KR102166111B1 - Apparatus for Refrigerator Management Service and Driving Method Thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator management service device and a driving method thereof, wherein the refrigerator management service device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a refrigerator that allows food to be stored outdoors based on an outer wall of a living space in which a user resides. A communication interface unit that receives a request signal to open the door of the door outdoors, and the person in charge who wants to store food based on the received request signal is authenticated, and the door is opened when the authentication is completed. It may include a control unit notifying the user of the refrigerator.

Description

Refrigerator Management Service and Driving Method {Apparatus for Refrigerator Management Service and Driving Method Thereof}

The present invention relates to a refrigerator management service device and a method of driving the device, and in more detail, for example, a refrigerator door is opened inside a house such as an apartment or officetel and outside a corridor, and food storage is possible from the outside. It relates to a refrigerator management service device and a driving method of the device.

The era of solo economy led by single-person households is coming. Accordingly, convenience food is rapidly growing. Convenience food is a food that brings fresh taste to life just by warming it, and there are various types such as chilled porridge, stew, fried rice, salad, bread, and sweets. The increase in the number of single-person households has become a mega trend that will change both distribution structure and sales rankings. In addition, the increase of single-person households is also called a growth engine, or momentum, for the next 20 years. 24-hour convenience stores and supermarkets are already showing high growth thanks to the increase in single-person households, and are surpassing the growth rates of department stores and large markets, which are distribution dinosaurs. The sales of bento boxes sold at convenience stores are showing a high growth rate of over 40% every year.

As the number of single-person households grows rapidly, many changes are being detected throughout society. Beyond the third industrial revolution that combines the Internet and smartphones as well as the distribution industry, there is now a movement to combine the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).

However, conventionally, rather than focusing on single-person households, which are rapidly increasing in connection with home service, home appliances are managed remotely, especially in the case of refrigerators, staying only at the level of managing food in refrigerators, which has recently increased rapidly. The problem of not meeting the needs of consumers of single-person households still remains.

Korean Registered Patent Publication No. 10-1260649 (2013.04.26.) Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2017-0139375 (2017.12.19.) Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2012-0105119 (2012.19.25.) Korean Registered Patent Publication No. 10-1303848 (2013.08.29.)

An embodiment of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator management service device and a driving method of the device to allow the refrigerator door to be opened from the inside of a house such as an apartment or officetel and outside the corridor, and to store food from the outside. There is this.

The refrigerator management service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a communication interface unit for receiving a request signal for opening the door of the refrigerator to allow food to be stored outdoors based on an outer wall of a living space in which a user resides. And a control unit that authenticates a person in charge who intends to wear the food based on the received request signal, opens the door when the authentication is completed, and notifies the user of the wearing content when the food is completed.

The controller may provide one-time information to the refrigerator or a user device of the person in charge based on the request signal, and open the door when the provided one-time information matches previously stored one-time information.

The control unit may generate and provide the one-time information based on the identification information of the refrigerator included in the received request signal.

The controller may open the door when the person in charge's fingerprint or face recognition information included in the received request signal matches preset information.

The control unit may inform the user device of the user of the type and quantity information of the food as the wearing contents.

The control unit may match and store and manage payment information for pre-payment or post-payment of the received food with user information of the user.

When the refrigerator is divided into a plurality of areas and is rented for each area, the controller may manage the refrigerator for each area.

In addition, the driving method of the refrigerator management service device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a driving method of a refrigerator management service device including a communication interface unit and a control unit, wherein the communication interface unit is based on an outer wall of a living space in which a user resides. Receiving a request signal to open the door of the refrigerator to allow food to be stored outdoors, and the control unit, based on the received request signal, to authenticate the person in charge who wants to store the food to authenticate Upon completion, the door is opened, and when the warehousing of food is completed, notifying the user of the warehousing contents.

The controller may provide one-time information to the refrigerator or a user device of the person in charge based on the request signal, and open the door when the provided one-time information matches previously stored one-time information.

The control unit may generate and provide the one-time information based on the identification information of the refrigerator included in the received request signal.

The controller may open the door when the person in charge's fingerprint or face recognition information included in the received request signal matches preset information.

The control unit may inform the user device of the user of the type and quantity information of the food as the wearing contents.

The control unit may match and store and manage payment information for pre-payment or post-payment of the received food with user information of the user.

When the refrigerator is divided into a plurality of areas and is rented for each area, the controller may manage the refrigerator for each area.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, since, for example, a mart and a convenience store can be operated as if they are entering the house, the consumer does not have to go to the market, thereby saving time.

In addition, food management will be facilitated since it is not necessary to separately manage the food in the refrigerator and only pay for the food consumed by the user.

1 is a diagram showing a refrigerator management system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a view for explaining a service process of the refrigerator management system of FIG. 1;
3 is a view showing an operation state of the rear of the through-type smart refrigerator of FIG. 1;
4 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the driving unit shown in FIG. 3;
5 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the refrigerator management service device of FIG. 1;
6 is a view for explaining another structure of the through-type smart refrigerator of FIG. 1;
7 is a flow chart showing a driving process of the through-type smart refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and
8 is a flowchart illustrating a driving process of a refrigerator management service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

1 is a diagram illustrating a refrigerator management system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a service process performed by the refrigerator management system of FIG. 1.

1 and 2, the refrigerator management system 90 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a through-type smart refrigerator 100, a user device 105, a communication network 110, and a distribution management device 120. And a part or all of the refrigerator management service device 130.

Here, "including some or all" means that some components such as the user device 105 and the distribution management device 120 are omitted, or some components such as the refrigerator management service device 130 110) means something that can be integrated and configured in a network device (eg, a wireless switching device, etc.), and will be described as including all in order to help a sufficient understanding of the invention.

