KR20070044946A - Refrigerator and method for keeping food using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator that maintains the freshness of food for a long time and suppresses the reduction of nutrients contained in the food and a food storage method using the same. The present invention, the refrigerator body; A storage room provided in the refrigerator body to store food; And an irradiation apparatus capable of irradiating light in a visible light region to the storage room and switching the emission color of the irradiated light, wherein the emission color of light irradiated by the irradiation apparatus is red, green, indigo blue, Provided is a refrigerator made by a combination of light including yellow and white and a food storage method using the same.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the freshness of the food stored in the refrigerator can be maintained for a long time, and the reduction of the nutrients contained in the food can be suppressed.

Refrigerator, Irradiation Device, Color

Description

Refrigerator and Method for keeping food using the same

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator provided with a conventional food container;

2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a food container according to the present invention is applied to a side by side refrigerator;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the food container of Figure 2;

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II of the first embodiment of the food container of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view schematically showing the top panel of FIG. 4; FIG.

6 is a bottom perspective view showing an upper panel according to a second embodiment of a food container;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II of a third embodiment of the food container of FIG. 3; FIG.

8 is a plan view of the selection device of FIG.

<Explanation of Signs of Major Parts of Drawings>

20: refrigerator 200: food container

210a, 210b, 210c: Storage compartments 230a, 230b, 230c: Irradiation device

231a, 231b, and 231c: light emitting element 231aR: red light emitting diode

231aG: Green Light Emitting Diode 231aW: White Light Emitting Diode

231aB: blue light emitting diode 231aY: yellow light emitting diode

233a, 233b, 233c: substrate 237a, 237b, 237c: protective cover

250a, 250b, 250c: selector 270a, 270b, 270c: top panel

280: temperature controller

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator that improves a structure to maintain freshness for a long time and suppresses a decrease in nutrients contained in food.

Generally, a refrigerator includes a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment, and either side of the refrigerating compartment is separately provided with a vegetable compartment for adjusting humidity to store vegetables and fruits (hereinafter collectively referred to as "vegetables") more freshly. . Therefore, the vegetable compartment in the refrigerating compartment may be an example of a food storage container.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 1, a refrigerator equipped with a conventional food storage container will be described.

FIG. 1 illustrates a case in which the food storage container 20 is applied to a top-mounted refrigerator in which a freezing compartment is located at an upper portion of the refrigerators of various types and a refrigerating compartment is located at the lower portion of the freezing compartment.

Factors affecting the freshness of vegetables are known as temperature, humidity, environmental gases, microorganisms, and light. Since vegetables continue to breathe and transpire, the inhibition of breathing and transpiration is essential to maintain the freshness of vegetables. Specifically, most vegetables except for some of the vegetables that cause the disturbance at low temperatures can be suppressed breathing at low temperatures, can be prevented from evaporating at high humidity.

For this reason, in order to keep vegetables fresh for a long time, a typical home refrigerator is provided with a food storage container which is a space for storing vegetables as a space independent of the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator. The food storage container is controlled to maintain the humidity by the moisture that is evaporated from the vegetables, while maintaining the appropriate low temperature state of vegetables. Therefore, by the food container it is possible to maintain vegetables fresh for a long time.

On the other hand, while maintaining the freshness of vegetables for a long time by properly maintaining the temperature and humidity as described above, in recent years, methods for maintaining the freshness of vegetables using light, which is another influence factor of freshness, have been proposed.

While strong light has a negative effect on promoting food color change and transpiration, relatively weak light is known to improve the freshness of vegetables. In addition, such weak light is known to inhibit the decomposition of chlorophyll (chlorophyll), especially in green leafy vegetables, and is known to be effective in the maintenance of vitamin C.

The refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 is as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-28363, and includes an irradiation device 23 for irradiating weak light to a food storage container 20 provided below the refrigerator 10, in particular, The concentration of chlorophyll in the green leafy vegetables is prevented from being lowered, and consequently, the quality of the leafy vegetables is prevented.

