JP7451643B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a refrigerator .

With the advancement of IoT technology, technology for connecting refrigerators to external networks has been developed. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a control device that acquires the storage temperature of an article and the estimated position of a user, and changes the set temperature of the refrigerator from a first set temperature to a second set temperature lower than the first set temperature. has been done.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-020730 (published on January 26, 2017)

Refrigerators perform cooling by repeatedly turning on and off a compressor. In the case of pre-cooling, about 30 minutes is required. This is because if the compressor is not turned on continuously for about 30 minutes, the food inside the refrigerator and the insulated walls will not cool.

In the above cited document 1, when the user unlocks the house or when the user's position becomes within a limited range from the house, the temperature of the refrigerator is changed to the second set temperature, that is, precooling is started. are doing. However, even if pre-cooling starts when the house is unlocked, it is unlikely that sufficient pre-cooling time will be available. Furthermore, if pre-cooling is started based only on location information, it is unclear by what means (train, car, bicycle, foot, etc.) the user will use to return home from that location, and there will not be enough pre-cooling time. there is a possibility. Conversely, if the user takes a detour, the precooling may be wasted.

Furthermore, in Cited Document 1, the storage temperature of an article is acquired using POS information. However, in order to obtain POS information, cooperation with POS equipment is required, which is complicated. Furthermore, it is not realistic to link with all POS devices in the world.

One aspect of the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to realize a control device and the like that can appropriately precool a refrigerator.

The refrigerator according to one embodiment includes a control unit that controls temperature inside the refrigerator, and the control unit is configured to set the temperature in the refrigerator to be lower than the temperature before the temperature was set based on the user's location information, based on the user's location information. The control unit registers a predetermined range on the map as a place to purchase food based on an instruction from the user, and the control unit A second control is executed to lower the temperature inside the refrigerator based on the location information of and the location where the food is purchased .

A terminal according to one aspect includes a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information of a user, and a temperature inside the refrigerator that is lower than a temperature before the temperature was set based on the user's location information, based on the user's location information. and a transmitter that transmits the user's location information in order to execute the first control that increases the user's location .

According to one aspect of the present invention, precooling can be started taking into consideration the time until the article is put into the refrigerator, so that the precooling time can be appropriately secured and the precooling can be prevented from being wasted. This has the effect of being able to prevent.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part configuration of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of main parts of the refrigerator according to the above embodiment. It is a block diagram showing an outline of the above-mentioned embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a determination table. (a) to (f) are diagrams for explaining the flow of generating a determination table. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of precooling processing in the above-mentioned refrigerator. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the rapid cooling process in the said refrigerator. It is a table showing parameter settings in the refrigerator. It is a sequence diagram showing the flow of pre-cooling processing in the refrigeration system according to the embodiment. It is a figure showing the example of a display displayed on the mobile communication terminal concerning the above-mentioned embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process by which the said communication apparatus sends a precooling start instruction. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of processing in which the communication device sends a precooling stop instruction after sending a precooling start instruction. (a) and (b) are diagrams for explaining a process for determining purchase expectation conditions in the communication device. (a) and (b) are diagrams for explaining a process for determining purchase expectation conditions in the communication device. 12 is a flowchart showing a process flow when a communication device according to another embodiment of the present invention makes a determination on defrosting processing. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of processing which accelerates defrosting processing in the above-mentioned communication device. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process in the said communication apparatus which determines whether a purchase preliminary forecast condition is fulfilled.

[Embodiment 1]
〔overview〕
Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. First, an overview of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an overview of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the refrigeration system 10 according to the present embodiment includes a refrigerator 1, a communication device (control device) 2, a router 3, an information server 4, a mobile communication terminal 5, and a network 6. In this embodiment, the refrigerator 1 and the communication device 2 are described separately, but the refrigerator 1 may include the functions of the communication device 2. Further, in this embodiment, the explanation will be given using a freezer compartment as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to rooms other than the freezer compartment, such as a refrigerator compartment and a vegetable compartment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the communication device 2 connects the refrigerator 1 and the network 6 via the router 3. That is, in this embodiment, the refrigerator 1 and the network 6 are not directly connected, but the communication device 2 plays a role as a buffer zone (DMZ). Further, an information server 4 and a user's mobile communication terminal 5 are connected to the network 6. Information server 4 transmits various information to mobile communication terminal 5 and refrigerator 1 via network 6. Note that if the information provided by the information server 4 is not required, the information server 4 may not be included in the refrigeration system 10.

In the refrigeration system 10 according to the present embodiment, the user's location obtained from the mobile communication terminal 5 and the determination table (details will be described later) stored in the communication device 2 are used to determine whether the user needs refrigeration. Determine whether food, etc. (goods) have been purchased. If it is determined that a purchase has been made, the user's estimated time to return home is derived, and pre-cooling is performed in the refrigerator 1 based on the derived estimated time to return home.

As a result, precooling is not started based only on position information as in the prior art, so it is possible to prevent the precooling time from running out or the precooling from being wasted.

In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the communication device 2 executes the purchase determination of frozen food and the pre-cooling instruction, but the refrigerator 1 may also execute these processes.

[Communication device 2]
Next, the communication device 2 will be explained with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main part configuration of the communication device 2. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication device 2 according to the present embodiment includes a control section 200, a storage section 210, a network communication section 220, and a transmitting/receiving section 230.

The storage unit 210 stores various data used in processing in the communication device 2, including a determination table 211. The determination table 211 is a table used to determine whether or not to start precooling in the communication device 2 . Details of the determination table 211 will be described later.

The control unit 200 centrally controls each unit of the communication device 2, and includes a position information acquisition unit 201, a precooling determination unit (acquisition determination unit, input time derivation unit, precooling instruction transmission unit) 202, defrost determination unit ( A control command generating section (a precooling instruction transmitting section, a defrosting postponement instruction transmitting section) 204, and a determination table generating section (a position registration section, a position designation receiving section) 205 are included.

The location information acquisition unit 201 periodically acquires the location of the mobile communication terminal 5 as the user's location via the network 6. Note that the acquisition cycle can be set as appropriate.

