KR20190031833A - Sensor for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an aspect of the present invention, a sensor for a refrigerator comprises: an inner sensor unit disposed to face the inside of a refrigerator storage chamber and including an inner humidity sensor configured to sense humidity in the refrigerator storage chamber; an outer sensor unit disposed to face the outside of the refrigerator and including an outer humidity sensor configured to sense humidity outside the refrigerator storage chamber; and a processor determining a state of foods stored in the refrigerator storage chamber based on humidity data sensed from the inner humidity sensor and humidity data sensed from the outer humidity sensor. Therefore, the state of the foods stored in the refrigerator storage chamber can be determined.

Description

Sensor for refrigerator [0002]

The present invention relates to a sensor for a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a sensor for a refrigerator that can efficiently manage the freshness and the like of a food stored in a refrigerator storage compartment.

Generally, a refrigerator is a device that allows storage of a stored product in a fresh state for a long time by the cold air supplied to the inside of the storage room. The cool air supplied to the inside of the storage chamber is generated by the heat exchange action of the refrigerant. The cold air supplied to the inside of the storage room is uniformly transferred to the inside of the storage room by the convection so that the food can be stored at a desired temperature.

In general, foods containing foods such as milk, cheese, and eggs have shelf-life by type. In particular, it is important to keep fresh and fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables in a healthy and economical manner.

In the past, information on the shelf life of the food materials directly stored by the user was often handwritten on paper. However, this conventional method has the inconvenience that the user has to constantly check the expiration date information for each food, write it down on paper, and store the paper on which the information on the expiration date is described.

In order to solve such a problem, Prior Art 1 (Laid-Open No. 10-2008-0084240) reads and manages a food of a refrigerator using an RFID tag, a one-dimensional bar code or a two-dimensional bar code.

However, the conventional art 1 has a problem that it can not be used in the case of a food to which the RFID tag is not attached.

Prior art 2 (Laid-open No. 10-2006-0111009) discloses a food management refrigerator that efficiently manages food stored in a living room through a shape image of food obtained by using imaging means.

Conventional technology 2 can efficiently manage food using images acquired by a camera, but it may be difficult to recognize some foods depending on the locations of cameras and stored foods.

In addition, there have been techniques for detecting the freshness of fruits and vegetables stored in the storage room by detecting gases generated during aging of vegetables and fruits and decaying by using a gas sensor. In this case, it is difficult to grasp the freshness of the vegetables at the initial stage where gas is hardly generated, and there is a possibility that the odor of foods may be interfered with the corruption of vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator storage room.

Therefore, there is an increasing research on a method for efficiently recognizing and managing the foods stored in the refrigerator.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sensor for a refrigerator which can detect the state of food stored in a storage room by sensing humidity and a food management method using the same.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sensor for a refrigerator which can more accurately determine the state of food using a humidity sensor and a pressure sensor, and a food management method using the same.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sensor for a refrigerator including: an internal sensor unit disposed inside the refrigerator storage compartment and including an internal humidity sensor for sensing humidity inside the refrigerator storage compartment; And an external humidity sensor for sensing a humidity outside the refrigerator storage compartment and a controller for controlling the humidity sensor based on the difference between the humidity data detected by the internal humidity sensor and the humidity data detected by the external humidity sensor By including the processor for determining the state of the food stored in the refrigerator storage room, the state of the food stored in the refrigerator storage room can be determined.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, the state of the food stored in the storage room can be detected by sensing the humidity.

In addition, according to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, there is an advantage that the state of the food can be more accurately discriminated by using the humidity sensor and the pressure sensor.

Meanwhile, various other effects will be directly or implicitly disclosed in the detailed description according to the embodiment of the present invention to be described later.

1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a front view of the door of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 1 when opened. Fig.
3 is a view showing an appearance of a sensor for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are views showing an arrangement example of a sensor for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is an internal block diagram of a sensor for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 7 to 11 are views referred to the description of the operation of the sensor for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and can be modified into various forms.

In the drawings, the same reference numerals are used for the same or similar parts throughout the specification.

The suffix "module" and " part "for components used in the following description are given merely for convenience of description and do not give special significance or role in themselves. Accordingly, the terms "module" and "part" may be used interchangeably.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view when a door 4 of the refrigerator 10 shown in FIG. 1 is opened.

