KR101076507B1 - Foodstuffs circulation system of refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a food management apparatus for a refrigerator, and attaches a tag read through radio wave oscillation to food stored in the refrigerator to determine whether to dispose of the food, and to form a storage opening opened up and down on a shelf of the refrigerator. And a discharge plate having a discharge port rotated to open / close the storage port by coupling a rotating shaft rotated by a motor to a lower surface of the shelf to rotate the motor when disposing of the food stored in the storage port. The discharge port of the discharge plate is rotated to the lower portion of the storage port in which the food is stored, and the food is dropped to the lower portion of the shelf to achieve disposal of the food.

Refrigerator, Food Management, Radio Identification System

Description

FOODSTUFFS CIRCULATION SYSTEM OF REFRIGERATOR}

1 is a perspective view of a food management device according to the present invention,

2 is a cross-sectional view of the food control device according to the present invention,

3 is a plan view of a food control device according to the present invention,

4 is a block diagram of a food control method according to the present invention,

5 is a flow chart of a food control method according to the present invention.

<Description of Major Symbols in Drawing>

10-Refrigerator 20-Storage Room

30-controller 31-reader

32-Tag 40-Food Controls

50-discharge plate 51-discharge port

52-motor 60-lathe

61-Storage 70-Waste Box

The present invention relates to a food control device for a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a food control device for a refrigerator to automatically sort and dispose of foods having expired in the refrigerator.

In general, a refrigerator is provided with a plurality of storage rooms in which the food is accommodated so as to freeze or refrigerate the food, and a plurality of shelves partitioning the storage compartment to accommodate the food is generally provided.

Here, the food is usually given a unique preservation method, a preservation period and the like, it is generally stored and discarded food is past the storage period.

In addition, recently, there has been development of a refrigerator and the like having a function of managing information of food stored in the refrigerator, which has been used for displaying information of food stored in the refrigerator to a user.

However, by simply displaying the food information to the user as described above, it is impossible to manage and process the food, and there is a demand for a refrigerator to manage and process the food by disposing or transporting the food.

The present invention has been invented by the request as described above, a food management device for a refrigerator to read the food information of the food with a tag recorded the information about the food, and to discard the food at a predetermined time according to this information The purpose is to provide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a food management apparatus for a refrigerator, which accommodates food with a tag, and which drops or leaves the container at a predetermined point by a control operation of the refrigerator.

The present invention for achieving the above object is a tag that is recorded on the food stored in the refrigerator information such as the type and storage method and storage period of the food and attached to the container containing the food or food, and to the tag And a food management device for a refrigerator comprising a reader configured to identify the recorded information through a radio wave identification method, and a controller configured to compare and output the information read by the reader.

Another feature of the invention is characterized in that the food with the tag is accommodated in each of the plurality of storage openings that are open on the shelf in the vertical direction.

Another feature of the present invention is to block the bottom surface of the storage port of the shelf to support the lower end of the food, the outlet opening is opened in the same shape as the bottom surface of any one of the storage openings to open the bottom of any one of the storage openings Characterized in that the discharge plate is provided.

Another feature of the invention is characterized in that the discharge plate is rotated about a central rotation axis to block or open the bottom of the plurality of storage ports.

Still another feature of the present invention is characterized in that the disposal box formed in the shape of an enclosure having an upper surface opened at a lower portion of the shelf to accommodate food falling in the storage port and through the outlet of the discharge plate. .

Another feature of the present invention, the information generating step of attaching a tag that records information such as the type of food and storage method and storage period to the food stored in the refrigerator attached to the food or a container containing the food, and the An information storage step of storing the tagged food in the refrigerator and simultaneously reading and reading the tag from a reader connected to a refrigerator controller to transmit and store the information of the tagged food to the controller; Reads the information and transmits it to the controller, and when the food information corresponds to the set matter, the information display step of outputting the food information through the display device of the controller according to the set matter, and the food information is determined by the controller. If it is to be disposed of by, the food processing step of discarding the food, the discarded Stored by transmitting information about the product to the controller and the information characterized by comprising a complete step of outputting through the display device of the controller.

