KR101584804B1 - Visualization device of humidity for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a humidity visualization apparatus for a refrigerator.

The present invention relates to a pattern plate, which is installed at one side of a storage space of a food and has a notch for inducing moisture aggregation, and a pattern plate or food storage space, And at least one light source for externally exposing the water-congealed state agglomerated in the notch through refraction.

According to this, there is an advantage that the user can intuitively confirm the humidity inside the storage container provided in the refrigerator.

Refrigerator, vegetables room, storage container, humidity, water drop

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a humidity visualization device for a refrigerator,

The present invention relates to a humidity visualization apparatus for a refrigerator.

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a refrigerator is an appliance that allows a food to be stored at a low temperature in an internal storage space that is shielded by a door. By supplying cool air generated by heat exchange between refrigerant circulating through a refrigeration cycle and air, And is configured to store the stored food in an optimal state.

Such a refrigerator is in a trend of becoming larger and multifunctional as the dietary change and user 's taste are diversified, and the storage space for storing food is also diversified.

In the storage space of the food to be diversified as described above, a storage container such as a shelf, a drawer, and a basket may be provided. The storage container may partition the inside of the storage space to effectively store food having various sizes and storage conditions do.

Especially, in the case of the storage container of the drawer type, it is mainly used for storage of food such as vegetables or fruit, and the storage property of the food depends on the temperature and the state of the water.

Accordingly, there is a demand for a technique for confirming the humidity state inside the storage container so that the user can easily process or cope with the food according to the humidity change.

The present invention provides a humidity visualization device which is provided at one side of a storage container provided in a refrigerator and enables the humidity inside the storage container to be visible to the outside.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a humidity visualization apparatus in which the brightness of light irradiated from a light source varies according to the degree of water droplet formation on a pattern plate provided with a notch for inducing moisture aggregation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a humidity visualization apparatus in which, when a water droplet is formed on a notch of a pattern plate, the state of water droplets is visible to the outside by the light emitted from the light source.

A humidity visualization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a storage container for storing a food storage space; A cover covering an upper surface of the storage container; A pattern plate provided on one side of the cover so as to be exposed to the storage space, and a plurality of notches formed on the bottom surface to cohere moisture in the storage container; A light source provided on one side of the cover or the pattern plate, for emitting light toward the side of the pattern plate; Wherein the pattern plate is formed to be capable of transmitting light, and the notch is formed with an inclined surface to reflect and refract light emitted from the light source, and the light emitted from the light source according to the moisture formed in the notch The degree of refraction and refraction of light is changed, and the brightness of light exposed to the outside of the pattern plate is changed.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a humidity visualization apparatus, comprising: a storage container forming a storage space for a food and having a front surface capable of transmitting light; A pattern plate provided on the front surface of the storage container in the storage space and having a plurality of notches formed therein for condensing moisture inside the storage container; A light source disposed on one side of the storage container or the pattern plate, the light source irradiating light toward the side of the pattern plate; Wherein the pattern plate is formed to be capable of transmitting light, and the notch is formed with an inclined surface to reflect and refract light emitted from the light source, and the light emitted from the light source according to the moisture formed in the notch The degree of refraction and refraction of light is changed, and the brightness of light exposed to the outside of the pattern plate is changed.

The humidity visualization apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a pattern plate in which a notch is formed to cohere moisture and maintain the humidity inside the storage container.

As described above, on the side of the pattern plate for inducing moisture aggregation, light is irradiated by the light source so as to proceed in one direction along the inside of the side surface of the pattern plate. During the progress of the light, And is exposed to the outside of the pattern plate while being refracted.

Therefore, the time information due to the light exposed to the outside as described above has a difference between a state in which no water droplet is formed in the notch and a state in which water droplets are formed, and the user can intuitively observe the humidity change inside the storage container There is an advantage to be able to do.

In addition, as described above, since electric parts such as a separate display or a humidity sensor for displaying the humidity state inside the storage container are unnecessary except for the light source, There is an advantage that the cost required is reduced.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the spirit of the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown and that those skilled in the art, upon reading and understanding the spirit of the invention, may easily suggest other embodiments within the scope of the same concept.

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an embodiment of a storage container equipped with a humidity visualization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a humidity visualization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in these drawings, the refrigerator 1, which is one embodiment of the present invention, is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the storage space partitioned by the barrier is divided into a refrigerating chamber 10 and a freezing chamber 20 do.

The refrigerating compartment 10 and the freezing compartment 20 may be selectively shielded by the refrigerating compartment door 30 and the freezing compartment door 40. The refrigerating compartment door 30 and the freezing compartment door 40 are provided with a door basket 60), so that food can be stored separately.