The forms of the refrigerator 10 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 are illustrative, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

1 and 2, a refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a main body 3 having a storage room S for storing food, a door 4 for opening and closing the main body 3, And a door switch 160 for detecting that the door 4 is opened or closed.

At least one storage chamber S may be formed in the main body 3. [ When a plurality of storage compartments S are formed in the main body 3, a plurality of storage compartments S may be partitioned by a barrier. The main body 3 may include an upper storage chamber and a lower storage chamber, or may include a left storage chamber and a right storage chamber. The main body 3 may include a refrigerating chamber located on the upper side and a freezing chamber located on the lower side of the refrigerating chamber. The main body 3 may include an outer case 11 which forms an outer appearance.

Specifically, the storage compartment S can be formed in the main body 3 by the inner case 2. [ The inner case 2 may be located inside the outer case 11. [ The main body 3 may be provided with a heat insulating material between the outer case 11 and the inner case 2.

The inner case 2 may be formed in a box shape whose front surface is opened. The inner case 2 may include a left plate, a right plate, an upper plate, a lower plate, and a thick plate.

A plurality of storage compartments (S) for storing food are formed in the main body (3). The plurality of storage rooms S may be partitioned into independent spaces, and spaces connected to each other may be logically divided. Specifically, the storage chamber S of the main body 3 can be defined by being partitioned by the shelf 6.

The shelf 6 is placed in the storage room S so that the storage room S can be partitioned into a plurality of spaces.

A drawer may be disposed in at least one storage chamber (S). Or one or more storage compartments S may be configured in a drawer shape to be distinguishable from the rest of the storage compartments or storage compartments. The drawer is for storing or mounting foods, and a plurality of the drawers may be arranged in the vertical and / or lateral directions. The drawer may be composed of a container (also called a drawer or bin) in which a space of a certain size is filled with food.

In addition, the at least one storage room S may be configured to be slidable back and forth and may be opened or closed, or may be provided with a door so as to be opened or closed according to the movement of the door.

The at least one storage room S may be a vegetables room (also referred to as a fresh room) for storing fresh foods such as vegetables and fruits therein.

The main body 3 may include a cooling device for cooling the storage chamber S. [

The cooling device may include a compressor for compressing the refrigerant, a condenser for condensing the refrigerant compressed in the compressor, an expansion mechanism for expanding the refrigerant condensed in the condenser, and an evaporator for evaporating the refrigerant expanded in the expansion mechanism.

The main body 3 may include a storage room (S) fan (not shown) for supplying cool air of the storage room S to the storage room S after flowing into the evaporator. The main body 3 may include a cool air duct (not shown) for guiding the air cooled by the evaporator to the storage room S. The cool air duct may be formed with a cool air discharge port (not shown) for discharging cool air guided to the storage room S.

A plurality of doors 4 can open / close the storage room S, and a plurality of doors 4 can open / close the storage room S together. The door 4 and the main body 3 may be provided with a door switch 160 for detecting the opening of the door 4.

The door switch 160 senses that the door 4 opens and closes the main body 3 and transmits the detection result to a control unit (not shown) of the refrigerator 10. Various known techniques for detecting whether the door 4 is opened can be used for the door switch 160.

The main body 3 may further include a display unit 180 for displaying a predetermined image.

The display unit 180 can display information such as a control screen and an operating state. For example, the display unit 230 can display the service type (each ice, water, sculptured ice) of the dispenser, the set temperature of the freezer, and the set temperature of the freezer.

The display unit 180 may be implemented in various types such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED), and an organic light emitting diode (OLED).

In addition, the display unit 180 may display an image captured by an internal camera (not shown), or may display a user interface screen or the like.

Also, the display unit 180 may be provided as a touch screen, and may be used as an input unit.

According to an embodiment, the refrigerator 10 may include a sensing unit 12 for acquiring an external image or sensing a user's input or movement.

For example, the sensing unit 12 may include an image sensor and an image processing module.

The sensing unit 12 may process still images or moving images obtained by an image sensor (for example, CMOS or CCD). The image processing module processes the still image or moving image obtained through the image sensor, extracts necessary information, and transmits the extracted information to the control unit.

For example, the sensing unit 12 may include a vibration sensor that detects a knock input by the user that hits the front of the refrigerator.

The control unit can determine the user's sex, age, face, access state of the user, input of the user, etc. according to the information acquired by the sensing unit 12, and can control the operation of the refrigerator 10 have.

