will be described later, the control unit 12 indicates that the possibility of being at home is the maximum when the door opening / closing sensor 9 detects the opening / closing of the door in relation to the present embodiment, and the time has elapsed. A home index is set to indicate that the possibility of staying at home decreases as the door opens and closes, and the current home index obtained based on the time elapsed from the time when the opening / closing of the door is detected is externally obtained via the communication unit 13. Performs the process provided to the device.

Further, the control unit 12 sets the door based on the opening / closing time required for opening / closing the door once, the number of times the door is opened / closed within a predetermined period, and at least one of the types of opened / closed doors. It functions as a behavior estimation unit that estimates the behavior expected to be taken by the user after opening and closing.

The communication unit 13 is of a wired system or a wireless system such as Wifi, and transmits various information to an external device via a network. As the network, for example, the Internet via a home LAN, a public network, or the like is assumed. Further, as the external device, for example, a server or a mobile terminal used for delivery or redelivery by a postal company or a delivery company, a server or a mobile terminal of a family member or a long-term care facility in a remote place, or the like is assumed. Further, it can be said that the external device constitutes the home status providing system in response to the home status from the refrigerator 1.

Next, the operation of the refrigerator 1 described above will be described.
In recent years, in order to reduce wasteful delivery and improve user convenience, a system has been proposed that determines the home status from the usage status and power consumption of home appliances and notifies the delivery company.

However, for example, in the refrigerator 1 which is a home electric appliance, the refrigerating cycle and the ice making device may operate even when the user is absent, and when the washing machine which is another home electric appliance is also absent due to reserved operation or the like. Even so, it may work. Further, in recent years, a technique for remotely controlling home appliances in a home from outside has become widespread, and it has become difficult to determine the home status based on the power usage status.

In this case, although it is possible to correctly determine the home situation by installing multiple home sensors for detecting people in the house, it is not possible to install home sensors for delivery purposes that are not for security purposes and are unlikely to occur every day. , There is a problem that the burden on the user becomes large.

By the way, the refrigerator 1 is used by opening and closing the door for cooking, taking out beverages, storing purchased goods, and the like. Therefore, it is considered that the refrigerator 1 is likely to be used if the user is at home. Further, the refrigerator 1 is often installed in a general household, and is in a state of being constantly supplied with power. Therefore, the refrigerator 1 is considered to be a home electric appliance suitable for determining a home situation.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, using the refrigerator 1 which is considered to be installed in each home, the home situation is determined by a plurality of modes described below or by combining a plurality of modes. And provide it to an external device.

(1) First Aspect In this aspect, a basic operation when determining a home situation using the refrigerator 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

Refrigerator 1 identifies a home index that suggests the possibility that the user is at home, based on the open / closed state of any of the doors. In the present embodiment, as the home index, the home rate that changes between the minimum value of 0% and the maximum value of 100% is adopted. The home-based rate is the maximum value when the user's home is certain, and the minimum value when the user's absence is certain.

This home-based rate is set so that the maximum value is reached when the door opening / closing sensor 9 detects the opening / closing of the door, and the value decreases as time elapses. Therefore, the refrigerator 1 can determine the current home rate based on the time elapsed from the time when the opening / closing of the door is detected. However, the home index does not necessarily have to be expressed as a percentage like the home rate, and other numerical ranges can be adopted, and the minimum value is when the door is detected to open, and the value increases as time passes. So to speak, the absentee rate can also be adopted. That is, as the home index, if it is possible to determine the possibility that the user is at home and the change in the possibility of being at home with the passage of time, numerical values and indexes of different modes can be appropriately adopted.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, if the opening / closing of any of the doors is detected at the time (t1), the home rate is set to 100% of the maximum value. This is because when any of the doors is opened and closed, it is certain that the user is in front of the refrigerator 1, that is, at home.