The precooling determination unit 202 uses the user's position acquired by the position information acquisition unit 201 and the determination table 211 to determine whether or not to cause the refrigerator 1 to start precooling, and to determine the start timing when starting precooling. make a decision

The defrosting determination unit 203 uses the user's position acquired by the position information acquisition unit 201 and the determination table 211 to determine whether to start defrosting the refrigerator 1 or to postpone defrosting. Note that if defrosting is not determined, the defrosting determination unit 203 may not be provided.

When the precooling determining unit 202 determines that the refrigerator 1 should start precooling, the control command generating unit 204 generates a control command indicating this and transmits it to the refrigerator 1 via the transmitting/receiving unit 230 . Further, when the defrosting determining unit 203 determines that the refrigerator 1 should start defrosting, or when determining that defrosting is to be postponed, the control command generating unit 204 generates a control command indicating that, and transmits the control command via the transmitting/receiving unit 230. and sends it to Refrigerator 1.

The determination table generation unit 205 uses the temperature of the refrigerator compartment, the temperature of the freezer compartment, the door opening/closing information acquired from the refrigerator 1, the operating status of the compressor, and the user's position acquired by the position information acquisition unit 201 to make a determination. The table 211 is generated and updated. Details of generating and updating the determination table 211 will be described later.

The network communication unit 220 connects the communication device 2 and the network 6 via the router 3. The transmitter/receiver 230 communicates with the refrigerator 1.

[Refrigerator 1]
Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the main structure of the refrigerator 1 will be explained. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the main part configuration of the refrigerator 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerator 1 includes a control unit 100, a storage unit 110, a transmitting/receiving unit (receiving unit) 120, an ambient temperature detector 131, a freezer compartment temperature detector 132, a refrigerator compartment temperature detector 133, and door opening/closing detection. It includes a device 134, a compressor 135, a blower 136, a damper 137, and a defrost heater 138.

The control unit 100 centrally controls each unit of the refrigerator 1 and includes a precooling processing unit 101 , a rapid cooling processing unit 102 , a defrosting processing unit 103 , and an inquiry unit 104 .

The precooling processing unit 101 executes a precooling process in the refrigerator 1. The pre-cooling process includes lowering the temperature of the freezer compartment, increasing the rotation speed of the compressor, and lowering the temperature of the refrigerator compartment for the purpose of speeding up freezing. Note that the content of the precooling process can be set using parameters described later. Further, these parameters may be set arbitrarily by the user.

Further, in this embodiment, the precooling processing time is assumed to be 30 minutes, but it is not limited to this, and may be increased or decreased depending on the ambient temperature of the refrigerator 1, the season, etc. For example, the time period may be set to be longer in summer.

The quenching processing section 102 executes quenching processing in the refrigerator 1 . The contents of the rapid cooling process can be set using parameters described below. Further, these parameters may also be arbitrarily set by the user.

The defrost processing unit 103 executes defrost processing in the refrigerator 1 and controls the execution timing of the defrost processing.

When receiving the precooling start instruction from the communication device 2, the inquiry unit 104 asks the user whether or not it is okay to start the precooling process. More specifically, a pre-cooling confirmation requesting confirmation from the user is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal 5.

The storage unit 110 stores various data used in processing in the refrigerator 1. The transmitter/receiver 120 communicates with the communication device 2 . Specifically, the transmitter/receiver 120 receives a pre-cooling start instruction and parameters of the freezer compartment and refrigerator compartment from the communication device 2, and receives the operating status of the refrigerator 1 (current temperature setting, error information, evaluation indicating the necessity of defrosting). value, etc.). Further, the transmitting/receiving unit 120 periodically transmits information detected by various detectors of the refrigerator 1, which will be described later, to the communication device 2.

Ambient temperature detector 131 detects the temperature around the refrigerator. Freezer compartment temperature detector 132 detects the temperature of the freezer compartment. Refrigerating room temperature detector 133 detects the temperature of the refrigerating room. The door opening/closing detection device 134 detects opening/closing of the door of the refrigerator 1.

The compressor 135 compresses the gaseous refrigerant contained inside the refrigerator 1. The compressed gas refrigerant is liquefied in a condenser (not shown), and its pressure is lowered by a capillary tube (not shown).The lowered pressure gas-liquid mixed refrigerant is sent to an evaporator (not shown) and vaporized in the evaporator. , the evaporator is cooled. Note that by increasing the rotation speed of the compressor 135, the temperature of the evaporator becomes lower.

The blower 136 sucks air in the refrigerator into the evaporator, discharges it as low-temperature air into the refrigerator, and blows air for circulation.

The damper 137 is a valve body provided in an air flow path connecting the blower 136 and the refrigerator compartment. By opening the damper 137, air cooled by the evaporator is sent to the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment. By closing the damper 137, the air cooled by the evaporator is sent only to the freezer compartment.

The defrosting heater 138 is a heater for melting frost attached to the evaporator.

[Details of processing by determination table generation unit 205]
Next, details of the processing in the determination table generation unit 205 and the determination table 211 generated by the determination table generation unit 205 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the determination table 211. Further, (a) to (f) of FIG. 5 are diagrams for explaining the flow of generating the determination table 211.

As shown in FIG. 4, the determination table 211 includes location (location information), time distance (average, shortest), presence or absence of purchases other than food, shopping frequency, probability of cooling food within 5 minutes after returning home (frozen food , refrigerated food), average stay time, average door open time after returning home (freezer room door, refrigerator door), and temperature rise value of temperature detector after door opening after returning home (freezer room, refrigerator room). It is attached. The time distance (time information) is a distance expressed in time, and here indicates the time required for the user to travel from the location shown in the determination table 211 (A department store, etc.) to his home.
That is, the determination table 211 includes information that allows you to recognize when the inventory in the refrigerator increases (probability of cooling food within 5 minutes after returning home), and the user's stay location (location (location information)) before the increase. are associated. Further, these items are also associated with the time (time distance) from when the user leaves the stay location until the inventory in the refrigerator increases.

