KR20000039121A - Control method for indicating food storing state using barcode in refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A control method for indicating a food storing state is provided to inform a user of expiration of an available period at a certain day before the expiration by using a barcode including a food name and the available period. CONSTITUTION: A microcomputer(20) decides if the available period of food expires when a refrigerator door is open. The microcomputer reads food information based on the present time of a timer and decides if there is the food of which the available period almost expires. If so, the microcomputer controls an indicator(60) to indicate the available period and then an alarm generator(70) to intermittently generate an alarm sound.

Description

Method for displaying storing status of food in refrigerator with bar code reader

The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a barcode reader. In particular, the present invention relates to a refrigerator, which detects a barcode and warns or displays the expiration date and the type of food stored in the refrigerator and flows in and out of the refrigerator. The present invention relates to a method for controlling storage of food status in a refrigerator using a bar code so as to make it convenient to recognize.

In general, a refrigerator includes a compressor for compressing and outputting a low-temperature, low-pressure gaseous refrigerant, a condenser for cooling and condensing a high-temperature, high-pressure gaseous refrigerant from the compressor with external air, and a high-pressure liquid from the condenser. Vegetables or beverages through a refrigerating cycle using a capillary tube that depressurizes the refrigerant in a state and an evaporator that absorbs heat by evaporating the decompressed refrigerant from the capillary and evaporates to a low temperature at low pressure. In order to refrigerate food, such as food, it is possible to circulate the cold air by the evaporator of a cooling cycle in a sealed refrigerator, and to keep food at low temperature.

On the other hand, the food stored in the refrigerating or freezing chamber has a valid period for each food, so when this expiration period is passed, the food stored in the refrigerator is deteriorated, and if the deteriorated food is ingested without user's attention and confirmation, It is often harmful to users, but the user often forgets to check the shelf life of the food being stored.

On the other hand, for the above-mentioned problem, Korean Patent Application No. 95-3917 includes a display device installed on a predetermined external portion of the refrigerator to display a food name or an expiration date, and a function key for selecting a scanner mode or a normal mode. A key input device, a scanner installed at a predetermined portion of the refrigerator to read information about a barcode attached to a packaged food, an alarm to sound an alarm when the food expiration date expires, and information about the food name and the expiration date. When the information on the food name and the expiration date is detected by analyzing the information of the bar code input through the memory and the scanner to store the food name and the expiration date, the food name and the expiration date are stored and displayed at the same time, and the expired food is detected. The refrigerator with the barcode scanner including a central processing unit to control the alarm output. Through the barcode information scanned through the through to allow the user to recognize the expiration date of the food stored in the refrigerator.

In detail, the refrigerator with the conventional bar code scanner described above includes a scan mode and a normal mode, and in the scan mode, the scanner is driven to receive a food name and an expiration date through a bar code, and is input through the above-described process in the normal mode. When a food whose expiration date has expired is detected using barcode information and current time information in the central processing unit, an alarm is operated along with a display of the corresponding food name so as to recognize a valid period state of the food stored in the refrigerator.

However, in the refrigerator equipped with the above-described conventional barcode scanner, the user purchases food and inputs the food based on the barcode scanner, and uses the continuously input barcode information and current time information regardless of whether the food is used or not, to determine the validity period of the food. Because it warns, the user has to take out the food with the barcode information input from the refrigerator to eat the food is not currently stored in the refrigerator, there is a problem that warns the expiration date, and when the expiration date when the expiration date is expired Because of the warning, the user has a problem that the user can not consume the foods stored in the refrigerator in advance.

Therefore, the present invention has been sought to read the inflow / outflow information of the food stored in the refrigerator to recognize the valid period only for the food currently stored in the refrigerator before a predetermined date.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the purpose of the food is stored in the refrigerator using the bar code information and the shelf life of the food stored in the refrigerator using the bar code information received Warning the use of the bar code, and check the status of storage of the refrigerator continuously using the bar code to ensure that the user is notified of the expiration of the expiration date before the end of the predetermined period for food storage in the refrigerator using the bar code The present invention provides a control method of status display.

1 is a block diagram of a food storage state display control apparatus in a refrigerator using a barcode according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a flow chart for the food storage state display control process in the refrigerator using a barcode according to the present invention.

