KR102393641B1 - Home appliance and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a home appliance and a method for controlling a home appliance, and the home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a touch unit provided on one surface of the home appliance, a sensor unit for recognizing a user in the vicinity of the touch unit, and the It may include a control unit for classifying the user recognized by the sensor unit according to a preset user classification, and adjusting the sensitivity of the touch unit according to the divided user classification.

Description

{HOME APPLIANCE AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to home appliances and a method of controlling the home appliance, and more particularly, to a home appliance and a control method of a home appliance capable of adjusting touch sensitivity according to a user.

With the development of element technologies such as touch technology and sensor technology, home appliances are being developed to provide smarter functions to users by using the functions of various element technologies.

In particular, in the case of touch technology, since a convenient input interface is provided to the user with an aesthetic effect, various electronic products tend to provide user input based on the touch technology.

As such a touch technology, a capacitive method, which has relatively higher touch accuracy than other methods, is mainly used, and the capacitive touch technology is a method of detecting a touch position using a capacitance value changed by a touch.

On the other hand, in the case of the capacitive method, since a touch area is generated differently depending on the user, there is a problem in that the function of the touch sensing occurs differently accordingly.

For example, in the case of a child or a woman with a small touch area of a finger, there is a problem in that the touch is not recognized well because the capacitance is not sufficient. Alternatively, in the case of an adult with a large touch area of a finger, there is a problem in that a touch point is widely recognized, resulting in inaccurate touch recognition.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2015-0052906

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of the present invention is to provide a home appliance and a method for controlling a home appliance that can provide a touch function more accurately by adjusting touch sensitivity according to a user.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a home appliance and a control method of a home appliance that can accurately adjust the touch sensitivity for each user by detecting the user by sensing the distance and shoulder width from the user, and classifying the user using this will be.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects and advantages of the present invention not mentioned may be understood by the following description, and will be more clearly understood by the examples of the present invention. It will also be readily apparent that the objects and advantages of the present invention may be realized by the means and combinations thereof indicated in the appended claims.

A home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a touch unit provided on one surface of the home appliance, a sensor unit recognizing a user in the vicinity of the touch unit, and a user recognized by the sensor unit according to a preset user classification. It may include a control unit that classifies and adjusts the sensitivity of the touch unit according to the divided user classification.

The sensor unit may include a distance sensor for detecting a distance to the user and an image sensor for detecting a shoulder width of the user.

The controller may classify the user based on a distance from the user and a shoulder width of the user.

The control unit, using a ratio between the distance to the user and the shoulder width of the user, calculates the reference shoulder width of the user when the distance to the user is set as the reference distance, and based on the reference shoulder width The user can be distinguished.

The user classification may include a first classification and a second classification having a larger reference shoulder width than the first classification.

The control unit sets the sensitivity of the touch unit to a first sensitivity when the user corresponds to the first classification, and sets the sensitivity of the touch unit to a second sensitivity less sensitive than the first sensitivity when the user corresponds to the second classification You can set the sensitivity.

The controller may set the sensitivity of the touch unit as a reference sensitivity when the user is not detected for a predetermined time or more.

A method for controlling a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention is a method for controlling a home appliance including a touch unit, comprising: recognizing a user in the vicinity of the touch unit; classifying the user recognized by the sensor unit as a preset user It may include the step of classifying according to the user classification and the step of adjusting the sensitivity of the touch unit according to the divided user classification.

The step of recognizing the user may include detecting a distance from the user and detecting a shoulder width of the user.

The dividing according to the user classification may include calculating a reference shoulder width of the user when the distance to the user is set as a reference distance and classifying the user based on the reference shoulder width there is.

The user classification may include a first classification and a second classification having a larger reference shoulder width than the first classification.

The step of adjusting the sensitivity of the touch unit may include setting the sensitivity of the touch unit to the first sensitivity if the user corresponds to the first classification, and setting the sensitivity of the touch unit as the second sensitivity if the user corresponds to the second classification. It may include setting the second sensitivity to be less sensitive than the first sensitivity.