After that, the home-based rate decreases at a predetermined rate of decrease with the passage of time. That is, the home index changes according to the elapsed time since the door was opened and closed. At this time, the rate of decrease can be, for example, a rate from the maximum value to the minimum value in 3 hours, although this is an example. Further, the reduction rate can be set in advance or can be set by the user. If the absentee rate is adopted as the home index, the home index will increase.

The home rate set to the maximum value decreases with the passage of time, but if, for example, the opening and closing of the door is detected at the time (t2), it is reset to the maximum value and then from the time (t2). It decreases with the passage of time. Then, for example, when the opening / closing of the door is detected at the time (t3), the home-based rate is reset to the maximum value and then repeatedly decreases with the elapsed time from the time (t3). If the opening and closing of the door is not detected, the home rate will reach the minimum value.

Then, the refrigerator 1 obtains the home-based rate based on the time elapsed from the time when the home-based rate is set to the maximum value, and if necessary, externally obtains the home-based situation including information capable of specifying the home-based rate or the home-based rate. Provide to the device. In this case, the refrigerator 1 does not necessarily have to always obtain the home rate, but may have a configuration in which the time when the home rate is set to the maximum value is stored and the home rate at the time when it is needed is obtained. can. The time when it is needed is the time when it becomes necessary to provide it to an external device such as the scheduled delivery date of the package, or the time when it is requested by the external device such as when there is a safety confirmation from the family. Can be considered.

In addition, for reasons of crime prevention and privacy, it is possible to set whether or not to provide the home status, the date and time when the home status is provided, the registration of the external device to be provided, and whether or not to respond to the request from the external device. Is desirable. The date and time for providing the home status may be, for example, the scheduled delivery date of the package or the redelivery date when the redelivery is requested. In addition, it is possible to save power by linking the availability of the home status and the necessity of executing the process for obtaining the home rate.

(2) Second Aspect In this aspect, an example of changing the rate of decrease in the home-based rate based on the opening / closing time required for opening / closing the door once will be described with reference to FIG.

In the refrigerator 1, articles are taken in and out as described above, but it is difficult to grasp how the user operates after opening and closing the door of the refrigerator 1. However, for the purpose of opening and closing the door, for example, taking out foodstuffs for cooking, storing purchased goods, taking out beverages, and taking out foods without cooking can be assumed.

At this time, it is considered that the opening / closing time required for opening / closing the door once differs depending on the purpose. For example, when storing purchased items after shopping, it is considered that the open time will be longer. Also, when taking out ingredients for cooking, it is thought that the open time will be longer as well. On the other hand, when it is not accompanied by cooking, it is considered that the open time is shortened because beverages and small luxury items are taken out.

Then, in the case of storing the purchased item, it is considered that the user has just returned home, so it is highly likely that the user is at home after opening and closing the door. Also, when taking out ingredients for cooking, it is highly likely that they are at home for cooking. In other words, if the door opens and closes for a long time, it is unlikely that it will be absent after that.
On the other hand, when it is not accompanied by cooking, although it is difficult to judge, it is not always more likely that the person is at home than when storing purchased items or taking out ingredients for cooking.

In this way, by estimating the user's purpose from the opening and closing time of the door, it is considered that the action expected to be taken by the user after that can be estimated. Then, it is considered that the accuracy of the home rate can be improved by changing the rate of decrease in the home rate based on the purpose of opening and closing the door and the action taken by the user.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4 as the "door state", it is assumed that the door is opened at the time (t10) and the door is closed at the time (t11). In this case, the opening / closing time of the door is t11-t10. Then, it is assumed that the home-based rate decreases at a decreasing rate from the time (t11). The home-based rate may be set to the maximum value at the time (t10) when the door opening is detected, and the maximum value may be continued until the time (t11) when the door closing is detected.

Further, when the door is opened at the time (t12) and the door is closed at the time (t13), the opening / closing time of the door is t13-t12. At this time, if (t11-t10)> (t13-t12), the rate of decrease in the home-based rate from the time (t13) is made larger than the rate of decrease from the time (t11). In other words, the longer the opening / closing time, the smaller the rate of decrease in the home-based rate.