For example, in the first row of the determination table 211, the location (location information) is "Department Store A", the time distance (average, shortest) is "55 minutes on average, 52 minutes at the shortest", and whether or not you have purchased anything other than food. "Yes", shopping frequency "5 times/month", probability of cooling food within 5 minutes after returning home (frozen food, refrigerated food) is "50% for frozen food, 50% for refrigerated food", average length of stay is "30 minutes", the average time the door is opened after returning home (freezer compartment door, refrigerator compartment door) is "30 seconds for the freezer compartment door, 20 seconds for the refrigerator compartment door", the temperature detector after the door is opened after returning home. The temperature rise values (freezer compartment, refrigerator compartment) are associated with "3.5K (Kelvin) for the freezer compartment and 2.5K for the refrigerator compartment." The second and subsequent lines are similarly associated.

By using the determination table 211, for example, if the location is Department Store A (direct return), the time distance (average) is 55 minutes, so if pre-cooling is started 20 minutes after leaving Department Store A, the time distance will be 55 minutes. It can be seen that -20=35>30, and it is possible to secure a precooling time of about 30 minutes. Therefore, by using the determination table 211, the precooling determination unit 202 can determine the appropriate timing to start precooling. Similarly, for example, in the case of C supermarket, the time distance is 10 minutes, so if pre-cooling is started after the start of travel to return home, the pre-cooling time will be insufficient. Therefore, if pre-cooling is started 10 minutes after entering C supermarket, the average stay time is 30 minutes, so 30-10+10=30, which means that about 30 minutes of pre-cooling time can be secured. Further, in the case of a C super, it is also possible to lower the set temperature when entering the C super and increase the rotation speed of the compressor when leaving the C super.

Next, a method for generating the determination table 211 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5A is a diagram showing, in chronological order, the relationship among the opening/closing status of the door of the freezer compartment, the operating status of the compressor 135, and the temperature status of the freezer compartment (whether the temperature has become high or not).

As shown in FIG. 5(a), after the freezer compartment door is opened and closed, the rotation speed of the compressor 135 increases, and this increased state continues for a predetermined period of time (for example, 3 hours), and the rotation speed of the compressor 135 increases. If the high temperature of the freezer compartment continues for a predetermined period of time after the temperature rises, the determination table generation unit 205 determines that food has been put into the freezer compartment. The communication device 2 is notified from the refrigerator 1 of the opening/closing status of the door of the freezer compartment, the rotation speed of the compressor 135, and the temperature state of the freezer compartment. Note that the criteria for determining that food has been put into the freezer compartment are not limited to these, but include the operating status of the compressor 135 and the temperature state of the freezer compartment when food is put into the freezer compartment. You can set it as appropriate. Similarly, it can also be determined whether food has been put into the refrigerator compartment.

If the determination table generation unit 205 determines that food has been put into the freezer compartment, the determination table generation unit 205 determines when the food has been put into the freezer compartment, in other words, when the door of the freezer compartment is opened (see FIG. In the example of (a), time-series data of the user's position information from the time (after 12:00) to the time a predetermined time back is acquired. In other words, regarding the periodically acquired position information, time-series data from the time when the door of the refrigerator was opened to the time when the refrigerator door was opened a predetermined number of times is acquired.

Here, examples of time-series data are shown in FIGS. 5(b) to 5(d). Figure 5 (b) to (d) show time-series data for 20 times (predetermined time), and the position indicated by a circled number "1" is the point at which the door of the freezer compartment was opened. The position indicated by a circled number "2" indicates the previous position, and the position indicated by a circled number "3" indicates the previous position. From then on, the same applies up to the circled number "20".

Then, the determination table generation unit 205 compares the multiple situations ((b) to (d) in FIG. 5) in which it has been determined that food has been put into the freezer compartment, and the frequency is significantly higher than in other locations. A high place (position) is determined to be a place to purchase frozen food and is registered in the determination table 211. An example of the position to be registered is shown in FIG. 5(e). In (e) of FIG. 5, each position is shown in a state where (b) to (d) of FIG. 5 are overlapped. In the example shown in FIG. 5(e), section 501 is registered as a place to purchase frozen foods.

Further, the time distance between the place where the frozen food is purchased and the home where the refrigerator is located, and the length of stay can be calculated by counting the number of data of the position information. FIG. 5(f) shows an example of the time distance between the place where frozen foods are purchased and the home where the refrigerator is located, and the length of stay. In (f) of FIG. 5, the time spent at the place where the frozen food is purchased is 30 minutes the first time, 35 minutes the second time, and 25 minutes the third time, with the average being 30 minutes. Also, all time distances are 25 minutes.

Items other than those mentioned above in the determination table 211 can also be obtained from the position information and the state of the refrigerator after the door is opened and closed. Further, after the determination table 211 is created, the determination table generation unit 205 updates the determination table 211 every time it determines that food has been put into the freezer compartment. Note that the update timing may be every time it is determined that food has been put into the freezer compartment, or every time the number of times it is determined that food has been put there reaches a predetermined number of times.

Furthermore, instead of the temperature inside the refrigerator, it may be determined whether food has been put into the freezer compartment using an article sensor, an internal camera, or the like.

Note that the determination table generation unit 205 may register the locations where frozen foods are purchased as described below.

Let g(x, y, t) be time-series data of position information. Here, x and y are position coordinates. Further, t is the order of time-series data until the door opens.

The effective range of the map in the position information is divided into I×J columns, and is defined as m(i,j).

The divided maps are weighted as follows.

w(i,j)=Σ(t=N)(1/N)W(i,j,t)
W (i, j, t) = 1 (when g (x, y, t) is within the range of m (i, j))
W (i, j, t) = 0 (when g (x, y, t) is not within the range of m (i, j))
Then, positions with statistically high numerical values are extracted from the distribution of weighted data w(i,j). Then, the home location is removed and the remaining location is registered as a place to purchase frozen food (or refrigerated food).

In the above example, the location where the frozen food is purchased is registered using the user's action history, but the location may be manually registered by the user.
In addition, although the registered location is the location where the user purchases frozen food, it is not limited to this; for example, a location where the user uses the freezer after going to the location, such as a fishing location, can also be a registered location. can do.