Another feature of the present invention, the food processing step is rotated in close contact with the bottom surface of the shelf to the bottom of the storage port is stored food is stored in the upper and lower directions on the shelf, the food is to be discarded among the food is rotated The discharge port of the discharge plate is rotated to open the bottom of the storage port, characterized in that the food is dropped from the shelf.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 shows a refrigerator 10 in which a shelf 60, a discharge plate 50, a reader 31, and a controller 30 of a food management device 40 are installed in accordance with the present invention, and FIG. According to the present invention, the food to be discarded among the food stored in the storage port 61 of the shelf 60 is dropped through the discharge port 51 of the discharge plate 50 to the disposal box 70, and FIG. 3 illustrates the shelf according to the present invention. 60 and the discharge plate 50 is shown, Figure 4 shows a food control method according to the present invention, Figure 5 shows that the expired food is discarded according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the present invention, the food management device 40 is disposed to discard the food stored in the refrigerator 10 according to the information.

In addition, the present invention discloses a method for discarding food items whose storage period has expired by the food control device 40.

The refrigerator 10 includes a storage compartment 20 such as a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment, and a plurality of shelves 60 are generally disposed in an up / down direction of the storage compartment 20 so as to partition the storage compartment 20 into a plurality of parts. Assume that it is installed.

Here, the shelf 60 is formed in a plate shape similar to the internal cross-sectional shape of the storage compartment 20, and is supported over the projections protruding from both side wall surfaces of the storage compartment 20, the plurality of storage compartments 20 It is formed to partition into parts.

The food control device 40 includes a controller 30, a reader 31, a tag 32, a shelf 60, a discharge plate 50, and a waste bin 70.

The controller 30 is configured to control the internal temperature, humidity, and lighting of the storage compartment 20 of the refrigerator 10, and reads the tag 32 to be described later, and compares the received information with preset information. It is configured to store and output, and the corresponding information is set to control the rotation of the discharge plate 50 to be described later.

The reader 31 detects the information recorded in the tag 32, and is connected to the controller 30 via a wire or the like to transmit the detected information to the controller 30, and the tag 32. ) Is attached to the inside of the storage compartment 20 in which the food or the container containing the food is stored.

The reader 31 is configured to oscillate low or high frequency radio waves to the tag 32 and receive information transmitted by the tag 32 driven by the radio waves.

In addition, the reader 31 is configured to convert information by radio waves received by the tag 32 into information recognized by the controller 30 and transmit the information to the controller 30.

In addition, a plurality of the reader 31 is provided inside the storage compartment so as to grasp the position of the tag 32 of the food stored in the storage port 61, the tag 32 in the plurality of reader 31 It is preferable that the controller 30, which receives the position information detected by each reader 31, can detect the exact position of the tag 32.

The tag 32 is formed in a plate shape or a paper shape so as to be attached to the outer surface of the container or the food is stored in the refrigerator 10, the adhesive or the like is applied to the back surface of the outer surface such as food It is formed to be attached to.

Further, the tag 32 is configured to receive radio waves oscillated in the reader 31, and wirelessly transmit the recorded food information to the reader 31 while the received radio waves are electrically operated in a circuit. At 31, it is configured to further record the information transmitted via radio waves.

In addition, the tag 32 records the type of the food, the method of storing the food and the storage period of the food, and the refrigerator 10 of the food produced by the controller 30 and the reader 31 of the refrigerator 10. ) To record further information such as storage period.

The shelf 60 is configured as a shelf 60 partitioning the storage compartment 20 of the refrigerator 10, and a lower portion of the refrigerating compartment mainly storing foods, etc., which are relatively affected by freshness in this embodiment. It consists of a plate-shaped shelf 60 that extends in the transverse direction to the lower portion of the refrigerator 10, the refrigerator compartment to partition the up / down.

In addition, a receiving port 61 is formed in the shelf 60.

The accommodating opening 61 is formed of an opening penetrating from the upper surface of the shelf 60 to the lower surface, and is formed by opening a plurality of openings on the same circumference around a central point of the shelf 60.

The discharge plate 50 is formed of a plate material in close contact with the lower surface of the shelf 60, extending from the center of the shelf 60 to reach each of the storage openings 61 so as to block the lower surface of the storage opening (61). It is formed in disk shape.

In addition, the discharge plate 50 has a central point is coupled to the center of the lower surface of the shelf 60 via the rotation axis of the motor 52.

The motor 52 is coupled to the central point of the lower surface of the shelf 60, the controller 30 and the refrigerator 10 is connected via a power source and a wire, etc. to rotate the rotating shaft under the control of the controller 30. The rotating shaft protruding from the motor 52 is coupled to a central point of the discharge plate 50.