As a result, the usage pattern when the user uses the refrigerator 1 is incorporated into the calculation of the home rate, and it becomes possible to obtain a more realistic home rate. The reference opening / closing time and the reference reduction rate for the opening / closing time are set in advance, and depending on whether the actual opening / closing time is longer or shorter than the reference opening / closing time, and how long it is. It is also possible to change the reduction rate depending on whether it is short or short.

(3) Third Aspect In the present aspect, with reference to FIG. 5, based on the number of times the door is opened / closed within a predetermined determination period, or which of the plurality of doors is opened / closed. An example of changing the rate of decrease in the home-based rate based on this will be described.

In the case of a general refrigerator 1, it is considered that the types of articles such as foodstuffs stored in each storage chamber can be estimated to some extent. For example, beverages, seasonings, and other cooked dishes are stored in the refrigerating room 3, vegetables are stored in the vegetable room 4, and frozen foods and ice cream having a relatively long expiration date are stored in the large freezing room 7. It is presumed that the luxury items of the above are stored.

Then, for example, after going shopping, the opening and closing time of each door becomes longer on average to store a plurality of types of ingredients, and the plurality of doors are opened and closed to store the plurality of types of ingredients individually. It is thought that.

Also, when cooking, it is expected that the number of times of opening and closing will increase because multiple items are taken out from each storage, but rather than the opening and closing period of each door becoming longer on average, frozen ingredients are not used depending on the cooking to be made. It is highly likely that the types of doors that are opened and closed are biased.

Further, it is considered that ice is used when the ice making chamber door 5a is opened and closed. For example, when the ice making chamber door 5a is opened in a short period of time after the right door 3b of the refrigerating chamber 3 is opened. It is thought that this is because ice is added to the beverage.

In this way, it is considered that the purpose of opening and closing the door can be estimated not only by the above-mentioned opening and closing time but also by the number of times the door is opened and closed and which door is opened and closed. Further, even if the opening / closing time of one door is the same, it is considered that the purpose of opening / closing the door can be estimated depending on the number of times of opening / closing and which door is opened / closed.

In this way, by estimating the user's purpose from the opening and closing time of the door, it is considered that the action expected to be taken by the user after that can be estimated. Then, it is considered that the accuracy of the home rate can be improved by changing the rate of decrease in the home rate based on the purpose of opening and closing the door and the action taken by the user.

Therefore, first, a predetermined period shown as “P” in FIG. 5 is set. This predetermined period starts from the time when the opening / closing of the door is first detected, for example, the time (t20) in FIG. 5, and continues until a preset time thereafter elapses. The predetermined period can be set to, for example, about several minutes.

Then, when the opening and closing of the door is detected a plurality of times within the predetermined period (P) from the time (t20) to the time (t21), the door is opened and closed for the situation where the ingredients are stored after shopping or for cooking. Since it is considered to be a situation, it can be estimated that the user's subsequent behavior is at home. In this case, the situation where the plurality of doors are opened and closed once is also included.

On the other hand, when the opening and closing of the door is detected once within the predetermined period (P) from the time (t22) to the time (t23), the user's behavior is at home as compared with the case of after shopping or cooking described above. It can be estimated that the possibility of being is relatively low.
Therefore, the rate of decrease in the rate of staying at home after the time (t23) is made larger than the rate of decrease after the time (t21) described above. In other words, the greater the number of times of opening and closing within a predetermined period, the smaller the rate of decrease in the home-based rate.

As a result, the usage pattern when the user uses the refrigerator 1 is incorporated into the calculation of the home rate, and it becomes possible to obtain a more realistic home rate. The reference number of times of opening and closing and the reference reduction rate for the number of times of opening and closing are set in advance, and the reduction rate is changed according to whether the actual number of times of opening and closing is larger or less than the standard number of times of opening and closing. It can also be configured.