A plurality of shelves 50 may be provided in the refrigerating compartment 10 to discriminate a food containing space. The shelves 50 may be provided in the freezing compartment 20 as well.

Meanwhile, a vegetable compartment 70 is provided at one side of the refrigerating compartment 10 to form an independent storage environment suitable for storage of vegetables or fruits. To this end, the vegetable compartment 70 is provided with a storage container 100 slidingly drawn in / out to be separated from other storage compartments in the refrigerating compartment 10, The humidity visualization device 200 is further provided so that the user can intuitively confirm it (see FIG. 3).

In detail, the storage container 100 includes a receiving part 120 forming a storage space opened on the upper side so that food can be received therein, a cover 140 covering the opened upper side of the receiving part 120, And a handle may be further formed on a front surface of the receiving portion 120 so that the user can grasp the handle.

A rim portion (not shown) for seating the cover 140 is provided on an upper edge of the receiving portion 120. The rim portion is seated on a guide provided on the inner wall of the vegetable compartment 70 So that the storage container 100 can be slid in and out of the vegetable compartment 70.

The cover 140 may be formed to have a size corresponding to the size of the rim portion so as to cover the opened upper side of the accommodating portion 120. The inside of the cover 140 may be provided with the moisture visualization device 200, There is provided a space in which the battery can be mounted.

The humidity visualization apparatus 200 includes a pattern plate 220 mounted on a lower surface of the cover 140 and a light source 240 for irradiating light with a pattern plate 220 mounted on a lower surface of the cover 140. [ .

In detail, the pattern plate 220 is formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape and may be formed to be long along the length of the cover 140. The pattern plate 220 formed as described above is fitted to the front side of the lower surface of the cover 140. The lower surface of the cover 140 is formed with a pattern corresponding to the size of the pattern plate 220, A mounting space for the plate 220 may be provided.

 The cover 140 is further formed with a housing 142 as a mounting space for a light source 240 for irradiating light to the side of the pattern plate 220.

The cover 140 has a housing 142 for providing a space for accommodating the light source 240 while protruding outside the side surface of the cover 140 at a position parallel to the mounting position of the pattern plate 220. [ ).

Here, the housing 142 may be formed to correspond to the size of the pattern plate 220.

Although the pattern plate 220 is formed to have a size corresponding to a part of the front side of the cover 140 and the housing 142 has a size corresponding to the size of the cover plate 140, 140, the housing 142 may have a size corresponding to the entire side surface of the cover 140, or may have a size corresponding to the size of the cover 140, .

In addition, although not shown in the drawing, the cover 140 is provided with a separate plate on which protrusions for inducing moisture aggregation are formed in the remaining portion where the pattern plate 220 is not laid, It is also possible that the humidity can be controlled.

The light source 240 includes a light emitting diode 242 for emitting light in the housing 142 and a light emitting diode 242 for focusing the light emitted from the light emitting diode 242 on the side of the pattern plate 220 And a light collecting plate 244 for collecting light.

The light emitting diode 242 may be formed as a colored light emitting diode 242 so that the light irradiated to the side of the pattern plate 220 can be easily recognized by a user. The light collecting plate 244 has a size round the light emitting diode 242 and rounded toward the side of the pattern plate 220.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A 'of FIG. 2 in order to examine this in more detail.

The light collecting plate 244 is disposed on a lower portion of the cover 140 so as to face the side of the pattern plate 220 and the light collecting plate 244 is positioned inside the light collecting plate 244, 242 are provided and the light source 240 is mounted.

After the mounting of the light source 240 is completed, the pattern plate 220 is fitted to the lower surface of the cover 140. To this end, a plate mounting projection (not shown) (144) may be further formed.

The pattern plate 220 may further include light guiding means 260 for guiding light emitted through the light source 240 in a direction away from the light source 240 in a state where the light source 240 is installed as described above .

The light guiding unit 260 is a light guiding plate formed of a less medium than the pattern plate 220. The light guided to the side surface of the pattern plate 220 is reflected by the light guiding plate 260, So that the light can be transmitted in the direction away from the light source 240 along the lateral direction of the pattern plate 220 by preventing the light from easily escaping from the upper side and the lower side.

Accordingly, the light guiding unit 260 may be mounted on or attached to the top and bottom surfaces of the pattern plate 220.

Meanwhile, the light guiding unit 260 is formed on the lower surface of the pattern plate 220 except for the notch 222.

The notch 222 is formed in a shape such as "∧" as shown by a groove protruding upward from a lower surface of the pattern plate 220. At the lower side of the notch 222 thus formed, moisture evaporated from the food contained in the storage container 100 is condensed and formed into water drops.