The home appliance and the control method of the home appliance according to the present invention have the effect of providing a more accurate touch function because the touch sensitivity can be adjusted according to the user.

In addition, the home appliance and the control method of the home appliance according to the present invention have the effect of accurately adjusting the touch sensitivity for each user by detecting the user by sensing the distance from the user and the shoulder width and classifying the user using this.

In addition to the above-described effects, the specific effects of the present invention will be described together while describing specific details for carrying out the invention below.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a reference diagram for explaining an embodiment in which the control unit recognizes a user.
4 is a view for explaining a method for controlling a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a view for explaining an embodiment of step S410 shown in FIG.
6 is a view for explaining an embodiment of step S420 shown in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a view for explaining an embodiment of step S430 shown in FIG. 4 .

The above-described objects, features and advantages will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will be able to easily implement the technical idea of the present invention.

Since the present invention can have various changes and can have various embodiments, specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and will be described in detail in the detailed description. This is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be construed to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In describing the present invention, terms such as first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components may not be limited by the terms. The terms are only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, a second component may also be referred to as a first component.

The term “and/or” may include a combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items.

When a component is referred to as being “connected” or “connected” to another component, it may be directly connected or connected to the other component, but other components may exist in between. can be understood On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another element, it may be understood that the other element does not exist in the middle.

The terms used in the present application are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Also, the singular expression used herein may include the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In the present application, terms such as “comprise” or “have” are intended to designate that a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification exists, and one or more other features It may be understood that the existence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof is not precluded in advance.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, may have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in a commonly used dictionary may be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the related art, and unless explicitly defined in the present application, it is interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal meaning. it may not be

In addition, the following embodiments are provided to more completely explain to those with average knowledge in the art, and shapes and sizes of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clearer explanation.

Hereinafter, home appliances and a method of controlling the home appliances according to some embodiments of the present invention will be described.

Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, a refrigerator will be exemplified as an example of a home appliance, but the home appliance is not limited to a refrigerator. That is, it is obvious that other home appliances to which the touch unit and the sensor unit are applicable, for example, televisions, air conditioners, etc., may also correspond to the home appliances in the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a home appliance 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a sensor unit 110 , a touch unit 140 , and a controller (not shown) for controlling the sensor unit 110 and the touch unit 140 . city) may be included.

The touch unit 140 may be provided on one surface of the home appliance. In the illustrated example, it is exemplified that the sensor unit 110 , the touch unit 140 , and the display unit are provided on the front side of the refrigerator. The touch unit 140 may be located on the front of the home appliance so that the user can easily touch it. The sensor unit 110 can be modified in various ways, such as the position and the type or number of sensors according to the embodiment.

The sensor unit 110 may recognize a user in the vicinity of the touch unit 140 .

The controller (not shown) may identify a user based on the information sensed by the sensor unit 110 and adjust the touch sensitivity of the touch unit 140 .

For example, the controller (not shown) may classify the user recognized by the sensor unit 110 according to a preset user classification, and may adjust the sensitivity of the touch unit 140 according to the divided user classification.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with further reference to FIG. 2 .

Referring to FIG. 2 , the home appliance 100 may include a sensor unit 110 , a memory 120 , a control unit 130 , and a touch unit 140 .

The sensor unit 110 may recognize a user in the vicinity of the touch unit ( 140 ).

In an embodiment, the sensor unit 110 may include a distance sensor 111 and an image sensor 112 .

The distance sensor 111 is a sensor that measures the distance between the sensor unit and the user. As the distance sensor 111 , various sensors capable of measuring a distance, such as an infrared sensor and an ultraviolet sensor, are applicable.

The image sensor 112 may detect the length between the user's shoulders, that is, the shoulder width. The image sensor 112 may include a camera for capturing a user, an image processing function for identifying a user based on image recognition for an image captured by the camera, and calculating a shoulder width of the user. Here, the image processing function may be implemented as a function of the controller 140 .