(4) Fourth Aspect In this aspect, an example of changing the rate of decrease in the rate of staying at home based on the temperature change of the storage room detected by the temperature sensor 10 after opening and closing the door will be described with reference to FIG. Hereinafter, the temperature of the storage room will be referred to as the temperature inside the refrigerator.

For example, when shopping items such as foodstuffs are stored in the refrigerating room 3 or the freezing room, those having a higher temperature than those previously stored in the refrigerator are stored, so that the storage after opening and closing the door. It is thought that the internal temperature rises to some extent. Further, when the cooked food is rapidly frozen in the small freezing chamber 6, the temperature may rise significantly.

On the other hand, when the ingredients are taken out for cooking or the like, the temperature of the ingredients in the refrigerator does not change, so it is considered that the temperature in the refrigerator does not change significantly. However, since it is considered that the outside air is introduced by opening and closing the door and the temperature rises slightly, the temperature inside the refrigerator is assumed here when a while has passed since the door was closed, for example, about 5 minutes. doing.

In this way, even if the temperature of the storage room is detected by the temperature sensor 10 after opening and closing the door, for example, if the temperature inside the refrigerator does not rise too much, it will be before cooking, if it rises slightly, it will be after shopping, and if it rises significantly, it will be after cooking. , It will be possible to estimate the purpose of opening and closing the door and the actions taken by the user after that.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the change in the temperature inside the refrigerator after the time when the opening / closing of the door is detected is detected. It is not always necessary to detect changes in the temperature inside the refrigerator in chronological order, and the temperature inside the refrigerator when the closing of the door is detected and the temperature inside the refrigerator when a predetermined time has passed since the door was closed. Therefore, it is also possible to obtain the temperature change.

Specifically, when the opening / closing of the door is detected at the time (t30), the temperature difference or the temperature change rate from the temperature inside the refrigerator at the time (t30) and the temperature inside the refrigerator at the time (t31) when the predetermined time has elapsed. And set the reduction rate based on the result to reduce the home rate.

Then, when the opening / closing of the door is detected at the time (t32), the temperature difference or the temperature change rate is obtained from the temperature inside the refrigerator at the time (t32) and the temperature inside the refrigerator at the time (t33) when the predetermined time has elapsed. Based on the result, the reduction rate is set to reduce the home rate. In this case, if the temperature change after the time (t33) is larger than the temperature change after the time (t31), for example, it is determined that the food has been stored after shopping, and the rate of decrease from the time (t33) is set to the time (t33). Make it smaller than the rate of decrease from t31).

As a result, the usage pattern when the user uses the refrigerator 1 is incorporated into the calculation of the home rate, and it becomes possible to obtain a more realistic home rate. The reference temperature difference or temperature change rate and the reduction rate with respect to the reference are set in advance, and the reduction rate is changed according to whether the actual temperature difference or temperature change rate is larger or smaller than the reference. It can also be configured. Further, individual standards may be set for storage chambers having different temperature zones, such as the refrigerator compartment 3 and the large freezer compartment 7.

(5) Fifth Aspect In this aspect, an example in which the reduction rate of the home-based rate is changed for each predetermined time zone will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

As a general life cycle, it is conceivable to wake up in the morning, have breakfast, go out for work during the day, return home in the evening, have dinner, and go to bed. Therefore, that is, it is considered that the home-based rate at which the user is at home can be estimated to some extent depending on the time zone.

Below, the time zone when it is assumed that breakfast is being prepared and consumed is the breakfast zone, the time zone when it is assumed that the person is out is the daytime zone, and the time zone when dinner is expected to be prepared and consumed. Is called the dinner zone, and the time zone when it is supposed to be sleeping is called the night zone. The time zone division is an example, and the type and length of the time zone can be appropriately changed or set by the user.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, when the opening / closing of the door is detected at the time of the breakfast zone (t40) and then the opening / closing is not detected and the door shifts to the daytime zone, the reduction rate in the breakfast zone is reduced. The rate of decrease in the daytime is greater than that. This makes it possible to obtain a more realistic home-based rate in the daytime when there is a high possibility of going out.