In addition, the motor 52 is coupled to the discharge plate 50, the rotating shaft of the motor is coupled to the center of the shelf 60 is configured such that the shelf 60 is rotated with respect to the discharge plate 50 Of course it can be.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the discharge plate 50 is rotated relative to the shelf 60 so as to communicate the receiving port 61 of the shelf 60 and the discharge port 51 of the discharge plate 50. Of course, the motor 52 may be formed to linearly move the shelf 60 or the discharge plate 50 to coincide with the openings of the storage port 61 and the discharge port 51.

The waste bin 70 is formed to form a box shape, the upper surface of which is opened at the bottom of the shelf 60 and the discharge plate 50.

In addition, the waste bin 70 is preferably configured to be protruded toward the front of the refrigerator 10 by the user's operation to be separated while sliding forward and backward in the refrigerator 10.

In addition, the waste bin 70 is formed in a general cylinder on the outside of the refrigerator 10, a tube communicating with the storage port 61 and the discharge port 51 is formed to reach the outside of the refrigerator from the inside of the storage compartment. The food discharged through the storage port 61 and the discharge port 51 is discharged to the outside of the refrigerator through the tube, and may be configured to be disposed in the waste box 70 formed on the outside of the refrigerator 10. Of course.

Next, a food control method using the food management apparatus for a refrigerator of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

Food management method using the food management device 40 for the refrigerator 10 of the present invention, as shown in Figure 4, the information generating step (S10), information storage step (S20), and information determination step (S30) And an information display step S40, a food processing step S50, and a completion step S60.

In the information generating step (S10), when the food is to be stored in the refrigerator 10, the tag 32 on which the information about the food is recorded is attached to the outer surface of the food.

In this case, the tag 32 is preferably formed in the form of a label output by operating the controller 30 and the reader 31 of the refrigerator 10, the tag 32 of the refrigerator 10 Not only can be manufactured by the individual by operating the controller 30, of course, it is also possible to use the tag 32, which is produced by food manufacturers and distributors, and pre-attached to the food.

In addition, the information recorded on the tag 32 records information on the type of the food, information on the storage method of the food, and information on a period during which the food can be stored and stored in the storage method. do.

In addition, the tag 32 may further input storage period information such as a manufacturing date or an expiration date set at the time of production of the food.

In addition, the information generating step (S10) further records information about the storage period of the refrigerator 10 in the tag 32 attached to the food stored in the refrigerator 10.

The start date and the stored location of the tag 30 of the food stored in the refrigerator 10 in the controller 30 and the reader 31 and stored in the refrigerator 10, that is, the shelf on which the food is placed. The information about the storage port 61 of the 60 is further recorded and the information about the storage port 61 is stored in the controller 30.

In addition, the position information of the food is input through the controller 30 or the reader 31.

The location information of the food may be achieved by inputting the location information of the storage port in which the user has received the food into the controller 30, and of the tag attached to the food by oscillating the radio wave in the reader 31. The position is determined, and the position information is transmitted to the controller to generate and store information on a storage position of the food.

In this case, when the expiration date of the food is input to the controller 30, the controller 30 sets the expiration date of the food expiration date as the discard date, and discards the food by the discard date.

In addition, when the manufacturing date and the expiration date of the food is input to the controller 30, it is preferable that the controller 30 adds the expiration date to the food production date to set the disposal date of the food and store it. Do.

In the information storage step (S20), the food is stored in the refrigerator 10, and at the same time, the reader 31 reads the information recorded in the tag 32 attached to the food and reads the read information into the controller 30. ) And record it.

The reader 31 oscillates a radio wave such as a low frequency wave under the control of the controller 30, and the radio wave oscillated by the reader 31 is transmitted to the tag 32 so as to generate a circuit of the tag 32. Drive to derive the information recorded in the circuit, and transmit the information to the reader 31 to receive the food information recorded in the tag 32 in the reader 31.

In addition, the reader 31 generates time information on the reader 31 of the tag 32 by measuring the time and intensity of the oscillated radio wave returning from the tag 32, and transmits the stored information to the controller. In the case where a plurality of readers 31 are installed, the controller 30 calculates the position information of the tags 32 generated by the readers 31, and thus the more accurate position information of the tags 32. It can be created.

The information received by the reader 31 is transmitted to and stored in the controller 30 through a wire or the like connected to the reader 31.