The sensing unit 12 may be installed at a position where the image of the periphery of the door 4 or the input of the user can be obtained. For example, the sensing unit 12 may be installed on the outer surface of the main body 3 or on the front surface of the door 4.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an appearance of a sensor for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are views showing an example of arrangement of a sensor for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is an internal block diagram of a sensor for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 to 7, a sensor 100 for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention is disposed to face the inside of a refrigerator storage compartment S and detects the humidity inside the refrigerator compartment S And an external humidity sensor 121 disposed to face the outside of the refrigerator storage compartment S and sensing the humidity outside the refrigerator compartment S, includes an internal sensor unit 110 including an internal humidity sensor 111, And may include an external sensor unit 120.

Here, the refrigerator storage room S may be a vegetable room S for storing fresh foods such as vegetables and fruits. Hereinafter, the case where the refrigerator storage compartment S is the vegetable compartment S will be described. However, the refrigerator compartment sensor 100 according to the present invention can be used in other storage compartments.

Meanwhile, the vegetable compartment S is formed in a drawer shape and can be slid in the forward and backward directions, and the user can draw the vegetable compartment S in front of the refrigerator 10 to insert or remove food. Alternatively, the front surface S1 of the vegetable compartment S may be constituted by a door, and the user may open the door to insert or remove the food.

The sensor 100 for a refrigerator may include a main body 101 for housing various components therein and the internal sensor unit 110 and the external sensor unit 120 may be mounted on both sides of the main body 101 .

The sensor 100 for a refrigerator can be inserted into a part of the front surface S1 of the vegetable compartment S and be mounted thereon. In this case, the internal sensor unit 110 may be disposed to face the inside of the vegetable compartment S, and the external sensor unit 120 may be disposed to face the outside of the vegetable compartment S. Accordingly, the internal sensor unit 110 can sense the internal humidity of the vegetables room S, and the external sensor unit 120 senses the external humidity of the vegetables room S, that is, the humidity inside the refrigerator 10 can do.

Meanwhile, the sensor 100 for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention may be configured such that, based on the difference between the humidity data sensed by the internal humidity sensor 111 and the humidity data sensed by the external humidity sensor 121, And a processor 140 for determining the state of the food stored in the storage unit S, as shown in FIG. The processor 140 may be housed inside the main body 101.

The processor 140 determines whether or not the vegetable compartment S is in a predetermined condition based on the difference between the internal humidity data of the vegetable compartment S sensed by the internal humidity sensor 111 and the external humidity data of the vegetable compartment S sensed by the external humidity sensor 121, The freshness and the like of the food stored in the food can be determined.

The sensor 100 for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured such that two humidity sensors 111 and 121 are positioned inside and outside the vegetable compartment S and the humidity values of the two humidity sensors 111 and 121 Using the difference, moisture evaporation of vegetables and fruits can be measured.

Also, according to the present invention, freshness can be measured by the humidity difference between the inside and outside of the vegetable compartment S even if the humidity environment in the refrigerator is changed by applying the vegetable room (S) external humidity sensor 121.

When the difference between the humidity data sensed by the internal humidity sensor 111 and the humidity data sensed by the external humidity sensor 121 becomes smaller than a predetermined reference value, the processor 140 determines that the moisture evaporation amount It is possible to discriminate that the freshness of the food has deteriorated.

Alternatively, when the decrease slope of the difference (value) between the humidity data sensed by the internal humidity sensor 111 and the humidity data sensed by the external humidity sensor 121 becomes smaller than the reference slope, , It is possible to judge that the freshness of the food has deteriorated due to a large amount of water evaporation over time.

Time-lapse and corruption caused by the gas varies depending on the type of vegetables and fruits stored, but water is common regardless of the type of vegetables and fruits.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the freshness of food can be determined more accurately than the determination of freshness using gas, by estimating the amount of moisture change by the humidity change and determining the freshness of the food according to the moisture change.

Meanwhile, the sensor 100 for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include pressure sensors 112 and 122 for sensing a pressure change.

6, the internal sensor unit 110 and the external sensor unit 120 include the pressure sensors 112 and 122, respectively, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, only the internal sensor unit 110 may be provided with the pressure sensor 112, or only the external sensor unit 120 may be provided with the pressure sensor 122.