The through-type smart refrigerator (hereinafter, smart refrigerator) 100 is provided with, for example, a door for warehousing, releasing, and consuming food at the front and the rear, respectively, and the front door is provided by the indoor resident. The door can be opened and closed freely, but since the door on the back is exposed to the outdoors such as a corridor, a separate locking function is set so that only a designated permit holder can open and close the door. For example, in the smart refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the rear surface 101 of the smart refrigerator 100 may be disposed on the veranda side in the case of an apartment. In this case, a drone and a It is possible to put the product 99 delivered by the same ultra-light flight device 95, more precisely, the food in the smart refrigerator 100. Based on this, the smart refrigerator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention has an inner side, that is, a front side toward the indoor space, based on the outer wall of an indoor space in which a resident resides, but the outer side, that is, the rear side, as in the corridor or in FIG. Together, they face the outside space.

Of course, the smart refrigerator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be variously arranged and used depending on what purpose the building is used for. In other words, in the case of simply wearing the product into the interior of the smart refrigerator 100 as shown in FIG. 2, it may be arranged so that an ultra-lightweight flight device 95 such as a drone can be used, but if the internal food of the smart refrigerator 100 If it is to manage, rather than using the ultra-light flight device 95, it is desirable to arrange it to face the outside, such as a corridor, so that an autonomous driving robot or a food company person in charge can recover the food inside the smart refrigerator 100. Of course, it is not impossible to collect food by using the ultra-light flight device 95, but this may be a bit cumbersome because the resident must manage the food and allow the ultra-light flight device 95 to collect it. However, in spite of this hassle, or when a robot arm is provided inside the smart refrigerator 100, food can be put into the inside of the smart refrigerator 100 through the robot arm and some foods can be taken out for collection, In the embodiment of the present invention, it will not be specifically limited to any one form.

For convenience of explanation, it looks at how the food in the smart refrigerator 100 is worn and managed by an autonomous driving robot or a person in charge. For example, assume that a person in charge has signed a contract with a specific user for refrigerator management. Accordingly, the manager in charge puts food in the smart refrigerator 100 of the contractors as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, in the case of a button provided on one side of the corresponding smart refrigerator 100 or in the form of a touch screen, a wear request may be requested by touching the screen. Of course, together with the touch, the smart refrigerator 100 may perform a process of authenticating whether the person is a party authorized person, and the touch operation may be regarded as a kind of request operation for wearing.

For example, when a person in charge applies for a food stocking request, the smart refrigerator 100 may determine whether he/she is a party licensee in various ways. In an embodiment of the present invention, identification information (eg, device ID) of the smart refrigerator 100 is provided to the refrigerator management service device 130, and a one-time password issued by the refrigerator management service device 130 when the identification information is received. It is possible to determine whether or not to unlock the door provided on the rear surface. Of course, it is desirable to request the person in charge's unique code (eg, mobile phone number, etc.) together when requesting stocking. The one-time password is issued immediately upon request, stores the issued password information, and checks whether it matches the number entered by the person in charge. The one-time password may be transmitted to the smart refrigerator 100 and displayed on the screen, but may be transmitted to the person in charge's smartphone or a dedicated management terminal to be input.

In addition to the above methods, the smart refrigerator 100 may use a biometric authentication method such as fingerprint recognition or iris recognition, or a method of allowing access by capturing the face of the person in charge through a camera and recognizing the person's face through the photographed image. have. Since fingerprint recognition uses individual features, security is very excellent. In addition, even in the case of face recognition, since the photographed image uses attributes such as the singularity of the face or the shape of a specific part of the face, it is safe for security. Fingerprint recognition or face recognition determines whether it matches the currently input information based on previously stored information. However, since the above methods may be different depending on the manufacturing cost of the smart refrigerator 100 or the taste of consumers, the embodiment of the present invention will not be particularly limited to any one form.

When the food management person in charge closes the door after putting food in the smart refrigerator 100, a door lock signal may be further transmitted to the refrigerator management service device 130. In this way, the overall operation state of the smart refrigerator 100 is transmitted to the refrigerator management service device 130 and stored in the DB 130a, and the service applicant, that is, the resident, can check the overall process of who has accessed the smart refrigerator 100. Can be. The food management person in charge can enter the information of the received product through a smartphone or a dedicated terminal in possession of the received food, or the food information scanned through a scanner provided in the smart refrigerator 100 is automatically refrigerated. It can be transmitted to the management service device 130. Recognition of codes such as barcodes through a scanner may be possible only after a lock operation is performed again while the person in charge has been granted access permission.

In addition, of course, the smart refrigerator 100 is equipped with various sensors such as a weight sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a camera-based device, and an RFID tag reader, so that the internal food status of the smart refrigerator 100 can be checked, and the refrigerator management service device 130 Efficient management can be achieved in The ultrasonic sensor may be used to check whether food is spoiled through ultrasonic waves, and the RFID tag reader may perform the same operation as a scanner. The weight sensor may be provided on one shelf of the smart refrigerator 100 and used to measure the weight of food or may be used when food is received.

In addition, the smart refrigerator 100 may provide information on the food provided in the current smart refrigerator 100 on the front side when viewed from the indoor space in which a resident resides, but above all, payment for food consumed by the resident A payment means for proceeding may be provided. If the consumer recognizes, for example, a barcode for a product that is consumed through a scanner as above, the refrigerator management service device 130 can easily manage the consumed food, and the data related thereto is a distribution management device ( 120), it will be useful for checking the stock of food.

Of course, the smart refrigerator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention describes that a refrigerator of a convenience store or a mart is used as if it has been introduced into the home, but if a consumer receives food for which he or she has already made payment, You won't need to make a separate payment. In addition, the payment for the current food to be consumed can be accessed online at a later time and paid individually or collectively through a separate user device 105, and consumption on the front screen of the smart refrigerator 100 Since it is possible to call out the data related to the food and proceed with payment through a previously stored credit card or the like, the embodiment of the present invention will not be particularly limited to any one method.