Particularly, when the drawer type food container is open, the refrigerator 10 operates an illumination lamp 29 for allowing a user to visually recognize an object inside the storage room 21, and the drawer type food container is closed. In this state, the irradiation apparatus 23 was operated to prevent the degradation of the quality of the green leafy vegetables caused by the light as described above.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-159953 configures the irradiation apparatus 23 as a light emitting diode (LED) in the visible light region, thereby minimizing the heat generated by the irradiation apparatus 23, thereby reducing the temperature in the storage chamber 21. Is prevented from rising and can be driven with higher efficiency than other irradiation devices.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-49093 discloses a form in which a red light emitting diode having a wavelength of about 660 nm is applied to green leafy vegetables.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-65622 proposes an irradiation apparatus for classifying food storage containers into a plurality of storage rooms and irradiating light of an appropriate wavelength according to the type of vegetables. More specifically, the light emitting diode device is configured to be selected by combining the light emitting color according to the type of vegetables using the red, blue, green three-color light emitting diode device.

However, the refrigerator according to the prior art has the following problems.

First, the conventional irradiation device can be selected by combining the light emitting color of the three color light emitting diodes, but it is not clear what kind of foods are effective red, blue, and green light emitting diodes specifically, it is to maintain the freshness of the stored food or prevent chlorophyll reduction The effectiveness of the irradiation device was negligible.

Second, since the light emitting color of the light emitting diode is limited, it is difficult to combine the light emitting color suitable for various kinds of food.

Third, although the conventional irradiation apparatus is provided with a selection means for selecting the emission color by the three-color light emitting diode element, as described above, the selection means for selecting the emission color because the emission color of light suitable for any food is not known. This had no high effectiveness.

Even though the experiment shows that the light emission color of light is effective according to the type of food, it is very cumbersome for the user to select the emission color by remembering this information one by one, or to select the emission color of the irradiated light by searching for related information. There was this.

Fourth, it is not possible to determine which emission color to be irradiated for foods that have not been experimentally identified, and the user may not know whether the emission color selected by the user is suitable for the stored food, thereby giving confidence in the irradiation apparatus. There was no problem.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, the object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that can maintain the freshness and nutritional ingredients of food for a long time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator with improved user convenience.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, the refrigerator body; A storage room provided in the refrigerator body to store food; And an irradiation device capable of irradiating light in a visible light region to the storage room and switching the emission color of the irradiation light, wherein the emission color of the light emitted by the irradiation device is red, green, indigo blue, yellow and white. Provided is a refrigerator made of a combination of light included.

In addition, the irradiation apparatus preferably comprises a light emitting diode (LED). In addition, it is more preferable that the irradiation apparatus is set differently from the emission color of light irradiated corresponding to the color of the food stored in the storage chamber.

On the other hand, it is preferable to include a selection device for selecting the color (color) of the food stored in the storage room, and switching the emission color of the light irradiated by the irradiation apparatus corresponding to the color of the selected food. When the color of the food is red-based, the irradiation apparatus is a red light, and when the color of the food is green, the irradiation device is a combination of green light and white light, and the color of the food is yellow-based. When the irradiation device is a white light, the color of the food is white-based, the irradiation device is a combination of yellow light and white light, if the color of the food is a violet-based the irradiation device is yellow It is more preferable to irradiate a combination of light and white light.

And it is preferable that the said irradiation apparatus switches the light emission color of the light to irradiate with time.

Food storage method using a refrigerator according to the invention the storage step of storing food; An irradiation step of irradiating light in a visible light region by combining light including red, green, indigo, yellow, and white to the stored food; And, it comprises a switching step of switching the emission color of the irradiation step.

In the irradiation step, it is preferable that the emission color of light irradiated corresponding to the color of the food to be stored is set differently. In addition, it is more preferable to include a selection step of selecting the color of the food stored in the storage room.

On the other hand, in the irradiation step, it is preferable to switch the emission color of the light to be irradiated with time.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of this embodiment, the same name and the same reference numerals are used for the same configuration and additional description thereof will be omitted.