In the present embodiment, when the pressure change in the pressure sensor 112 or 122 is greater than the reference value, the processor 140 detects the humidity data detected by the internal humidity sensor 111 and the external humidity sensor 121 The state of the food can be discriminated from the data corresponding to the time when the pressure change exceeding the reference value occurs.

The pressure sensors 112 and 122 can sense changes in pressure generated when the doors 4 of the refrigerator 10 are opened and closed.

As the door 4 of the refrigerator 10 is opened and closed, the internal humidity of the refrigerator 10 may be affected by external humidity. Also, the inside / outside humidity of the vegetables room S may be affected. Therefore, the present invention can discriminate whether the door 4 is opened or closed with the data sensed by the pressure sensors 112 and 122, and can precisely determine the freshness by excluding the humidity change due to the opening and closing of the door 4 have.

The sensor 100 for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a storage unit 150, a communication unit 190, a battery (not shown), and the like. The storage unit 150, 190, a battery (not shown), and the like can be housed in the main body 101.

The storage unit 150 records various kinds of information required for the operation of the refrigerator sensor 100, and may include a volatile or nonvolatile recording medium. The storage medium stores data that can be read by a microprocessor, and includes a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state disk (SSD), a silicon disk drive (SDD), a ROM, a RAM, a CD- Tape, floppy disk, optical data storage, and the like.

In addition, the storage unit 150 may store sensed data of the internal sensor unit 110 and the external sensor unit 120.

The communication unit 190 may communicate with other electronic devices including at least one communication module.

The communication unit 190 can transmit the determined food status information such as freshness to the refrigerator 10, the user's mobile terminal, a predetermined server, or the like, under the control of the processor 140. [ As a result, the user can be informed of the freshness of the food.

The communication unit 190 may transmit sensed data of the internal sensor unit 110 and the external sensor unit 120 to the refrigerator 10, the user's mobile terminal, a predetermined server, or the like, under the control of the processor 140 have.

Alternatively, the sensor 100 for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a light emitting device capable of outputting light of a predetermined color, and when it is determined that the freshness is decreased, , The user can be informed of the freshness of the food.

The battery can supply power for operation of the sensor 100 for a refrigerator.

According to the present invention, since the internal sensor unit 110 and the external sensor unit 120 are disposed on both sides of the main body 101, the humidity of the inside / outside of the greenhouse S can be controlled by one sensor 100 for the refrigerator. Can be detected. In addition, since it is not necessary to provide two components such as the processor 140, the storage unit 150, and the communication unit 190, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

FIGS. 7 to 11 are views referred to the description of the operation of the sensor for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a graph showing humidity data inside / outside the vegetable compartment S sensed by the internal sensor unit 110 of the sensor 100 for refrigerator and the external sensor unit 120 after vegetables are put into the vegetable compartment S to be.

8 is a graph showing the difference in humidity inside / outside the vegetable compartment S detected by the internal sensor unit 110 of the sensor 100 and the external sensor unit 120. FIG.

7 and 8, when the initial vegetable is introduced, the moisture content of the vegetable is maintained at 80-90% or more in a high-humidity state, and the moisture is balanced in the vegetable room S over time The humidity gradually decreases.

At this time, as the moisture decreases, the weight of the vegetables also decreases at the same time. Therefore, the freshness of the vegetables can be inferred according to the amount of humidity change (the inside of the vegetable room and the external humidity difference) and the freshness can be monitored.

7 and 8, the difference graph of the humidity data and the internal / external humidity data sensed by the internal sensor unit 110 and the external sensor unit 120 due to the compressor operation of the refrigerator 10 has a fluctuation an oscillation occurs.

FIG. 9 is a graph in which only the maximum value (Max point) is taken in FIG. 8 and the humidity oscillation phenomenon by the compressor operation in the refrigerator is removed.

10 is a graph showing a result of measuring a change in weight of vegetables put into the vegetable compartment S. As shown in FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, it can be seen that the slope of 2 to 4 days and 4 to 7 days are different in the humidity and weight graphs.

Accordingly, when the difference between the humidity data sensed by the internal humidity sensor 111 and the humidity data sensed by the external humidity sensor 121 becomes smaller than a predetermined reference value, It is possible to determine that the freshness of the food has deteriorated because the amount of evaporation is large.