In addition to the above, the smart refrigerator 100 can perform an air cleaning function by incorporating various sensors, oxygen, ozone, and fine dust concentration scanners, and has an infrared/ultraviolet sterilization function, an oxygen generation function, and an anion/magnetic field generation function. Can be done. Furthermore, by forming a separate space for delivery of atopy (ultraviolet treatment), nutritional supplements, moisturizers (light vitamins), respiratory treatments, and heat treatments/far-infrared treatments, various products or products other than food can be received and received.

The user device 105 includes various types of devices possessed by consumers or customers who use the smart refrigerator 100. Specifically, the user device 105 is preferably a device having a display screen. It may include a mobile phone such as a smartphone, a computer such as a laptop computer or a desktop computer and a tablet PC, a wearable device such as S's Galaxy* Air, and further a smart TV. The user device 105 may receive information or data on the management state of the smart refrigerator 100 from the refrigerator management service device 130. For example, it is desirable to be able to check it with video, but it may be possible to simply receive information in the form of SMS text messages like 3G phones.

The user device 105 may receive information on the type and quantity of food when the food management person in charge puts food in the smart refrigerator 100. In other words, it receives information related to the contents of the stock. In addition, the user device 105 may also receive payment information when paying for the food it consumes, and manages related to the smart refrigerator 100 used by the user device by accessing the refrigerator management service device 130 You can check a variety of information. For example, in addition to the contents mentioned above, you may be able to check information about your own consumption patterns and tastes.

In order to use the refrigerator management service according to an embodiment of the present invention, the user device 105 downloads an application (hereinafter, an app) from the refrigerator management service device 130 or an external company's app store (eg, Play*Tore). It can be installed and used. Of course, since the app is mobile-based, it may not be necessary to install a separate app for the web.

The communication network 110 includes all wired and wireless communication networks. For example, as the communication network 110, a wired or wireless Internet network may be used or interlocked. Here, the wired network includes an Internet network such as a cable network or a public telephone network (PSTN), and the wireless communication network includes CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, Evolved Packet Core (EPC), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and Wibro networks. It is meant to include. Of course, the communication network 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be used as an access network for a next-generation mobile communication system to be implemented in the future, for example, a cloud computing network or a 5G network under a cloud computing environment. For example, if the communication network 110 is a wired communication network, the access point in the communication network 110 can be connected to the switching center of the telephone office, but in the case of a wireless communication network, data is accessed by accessing SGSN or GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) operated by the communication company. Alternatively, data can be processed by accessing various repeaters such as BTS (Base Station Transmission), NodeB, and e-NodeB.

The communication network 110 may include an access point. The access point includes a small base station such as a femto or pico base station that is frequently installed in a building. Here, femto or pico base stations are classified according to how many smart refrigerators 100 or user devices 105 can be connected to a maximum according to the classification of small base stations. Of course, the access point includes a short-range communication module for performing short-range communication such as the smart refrigerator 100 or the user device 105 with Zigbee and Wi-Fi. The access point may use TCP/IP or Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) for wireless communication. Here, short-range communication is performed in various standards such as RF (Radio Frequency) such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, Infrared (IrDA), UHF (Ultra High Frequency) and VHF (Very High Frequency), and ultra wideband communication (UWB), in addition to Wi-Fi. I can. Accordingly, the access point may extract the location of the data packet, designate the best communication path for the extracted location, and transmit the data packet to the next device, for example, the refrigerator management service device 130 along the designated communication path. The access point can share several lines in a general network environment, and includes, for example, a router, a repeater, and a repeater.

The distribution management device 120 includes an operating server or computer of a company involved in food production or distribution. When the refrigerator management service device 130 is directly operated, the distribution management device 120 may be a manager computer. On the other hand, when different from the operating company of the refrigerator management service device 130, the distribution management device 120 becomes an affiliate's device. Of course, the distribution management device 120 includes devices of many companies participating in the services provided by the refrigerator management service device 130. For example, the distribution management device 120 may be a computer of a food distributor named A and a food distributor named B. In this case, company A and company B access the refrigerator management service device 130 to collectively manage the food of its customers who use the service. In this process, the distribution management device 120 receives information on the customer's consumption pattern or taste from the refrigerator management service device 130 to recommend new foods from the customer, and also accesses the refrigerator management service device 130 Thus, it can provide various information such as food inventory management. In other words, if the customer who uses the management service of the smart refrigerator 100 and the company A have executed a service contract, food may be stocked in the smart refrigerator 100 periodically at the request of the customer or at the company's own. As described above, the distribution management device 120 can be considered to provide the related information to the refrigerator management service device 130 so that the customer can check the management information of the smart refrigerator 100 at any time through the refrigerator management service device 130.

The refrigerator management service device 130 may provide a relay service for intermediating a customer who uses the smart refrigerator 100 and a food company operating the distribution management device 120. For example, the installation (eg, rental, etc.) of the smart refrigerator 100 may be provided by a company operating the distribution management device 120. Accordingly, the food company puts food in the smart refrigerator 100 installed in the residential area of the individual customer, similar to filling the refrigerator of a convenience store or mart in the customer's smart refrigerator 100. Of course, it is desirable that foods customized to one-person households or households other than one who have signed a contract are in stock. For example, in the case of a single-person household, if it is analyzed that convenience meals are mainly used, the smart refrigerator 100 is filled with convenience foods or drinks. On the other hand, in the case of a household other than one person, the food is filled in the smart refrigerator 100 by consuming various foods by season or by determining the type of food mainly cooked by season or according to various recipes.