[Flow of processing in refrigerator 1]
Next, the flow of processing in the refrigerator 1 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of precooling processing in the refrigerator 1. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of the rapid cooling process in the refrigerator 1. FIG. 8 is a table showing parameter settings in the refrigerator 1.

As shown in FIG. 6, when performing the precooling process, the precooling processing unit 101 of the refrigerator 1 performs an operation according to the precooling setting (S601). An example of precooling settings is shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 8, in the case of pre-cooling setting, the compressor and blower are operated at maximum, the freezer compartment is set to -21°C, and the refrigerator compartment is set to 0°C. Also, the time limit is set to 2 hours. Note that the time limit may be changed depending on the ambient temperature. When the precooling end condition is satisfied (YES in S602), the normal settings are returned to (S603) and operation is performed. Cases in which the precooling termination condition is satisfied include the elapse of a set time, the reception of a precooling stop command, and the like. An example of normal settings is shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 8, in the case of normal settings, the compressor and blower are automatically operated, the freezer compartment is set to -18°C, and the refrigerator compartment is set to 4°C. Note that the user can set the set temperatures of the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment as appropriate. The above is the flow of the precooling process.

Note that the precooling time may be increased or decreased depending on the amount of articles. That is, the amount of articles to be refrigerated may be estimated from the user's stay time, etc., and if the amount is less than a predetermined amount, the precooling time may be shortened, and if the amount is greater than the predetermined amount, the precooling time may be lengthened.

Next, the flow of the rapid cooling process will be explained with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, when performing the rapid cooling process, the rapid cooling processing unit 102 of the refrigerator 1 performs an operation based on the freezer compartment priority setting (S701). An example of the freezer compartment priority setting is shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 8, in the case of the freezer compartment priority setting, the compressor and blower are operated at maximum, the freezing compartment is set to -21°C, and the refrigerator compartment is set to 6°C. Also, the time limit is set to 1 hour. Note that the time limit may be changed depending on the ambient temperature. Then, when the set time has elapsed (S702: YES), the rapid cooling processing unit 102 performs the operation according to the freezing operation setting (S703). Figure 8 shows an example of freezing operation settings. In the example shown in FIG. 8, in the case of freezing operation settings, the compressor and blower are operated at maximum, the freezing compartment is set to -21°C, and the refrigerator compartment is set to 4°C. Also, the time limit is set to 8 hours. Note that the time limit may be changed depending on the ambient temperature. Then, when the quenching end condition is satisfied (S704: YES), the normal settings are returned (S705) and operation is performed. Examples of cases where the quenching termination condition is satisfied include the elapse of a set time, the temperature inside the refrigerator becoming lower than a predetermined temperature, and the like.

Note that the setting parameters shown in FIG. 8 may be stored in the storage unit 110 of the refrigerator 1 or may be stored in the storage unit 210 of the communication device 2.

When stored in the storage unit 110 of the refrigerator 1, the refrigerator 1 operates according to the set parameters based on the instructions acquired from the communication device 2. Further, when the parameters are stored in the storage unit 210 of the communication device 2, the refrigerator 1 acquires each parameter from the communication device 2 and executes the operation.

[Flow of processing in refrigeration system 10]
Next, the flow of processing in the refrigeration system 10 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of precooling processing in the refrigeration system 10. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display displayed on the mobile communication terminal 5. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 9, when performing the precooling process, a precooling start command is transmitted from the communication device 2 to the refrigerator 1 (S901). Note that the details of the process for determining whether to transmit the precooling start command will be described later. When the refrigerator 1 obtains the precooling start command from the communication device 2 (YES in S902), the refrigerator 1 sends a precooling confirmation via the communication device 2 to the user to confirm whether it is okay to start the precooling process. It is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal 5 (S903). When the mobile communication terminal 5 receives the pre-cooling confirmation from the refrigerator 1 (S904), it displays a pre-cooling permission screen on the display unit (S905). FIG. 10 shows an example of the pre-cooling permission screen. As shown in FIG. 10, on the pre-cooling permission screen, a screen is displayed asking the user for permission to start pre-cooling. Then, the mobile communication terminal 5 receives the user's instruction and transmits an instruction to permit or disallow precooling to the refrigerator 1 (S906). When the instruction is received, the refrigerator 1 executes the precooling process (S909) if the content of the instruction is permission for precooling (YES at S908). On the other hand, if the content of the instruction is not to permit precooling (NO in S908), the normal setting operation is performed (S910). The above is the flow of the precooling process in the refrigeration system 10.

[Flow of processing in communication device 2]
Next, the flow of processing in the communication device 2 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 11 to 14. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in which the communication device 2 sends a precooling start instruction. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for sending a precooling stop instruction after sending a precooling start instruction.

As shown in FIG. 11, the pre-cooling determination unit 202 of the communication device 2 determines whether the purchase expectation condition is satisfied (S1101, acquisition determination step). The expected purchase condition is a condition for determining whether the user has purchased food or the like that needs to be frozen or refrigerated. In other words, if the expected purchase conditions are met, it means that the user has purchased food or the like that needs to be frozen or refrigerated. Note that the details of the process for determining the expected purchase conditions will be described later.

If the purchase prediction condition is satisfied (YES in S1101), the precooling determination unit 202 uses the determination table 211 to predict the user's return home time (loading time) (S1102, loading time deriving step). For example, if the expected purchase conditions are met when the user enters shopping district B, according to the determination table 211, the time distance (average) of shopping district B is 20 minutes, and the average stay time is 40 minutes. Estimated time to return home is 60 minutes later. Furthermore, if the expected purchase conditions are satisfied after 35 minutes have elapsed after the user's stay, the predicted return time will be 25 minutes later. That is, the predicted return time is calculated using the following formula.
Predicted return time = Average stay time - Stay time + Time required for return route (time distance)
Note that the predicted time to return home may be configured to be only the time required for the route home, or may be the time from the time the user acquires the item until the user leaves the stay location + the time required for the route home.

Furthermore, the required time for the return route may be acquired not from the determination table 211 but from a well-known navigation service.