2 to 4, the basic configuration of a first embodiment of a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described.

This embodiment illustrates a side-by-side type refrigerator in which a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment are divided into right and left sides among various types of refrigerators. Accordingly, the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment are provided on the right and left sides of the refrigerator body, respectively, and the food storage container 200 is provided under the refrigerator compartment in the refrigerator body.

The food container 200 includes a plurality of storage chambers 210a, b, and c, irradiation devices 230a, b, and c, and selection devices 250a, b, and c.

The plurality of storage chambers 210a, b, and c are storage spaces for storing food, and are formed by a bottom surface and left and right side walls. In the present embodiment, the storage compartments 210a, b, and c are configured to be opened and closed in a sliding manner so that the user can easily put or take out food.

However, the opening and closing method of the storage compartments 210a, b, and c are not limited to the present exemplary embodiment, and the doors having a hinge structure may be opened and closed at the top of the storage compartments 210a, b, and c. It can be configured to be, and can be modified in various other forms.

And the food container 200 is preferably designed in a sealed structure in order to prevent the humidity from leaking to the outside. By configuring the storage compartments 210a, b, and c in a sealed structure, humidity in the storage compartments 210a, b, and c may be maintained for a long time due to moisture evaporated from food.

On the other hand, the storage chamber (210a, b, c) is composed of a plurality of compartments. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 4, the food container 200 illustrates a form consisting of a total of three storage compartments (210a, b, c) partitioned in the vertical direction.

And one or more of the storage compartment (210a, b, c) may be further provided with a temperature control device 280 that can adjust the temperature in the storage compartment (210a, b, c) to serve as a storage function of meat or vegetables. .

The irradiation apparatuses 230a, b, and c serve to irradiate light in a visible light region to each of the plurality of compartments 210a, b, and c which are divided into a plurality of compartments.

For reference, the visible light refers to light having a wavelength in the visible range of the human eye, and varies slightly depending on the human, but the wavelength range is generally 380 to 770 nm. In visible light, the change of properties according to the wavelength appears in each color, and the wavelength becomes shorter from red to purple. For example, in the case of monochromatic light, 700 to 610 nm is red, 610 to 590 nm is orange, 590 to 570 nm is yellow, 570 to 500 nm is green, 500 to 450 nm is blue, and 450 to 400 nm is purple. .

When irradiating light in the infrared region with a wavelength longer than 770 nm, the temperature in the storage chambers 210a, b, and c is raised, and the surface temperature of the food being stored is increased and the food surface is discolored to maintain the freshness of the food. Adversely affects. Therefore, it is preferable that the irradiation apparatus 230a, b, c irradiate light in the visible light region.

However, since the visible light region and the infrared region of the red series and the visible region and the ultraviolet region of the purple series are not precisely distinguished, the visible light region according to the present invention is a part of the infrared region and the ultraviolet region in the wavelength range adjacent to the visible region. Also includes.

On the other hand, the irradiation apparatus (230a, b, c) is a substrate (233a, b, c), the light emitting elements (231a, b, c) provided on the substrate (233a, b, c), the light emitting element (231a) and protective covers 237a, b, and c for preventing moisture from penetrating into b, c, and preventing damage to the light emitting devices 231a, b, and c.

There is no limitation on the kind of the light emitting elements 231a, b, and c, but it is preferable to include a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs). Since the light emitting diodes generate less heat and have relatively higher efficiency than other light emitting devices 231a, b, and c, the light emitting diodes are suitable for the food container 200.

In this embodiment, since the light emitting devices 231a, b, and c are formed of light emitting diodes, the temperature generated by the light emitting devices 231a, b, and c is minimized by minimizing heat generated by the irradiation devices 230a, b, and c. Minimize, and can be driven at a lower power than the other irradiation apparatus (230a, b, c).

On the other hand, the irradiation apparatus 230a, b, c according to the invention corresponding to the color of the food stored in the storage chamber (210a, b, c), the light emission color of the irradiated light is set differently.