To this end, the refrigerator management service device 130 may collect simple information at the time of an initial contract in order to analyze the taste or pattern of furniture. That is, the refrigerator management service device 130 may receive and store related information from the distribution management device 120. In addition, by analyzing information on food provided to customers or consumed foods, food customized to customers can be stocked. For this, deep learning technology of artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied. In the fall of a year ago, or according to the results of data analysis for several years, if it is determined that seasonal special dishes are mainly cooked in the fall, various foods related to this are recommended and food is received based on this. Of course, it will not be particularly limited to the above, as it is possible to stock it by a distributor without recommendation. When food is stocked, the refrigerator management service device 130 transmits a stocking-related information to the user device 105 possessed by the customer. In addition, when the person in charge of the food company accesses the smart refrigerator 100, that is, opens the door, in addition to the contents of the stocking, the related contents may be transmitted to the user device 105. In this case, the customer can contact the person in charge based on the information and take quick action if there is any change.

In addition to the above, the refrigerator management service device 130 may further perform various operations in connection with the smart refrigerator 100. For example, as the display screen provided on the rear of the smart refrigerator 100 is exposed to the outside, advertisements are exposed to the outside. For example, when a person passing by is detected based on data provided through a sensor and/or a camera of the smart refrigerator 100, an advertisement is displayed on the screen in the smart refrigerator 100 at an appropriate timing. In addition, the refrigerator management service device 130 may internally process data related to inventory identification or expiration date, as well as processing items such as household account book creation and mileage accumulation. Accordingly, when a customer requests household account book information through the user device 105, a corresponding service can be provided. In addition, for example, when there is an order for food, the customer's convenience may be promoted by periodically providing information on the current delivery status.

3 is a view showing the operation of the rear of the through-type smart refrigerator shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the smart refrigerator 100 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention may not have a separate lock setting on the front part allowing the door to be opened in an indoor living space, but as in FIG. Likewise, the rear door exposed to the outside of the living space based on the outer wall is locked. In FIG. 3, for convenience of explanation, a door provided on the rear surface of the smart refrigerator 100 is exposed to the outside of a corridor in an apartment or officetel. 3(a) shows that the display unit 300 is provided outside the door in a state in which the lock function is set, and FIG. 3(b) shows a state in which the door is opened by releasing the lock. have.

For example, when a person in charge of a food company wants to store food in the smart refrigerator 100, the screen of the display unit 300 may be touched. Accordingly, the smart refrigerator 100 may display various service items on the screen as shown in (a) of FIG. 3. For example, when a person in charge requests to unlock the rear door, a food company's unique code or a unique code related to him/her can be entered. Of course, it is possible to unlock the lock only by entering the unique code, but this may be vulnerable to security, so if the unique code is transmitted together with the request to the refrigerator management service device 130 of FIG. 1, the one-time password is sent back to the smart refrigerator 100 ) Or a one-time password can be transmitted to a smart device such as a smartphone held by the person in charge. When the corresponding one-time password is properly input, the smart refrigerator 100 may unlock the lock according to a control command of the refrigerator management service device 130.

Although the use of a one-time password is preferred in the embodiment of the present invention, it can be replaced in various ways to solve the security problem. Since this is determined according to the manufacturing cost or various design policies of the smart refrigerator 100 to the last, it will not be specifically limited to any one form in the embodiment of the present invention. In simple terms, face recognition is used through fingerprint recognition, iris recognition, or a photographed image using a camera. Therefore, for example, when a specific person in charge leaves the company in a food company related to the production or distribution of food, it can be safe for security by deleting the information.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, it may not be excluded that the person in charge of the company is made by an autonomous driving robot rather than a person. Therefore, in this case, when the autonomous driving robot is detected through a sensor of the smart refrigerator 100 or a sensing signal or a photographed image of the camera, the refrigerator management service device 130 is a unique code number attached to the autonomous driving robot, for example, The robot's identification information may be acquired through a reader through an RFID method, for example, and the lock may be unlocked. Even in this case, of course, the smart refrigerator 100 operates according to a control command of the refrigerator management service device 130.

Accordingly, as shown in (b) of FIG. 3, when the rear door is opened, the refrigerating unit 320a on the upper side and the freezing unit 320b on the lower side are separated so that food can be properly stored. In addition, foods whose expiration date has elapsed when food is stored are collected again. In the case of an autonomous driving robot, a scanner that recognizes barcodes on food can be mounted on its own, or it can acquire information through short-range wireless communication to determine whether the expiration date has passed, and collect food. Of course, even if the food is not past the expiration date, it may be possible to check and collect the food that the customer requested for collection. In the case of an autonomous driving robot, when food is collected after the expiration date, food information stored in a specific smart refrigerator 100 or food information received by requesting food information from the refrigerator management service device 130 at a specific point in time is recognized. The collection operation can be performed by comparing with the information of

In addition to the above, the smart refrigerator 100 may expose an advertisement on the screen of the display unit 300 of FIG. 3. When it is determined that a person has passed by or a contracted customer has returned to their residence through a sensor or camera installed in the smart refrigerator 100, appropriate food advertisements or various advertisements in addition to the appropriate advertisements may be displayed on the screen according to the timing. Such advertisements may allow advertisements previously stored in the smart refrigerator 100 to be exposed for a specified period, but may be provided and exposed by the refrigerator management service apparatus 130 of FIG. 1.

The smart refrigerator 100 of FIG. 1 as shown in FIG. 3 has a configuration of a conventional refrigerator, but in an embodiment of the present invention, a motor, a compressor, an evaporator, a condenser, Various components, such as a cooling fan, are preferably configured on the side or bottom. Accordingly, in an embodiment of the present invention, a driving unit 310 including a motor and a circuit unit for driving the motor may be provided under the smart refrigerator 100 as shown in FIG. 3. Details of the driving unit 310 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 continuously.