Alternatively, if the opening and closing of the door is detected at the time of the supper zone (t41) and then the door shifts to the night zone without being detected, the decrease rate in the night zone is set rather than the decrease rate in the dinner zone. Make it smaller. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the rate of staying at home becomes the minimum value contrary to reality in the nighttime zone when there is a high possibility of staying at home due to sleeping or the like.

As a result, the usage pattern when the user uses the refrigerator 1 is incorporated into the calculation of the home rate, and it becomes possible to obtain a more realistic home rate. It should be noted that the reduction rate as a reference can be set in advance, and it can be changed to be larger or smaller than the reference according to the time zone, or it can be set by the user.

(6) Sixth Aspect In this aspect, referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, an example of changing the reduction rate of the home rate based on the detection result of the human detection sensor 11 and the operation on the operation panel 8, and the example thereof. An example corresponding to an incidental situation will be described.

The refrigerator 1 is provided with the human detection sensor 11 as described above. Therefore, by using the human detection sensor 11, it may be possible to detect the presence of a person in the vicinity of the refrigerator 1 without performing a direct operation on the refrigerator 1 such as opening and closing the door.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, for example, when a person is detected at the time (t50) and then no person is detected, the home rate can be set to the maximum value. In this case, the home-based rate decreases with the passage of time. For example, if a person is detected at the time (t51) and then no person is detected, the time elapses after being set to the maximum value again. It decreases as it goes.

In this way, even based on the detection result of the person detection sensor 11, the home rate can be appropriately set to the maximum value as in the case based on the detection result of the open / closed state of the door described above.

Further, the refrigerator 1 is provided with an outing button 81a as described above. The go-out button 81a notifies the refrigerator 1 that the user is going out, and is usually used as a trigger for shifting to, for example, a power saving mode. Then, when the outing button 81a is operated, it can be determined with high probability that the user's subsequent actions are out, that is, absent.

Therefore, for example, when the outing button 81a is operated at the time (t52) shown in FIG. 8, the home-based rate is immediately set to the minimum value. As a result, the value of the home rate can be made appropriate. In this case, it is considered that the user stays at home for several minutes after the outing button 81a is operated, but since the user wants to go out when the outing button 81a is operated, the user is immediately at home. By minimizing the rate, it is possible to prevent the user from being unable to go out due to a redelivery notice or the like when he / she is going out, and it is considered that the convenience of the user is improved.

Further, from the time when the outing button 81a is operated until the predetermined waiting time elapses, the home-based rate is maintained at the minimum value regardless of the detection result of the open / closed state of the door or the detection result of the person detection sensor 11. Can be. As a result, it is possible to prevent the home rate from being unnecessarily increased when it is clear that the person is going out.

By the way, when the opening / closing of any of the doors is detected after the outing button 81a is operated, such as when the outing button 81a is operated and the waiting period has elapsed, or when a person is detected by the person detection sensor 11. At that time, the home rate can be set to the maximum value.

As a result, even if the user forgets to release the outing button 81a, the home-based rate can be set to a realistic value. At this time, the outing display unit 82a that lights up can be turned off by operating the outing button 81a.

By the way, unlike the case based on the detection result of the open / closed state of the door, when it is based on the detection result of the human detection sensor 11, it becomes difficult to estimate the behavior of the user after that. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, if the opening / closing of the door is detected at the time (t60) and the person is detected by the person detection sensor 11 at the time (t61), the door is started from the time (t60). The rate of decrease in the rate of staying at home from the time (t61) is made larger than the rate of decrease in the rate of staying at home.

By providing a difference between the rate of decrease in the home-based rate from the time when the open / closed state of the door is detected and the rate of decrease from the time when the person is no longer detected by the person detection sensor 11, that is, the user's behavior. It is possible to set a more appropriate value of the home rate by making the value of the home rate at the time of detecting the open / closed state, which is easy to estimate, larger than the value of the home rate at the time of detecting the person whose behavior is difficult to estimate. It is possible to improve the accuracy when determining whether or not the person is at home.