Alternatively, when the decrease slope of the difference (value) between the humidity data sensed by the internal humidity sensor 111 and the humidity data sensed by the external humidity sensor 121 becomes smaller than the reference slope, , It is possible to judge that the freshness of the food has deteriorated due to a large amount of water evaporation over time.

11 is a graph showing pressure and humidity changes when the door (4) of the refrigerator (10) is opened and closed.

Referring to FIG. 11, when the door 4 of the refrigerator 10 is opened and closed, humidity changes due to inflow of outside air occur. Therefore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the humidity change phenomenon by the door 4 of the refrigerator 10 is removed by using the pressure sensor 112 and / or 122, and freshness is determined based on the remaining humidity data .

The processor 140 determines whether or not the pressure of the humidity data detected by the internal humidity sensor 111 and the external humidity sensor 121 exceeds the reference value The state of the food can be discriminated, except for the data corresponding to the time of occurrence of the change.

That is, the present invention monitors the change in the pressure in the refrigerator 10 by the data sensed by the pressure sensors 112 and 122, and it is possible to distinguish the humidity change due to door opening / closing and the humidity change due to the internal factors of the greenhouse. In addition, when the humidity change due to opening and closing of the door (4) is checked by checking the humidity change factor, it can be excluded from the freshness monitoring.

 The processor 140 determines whether the door 4 is opened or closed and excludes a change in humidity caused by the opening and closing of the door 4 to more accurately determine the freshness.

The present invention uses the moisture content of fresh foods such as vegetables and fruits as a measure of freshness instead of the gas generated during the aging and storage of fresh foods such as vegetables and fruits.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, the state of the food stored in the storage room can be detected by sensing the humidity.

According to the present invention, the freshness of the food being stored can be inferred and discriminated by the difference in the humidity inside / outside the vegetables room.

According to the present invention, even if the humidity environment in the refrigerator is changed by placing one humidity sensor in each of the inside and outside of the greenhouse, it is possible to determine the freshness by the humidity difference inside / outside the greenhouse

In addition, according to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, there is an advantage that the state of the food can be more accurately discriminated by using the humidity sensor and the pressure sensor.

According to the present invention, the humidity change phenomenon occurring when the refrigerator door is opened and closed can be distinguished by monitoring the internal pressure of the refrigerator with the pressure sensor, and by removing the influencing component of the humidity change due to the opening and closing of the door, Can be determined.

The sensor for a refrigerator according to the present invention is not limited to the configuration and method of the embodiments described above, but the embodiments may be modified so that all or some of the embodiments are selectively combined .

Meanwhile, a method of operating the sensor for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention can be implemented as a code that can be read by a processor in a recording medium readable by the processor. The processor-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording apparatuses in which data that can be read by the processor is stored. Examples of the recording medium that can be read by the processor include a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like, and may also be implemented in the form of a carrier wave such as transmission over the Internet . In addition, the processor-readable recording medium may be distributed over network-connected computer systems so that code readable by the processor in a distributed fashion can be stored and executed.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, It should be understood that various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Refrigerator: 10
Sensors for refrigerator: 100
Body: 101
Internal sensor part: 110
External sensor part: 120

Claims (5)

An internal sensor unit arranged to face the inside of the refrigerator storage compartment and including an internal humidity sensor for sensing the humidity inside the refrigerator storage compartment;
An external sensor unit disposed outside the refrigerator storage compartment and including an external humidity sensor for sensing humidity outside the refrigerator compartment; And
And a processor for determining the state of the food stored in the refrigerator storage room based on the difference between the humidity data sensed by the internal humidity sensor and the humidity data sensed by the external humidity sensor. The method according to claim 1,
And a pressure sensor for sensing a change in pressure. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the processor excludes data corresponding to a time point at which a pressure change exceeding the reference value occurs in the humidity data detected by the internal humidity sensor and the external humidity sensor when a pressure change exceeding a reference value is sensed by the pressure sensor, And the state of the food is determined. The method according to claim 1,
The processor comprising:
Wherein when the difference between the humidity data detected by the internal humidity sensor and the humidity data detected by the external humidity sensor becomes smaller than a predetermined reference value, the sensor for the refrigerator is determined. The method according to claim 1,
The processor comprising:
And a controller for determining that the freshness of the food is lowered when a decrease slope of the difference between the humidity data sensed by the internal humidity sensor and the humidity data sensed by the external humidity sensor becomes smaller than a reference slope, .

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