4 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a driving unit shown in FIG. 3.

As shown in Figure 4, the smart refrigerator 100 of Figure 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, more precisely, the driving unit (or circuit unit) 310 shown in Fig. 3 of the smart refrigerator 100 is a communication interface unit 400, a control unit 410, a user interface unit 420, a storage unit 430, and a part or all of the refrigerator food management unit 440, and may further include a motor, a condenser, an evaporator, and a compressor.

Here, "including some or all" means that some components such as the storage unit 430 are omitted, or components such as the refrigerator food management unit 440 are integrated into other components such as the control unit 410 It is intended to mean something that can be configured, and will be described as including all in order to help a sufficient understanding of the invention.

The communication interface unit 400 includes a communication module for communicating with the refrigerator management service apparatus 130 via the communication network 110 of FIG. 1. The communication interface unit 400 processes various information and data under the control of the controller 410. For example, when a person in charge of a food company requests to unlock the smart refrigerator 100 through the user interface unit 420, the communication interface unit 400 may be involved in the authentication process to determine whether the person has access permission. I can. When the refrigerator management service apparatus 130 issues a one-time password, for example, if the one-time password is designed to be provided to the smart refrigerator 100, the password may be received and transmitted to the controller 410.

In addition, when the user of the smart refrigerator 100 performs payment for food to be consumed through a payment means provided in the smart refrigerator 100, the communication interface unit 400 stores the corresponding payment information under the control of the controller 410. It may be processed to be provided to the refrigerator management service device 130. In addition, when the processing of the payment information is completed in connection with the refrigerator management service device 130, related information may be received. Of course, when the food is finished in stock by the person in charge, the door lock is detected, or when the person in charge requests completion of the item in stock, the relevant information may be provided to the refrigerator management service device 130. In the embodiment of the present invention, the above It will not be specifically limited to the content.

In addition, the communication interface unit 400 may display advertisements when the smart refrigerator 100 is designed to expose advertisements to the outside, and above all, when advertisements are exposed for a specified period, related advertisement information is provided and stored. After storing in 430, when a specified situation is met, the advertisement can be continuously exposed for a set period. Here, the "designated situation" refers to displaying an advertisement when a person is detected or when the screen is turned off. Accordingly, advertisement information stored in the storage unit 430 may be automatically deleted when the specified period is reached. Of course, even if this is not the case, the communication interface unit 400 may receive a specific advertisement according to the request of the refrigerator management service device 130 and provide it to the control unit 410 to be displayed on the screen.

The control unit 410 performs overall control operations of the communication interface unit 400 of Fig. 3, the user interface unit 420, the storage unit 430, and the refrigerator food management unit 440 constituting the smart refrigerator 100 of Fig. 1. In charge. Briefly, the control unit 410 performs an access permission of the smart refrigerator 100, that is, an authentication operation of a license holder who can open the door, and for this purpose, a method of using a one-time password, biometric authentication such as fingerprint recognition or iris recognition. It can be appropriately processed according to a set method, such as a method of using and a face recognition method of recognizing a face by analyzing a photographed image of a camera. In addition, when the customer consumes the product of the smart refrigerator 100, the control unit 410 may proceed with payment through a payment method provided in the smart refrigerator 100 itself, in which case it is linked with the refrigerator food management unit 440 Can be operated. In other words, the refrigerator food management unit 440 stores and executes a program capable of interworking with the refrigerator management service apparatus 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, the above authentication process can be seen as a representative.

In addition, the controller 410 manages foods currently in stock in the smart refrigerator 100 in connection with the refrigerator food management unit 440. For example, data on food items received and collected may be processed and provided to the refrigerator management service device 130 or stored in the storage unit 430 and then periodically transmitted to the refrigerator management service device 130. In addition, the control unit 410 may also process information on advertisements in connection with the refrigerator food management unit 440. When an advertisement request is received from the refrigerator management service device 130, it is provided to the refrigerator food management unit 440 so that management is performed. In the case of a long-term advertisement, the advertisement is stored in the storage unit 430 at the request of the refrigerator food management unit 440, and then the advertisement is displayed on the screen for a specified period, and when the specified period is completed, the advertisement is stored at the request of the refrigerator food management unit 440. After the advertisement information is deleted, the deletion may be notified to the refrigerator management service device 130. To this end, the communication interface unit 400 is controlled.

Meanwhile, the control unit 410 according to another embodiment of the present invention may include a CPU and a memory. The CPU includes a control circuit in charge of control operations, an operation unit in charge of operation (ALU), an instruction analysis unit that interprets instructions in machine language, a registry that temporarily stores data by software, and the memory includes RAM. can do. Accordingly, the CPU copies a program stored in the refrigerator food management unit 440, loads it into a memory, and executes a program stored in the internal memory, thereby rapidly increasing the processing speed of data according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In addition, the user interface unit 420 of FIG. 3 includes a display unit for displaying various information on the screen, but in addition to a sensor or a camera, a voice acquisition unit (eg, a microphone) or a voice recognition unit for acquiring a voice command word It may further include. Various function buttons related to the smart refrigerator 100 may be displayed on the screen through the display unit. For example, when a person in charge requests authentication for warehousing, the related screen may be displayed. In addition, when there is an advertisement, the advertisement may be displayed under the control of the controller 410. In fact, in addition to the above method, authentication may be possible to identify the person in charge by analyzing the characteristics of the voice signal acquired through the voice acquisition unit. Of course, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable to acquire a voice command to perform the operation of the smart refrigerator 100. For example, when the person in charge issues a command to "turn on the screen", the smart refrigerator 100 displays a function menu on the screen of the display unit.