<Description of the code | symbol about the principal part of drawing>

10: key input unit 20: motion sensor unit

30: barcode detection unit 40: door opening and closing detection unit

50: microcomputer 60: display unit

70: warning sound generating unit

According to the present invention, a method for controlling display of food storage status in a refrigerator includes a method of warning a shelf life of food stored in the refrigerator by using a barcode, the method comprising: detecting whether a door of the refrigerator is opened, and when the door of the refrigerator is opened Determining whether there is barcode information including a brand name and an expiration date applied by the barcode detection unit; and when barcode information is applied, movement is detected from a motion sensor installed at each shelf, and when the movement is detected, Linking the location information of the motion detected shelves and storing them as stored food information; determining whether motion is detected if there is no barcode applied even when the door of the refrigerator is opened; and if barcode information is applied if motion is detected. If the barcode information is applied by judging Deleting information from the stored food information, comparing the validity period of the stored food information with the current time, and displaying the brand name and storage location of the food when the valid period of food remains for a predetermined period of time; It is characterized in that it comprises a step of intermittently generating a warning sound, and continuously generating a warning sound while displaying the brand name and storage location of the food when the valid period of the food expires.

The above objects and various advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the preferred embodiments of the invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings by those skilled in the art.

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

1 is a block diagram of a food storage state display control device in a refrigerator using a bar code according to the present invention, the key input unit 10, the motion sensor unit 20, the barcode detection unit 30, the door opening and closing detection unit 40 ), A microcomputer 50, a display unit 60, and a warning sound generator 70.

In this configuration, the key input unit 10 is provided with a predetermined key for adding and deleting the stored food information stored in the memory not shown in the microcomputer 50 to provide a key signal corresponding to the user's key operation. Output

Then, the motion sensor unit 20 is a pair of a predetermined infrared light emitting sensor and a receiving sensor is installed on both ends of each shelf in which the plants in the refrigerator are stored to detect the inflow and outflow of food to detect the presence or absence of movement. The signal is applied to the microcomputer 50.

In addition, the barcode detection unit 30 is installed at a predetermined position of the refrigerator to read barcode information attached to food and output to the microcomputer 50.

Meanwhile, the door open / close detection unit 40 detects whether the refrigerator door is opened or closed and outputs a door state signal of the refrigerator to the microcomputer 50.

Then, the microcomputer 50 controls the display unit 60 to display the food information stored in the memory (not shown) based on the predetermined key signal from the key input unit 10, and then displays the predetermined key signal from the key input unit 10. The bar code information for the food is added or deleted, and in particular, when it is determined that the door of the refrigerator is opened based on the door state signal from the refrigerator door open / close detection unit 40, the motion sensor unit 20 and the barcode detector 30 ), And when the barcode is detected first and the movement is detected, it is judged as the inflow of food, and the barcode information and storage location information of the incoming food are stored (updated) in the memory (not shown), and the movement is detected first and the barcode is detected. When detected, it is determined that the food is spilled and the barcode information and storage location of the spilled food are deleted from the memory (not shown). It performs the process of building the storage food information is repeated until it is closed the door.

In addition, the microcomputer 50 builds food information based on the above-described process, and at the same time, when the door of the refrigerator is opened, the microcomputer 50 compares the validity period among the stored food information with the current time of the internal timer (not shown), and a predetermined date for which the validity period is preset. The display unit 60 and the warning sound generator 70 are displayed for the remaining foods, and the warning sound is intermittently generated and the display unit 60 and the warning sound generator 70 are controlled for the foods whose expiration date expires. While the alarm is displayed, the alarm sound is continuously generated and controlled.

On the other hand, the display unit 60 is configured using a liquid crystal display (LCD), and displays the corresponding brand name according to the control of the microcomputer 50 by distinguishing that the expiration date remains for a predetermined period and the expiration date.

Then, the warning sound generating unit 70 intermittently generates or continuously generates a predetermined warning sound under the control of the microcomputer 50.

Next, with reference to the flowchart of Figure 2 attached to the food storage state display control process according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention in a refrigerator using a bar code according to the present invention having the above-described configuration will be described in detail.

First, in the present invention, when the user enters the food into the refrigerator in order to keep the plant, the food is brought close to the barcode detection unit 30 so that the barcode detection unit 30 recognizes the barcode attached to the food to detect the barcode. When the user leaks out to use the food stored in the refrigerator, the food is brought out close to the barcode detection unit 30 so that the barcode detection unit 30 recognizes the barcode attached to the food.