The memory 120 is electrically connected to the control unit 130 . The memory 220 may be various storage devices such as ROM, RAM, EPROM, flash drive, hard drive, and the like.

The controller 130 may classify the user recognized by the sensor unit 110 according to a preset user classification, and may adjust the sensitivity of the touch unit 140 according to the divided user classification.

In an embodiment, the controller 130 may classify the user based on the distance to the user detected by the distance sensor 111 and the user's shoulder width detected by the image sensor 112 .

FIG. 3 is a reference diagram for explaining an embodiment in which the controller recognizes a user, and will be described with further reference to FIG. 3 .

The distance D from the user may be sensed by the distance sensor 111 of the sensor unit 110 , and the shoulder width W of the user may be detected by the image sensor 112 and provided to the controller 130 .

The controller 130 may calculate the reference shoulder width of the user when the distance to the user is set as the reference distance using this. That is, the controller 130 may calculate the reference shoulder width of the user when the distance to the user is set as the reference distance by using the ratio between the distance D from the user and the shoulder width W of the user. .

The reference distance is a distance set in advance and is used to accurately calculate the user's shoulder width even in an environment in which the distance between the user and the sensor unit is not constant.

For example, if the reference distance is 70 cm, the actually detected distance (D) to the user is 100 cm, and the calculated user's shoulder width is 100 cm, the control unit 130 is The shoulder width of the user of , that is, the standard shoulder width can be calculated as 70 cm.

[Equation 1]

Reference distance: Distance from user = Standard shoulder width: User shoulder width

The controller 130 may classify the user based on the calculated reference shoulder width.

The user classification may include a first classification and a second classification having a larger reference shoulder width than the first classification, and each user classification is divided by the reference shoulder width.

For example, the user classification may include women and children (class 1) and adult males (class 2), and women and children (class 1) have a standard shoulder width of less than 30 cm, and adult men (class 2). can be classified as a standard shoulder width of 30 cm or more.

Accordingly, as in the above example, if the reference shoulder width calculated by the controller 130 is 70 cm, the controller 130 may classify the user as an adult male (second classification).

The controller 130 may set the sensitivity of the touch unit 140 differently according to user classification. That is, the controller 130 sets the sensitivity of the touch unit to the first sensitivity when the user corresponds to the first classification, and sets the sensitivity of the touch unit to the second sensitivity less sensitive than the first sensitivity when the user corresponds to the second classification. can do.

For example, if the touch area (contact area between the fingertip and the touch unit) is about 7Ф for women and children, but corresponds to about 9Ф for an adult male, the control unit 130 responds to the difference between 7Ф and 9Ф to touch the touch area. By differently setting the reference value of the negative capacitance, the sensitivity of the touch unit may be changed.

After adjusting the sensitivity of the touch unit by changing the capacitive reference value as described above, the controller 130 may set the sensitivity of the touch unit to the default sensitivity of the normal state, that is, the reference sensitivity if the user is not detected for a predetermined time or longer.

In the above, various embodiments of a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention have been described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 .

Hereinafter, a method for controlling a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7 . However, since the control method of the home appliance to be described below is performed by the control unit 130 of the home appliance described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 , it is easier to refer to the description described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 . I can understand.

4 is a view for explaining a method for controlling a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the controller 130 may recognize a user in the vicinity of the touch unit ( 410 ), and classify the user recognized by the sensor unit according to a preset user classification ( 420 ). The controller 130 may adjust the sensitivity of the touch unit according to the divided user classification.

5 is a view for explaining an embodiment of step S410 shown in FIG. 4 . Referring to FIG. 5 , the control unit 130 detects a distance to the user ( S510 ), and detects the user's shoulder width. It can be (S520).

6 is a view for explaining an embodiment of step S420 shown in FIG. 4 . Referring to FIG. 5 , the controller 130 calculates the user's reference shoulder width when the distance to the user is set as the reference distance. And (S610), it is possible to classify the user based on the standard shoulder width (S620). Here, as described above, the user classification may include the first classification and the second classification having a larger reference shoulder width than the first classification.