The notch 222 is formed to have an inclination angle with respect to the traveling direction of the light emitted from the light source 240 so that a part of the light emitted from the light source 240 is exposed to the outside of the pattern plate 220 To diffuse as much as possible.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present invention having the above-described configuration will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

5 and 6 are views showing a process of visualizing the humidity inside the storage container to the outside by the humidity visualization apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in these drawings, when food is not received in the storage container 100 employing the present invention, water droplets are not formed on the pattern plate 220, which is a constitution of the humidity visualization device 200.

That is, when the light irradiated through the light source 240 flows into one side of the pattern plate 220 in the state where the water drops are not formed in the notch 222, The brightness of light emitted outside the pattern plate 220 decreases gradually as the distance from the light source 240 increases (see FIG. 5)

The light emitted from the light source 240 is guided through the light condensing plate 244 while concentrating the light emitted from the light emitting diode 242 on the side surface of the pattern plate 220.

The light irradiated to the side surface of the pattern plate 220 through the light collecting plate 244 is reflected by the light guiding means 260 formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the pattern plate 220, And proceed in the direction of going away.

On the other hand, the notch 222 formed on the path of light as described above forms an inclination angle opposite to the path of light. In the portion where the notch 222 is located, light is reflected by the inclined surface, and the angle of incidence of the light entering the light guiding means 260 is formed to be nearly vertical.

Therefore, the light reflected by the notch 222 is reflected by the light guiding means 260 and does not advance into the pattern plate 220, but proceeds to the outside of the light guiding means 260.

5), that is, near the light source 240, the amount of light that is exposed to the outside is increased and the luminance is increased.

On the other hand, at the position on the right side of the pattern plate 220, that is, at the position away from the light source 240, the remaining light whose direction is not changed by the notch 222 flows into the pattern plate 220. Therefore, .

Accordingly, the user can intuitively confirm the brightness difference of the light as described above, and the user can recognize such a state as a state in which the internal humidity of the storage container 100 is low.

6, when the food is received in the storage container 100, the water drops generated from the food and the water drops on the lower surface of the pattern plate 220, that is, (W) is formed.

When the water drops W are formed on the notches 222 as described above, the medium becomes more dense than when the air is received in the grooves of the notches 222.

That is, since the density of water is greater than the density of air, the light traveling toward the slope of the notch 222 is not reflected by the slope of the notch, but enters the water droplet W as a dense medium and is refracted. And the reflection angle is formed toward the inside of the plate 220.

Therefore, the light propagating inside the pattern plate 220 due to the action of the water droplet W is emitted from the light source 240 at a position far from the light source 240, that is, from the left side to the right side of the pattern plate 220 So that the luminance of the light which is exposed to the outside can be kept constant.

For the sake of further explanation, FIG. 7 shows a graph comparing the luminance of light sources exposed to the outside in FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.

When the water drops W are formed on the notch 222 as shown in the drawing, the light reflected by the notches 222 passes through the water droplet W, which is a relatively dense medium as compared with air, The direction of travel of the pattern plate 220 can be continued in the direction away from the light source 240, so that the brightness of the pattern plate 220 is made uniform as a whole (as indicated by a solid line in the drawing)

On the other hand, when the water droplet W is not formed on the notch 222, the light is not moved in the direction away from the light source 240 due to the inclined surface of the notch 222, And relatively close to the light source 240 has a relatively high brightness and a position far from the light source has a relatively low brightness (shown by a dotted line in the drawing)

The humidity visualization device 200 may be provided at one side of the housing 120 in addition to the bottom surface of the cover 140 to allow the user to intuitively check the internal humidity of the storage container 100 as described above.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a storage container employing a humidity visualization apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the drawings, the humidity visualization apparatus 200 is configured to be mounted in the accommodating portion 120 in another embodiment of the present invention.

A plate mounting part 122 is provided on both left and right sides of the inner surface of the accommodating part 120 so that the pattern plate 220 which is the essential part of the humidity visualization device 200 can be mounted inside the accommodating part 120, The light source 240 is accommodated in the plate mounting portion 122.

That is, two light sources 240 are provided in the receiving part 120 so as to face each other, and the pattern plate 220 is provided between the light sources 240.

In detail, the light source 240 is accommodated in each of the plate mounting portions 122 in the plate mounting portion 122 at first. After the light source 240 is accommodated, the pattern plate 220 is mounted on the plate mounting portion 122 so that the light source 240 irradiates light from both sides of the pattern plate 220 .

The position of the pattern plate 220 is formed so as to be substantially in contact with the front surface of the receiving portion 120 and the receiving portion 120 is formed of a transparent or translucent material . This is to allow the user to more clearly recognize the pattern plate 220. It is preferable that at least the front surface of the storage container 100 is formed of transparent or translucent material.