The storage unit 430 temporarily stores various pieces of information and data processed under the control of the controller 410 and may output them when requested by the controller 410. For example, when a photographed image is to be provided to the refrigerator management service device 130 through a camera, the photographed image may be temporarily stored in the storage unit 430 and then provided. Of course, in the case of such a captured image, various operations such as modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, etc. can be processed, which is preferably processed by the communication interface unit 400 or the control unit 410, and is obvious to those skilled in the art, so further explanation Should be omitted.

The refrigerator food management unit 440 performs various operations related to a service of the smart refrigerator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The refrigerator food management unit 440 may have the form of an EEPROM, and may be shipped by mounting a program according to an embodiment of the present invention to the EEPROM when the product of the smart refrigerator 100 is shipped. In addition, after the smart refrigerator 100 is installed, a periodic update operation for a program of the refrigerator food management unit 440 may be performed while interlocking with the refrigerator management service device 130.

The refrigerator food management unit 440 may perform various operations related to management of the food inside the smart refrigerator 100. For example, by periodically monitoring the food inside the smart refrigerator 100, the food information may be displayed on the screen of the display unit when the user requests it. In addition, when payment is made at the point of time when the user consumes food, payment may be performed. After making payment by driving the payment module, related information is provided to the refrigerator management service device 130.

The above information corresponds to an operation related to a user living in a residential space at the front of the smart refrigerator 100. On the other hand, the refrigerator food management unit 440 basically performs an authentication-related operation that allows the door to be opened from the outside in relation to the person in charge of a food company or an autonomous driving robot that receives and retrieves food from the rear of the smart refrigerator 100. Can be done. In addition, it is possible to process an operation such as an external advertisement. In this regard, since it has been sufficiently described above, further description will be omitted.

In addition to the above, other information regarding the communication interface unit 400, the control unit 410, the user interface unit 420, the storage unit 430, and the refrigerator food management unit 440 of FIG. ) Has been sufficiently explained, so I will use the contents instead. In addition, since it will be sufficiently described later through FIG. 6, the contents may also be included.

5 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of the refrigerator management service apparatus of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the refrigerator management service apparatus 130 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a communication interface unit 500, a control unit 510, an integrated refrigerator management unit 520, and a part of the storage unit 530 or Including all, where "including some or all" is the same as the meaning of the foregoing.

The communication interface unit 500 communicates with the smart refrigerator 100, the user device 105, and the distribution management device 120 of FIG. 1. The communication interface unit 500 performs communication with the smart refrigerator 100 to manage the food inside the smart refrigerator 100. In this process, in order to store food in the smart refrigerator 100, the door is unlocked by performing authentication for the person in charge of the food company or the autonomous driving robot.

In addition, the communication interface unit 500, when there is a collection of stored food, the information entered by the person in charge through the screen of the smart refrigerator 100 or internally recognizes the food received through the reader and provides related information , The communication interface unit 500 processes related information. For example, it is possible to know which food has been received and which food has been recovered based on barcode information on all internal foods provided by the smart refrigerator 100 at regular intervals. The communication interface unit 500 may process information in this process. For example, if food of a, b, c, and d is scanned at a certain time T1 and information is provided, and the time changes and a new food of e is received or d is recovered at the time T2, in the former case, a, Food information of b, c, d, and e will be provided, and the smart refrigerator 100 or the refrigerator management service device 130 may know that e is added by comparing with the previously provided food information. On the other hand, if only food information of a, b, and c is provided at the time point of T2, it can be seen that d has been consumed compared to previous food information.

Of course, the refrigerator management service device 130 may determine whether to consume food based on this if the user has made payment for the food consumed through the payment method of the smart refrigerator 100, but proceeds to pay for the consumed food on a monthly basis. If so, it will be able to classify related data and request payment by month. For example, it can be automatically withdrawn from a payment request account or from a credit card. In this way, the communication interface unit 500 may process various types of information and/or data related to the smart refrigerator 100. Here, the data may include information. Information may mean simple data such as a request signal or a response signal. Usually, information refers to additional information related to data.For example, when performing image processing, the R, G, B pixel data of the image is data, while other data such as identification information or subtitles become additional information. I can. In the embodiments of the present invention, the concept of these terms is not limited.

Furthermore, the communication interface unit 500 may process the smart refrigerator 100 and advertisement-related data. In the case of providing advertisements, advertisement data customized for each individual may be provided, but advertisements may be provided for each region. For example, advertisements provided in the smart refrigerator 100 for single-person households and the smart refrigerator 100 for non-single households will inevitably be different. Accordingly, customized advertisements based on big data collected through the smart refrigerator 100 may be provided through the smart refrigerator 100. In addition, when an advertisement is required only in a specific area (eg, Seoul), the advertisement may be made only through the smart refrigerator 100 of a subscriber in that area.

In addition, the communication interface unit 500 may transmit management information or data of the smart refrigerator 100 to the user device 105. When there is a stock or collection of food, related information may be provided to the user device 105 of the person concerned, and when requesting a household account book or food information, various information may be provided to the user device 105. . When the user device 105 is web-based such as a laptop or tablet PC, the communication interface 500 provides related data on a web-based basis. However, in the case of a mobile such as a smartphone, the communication interface unit 500 may process data based on an app. .

In addition, the communication interface unit 500 may receive, store, and update various data related to food provided from the distribution management device 120 to the smart refrigerator 100. Typically, it will be detailed information about food. Or, if food is in circulation, information such as delivery location or delivery time can be processed. Of course, it could also provide information about producers of food.