Therefore, the microcomputer 50 detects whether the user opens or closes the door to inflow or outflow of food, that is, determines whether the door of the refrigerator is opened or closed through the door open / close detection unit 40 (step 300).

At this time, when the door of the refrigerator is opened and closed, the microcomputer 50 drives the motion sensor unit 20 and the barcode detector 30 to wait for the inflow and outflow of food and input of barcode information (step 302).

Next, the microcomputer 50 determines whether predetermined bar code information is applied from the bar code detector 30 (step 304).

At this time, when the barcode information is applied from the barcode detector 30, it is determined through the motion sensor 20 whether there is motion detection (step 306).

If the motion is detected at this time, it is determined that the user keeps food in the refrigerator, and the storage position information based on the barcode information applied from the barcode detection unit 30 and the detection signal from the motion sensor unit 20 is omitted. The food is stored in the memory as food information (step 308).

On the other hand, if the bar code information is not applied for a predetermined time in the above-described step 304 it is determined whether the movement of food through the motion sensor unit 20 is detected (step 310).

At this time, when the motion is detected, it is determined whether the barcode information is applied from the barcode detector 30 again (step 312).

If the barcode information is applied at this time, the microcomputer 50 determines that the user is intended to drain the food stored in the refrigerator, and stores the barcode information from the barcode detector 30 and the corresponding movement information in the memory (not shown). Deleted from the food and beverage information (step 314).

Next, after performing the above-described steps 308 and 314, the microcomputer 50 determines whether the refrigerator door is closed based on the door state signal from the door open / close detection unit 40 (step 316). If it is not closed, the process proceeds to the above-described step 304 to continue to delete or store the food information according to the inflow / outflow of the food, and on the contrary, when the refrigerator door is closed, the driving of the motion sensor 20 and the barcode detection unit 30 is stopped and controlled. (Step 318).

On the other hand, as well as the construction process of the food information according to the inflow / outflow of the above-described food, the microcomputer 20 performs a warning control on whether the food stored in the refrigerator has expired when the refrigerator door is opened. Search for food information stored in the memory on the basis of the current time of the internal timer (not shown) (step 320), and determine whether there is food remaining for a predetermined period of time for which each food item is preset (step 322). ).

At this time, if there is food remaining for a predetermined period of time, the microcomputer 50 controls the display unit 60 to display and control that the valid period of the corresponding food remains for a predetermined period of time, and also to control the warning sound generating unit 70 for a predetermined period of time. An intermittent beep sounds (step 324).

Then, the user can conveniently and quickly recognize that the valid period of the food stored in the refrigerator remains for a predetermined period of time.

On the other hand, if there is no food with a valid period of time remaining in the above-described step 322, the microcomputer 50 determines whether there is any food that has expired (step 328).

At this time, if there is food that has expired, the control unit 60 displays that the valid period of the food has expired, and controls the warning sound generator 70 to continuously generate a predetermined warning sound.

Then, the user hears a predetermined warning sound continuously and sees the displayed food to recognize that there is an expired food.

Next, it is determined whether there is no food whose expiration date has expired in the above-described step 326, or after the indication and warning sound for the food expiration date in the above-mentioned steps 324 and 328, the door of the refrigerator is closed (step 330), if the door is not closed, the process proceeds to the above-described step 320 to continue to search for food information to perform the warning period of food expiration, and when the door is closed, stop the display and warning sound generation for the food expiration date (step) 332) This routine ends.

On the other hand, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, the user can easily and quickly recognize the expiration date of the food flowing into / out of the refrigerator using barcode information.

Claims (1)

Using a barcode to warn the expiration date of food stored in the refrigerator, Detecting whether a door of the refrigerator is opened; Determining whether there is barcode information including a brand name and an expiration date applied from the barcode detector when the door of the refrigerator is opened; When barcode information is applied, motion is detected from a motion sensor installed at each shelf, and when motion is detected, linking the barcode information and position information of the motion detected shelf is linked and stored as food and beverage information in storage; Determining whether a movement is detected when there is no barcode applied even when the door of the refrigerator is opened; Determining whether barcode information is applied when a movement is detected and deleting the barcode information from the stored food information when barcode information is applied; Intermittently generating a warning sound at predetermined intervals while displaying the brand name and storage location of the food when the valid period of the food remains for a predetermined period while comparing the valid period of the stored food information with the current time; When the expiration date of the food expires, the method of controlling the food storage status display in the refrigerator using a bar code comprising the step of continuously generating a warning sound while displaying the product name and storage location of the food.