A notch 222 is formed in the pattern plate 220 having the above-described mounting position as in the above-described embodiment, and not only the notch 222 but also the top surface and the bottom surface of the pattern plate 220, Means 260 are not formed.

That is, since the light source 240 is formed on both left and right sides of the pattern plate 220, a sufficient amount of light can be irradiated to the inside of the pattern plate 220 without guiding the direction of light through the light guiding means 260 The shape of the pattern plate 220 may be different from that of the front surface of the storage container 100 by the light irradiated by the light source 240 . ≪ / RTI >

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a humidity state inside the storage container, which is visible to the outside by the humidity visualization apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, in the storage container 100 adopting the other embodiment of the present invention, water contained in food is condensed in the notch 222 of the pattern plate 220, . The water droplets formed on the notch 222 can be exposed to the outside of the storage container 100 by the colored light emitted through the light source 240.

On the other hand, when the water drops W are not formed on the notch 222, only the shape of the light pattern of the pattern plate 220 is diminished to the outside of the storage container 100 by the light emitted from the light source 240 Respectively.

Therefore, when the user only exposes the light band shape by the light source 240 to the outside of the storage container 100, it can be confirmed that the humidity inside the storage container 100 is not high, In the case of a water droplet (W) shape, it can be intuitively confirmed that the humidity inside the storage container 100 is high.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig.

2 is a view illustrating an embodiment of a storage container equipped with a humidity visualization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is an exploded perspective view of a humidity visualization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A 'in Fig.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are diagrams illustrating a process of visualizing humidity inside the storage container by the humidity visualization device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

7 is a graph comparing the luminance of the light source exposed to the outside in FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.

8 is a sectional view showing a storage container employing a humidity visualization apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a humidity state inside a storage container which is externally visualized by the humidity visualization apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 8; FIG.

Description of the Related Art [0002]

100 ..... Storage container 120 ..... accommodating part

122 ..... plate mounting part 140 ..... cover

142 ..... housing 200 ..... humidity visualization device

220 ..... pattern plate 222 ..... notch

240 ..... light source 242 ..... light emitting diode

244 ..... condenser 260 ..... light guiding means

Claims (12)

A storage container forming a storage space for the food; A cover covering an upper surface of the storage container; A pattern plate provided on one side of the cover so as to be exposed to the storage space, and a plurality of notches formed on the bottom surface to cohere moisture in the storage container; A light source provided on one side of the cover or the pattern plate, for emitting light toward the side of the pattern plate; / RTI > The pattern plate is formed to be capable of transmitting light, An inclined surface is formed in the notch to reflect and refract light emitted from the light source, Wherein a degree of reflection and refraction of light emitted from the light source is varied according to moisture formed in the notch, so that the brightness of light exposed to the outside differs from the pattern plate. The method according to claim 1, The notch is recessed inward from the lower surface of the pattern plate, Wherein the inclined surface of the notch is formed so as to have an inclination angle with respect to a moving direction of light emitted from the light source. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the light source is a light emitting diode (LED). The light source according to claim 1, And a light condensing plate is further formed so that light irradiated toward a side surface of the pattern plate is concentrated. The patterning apparatus according to claim 1, And a light guide means for guiding a traveling direction of light irradiated through the light source. 6. The light-emitting device according to claim 5, And a light guide plate that shields the upper and lower sides of the pattern plate. The method according to claim 5, Wherein the light guide means is not formed. 6. The light-emitting device according to claim 5, Wherein the pattern plate is formed of a less dense medium than the pattern plate. A storage container forming a food storage space and having a front surface formed to be capable of transmitting light; A pattern plate provided on the front surface of the storage container in the storage space and having a plurality of notches formed therein for condensing moisture inside the storage container; A light source disposed on one side of the storage container or the pattern plate, the light source irradiating light toward the side of the pattern plate; / RTI > The pattern plate is formed to be capable of transmitting light, An inclined surface is formed in the notch to reflect and refract light emitted from the light source, Wherein a degree of reflection and refraction of light emitted from the light source is varied according to moisture formed in the notch, so that the brightness of light exposed to the outside differs from the pattern plate. 10. The method of claim 9, The notch is recessed inward from the lower surface of the pattern plate, Wherein the inclined surface of the notch is formed so as to have an inclination angle with respect to a moving direction of light emitted from the light source. 10. The method of claim 9, Wherein the light source is a light emitting diode (LED). 10. The method of claim 9, In the light source, And a light condensing plate is further provided to concentrate light irradiated toward a side surface of the pattern plate.

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