On the other hand, the communication interface unit 500 may, on the contrary, provide various types of customer marketing information to the distribution management device 120. It provides information on consumption patterns or tastes of service users. In the case of single-person households, if they enjoy convenience meals, sweets, or drinks, they strongly recommend foods for them, and the food company determines and stocks them. On the other hand, in the case of households other than one person, it is possible to determine whether cooking is performed intermittently or frequently, and adjust the stocking interval of food or the recommended interval of food, and furthermore, it will be possible to actively recommend food for each season. Also, by judging the consumption pattern of meat or vegetarian diet, it is recommended based on vegetarian food or wearing food, and if there is a lot of meat diet, it is recommended and stocked mainly meat, but if it is determined that meat is frequently eaten, relevant information is provided and calories are reduced or meat is eaten. It can be advisable to reduce consumption.

The controller 510 is in charge of overall control operations of the communication interface unit 500, the integrated refrigerator management unit 520, and the storage unit 530 constituting the refrigerator management service apparatus 130. Through the communication interface unit 500, the smart refrigerator 100, the user device 105, and the distribution management device 120 can process various information and data, and, if necessary, can be linked with the refrigerator integrated management unit 520. . The control unit 510 may classify data related to the internal food of the smart refrigerator 100 for each user and store it in the DB 130a of FIG. 1. In this process, the refrigerator integrated management unit 520 ) Can be executed. In addition, the control unit 510 executes the refrigerator integrated management unit 520 to process various data for providing a service according to an embodiment of the present invention to process related data.

The integrated refrigerator management unit 520 may classify data for each customer or food company using the smart refrigerator 100 and process the related data. Representatively, the integrated refrigerator management unit 520 collectively manages data related to which food company's service is used by a specific customer and in what state the food in the refrigerator is managed. In addition, when the person in charge needs to store food, the corresponding operation is also performed. In this regard, since it has been sufficiently described through the refrigerator management service device 130 of FIG. 1, further description will be omitted.

However, in addition to the integrated management of the smart refrigerators 100 installed in various places, the refrigerator integrated management unit 520 also provides information on the consumption patterns and tastes of service users, as mentioned in the description of the communication interface unit 500 above. Big data may be collected for analysis, and marketing data may be generated by analyzing it through deep learning, and the generated data may be provided to the distribution management device 120. In addition, various actions can be handled, such as analyzing big data and recommending appropriate foods for each household or providing health-related data to change eating habits.

The storage unit 530 may store various types of information and data under the control of the controller 510 and may output it upon request of the controller 510. For example, when a person in charge located around the smart refrigerator 100 requests a one-time password, the controller 510 requests the integrated refrigerator management unit 520 to issue a one-time password, and the issued password is stored in the storage unit 530. Can be stored in. Of course, at this time, it may be stored by matching the identification number of the smart refrigerator 100 or the unique code of the person in charge. Thereafter, it is determined whether the password inputted through the smart refrigerator 100 by the person in charge matches the password stored in the storage unit 530, and when they match, the control unit 510 opens the door to the smart refrigerator 100. Can be requested. Here, the determination of whether or not they match may be made by the integrated refrigerator management unit 520.

In addition to the above, for details related to the communication interface unit 500, the control unit 510, the refrigerator integrated management unit 520, and the storage unit 530 of FIG. 5, refer to the refrigerator management service apparatus 130 of FIG. I want to replace it with the contents.

6 is a view for explaining another structure of the through-type smart refrigerator of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the smart refrigerator 590 according to another embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of refrigerators 610, 620, 630 in which one refrigerating unit and one freezing unit are integrated with each other through one door. ). 6, there are a total of three doors that are locked and released.

Accordingly, for example, when the identification information of the designated smart refrigerator 590 as shown in FIG. 6 is received, the refrigerator management service device 130 of FIG. 1 determines that the refrigerator has a different structure from the smart refrigerator 100 of FIG. , You can unlock each cell. For example, when the person in charge touches the screen and requests unlocking on the screen, the rental company's information is also displayed in each area of the screen (eg, a menu button). 6, the first refrigerator 610 displays Company A, the second refrigerator 620 displays Company B, and the third refrigerator 630 displays Company C. Accordingly, when the person in charge touches the button of the company to which he belongs and requests unlocking, the refrigerator management service device 130 issues a one-time password based on the information, and determines whether it matches or not to unlock the lock. Can be. According to the matching result, when the refrigerator management service device 130 gives a control command to open the refrigerator in a specific area, for example, the first refrigerator 610, the smart refrigerator 590 is used as the first refrigerator 610 according to the corresponding control command. To release the door.

In addition to the above, other detailed information is not significantly different from the smart refrigerator 100 of FIG. 1, and thus the contents will be substituted.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a driving process of a through-type smart refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

For convenience of explanation, referring to FIG. 7 together with FIG. 1, the smart refrigerator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention opens a door of a refrigerator through which food is stored outdoors based on the outer wall of a living space in which a user resides. A request signal for opening in is transmitted to the refrigerator management service device 130 (S700).

In addition, the smart refrigerator 100 may open the door based on the authentication result of the person in charge provided based on the transmitted request signal, and when the warehousing of food is completed, the warehousing contents may be notified to the refrigerator management service device 130. (S710). In the process of objection, the smart refrigerator 100 may notify the completion of the warehousing when the person in charge clicks the warehousing completion button on the touch screen, but when the door is unlocked and locked again after a certain period of time, it detects this and automatically stores the food. You can notify the completion. At this time, the smart refrigerator 100 scans food information on internal foods together with a notification of completion of the stocking and provides it to the refrigerator management service device 130 so as to manage which foods have been received and recovered.