The inventors have found that the emission color of light most effective for the food stored by the experiment is determined according to the color of the food stored. With this in mind, the present embodiment is configured to classify various types of food according to the color of the food, and to set the emission color of light to be irradiated accordingly.

For reference, the food stored in the food container 200 may be mainly classified into vegetables and fruits. In addition, the vegetables can be classified into leaf vegetables (莖葉 菜類) using leaves or stems, root vegetables (roots) using roots or stems, and fruit vegetables (果菜類) using fruits, according to the use portion.

According to the present invention, various types of vegetables and fruits are classified according to colors, and light emission colors of light irradiated to each other are set differently.

The present inventors through the experiment the most effective light emission color corresponding to each food color is shown in the following table.

Color of food Example of the food Combination Of Suitable Light Emitting Diodes Red Apple, Strawberry, Cherry, Plum R green Various herbs, cucumbers, cabbages, lettuce G, W White Garlic, ginger, onion, mushroom, potato Y, W yellow Tangerine, orange, grapefruit W purple Grape branches R, B

Where R is a red light emitting diode, G is a green light emitting diode, B is a blue light emitting diode, Y is a yellow light emitting diode, and W is a white light emitting diode.

In particular, the present inventors irradiate a combination of green and white light to the green-based food, and irradiate a combination of yellow and white light to the white-based food, as shown in the above table, and a purple-based color. Experiments have found that the combination of red and indigo light is more effective in maintaining freshness and preventing chlorophyll concentration.

The inventors classified the foods by color as described above, and irradiated the light emitting diodes shown in the table to the classified foods, respectively, and measured the freshness change trend of the stored foods after a certain period of time.

As a result, it was confirmed that discoloration of food, remarkably reduced drying, mildew, and almost no softening occurred than all the foods were uniformly irradiated with a white light-emitting diode.

4 is categorized according to the color of the food stored as described above, the first storage room (210a) located at the top of the storage room (210a, b, c) to store the bok chokchae and green corresponding to the green series, The second storage room (210b) located in the middle stores the tomato and strawberry corresponding to the red series, and the third storage room (210c) located at the bottom exemplifies the use state storing the cabbage corresponding to the green series and have.

On the other hand, the position of the irradiation apparatus (230a, b, c) is not limited. That is, it may be provided above or below the storage chambers 210a, b, and c. As shown in FIG. 4, the irradiation apparatuses 230a, b, and c are provided on the upper sides of the storage chambers 210a, b, and c as shown in FIG. 4.

The selection devices 250a, b, and c are provided in front of each of the upper panels 270a, b, and c. And the selection device (250a, b, c) consists of a total of seven buttons, to turn off the operation of the irradiation device (230a, b, c), or to input the color of the food classified into five series It is configured to control the operation of the irradiation apparatus (230a, b, c), or to change the emission color with time. A detailed description of the selection devices 250a, b, and c will be described later with reference to FIG. 8.

On the other hand, although not shown, the food storage container 200 preferably includes an opening and closing detection sensor for detecting whether the storage chamber (210a, b, c) opening and closing. In addition, it is preferable to configure whether the storage chambers 210a, b, c are opened or closed through the open / close detection sensor, and when the storage chamber is closed, the light is irradiated by the irradiation devices 230a, b, c.

Referring to FIG. 5, the light emitting device arrangement in the first embodiment of the refrigerator will be described as follows.

The location and arrangement of the light emitting devices 231a, b, and c may be implemented in various forms, but it is preferable to arrange the light emitting devices 231a, b, and c so that light is evenly applied to the food. 5 is an example of the position and arrangement of the light emitting elements 231a, b, and c, and shows a configuration of an irradiation apparatus for the first storage chamber 230a among the three storage compartments 210a, b, and c. . As shown in FIG. 5, a red light emitting diode 231aR, a green light emitting diode 231aG, a white light emitting diode 231aW, and a blue light emitting diode are located at the center of the upper panel 270a provided above the storage chamber 210a. 231aB and a yellow light emitting diode 231aY are disposed.