Then, if the predicted time for the user to return home is within 30 minutes (within the first predetermined time) (YES in S1103), the precooling determination unit 202 transmits a precooling start instruction to the refrigerator 1 (S1104, precooling instruction sending step) ). On the other hand, if the predicted time for the user to return home is not within 30 minutes (NO in S1103), the process returns to step S1102. The above is the flow of the process in which the communication device 2 sends the precooling start instruction.

In addition, although 30 minutes was taken as an example as the first predetermined time in the above, the first predetermined time may be any time longer than the time required to lower the temperature of the refrigerator 1 by a predetermined temperature, and is not limited to 30 minutes. Further, the time required to lower the refrigerator 1 to a predetermined temperature varies depending on the external environment of the refrigerator 1, etc., and in this embodiment, the time required to lower the predetermined temperature is derived according to the external environment.

Next, with reference to FIG. 12, the flow of processing for sending a precooling stop instruction will be described. As shown in FIG. 12, the precooling determination unit 202 determines whether the elapsed time after transmitting the precooling start instruction is within the set time (S1201). If the elapsed time exceeds the set time (NO in S1201), the precooling determination unit 202 transmits a precooling stop command to the refrigerator 1 (S1208), and returns the settings of the refrigerator 1 to the normal settings (S1209).

On the other hand, if the elapsed time after transmitting the pre-cooling start instruction is within the set time (YES in S1201), the pre-cooling determination unit 202 uses the user's location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 201 to determine whether the user returns home directly. It is determined whether or not (S1202). If it is determined that the user has not bounced back (NO in S1202), the process advances to step S1208. This is because it can be determined that not returning directly = taking a detour.

If the user has returned home directly (YES in S1202), the precooling determination unit 202 uses the user's location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 201 to determine whether the user went straight to the kitchen after returning home (S1203 ). If it is not direct (NO in S1203), the process advances to step S1208. Whether or not the person went directly to the kitchen may be determined by using the position information as described above, or from the situation in the house (the lights in the bedroom are turned on, the TV is turned on, etc.).

When going directly to the kitchen (YES in S1203), the precooling determination unit 202 determines whether or not the door of the freezer compartment is opened or closed from the refrigerator information acquired from the refrigerator 1 (S1204). If the door is opened or closed (NO in S1204), the precooling determination unit 202 transmits a precooling stop command to the refrigerator 1 (S1206), and transmits a rapid cooling start command (S1207). This is because if the door of the freezer compartment opens after going straight to the kitchen, it can be determined that frozen food has been added.

If the door is not opened or closed (YES in S1204), the precooling process continues (S1205). That is, the communication device 2 does not send any further instructions to the refrigerator 1. The above is the flow of processing in which the communication device 2 sends a precooling stop instruction after sending a precooling start instruction.

Note that the precooling stop instruction is not performed by the process described above, but by matching the user's past behavior pattern with the current behavior pattern, and confirming that the current behavior pattern is a typical behavior pattern of putting frozen food into the freezer compartment. The precooling process may be stopped when the temperature deviates from the precooling process.

[Judgment processing of expected purchase conditions]
(1) Example 1 of determination processing
The precooling determination unit 202 determines that the purchase expectation condition is satisfied when the evaluation value exceeds the threshold value. Examples of the evaluation value include distance from the refrigerator, coordinates, distance from the registered position, and the like.

For example, if the evaluation value is the distance from the registered position and the value decreases as the distance from the registered position increases, then if the threshold is a predetermined distance from the registered position, then the evaluation value will be determined by whether or not the evaluation value exceeds the threshold. , it is possible to determine whether the user has entered the vicinity of the registered position. This will be explained with reference to FIG. 13(a). FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the process of determining purchase forecast conditions in the communication device 2. In the graph of FIG. 13(a), the vertical axis represents the evaluation value, and the horizontal axis represents time. The location log shows the user's location in each time period. As shown in the graph of FIG. 13(a), it can be seen that the evaluation value increases as the user's position shown in the position log approaches the registered position.

Then, at a certain point in time, the threshold value a is exceeded. The point in time when this threshold value a is exceeded is the point in time when the user enters the registered position. That is, at the time when the user enters the place to purchase frozen food. Therefore, by determining whether the evaluation value exceeds the threshold value a, it is possible to determine whether the user has entered a place to purchase frozen food. Thereby, it can be considered that "the expected purchase condition was met" = "the user purchased the frozen food".

Further, a process may be performed in which a plurality of threshold values are provided. An example in which two threshold values are provided is shown in FIG. 13(b). In the example shown in FIG. 13(b), a threshold b is provided in addition to the threshold a described above. Threshold b is set to a lower value than threshold a. Therefore, when the evaluation value exceeds the threshold value b, it means that the user has not entered the registered position, but has approached the registered position to some extent. Therefore, by using this threshold value b, for example, it is possible to determine whether to postpone defrosting processing (details will be described in Embodiment 2 to be described later).
(2) Example 2 of determination processing
Next, another example of the determination process will be described with reference to FIG. 14(a). FIG. 14(a) is a diagram for explaining the process of determining purchase expectation conditions in the communication device 2. In FIG.

In this example, the pre-cooling determining unit 202 determines whether the expected purchase condition is satisfied based on whether the user has stayed at the registered location for a predetermined time or longer. If the user has been staying at the registered location for a predetermined period of time or longer, there is a high possibility that the user is purchasing frozen food. Therefore, accurate determination can be made by determining whether the purchase expectation condition is satisfied based on whether the user has stayed at the registered location for a predetermined time or longer.

A specific example is shown in FIG. 14(a). In the example shown in (a) of FIG. 14, a threshold value c is provided for the evaluation value, and a threshold value d is provided for the time when the evaluation value exceeds the threshold value c. It is possible to determine whether the user has entered the registered position based on whether or not the threshold value c has been exceeded, and whether the user has stayed at the registered position for a predetermined time period or not based on whether or not the user has exceeded the threshold value d. can be determined. Therefore, if the stay time at the registered position is short, precooling may not be performed.
(3) Example 3 of determination processing
Next, with reference to FIG. 14(b), still another example of the determination process will be described. (b) of the figure is a diagram for explaining the process of determining purchase expectation conditions in the communication device 2.