In addition to the above, the smart refrigerator 100 is capable of various operations, but details have been sufficiently described above, and thus the contents will be substituted.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a driving process of a refrigerator management service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

For convenience of explanation, referring to FIG. 8 together with FIG. 1, the refrigerator management service apparatus 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a door of a refrigerator that allows food to be stored outdoors based on an outer wall of a living space in which a user resides. A request signal for opening a signal outdoors is received (S800). Here, the request signal is the identification information of the smart refrigerator 100 of FIG. 1, the person in charge's unique code (eg, food company management information or the person in charge's mobile phone number, etc.), biometric authentication such as fingerprint recognition, and a face using a photographed image of the camera. The request signal may be provided by various methods such as recognition.

Subsequently, the refrigerator management service device 130 authenticates the person in charge who intends to store food based on the received request signal, opens the door when the authentication is completed, and notifies the user of the wearing information when the storage of the food is completed (S810). . For example, when the information of the password issued by providing the one-time password to the smart refrigerator 100 or the smart device of the person in charge and the information of the one-time password entered through the smart refrigerator 100 or the smart device coincide with each other, the smart refrigerator ( A control command to open the door is transmitted to 100) so that the smart refrigerator 100 opens the door according to the control command. The control command may be binary bit information, which is set at the time of system design, so when the control command is received, the smart refrigerator 100 interprets the command through the command interpretation unit and opens the door accordingly.

Of course, in addition to the above, the refrigerator management service apparatus 130 can perform various operations, and thus detailed information will be replaced with the above contents.

On the other hand, even if all the constituent elements constituting an embodiment of the present invention are described as being combined into one or operating in combination, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this embodiment. That is, within the scope of the object of the present invention, all the constituent elements may be selectively combined and operated in one or more. In addition, although all the components may be implemented as one independent hardware, a program module that performs some or all functions combined in one or more hardware by selectively combining some or all of the components. It may be implemented as a computer program having Codes and code segments constituting the computer program may be easily inferred by those skilled in the art of the present invention. Such a computer program is stored in a non-transitory computer readable media that can be read by a computer and is read and executed by a computer, thereby implementing an embodiment of the present invention.

Here, the non-transitory readable recording medium is not a medium that stores data for a short moment, such as a register, cache, memory, etc., but a medium that stores data semi-permanently and can be read by a device. . Specifically, the above-described programs may be provided by being stored in a non-transitory readable recording medium such as a CD, DVD, hard disk, Blu-ray disk, USB, memory card, ROM, or the like.

In the above, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, but the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and is generally used in the technical field to which the present invention pertains without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. Various modifications are possible by those skilled in the art of course, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical idea or perspective of the present invention.

100, 590: smart refrigerator 101: rear
105: user device 110: communication network
120: distribution management device 130: refrigerator management service device
300: display unit 310: driving unit
320a: refrigeration unit 320b: freezing unit
400, 500: communication interface unit 410, 510: control unit
420: user interface unit 430, 530: storage unit
440: Refrigerator Food Management Department 520: Refrigerator Integrated Management Department

Claims (8)

A refrigerator management service device that is connected to and operates with a refrigerator having a front door that an indoor resident opens and closes freely and a rear door that is exposed to the outside based on an outer wall and a designated permit holder opens and closes the door,
A communication interface unit configured to receive a request signal for opening the rear door of the refrigerator to allow food to be stored outdoors based on an outer wall of a living space in which a user resides; And
Including; a control unit that authenticates the person in charge who intends to wear the food based on the received request signal, opens the rear door when the authentication is completed, and notifies the user of the wearing content when the food is completed,
The control unit,
When requesting to unlock the rear door to store the food, based on the unique code of the food company input from the refrigerator or the unique code of the person in charge, and the identification information of the refrigerator included in the received request signal Generate and provide one-time information,
The control unit,
Provides one-time information to the refrigerator or the user device of the person in charge based on the request signal, and opens the rear door when the provided one-time information matches pre-stored one-time information,
The control unit,
By analyzing information on food provided to the user and food consumed through the refrigerator, food customized to the user is stored in the refrigerator,
The control unit,
When it is determined that a person is passing by or that the user has returned to the residence based on data provided through the sensor or camera of the refrigerator, the advertisement is displayed on the screen from the rear door. Refrigerator management service device. delete delete delete The method of claim 1,
The control unit is a refrigerator management service device that notifies the user device of the type and quantity information of the food as the stocking content. The method of claim 1,
The control unit is a refrigerator management service device for storing and managing payment information for pre-payment or post-payment of the received food by matching with user information of the user. The method of claim 1,
The control unit is a refrigerator management service device that manages the refrigerator for each region when the refrigerator is divided into a plurality of regions and is rented for each region. A refrigerator management service device that operates by being connected to a refrigerator having a front door that an indoor resident opens and closes freely and a rear door that is exposed to the outside based on an outer wall and a designated permit holder opens and closes the door, and includes a communication interface unit and a control unit As a driving method of,
Receiving, by the communication interface unit, a request signal for opening a door of a refrigerator to allow food to be stored outdoors based on an outer wall of a living space in which a user resides;
Including, the control unit, based on the received request signal, authenticates the person in charge who intends to wear the food, opens the door when the authentication is complete, and notifies the user of the wearing information when the food is completed. ,
When the control unit requests to unlock the rear door to store the food, a unique code of a food company or a unique code of the person in charge input from the refrigerator, and identification of the refrigerator included in the received request signal Generating and providing one-time information based on the information;
Providing, by the control unit, one-time information to the refrigerator or the user device of the person in charge based on the request signal, and opening the rear door when the provided one-time information matches pre-stored one-time information;
Analyzing, by the control unit, food provided to the user through the refrigerator and information on consumed food, and putting food customized for the user into the refrigerator; And
When the controller detects that a person is passing by or determines that the user has returned to the residence based on data provided through a sensor or a camera of the refrigerator, causing an advertisement to be displayed on the screen from the rear door;
Driving method of a refrigerator management service device further comprising.

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