More specifically, the circle formed by the center is partitioned at the same angle, and red, green, white, indigo, and yellow light emitting diodes 231aR, 231aG, 231aW, 231aB, and 231aY are disposed in each of the divided fan-shaped spaces. have.

In addition, the light emitting device is preferably to increase the irradiation angle of the light so as to evenly irradiate the food stored in the light.

Referring to Figure 6, a second embodiment of the refrigerator according to the present invention will be described.

For convenience, the upper panel 370a for the first storage chamber 210a positioned at the top will be described.

The basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above. However, in the present embodiment, the irradiation apparatus 230a is not centrally disposed at the center of the upper panel 370a and is disposed at a predetermined interval on the upper panel 370a.

That is, in the present invention, as a method for evenly irradiating light to food, red, green, white, indigo, and yellow light emitting diodes 231aR, 231aG throughout the upper panel 370a provided on the upper side of the storage compartment 210a. , 231aW, 231aB, and 231aY are disposed at regular intervals in the horizontal and vertical directions.

Referring to FIG. 7, a third embodiment of a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described.

In the present embodiment, unlike the first and second embodiments described above, the irradiation apparatuses 430a, b, and c are provided on the outer rear side of the storage chambers 210a, b, and c, not on the upper side.

That is, the irradiation apparatuses 430a, b, and c are integrally formed with the refrigerator main body at the outer rear of the storage compartment. Accordingly, the light irradiated from the irradiation apparatuses 430a, b, and c passes through sidewalls forming the storage chambers 210a, b, and c, and is irradiated into the storage chambers 210a, b, and c.

Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the sidewalls forming the storage chambers 210a, b, and c are preferably made of a material that transmits light.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the irradiation apparatus is similar to the first embodiment described above, the substrates 433a, b, c, the substrates 433a, Protection to prevent damage to the light emitting elements 431a, b, c by preventing moisture from penetrating into the light emitting elements 431a, b, c provided on the b and c and the light emitting elements 431a, b, c. The cover 437a, b, and c is comprised.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the irradiation apparatuses 430a, b, and c exemplify a form in which the light emitting elements 431a, b, and c are concentrated on one side of the outer rear, but in the outer rear as in the above-described second embodiment. It can be installed at regular intervals in the horizontal and vertical directions over a wide range.

Referring to FIG. 8, the selection apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

In the present embodiment, the selection devices 250a, b, and c are provided in front of each of the upper panels 270a, b, and c. 8 shows the configuration of the selection device 250a corresponding to the first storage chamber 210a among the selection devices 250a, b, and c.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the selection device 250a includes six buttons. Specifically, the selection device 250a includes an off button 251a, a red selection button 252a, a green selection button 253a, a yellow selection button 254a, and a white selection. It comprises a button 255a, a purple selection button 256a, and a switching mode selection button 257a.

The off button 251a performs a function of selecting an operation of turning off the irradiating device and is selected when the operation of the irradiating device is stopped.

The red selection button 252a, the green selection button 253a, the yellow selection button 254a, the white selection button 255a, and the purple selection button 256a perform a function of selecting a food having a corresponding color. In addition, it is preferable to configure the color of the selection buttons to the corresponding color in order to increase the user's identification. In addition, it is preferable for the selection buttons to show foods corresponding to each selection button by way of example to improve the user's identification.

8 is a red selection button is a red-based food strawberry, tomato, green selection button is a green-based food bok chokchae and green onion, yellow selection button is a yellow-based food tangerine, white selection button is a white-based food potato, purple selection button Silver exemplarily shows a form of a grape-based food.

The switching mode selection button 257a is a button for selecting a mode in which the emission color of light to be irradiated with time is switched as described above.

8 illustrates a form in which the selection device is composed of buttons, it is also possible to be made by the rotation of the selection lever, various other modifications are possible.

The present invention is provided with the selection device (250a, b, c) as described above, so that the user selects the color of the food directly, the emission color is switched, or select the conversion mode so that the emission color of the light to be irradiated over time to be switched Can be.