According to the refrigerator 1 described above, the following effects can be obtained.
In the refrigerator 1 of the embodiment, the opening / closing of the door is detected by the communication unit 13 that communicates with an external device, the open / close detection unit that detects the open / closed state of the door that opens / closes the storage room, and the open / close detection unit. We set a home index that indicates that the possibility of staying at home is the maximum at that time and that the possibility of staying at home decreases as time passes, and based on the time that has passed since the time when the opening and closing of the door was detected. It includes a control unit 12 that executes a process of providing the obtained home index at the present time to an external device via the communication unit 13.

As a result, it is possible to accurately determine the home status regardless of the power usage status, which has become difficult to determine the home status, and without making the user feel a burden of cost, and at the same time, the home status can be determined accurately. The situation can be provided to an external device.

In addition, the home index obtained with high accuracy as described above can be grasped by the refrigerator 1 alone and used for power saving control, but by providing it to an external device, the convenience of the delivery company is improved. It can also be used as a monitoring function for the elderly.

Further, the refrigerator 1 has at least one of the opening / closing time required for opening / closing the door once, the number of times the door is opened / closed within a predetermined period, the type of the opened / closed door, and the time zone in which the opening / closing of the door is detected. Based on one condition, an action estimation unit that estimates the action taken by the user after opening and closing the door is provided, and the amount of change in the home index, in the embodiment, the reduction rate of the home rate is changed based on the estimation result. As a result, it is possible to make a home-based determination based on the user's behavior, that is, a realistic home-based determination, and improve the accuracy of the determination.

Further, the refrigerator 1 changes the amount of change in the home index, that is, the rate of decrease in the home rate in the embodiment, based on the opening / closing time required for opening and closing the door once. As a result, the user's behavior can be estimated more accurately, and the accuracy of the home situation can be improved.

Further, in the refrigerator 1, based on the opening / closing time required for opening / closing the door once, the longer the opening / closing time is, the smaller the amount of change in the home index, or, in the embodiment, the reduction rate of the home rate. As a result, the user's behavior can be estimated more accurately, and the accuracy of the home situation can be improved.

Further, the refrigerator 1 changes the amount of change in the home index, or, in the embodiment, the rate of decrease in the home rate based on the number of times the door is opened and closed in a predetermined determination period. As a result, the user's behavior can be estimated more accurately, and the accuracy of the home situation can be improved.

Further, the refrigerator 1 changes the amount of change in the home index, or the rate of decrease in the home rate in the embodiment, based on which door is opened and closed. As a result, the user's behavior can be estimated more accurately, and the accuracy of the home situation can be improved.

Further, the refrigerator 1 is provided with a temperature sensor 10 that detects the temperature of the storage room, and based on the temperature change of the storage room detected by the temperature sensor 10 after opening and closing the door, the amount of change in the home index, in the embodiment, Change the rate of decrease in home rate. As a result, the user's behavior can be estimated more accurately, and the accuracy of the home situation can be improved.

Further, the refrigerator 1 changes the amount of change in the home index, or, in the embodiment, the rate of decrease in the home rate for each predetermined time zone. As a result, it is possible to make a judgment according to the user's behavior, and it is possible to improve the accuracy of the home situation.

Further, the refrigerator 1 is provided with a person detection sensor 11 for detecting the movement of a person, and the home index is set to the maximum when a person is detected by the person detection sensor 11 and then is not detected. As a result, as in the case of detecting the open / closed state of the door, the home status does not depend on the power usage status, which has become difficult to determine the home status, and the user does not feel a burden of cost. Can be accurately determined, and the home status can be provided to an external device.