7 is a view for explaining an embodiment of the step S430 shown in FIG. 4 . Referring to FIG. 5 , the controller 130 controls the sensitivity of the touch unit when the user corresponds to the first classification (S710, Yes). 1 sensitivity can be set (S711). If the user does not correspond to the first classification (S710, No) and corresponds to the second classification (S720, yes), the controller 130 may set the sensitivity of the touch unit to a second sensitivity less sensitive than the first sensitivity (S711). . If it does not correspond to the second classification (S720, No), the controller 130 may determine that it is an error in the classification process and re-perform the user classification procedure.

As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the illustrated drawings, but the present invention is not limited by the embodiments and drawings disclosed in the present specification. It is obvious that variations can be made. In addition, although the effects according to the configuration of the present invention have not been explicitly described and described while describing the embodiments of the present invention, it is natural that the effects predictable by the configuration should also be recognized.

100: home appliances
110: sensor unit
111: distance sensor 112: image sensor
120: memory
130: control unit
131: user identification unit 132: touch sensitivity control unit
140: touch unit

Claims (13)

a touch unit provided on one surface of the home appliance;
a sensor unit for recognizing a user in the vicinity of the touch unit; and
and a control unit for classifying the user recognized by the sensor unit according to a preset user classification, and adjusting the sensitivity of the touch unit according to the divided user classification,
the sensor unit
a distance sensor for measuring a distance between the sensor unit and the user; and
and an image sensor for calculating the shoulder width of the user;
the control unit
Calculating the reference shoulder width of the user based on the distance between the sensor unit and the user measured by the distance sensor, the shoulder width of the user measured by the image sensor, and a preset reference distance, and the reference shoulder width to classify the user based on the area
home appliances.
delete delete According to claim 1, wherein the control unit
A home appliance for calculating the reference shoulder width of the user when the distance to the user is set as the reference distance by using the ratio between the distance between the sensor unit and the user and the shoulder width of the user.
The method of claim 1, wherein the user classification is
first classification; and
a second classification having a larger reference shoulder width than the first classification;
home appliances including
According to claim 5, wherein the control unit
When the user corresponds to the first category, the sensitivity of the touch unit is set as a first sensitivity, and when the user corresponds to the second category, the sensitivity of the touch unit is set to a second sensitivity that is less sensitive than the first sensitivity home appliances.
According to claim 1, wherein the control unit
Home appliance for setting the sensitivity of the touch unit as a reference sensitivity when the user is not detected for a predetermined time or more.
A method for controlling a home appliance including a touch unit, comprising:
measuring a distance between the sensor unit and the user;
calculating the shoulder width of the user;
calculating a reference shoulder width of the user based on a distance between the sensor unit and the user measured by a distance sensor, a shoulder width of the user measured by an image sensor, and a preset reference distance;
classifying the user according to a preset user classification based on the reference shoulder width; and
adjusting the sensitivity of the touch unit according to the divided user classification;
A control method for home appliances comprising a.
delete 9. The method of claim 8,
The step of calculating the reference shoulder width of the user is
Using a ratio between the distance between the sensor unit and the user and the shoulder width of the user, when the distance to the user is set as the reference distance, calculating the reference shoulder width of the user; Way.
The method of claim 8, wherein the user classification is
first classification; and
a second classification having a larger reference shoulder width than the first classification;
A control method for home appliances comprising a.
The method of claim 11, wherein adjusting the sensitivity of the touch unit comprises:
setting the sensitivity of the touch unit to a first sensitivity when the user corresponds to the first classification; and
setting the sensitivity of the touch unit to a second sensitivity less sensitive than the first sensitivity when the user corresponds to the second classification;
A control method for home appliances comprising a.
9. The method of claim 8,
The method of controlling a home appliance further comprising the step of setting the sensitivity of the touch unit to a reference sensitivity when the user is not detected for a predetermined time or more.

Images