In this example, the precooling determination unit 202 grasps time-series data of position information indicating the user's position as an image. Then, the image is matched with the image indicated by the time series data when the position is registered, and it is determined whether the purchase expectation condition is satisfied based on whether the degree of similarity exceeds a threshold value. Since the time-series data at the time of registration is the time-series data when the frozen food was purchased, by matching with this, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the expected purchase conditions are met.

A specific example is shown in FIG. 14(b). The example shown in FIG. 14(b) shows a case where time-series data of position information indicating the user's position is grasped as an image. This image is matched with the image of the time-series data of the location information at the time of registration ((b) to (d) in Figure 5), the degree of similarity is calculated, and depending on whether the degree of similarity exceeds the threshold, the purchase Determine whether the prediction conditions are met.

Further, in this example, similarly to the example described above, two threshold values may be provided and processing may be performed in two stages.

As described above, in this embodiment, the purchase determination and precooling process are performed using the user's position and the determination table 211. Therefore, with this, precooling can be automatically started when the user is at a place where the frozen food is considered to be purchased.
Furthermore, since the determination table 211 is created using the user's behavior history, pre-cooling should be performed taking into consideration the time required to travel from the registered position to the home, the amount of frozen food purchased at the registered position, etc. I can do it.

In addition, since the user does not need to input the contents, amount, etc. of the frozen food, it is possible to realize this without imposing an excessive burden on the user.

Furthermore, since information such as POS information that requires collaboration in advance is not used, the process can be implemented without complicated processing.

Note that if it is determined from the acquired position information that the user is taking a detour, the precooling process may be interrupted.

[Embodiment 2]
Other embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on FIGS. 15 to 17. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the above embodiments will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, in addition to determining whether to perform precooling as described in Embodiment 1, it is determined whether to postpone defrosting processing or whether to accelerate defrosting processing. Normally, defrosting processing is performed about once a day, but cooling processing cannot be performed during defrosting processing. Therefore, if frozen food is added during or immediately after the defrosting process, there is a possibility that the temperature inside the refrigerator will rise, the power consumption will increase, etc. Therefore, in this embodiment, when it is expected that frozen food will be added, the defrosting process is postponed, or the defrosting process is accelerated so that sufficient time can be taken after the defrosting process before the frozen food is added. It is something.

Thereby, it is possible to prevent the adverse effects when frozen food is introduced during or immediately after the defrosting process described above.

With reference to FIG. 15, the flow of processing of the communication device 2 in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the process flow of the communication device 2 when determining defrosting processing.

As shown in FIG. 15, the pre-cooling determination unit 202 of the communication device 2 determines whether the purchase expectation conditions are satisfied (S1501). If the purchase prediction condition is satisfied (YES in S1501), the precooling determination unit 202 uses the determination table 211 to predict the time the user will return home (S1502). Then, if the predicted time for the user to return home is within 30 minutes (within the second predetermined time) (YES in S1503), the precooling determination unit 202 transmits an instruction to postpone defrosting to the refrigerator 1 (S1504). Further, the precooling determination unit 202 transmits a precooling start instruction to the refrigerator 1 (S1505). On the other hand, if the predicted time for the user to return home is not within 30 minutes (NO in S1503), the process returns to step S1502. The above is the flow of the process in which the communication device 2 sends the precooling start instruction.

Next, with reference to FIG. 16, a process flow for accelerating the defrosting process will be described. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for accelerating defrosting processing.

As shown in FIG. 16, in the case of the process of accelerating the defrosting process, the precooling determination unit 202 of the communication device 2 first determines whether or not the expected purchase condition is satisfied (S1601). If the purchase prediction condition is satisfied (YES in S1601), the precooling determination unit 202 uses the determination table 211 to predict the time the user will return home (S1602). Then, the precooling determination unit 202 determines whether the predicted return time of the user is within 120 minutes (S1603), and if it is within 120 minutes (YES in S1603), the precooling determination unit 202 It is determined whether the time for returning home is within 30 minutes (S1604). If the user returns home within 30 minutes (YES in S1604), an instruction to postpone defrosting is sent to the refrigerator 1 (S1605). Further, the precooling determination unit 202 transmits a precooling start instruction to the refrigerator 1 (S1606). On the other hand, if the predicted time for the user to return home is not within 30 minutes (NO in S1604), the precooling determination unit 202 determines whether or not to perform defrosting processing (S1607), and if it is determined that defrosting processing is necessary ( (YES in S1608), a defrosting start instruction is sent to the refrigerator 1 (S1609). If it is determined that defrosting is not necessary (NO in S1608), the process returns to step S1602.

The determination as to whether defrosting is necessary in steps S1607 and S1608 can be made, for example, as follows. The current amount of frost and the future amount of frost due to pre-cooling operation or rapid cooling operation are predicted, and the judgment is made based on whether the sum of these exceeds the amount of frost that requires defrosting. That is, it is determined that defrosting processing is necessary when the following formula is satisfied. Note that since the amount of frost formation can be predicted using conventional techniques, the explanation thereof will be omitted.

Current amount of frost + amount of frost formed by pre-cooling (and rapid cooling) operation > amount of frost that requires defrosting For example, frost formed per hour when the compressor is operated at a temperature of 30°C and a relative humidity of 80% RH. The amount of frost is 2g, the amount of frost formed when the door of the freezer compartment is opened and closed once is 8g, the amount of frost formed when the door of the refrigerator compartment is opened and closed once is 10g, and the amount of frost formed on the evaporator exceeds 200g. Consider a refrigerator that requires defrosting. If this refrigerator has been operating for 12 hours since the last defrosting process, the freezer compartment door has been opened and closed 6 times, and the refrigerator compartment door has been opened and closed 4 times, the amount of frost is 24+48+40= It becomes 112g.
In addition, the operating time from this point until the end of precooling (and quenching) is 9 hours (1 hour until arrival, 8 hours of quenching operation), the number of times the freezer compartment door has been opened and closed is 5 times, and the number of times that the refrigerator compartment door has been opened and closed is Assuming 10 times, the expected amount of frost formation until the end of precooling (and rapid cooling) is 18+40+100=158g. Therefore, the amount of frost at present (112 g) + the amount of frost formed by pre-cooling (and rapid cooling) operation (158 g) = 268 g > the amount of frost that requires defrosting (200 g), and defrosting is required.