Further, in the refrigerator 1, the amount of change in the home index from the time when the open / closed state of the door is detected, the amount of change in the home index from the time when no person is detected, rather than the rate of decrease in the home rate in the embodiment. In the embodiment, the rate of decrease in the home-based rate is increased. This makes it possible to make the home index at the time of detecting the open / closed state, which makes it easy to estimate the user's behavior, larger than the home index at the time of detecting a person who has difficulty in estimating the user's behavior, and sets a more appropriate home index. This makes it possible to improve the accuracy of determining that the person is at home.

Further, the refrigerator 1 includes an out-of-home button 81a for setting that the user is absent, and when the out-of-home button 81a is operated, the home-based index, or, in the embodiment, the home-based rate is minimized. As a result, the home index can be set appropriately.

Further, the refrigerator 1 maximizes the home index, that is, the home rate in the embodiment, when the opening / closing of any of the doors is detected after the outing button 81a is operated. As a result, even if the outing button 81a is forgotten to be released, the home index is automatically set appropriately, so that the accuracy of the home rate can be improved.

Although each aspect has been described individually in the embodiment, each aspect can be combined. For example, the rate of change of the home index can be changed based on two or more conditions of the door opening / closing time, the number of times the door is opened / closed, the type of the opened / closed door, and the time zone in which the opening / closing of the door is detected. .. In this case, it is conceivable that the longer the opening / closing time and the larger the number of opening / closing times, the smaller the rate of change in the home-based rate. It is also conceivable that the rate of change in the supper zone is smaller than the rate of change in the breakfast zone even if the opening time and the number of opening and closing times are the same.

In the embodiment, one temperature sensor 10 is provided in each storage room, but a plurality of temperature sensors 10 are provided in one storage room, or the refrigerating room 3 and the vegetable room 4 which are storage rooms in the refrigerating temperature zone are provided. One temperature sensor 10 may be provided, or one temperature sensor 10 may be provided for the ice making chamber 5, the small freezing chamber 6, and the large freezing chamber 7, which are storage chambers in the freezing temperature zone.

In the embodiment, the home rate is adopted as the home index, and a configuration in which the home rate is reduced with the passage of time from the time when the maximum value is set is illustrated. However, since the user is surely at home when the maximum value is set, the maximum value is used. It is possible to maintain the maximum value for a predetermined time from the time when it is set to, and then decrease it with the passage of time.
In the embodiment, the home-based rate is adopted as the home-based index, and a configuration in which the home-based rate is continuously decreased with the passage of time is illustrated, but a configuration in which the home-based rate is gradually decreased as a predetermined time elapses can be used.

In the embodiment, an example of changing the rate of change of the home index is shown, but the home index changes the amount of change, that is, the absolute value when decreasing or increasing, not the rate of change, that is, the rate when decreasing or increasing. It can also be configured. Further, for example, it is possible to adopt a home index that divides the possibility of being at home into three stages, for example, high, medium, and low.

In this case, if the upper limit, for example, the maximum value and the lower limit, for example, the minimum value of the home index are defined, the rate of change will be changed by changing the amount of change. Therefore, the configuration for changing the rate of change of the home index includes a configuration for substantially changing the amount of change. In addition, when the home index divided into multiple stages is adopted, the conditions for switching the home index such as the time elapsed since the door was closed and the number of times the door is opened and closed correspond to the above-mentioned rate of change and amount of change. For example, a configuration for changing the condition for switching from high to medium is also included.

The above embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. The present embodiment and its modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

In the drawing, 1 is the refrigerator, 2 is the main body, 3 is the cold storage room (storage room), 3a is the left door (door), 3b is the right door (door), 4 is the vegetable room (storage room), and 4a is the vegetable room door. (Door), 5 is an ice making room (storage room), 5a is an ice making room door (door), 6 is a small freezing room (storage room), 6a is a small freezing room door (door), and 7 is a large freezing room (storage room). ), 7a is the large freezer door, 8 is the operation panel, 9, 9a to 9f are the door open / close sensor (door open / close detection unit), 10, 10a to 10d are the temperature sensor, 11 is the human detection sensor (human detection unit), 12 is a control unit, 13 is a communication unit, and 81a is an outing button.