Further, food information received from the reader 31, that is, information about the type of food, storage method, storage period, start date and location information of the refrigerator 10 is received, and the storage period and the refrigerator 10 are stored. Information on the start date is calculated to generate information on the storage period and the disposal date of the refrigerator 10 of the food, which is output through the reader 31 and further recorded in the tag 32.

Here, the food is accommodated in the refrigerator 10, the food is disposed of the food in the storage port 61 of the shelf 60 formed on the upper portion of the waste bin 70, wherein the storage port 61 ) Is blocked by the discharge plate 50 installed to contact the bottom of the shelf (60).

The information determination step (S30), each of the plurality of food items on the storage port 61 of the shelf 60 by oscillating the radio wave from the reader 31 by the control of the controller 30 that stores the food information The food information of the tag 32 attached thereto is retrieved and read, and the read information is continuously transmitted to the controller 30.

Among the searched and read information, the location information of the food, the storage period, the storage date of the refrigerator 10 and the storage date of the refrigerator 10 are compared with predetermined information to determine whether the corresponding food is discarded and Save it.

The information display step (S40), to display the information of the food to be discarded to the outside of the refrigerator 10 through the display device and the alarm device of the controller 30 or to warn the outside by sound through an alarm, the food Derivation of the waste control information is sent to the motor 52 of the discharge plate (50).

In the food processing step S50, the motor 52 receiving the food waste control information of the controller 30 rotates the outlet 51 to a position of the corresponding storage port 61 that is different from the position information of the food. The lower surface of the storage port 61 is opened, and the food to be discarded is dropped through the lower surface of the open storage port 61.

In addition, the food dropped through the storage port 61 and the discharge port 51 is accommodated and accommodated in the interior of the waste bin 70 located below the shelf 60 and the discharge plate 50, the user's selective It is put in the waste bin 70 by the operation and is discharged out of the refrigerator 10.

The completion step (S60) stores the information about the discarded food in the controller 30, and displays the discarded food information to the user through a display device or the like.

In addition, the discarded food information may be deleted by the controller 30 in the controller 30, or further stored together with other food information that is already discarded may be generated as statistical information and the like.

In addition, the storage port 61 is formed on a plurality of different circumference around the center point of the shelf 60, a plurality of the outlet port 51 is formed so as to form a different distance and angle from the center point the shelf A larger number of receiving openings 61 are formed in the 60, and each of the plurality of receiving openings 61 may be configured to be opened through a plurality of outlets 51 opening the receiving opening 61 at different points from each other. Of course.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described specific preferred embodiments, and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. Of course, such changes are within the scope of the claims.

As described above, according to the present invention, the food stored in the refrigerator can be managed by the corresponding information, so that the food can be stored in an accurate manner and can be used while being aware of the storage period at all times. This has the effect of being improved.

Another effect of the present invention, as the automatic disposal of the food past the storage period of the food stored in the refrigerator, there is an effect of improving the commerciality of the refrigerator.

Claims (7)

A shelf having a plurality of storage openings arranged in a transverse direction in the storage compartment so as to partition the storage compartment of the refrigerator and opening in the up / down direction; A discharge plate which is in close contact with a lower surface of the shelf and has an outlet opening formed to communicate with any one of the plurality of storage ports; A motor for moving the storage port or the discharge port so that the storage port and the discharge port communicate with each other; A tag attached to the food stored in the storage port and storing food information of the food; A reader for reading the food information from the tag and transmitting it to a controller; And a controller electrically connected to the reader and the motor, the controller controlling the motor according to the food information of the reader to dispose of food through a storage port and an outlet. The method of claim 1, The food management apparatus of the refrigerator further comprising a waste box which forms a box shape whose upper surface is opened so as to accommodate food falling in the lower portion of the opening in which the storage port of the shelf and the discharge port of the discharge plate communicate with each other. The method of claim 1, The controller is a food management device for a refrigerator, characterized in that the user receives the position information of the storage port in which the food is stored. The method of claim 1, The controller is provided with a plurality of readers food management apparatus for a refrigerator, characterized in that to grasp the location information of the tag attached to the food. The method according to claim 3 or 4, The controller is a food management device for a refrigerator, characterized in that the disposal of the food by matching the discharge port with the storage port corresponding to the position information of the storage port or the position information of the tag. The method of claim 1, The controller is a food control device for a refrigerator, characterized in that for calculating the waste date of the food by the expiration date set at the time of production of food. The method of claim 1, The controller is a food control device for a refrigerator, characterized in that for calculating the waste date of the food by the production date and the expiration date set at the time of production of the food.

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