Until now, the form of applying the food storage container according to the present invention to the side-by-side type refrigerator has been described, but it is also possible to apply the refrigerator to the top-mounted refrigerator having a freezer compartment in the upper portion and a refrigerating chamber in the lower portion.

Referring to the operating principle of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

First, the user stores the food, and the stored food is irradiated with light in the visible region. At this time, the emission color of the irradiated light is made by a combination of light including red, green, indigo blue, yellow and white. The light emission color of the irradiated light is set corresponding to the color of the food stored in the storage chamber as described above.

On the other hand, the light emission color of the irradiated light can be switched, the user can select the color of the food stored by the selection device, so that the stored food to select the color to switch the light emission color corresponding to the color of the selected food Can be.

In addition, the emission color of the light irradiated onto the food is changed over time, so that the stored food can be kept evenly fresh.

Up to now, mainly for vegetables, but described an example in which the food storage container is applied to the refrigerator, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and targets various types of food, such as meat, grains, kimchi, liquor, In addition to the refrigerator, it can be applied to various products such as kimchi refrigerator, rice barrel, and wine cellar.

Accordingly, those skilled in the art can make modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention.

The refrigerator according to the present invention having the above configuration has the following effects.

First, by irradiating food with a combination of light including red, green, indigo, yellow and white, it is possible to select the most suitable luminous color for various kinds of foods to maintain the freshness of foods and to prevent chlorophyll concentration by the irradiation device. There is an advantage to maximize.

Second, the light emission color of the irradiated light is switched over time, there is an advantage that all the food is evenly maintained when a variety of food is stored in the storage room.

Third, the user can select the color of the food is stored, there is an advantage that can be set to the light emission color suitable for the food stored as needed.

Fourth, by providing a clear and intuitive criteria for selecting the emission color of the light to be irradiated, the user can easily select the emission color, there is an advantage that can give the user confidence in the irradiation apparatus.

Claims (14)

Refrigerator body; A storage room provided in the refrigerator body to store food; And, Irradiation device for irradiating light in the visible light region to the storage room, and to switch the emission color of the light to be irradiated, The light emitting color of the light irradiated by the irradiation device is a refrigerator made of a combination of light including red, green, indigo blue, yellow and white. The method of claim 1, The irradiation apparatus comprises a light emitting diode (LED). The method of claim 1, The irradiation apparatus is a refrigerator, characterized in that the emission color of the light to be irradiated corresponding to the color of the food stored in the storage room is set differently. The method of claim 1, And a selection device for selecting a color of the food stored in the storage room and switching the emission color of light irradiated by the irradiation device in response to the color of the selected food. The method of claim 1, When the color of the food is a red series, the irradiating apparatus is characterized in that the irradiation of red light. The method of claim 1, When the food color is a green-based, the irradiation apparatus is characterized in that the irradiated with a combination of green light and white light. The method of claim 1, When the color of the food is a yellow series, the irradiating apparatus is characterized in that the irradiation of white light. The method of claim 1, When the food color is a white series, the irradiation apparatus is characterized in that the irradiated by combining the light of yellow and white light. The method of claim 1, When the food color is a purple series, the irradiation apparatus is characterized in that the irradiated by combining the light of yellow and white light. The method of claim 1, The irradiation device, A refrigerator, wherein the emission color of light to be irradiated is switched over time. A storage step of storing food; An irradiation step of irradiating light in a visible light region by combining light including red, green, indigo, yellow, and white to the stored food; And, Food storage method using a refrigerator comprising a switching step of switching the emission color of the irradiation step. The method of claim 11, The irradiation step is a food storage method using a refrigerator, characterized in that for setting the emission color of the light irradiated corresponding to the color of the stored food. The method of claim 11, Food storage container using a refrigerator, characterized in that it further comprises a selection step of selecting the color of the food being stored. The method of claim 11, The investigation step, Food storage container using a refrigerator, characterized in that for changing the light emission color of the irradiation with time.

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