Claims (10)

A communication unit that communicates with an external device,
An open / close detector that detects the open / closed state of the door that opens and closes the storage room,
A home index is set to indicate that the possibility of being at home is maximum when the opening / closing of the door is detected by the opening / closing detection unit and that the possibility of being at home decreases as time passes, and the opening / closing of the door is set. A control unit that executes a process of providing a current home index obtained based on the time elapsed from the time when the door is detected to an external device via the communication unit is provided.

The control unit is a refrigerator that changes the rate of change of the home index based on the opening / closing time required for opening / closing the door once. A communication unit that communicates with an external device,
An open / close detector that detects the open / closed state of the door that opens and closes the storage room,
A home index is set to indicate that the possibility of being at home is maximum when the opening / closing of the door is detected by the opening / closing detection unit and that the possibility of being at home decreases as time passes, and the opening / closing of the door is set. A control unit that executes a process of providing a current home index obtained based on the time elapsed from the time when the door is detected to an external device via the communication unit is provided.
The control unit is a refrigerator that reduces the rate of change of the home index as the opening / closing time is longer, based on the opening / closing time required to open / close the door once. A communication unit that communicates with an external device,
An open / close detector that detects the open / closed state of the door that opens and closes the storage room,
A home index is set to indicate that the possibility of being at home is maximum when the opening / closing of the door is detected by the opening / closing detection unit and that the possibility of being at home decreases as time passes, and the opening / closing of the door is set. A control unit that executes a process of providing a current home index obtained based on the time elapsed from the time when the door is detected to an external device via the communication unit is provided.
The control unit is a refrigerator that changes the rate of change of the home index based on which door is opened and closed. A communication unit that communicates with an external device,
An open / close detector that detects the open / closed state of the door that opens and closes the storage room,
A home index is set to indicate that the possibility of being at home is maximum when the opening / closing of the door is detected by the opening / closing detection unit and that the possibility of being at home decreases as time passes, and the opening / closing of the door is set. A control unit that executes a process of providing the current home index obtained based on the time elapsed from the time when the door is detected to an external device via the communication unit.
A temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the storage chamber is provided.
The control unit is a refrigerator that changes the rate of change of the home index based on the temperature change of the storage room detected by the temperature sensor after opening and closing the door. A communication unit that communicates with an external device,
An open / close detector that detects the open / closed state of the door that opens and closes the storage room,
A home index is set to indicate that the possibility of being at home is maximum when the opening / closing of the door is detected by the opening / closing detection unit and that the possibility of being at home decreases as time passes, and the opening / closing of the door is set. A control unit that executes a process of providing the current home index obtained based on the time elapsed from the time when the door is detected to an external device via the communication unit.
Equipped with a human detection sensor that detects the movement of a person,
The control unit sets the home index to the maximum when a person is detected by the person detection sensor and is not detected thereafter, and is based on the rate of change of the home index from the time when the open / closed state of the door is detected. However, a refrigerator that increases the rate of change in the home index from the time when people are no longer detected. Based on the opening and closing time required to open and close one door, the number of times the door is opened and closed within a predetermined period, the type of door opened and closed, and at least one of the conditions during which the opening and closing of the door is detected. Equipped with an action estimation unit that estimates the action taken by the user after opening and closing the door.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the control unit changes the rate of change of the home index based on the estimation result by the behavior estimation unit. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control unit changes the rate of change of the home index based on the number of times the door is opened and closed in a predetermined determination period. Wherein the control unit, predetermined in that for each time zone refrigerator according to one of請Motomeko 1 to 7 to change the rate of change of the home index. Equipped with an operation panel with an outing button to set the user to be absent
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the control unit has a home index as a minimum value when the outing button is operated. The refrigerator according to claim 9, wherein the control unit maximizes the home index when the opening / closing of any of the doors is detected after the outing button is operated.

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