The above is the flow of the process by which the communication device 2 accelerates the defrosting process.

In addition, before determining whether or not the purchase forecast conditions are met, it is determined whether or not the purchase forecast conditions are met, and if the purchase forecast conditions are met, whether or not to postpone the defrosting process or not. You may also decide whether to accelerate or not. In addition, the purchase preliminary forecast conditions correspond to the case where the threshold value b in the above-mentioned judgment process example 1 is exceeded, the case where the threshold value c in the judgment process example 2 is exceeded, and the case where the threshold value e in the judgment process example 3 is exceeded. do.

With reference to FIG. 17, the flow of processing for determining whether or not the preliminary purchase forecast conditions are satisfied will be described. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for determining whether or not the preliminary purchase forecast conditions are satisfied.

As shown in FIG. 17, first, the precooling determination unit 202 of the communication device 2 determines whether or not the preliminary purchase forecast condition is satisfied (S1701). If the preliminary purchase prediction condition is satisfied (YES in S1701), the precooling determination unit 202 uses the determination table 211 to predict the time the user will return home. Then, if the predicted time for the user to return home is within 30 minutes (YES in S1702), the precooling determination unit 202 transmits an instruction to postpone defrosting to the refrigerator 1 (S1703). On the other hand, if the predicted time for the user to return home is not within 30 minutes (NO in S1702), the precooling determination unit 202 determines whether or not to perform defrosting processing (S1704), and if it is determined that defrosting processing is necessary ( (YES in S1705), a defrosting start instruction is sent to the refrigerator 1 (S1706). Further, if it is determined that defrosting is not necessary (NO in S1705), the process is immediately terminated.

Furthermore, after the process shown in FIG. 17 described above, the process shown in FIG. 11 for determining whether or not to send a precooling start instruction can also be performed. Thereby, it is possible to realize the process in which two levels of threshold values are provided in the example of the determination process described above.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the defrosting process is executed, if it is determined that the frozen food purchased by the user cannot be appropriately cooled, that is, if it is determined that the user will return home early, the defrosting process is performed. will be postponed. Thereby, the frozen food purchased by the user can be appropriately cooled.

[Additional notes 1]
The above-mentioned registered position may be shared with other users. For example, the user may have an individuality of registering a location where another user has purchased frozen food as the location where the current user purchased frozen food.

Alternatively, the pre-cooling process may be started from the position information of another person. More specifically, the pre-cooling process may be started based on the position information of another person linked to the registered position. For example, a store that sells frozen foods may have a mobile sales operation, and the pre-cooling process may be started when the store employee leaves the store.

[Embodiment 3]
In the refrigeration system 10 according to the present embodiment, the user purchases foods, etc. (articles) that require freezing, using the user's position acquired from the mobile communication terminal 5 and the determination table stored in the communication device 2. Determine whether or not. If it is determined that a purchase has been made, the user's estimated time to return home may be derived, and other processing may be performed in the refrigerator 1 instead of pre-cooling based on the derived estimated time to return home.

If the refrigerator is equipped with an automatic ice-making device, ice-making processing may be performed if there is sufficient ice storage capacity. If it has a rapid ice making function, it can make ice in a short time. By increasing the amount of stored ice, the cooling capacity within the refrigerator is improved, and frozen foods purchased by the user can be appropriately cooled.

Furthermore, it is possible to switch from a cooling mode that emphasizes energy saving to a cooling mode that emphasizes cooling capacity, and in that case, display or notify that cooling is being performed for later storage of frozen food. It's okay. In other words, it is possible to reduce unnecessary opening of the refrigerator door and suppress the temperature rise inside the refrigerator. Other configurations are the same as those in the first and second embodiments described above.

[Additional Note 2]
Although the above-mentioned embodiment has been explained using a refrigerator as an example, the present invention is not limited to refrigerators, and by combining the disclosed technical means, it can be applied to rice cookers that can cook rice before or after the time of arrival at home. cooking utensils, a bath water heater that fills the room with hot water before or after arriving at home, an air conditioner that reaches a comfortable temperature before or after arriving at home, an automatic vacuum cleaner that finishes cleaning before or after arriving at home, and an automatic vacuum cleaner that finishes cleaning before or after arriving at home. It can be applied to air purifiers that complete air purification.

[Example of implementation using software]
The control blocks of the refrigerator 1 and the communication device 2 (in particular, the control unit 200 (position information acquisition unit 201, precooling determination unit 202, defrosting determination unit 203, control command generation unit 204, determination table generation unit 205), and control unit 100 (precooling The processing unit 101, the rapid cooling processing unit 102, and the defrosting processing unit 103) may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed on an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or may be implemented using a CPU (Central Processing Unit). It may also be realized by software.

In the latter case, the refrigerator 1 and the communication device 2 include a CPU that executes instructions of a program that is software that realizes each function, a ROM (Read Only memory) or a storage device (these are referred to as a "recording medium"), a RAM (Random Access Memory) for expanding the above program, and the like. Then, the object of the present invention is achieved by the computer (or CPU) reading the program from the recording medium and executing it. As the recording medium, a "non-temporary tangible medium" such as a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, a programmable logic circuit, etc. can be used. Furthermore, the program may be supplied to the computer via any transmission medium (communication network, broadcast waves, etc.) that can transmit the program. Note that one aspect of the present invention can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave, in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

〔summary〕
The control device (communication device 2) according to aspect 1 of the present invention is a control device that controls a refrigerator (1), and the control device (communication device 2) is a control device that controls a refrigerator (1), and the stay position of the user before the increase in the number of articles in the refrigerator in the past. and using at least one of the time from when the user leaves the stay position until the number of items in the refrigerator increases, and the current position of the user, the user puts items into the refrigerator at the stay position. An acquisition determination unit (precooling determination unit 202) that determines whether the article has been acquired; and a loading time derivation unit (precooling determination unit 202) that derives the loading time until the user puts the article into the refrigerator after acquiring the item. 202), a pre-cooling instruction transmitting unit (pre-cooling determining unit 202, control command generating unit 204) that transmits a pre-cooling instruction to the refrigerator to cause the refrigerator to perform a pre-cooling process if the input time is within a first predetermined time; The configuration is equipped with the following.

According to the above configuration, when the loading time, which is the time until the article is loaded into the refrigerator, falls within the first predetermined time, a pre-cooling instruction for the refrigerator is transmitted. Therefore, precooling can be started taking into account the time until the article is put into the refrigerator, so it is possible to appropriately secure the precooling time and prevent the precooling from being wasted.

In the control device according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the first predetermined time may be longer than the time to lower the temperature inside the refrigerator to a predetermined temperature during normal operation of the refrigerator.

According to the above configuration, the first predetermined time is longer than the time required to lower the temperature inside the refrigerator to a predetermined value during normal operation of the refrigerator, so that it is possible to prevent the precooling time from becoming insufficient. For example, if the time required to travel from the place where the item is obtained to the refrigerator is shorter than the time it takes to lower the temperature inside the refrigerator to the specified temperature during normal operation of the refrigerator, pre-cooling the item while the user is staying at the place where the item is obtained is possible. Since the pre-cooling time is started, it is possible to prevent the pre-cooling time from being insufficient.

In the control device according to aspect 3 of the present invention, in the above aspect 1 or 2, the refrigerator executes a defrosting process at a predetermined timing, and a second predetermined time period in which the input time is longer than or equal to the first predetermined time is provided. If it is within the time, the configuration may include a defrost postponement instruction transmitting unit (control command generation unit 204) that transmits a defrost postponement instruction to the refrigerator to delay the timing of the defrosting process.

According to the above configuration, if the input time is within the second predetermined time, an instruction to postpone the defrosting process is transmitted. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the defrosting process from being performed when the article is put into the refrigerator.

In any of the above aspects 1 to 3, the control device according to aspect 4 of the present invention is configured to perform location registration for registering the position of the user before the increase as the stay position when the inventory in the refrigerator increases. (determination table generation unit 205).

According to the above configuration, it is possible to automatically register the stay location, which is the location where the user acquired the item that needs to be put into the refrigerator.

The refrigerator according to aspect 5 of the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives the pre-cooling instruction from the control device, an inquiry unit that inquires of the user whether or not to start the pre-cooling process based on the pre-cooling instruction, and the above-mentioned inquiry unit. This configuration includes a pre-cooling processing unit that performs pre-cooling processing based on the answer to the question.

According to the above configuration, before the start of pre-cooling, permission for pre-cooling is requested from the user, and if permission is granted, pre-cooling is started, so it is possible to prevent pre-cooling from being started without the user's knowledge. can.

A refrigeration system according to aspect 6 of the present invention includes the above-mentioned control device and the above-mentioned refrigerator. Thereby, the above-mentioned effects can be achieved.

A control method for a control device according to aspect 7 of the present invention is a control method for a control device that controls a refrigerator, the method comprising: when the number of articles in the refrigerator increases in the past, the user's staying position before the increase; Using at least one of the time from when the user leaves the stay position until the number of articles in the refrigerator increases and the current position of the user, select the articles that the user puts into the refrigerator at the stay position. After the user has acquired the item, using an acquisition determination step (S1101) of determining whether the item has been acquired, and the time from when the user leaves the stay location until the number of items in the refrigerator increases. a loading time deriving step (S1102) of deriving the loading time until loading the refrigerator; and a precooling step of transmitting a precooling instruction to the refrigerator to cause the refrigerator to perform a precooling process if the loading time is within a first predetermined time; and an instruction sending step (S1104).

According to the above method, the same effects as in the first aspect can be achieved.

The control device according to each aspect of the present invention may be realized by a computer, and in this case, the control device is realized by the computer by operating the computer as each part (software element) included in the control device. A control program for a control device and a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

In the control device according to one aspect of the present invention, if the first predetermined time is longer than the time from when the user leaves the stay position until the number of articles in the refrigerator increases, the control device The pre-cooling process may be started before leaving the room.

In any one of the above aspects 1 to 4, the control device according to one aspect of the present invention is configured to include a position designation reception unit (determination table generation unit 205) that receives designation of the stay position from the user. Good too.

In any one of the above aspects 1 to 4, the control device according to one aspect of the present invention, after starting the precooling process, when it is determined from the user's location information that the time when the number of items in the refrigerator increases will be delayed, The configuration may include a precooling interrupting unit (control command generating unit 204) that temporarily interrupts the precooling process.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. are also included within the technical scope of the present invention. Furthermore, new technical features can be formed by combining the technical means disclosed in each embodiment.

1 Refrigerator 2 Communication device (control device)
5 Mobile communication terminal 10 Refrigeration system 100, 200 Control section 101 Pre-cooling processing section 102 Rapid cooling processing section 103 Defrosting processing section 104 Inquiry section 120 Transmission/reception section (receiving section)
202 Precooling determination unit (acquisition determination unit, input time derivation unit, precooling instruction transmission unit)
203 Defrost determination section (defrost postponement instruction transmission section)
204 Control command generation unit (pre-cooling instruction transmission unit, defrosting postponement instruction transmission unit)
205 Judgment table generation unit (location registration unit, location specification reception unit)
211 Judgment table

Claims (4)

Equipped with a control unit that controls the temperature inside the refrigerator,
The control unit executes a first control, based on the user's location information, in which the temperature inside the refrigerator is higher than the temperature before the temperature was set based on the user's location information;
The control unit registers a predetermined range on the map as a place to purchase food based on instructions from the user;
The said control part is a refrigerator which performs the 2nd control which reduces the temperature in the said refrigerator based on the said user's positional information and the place where the said food is purchased . The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the control unit executes the first control based on a user's instruction to a terminal. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the control unit transmits at least one of door opening/closing information and information regarding defrosting of the refrigerator to the outside. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the control unit executes third control in which the temperature inside the refrigerator is lowered when the door is opened.

Images