TW202305293A - Cold-keeping time prediction system capable of predicting in advance a cold keeping time in the event of a power failure before a power failure - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a cold-keeping time prediction system capable of predicting in advance a cold keeping time in the event of a power failure before a power failure. To achieve the object, the system includes: a refrigerator 10 equipped with a cooler 20 for cooling the inside of the refrigerator; and a server control part 41 for determining the predicted cold-keeping time when the power failure occurs and notifying the user according to the configured temperature inside the refrigerator 10 or the actually measured temperature inside the refrigerator 10 when a power failure is predicted in advance. As a result, with the server control unit 41, it is able to determine the predicted cold keeping time in the event of a power failure and notify the user of such, so as to take the cold keeping status in the refrigerator 10 when the power failure occurs, thereby performing food management inside the refrigerator during power failure.

Description

Cold storage time prediction system

This disclosure relates to a cold preservation time prediction system.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which when a commercial power failure occurs and power is restored, the temperature detection unit detects the temperature of the storage room, and when the temperature of the storage room becomes higher than a predetermined notification temperature, Make a report through the Power Outage Reporting Department. prior art literature patent documents

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-160422

The problem to be solved by the invention The present disclosure provides a cold storage time prediction system capable of predicting the cold storage time during a power outage before the power outage.

means to solve problems The cold storage time prediction system in this disclosure is characterized by comprising: a refrigerator equipped with a cooler for cooling the interior of the refrigerator; and a control unit that predicts the occurrence of a power outage in advance based on the set interior temperature of the refrigerator or the actually measured interior temperature. , calculate the predicted cold storage time during power failure, and notify the user.

Invention effect The cold storage time prediction system in this disclosure obtains the predicted cold storage time during a power outage by the control unit, and notifies it to the user, so it can grasp the cold storage status in the refrigerator when the power outage occurs, and can be used during a power outage. Carry out food management in the warehouse from time to time.

form for carrying out the invention (Intellectual insights that form the basis of this disclosure, etc.) At the time when the inventors conceived of this disclosure, there was already the following technology: when the utility power fails and the power supply is restored, the temperature detection unit detects the temperature of the storage room, and the temperature of the storage room becomes higher than the predetermined notification temperature. In case of high temperature, report through the power outage notification department.

In the conventional technology, although the notification is made when the temperature in the refrigerator rises when the power supply is restored from a power outage, if the cold storage time of the refrigerator at the time of the power outage can be known before the power outage, the user can Carry out the management of food, etc. in the warehouse. However, the inventors discovered the problem that it is difficult to predict the cold storage time in the refrigerator, and finally constituted the subject of the present disclosure in order to solve the problem. Therefore, the present disclosure provides a cold storage time prediction system capable of predicting the cold storage time during a power outage before the power outage.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, detailed explanations beyond necessity are sometimes omitted. For example, detailed descriptions of well-known items or repeated descriptions of substantially the same configurations may be omitted. In addition, the attached drawings and the following descriptions are provided to allow those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 will be described using drawings. [1-1. Composition] Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator 10 in Embodiment 1.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the refrigerator 10 includes a box-shaped casing 11 whose front is opened. A refrigerator compartment 12 is formed above the housing 11 , and a freezer compartment 13 is formed below the housing 11 . Partition wall 14 is provided between refrigerator compartment 12 and freezer compartment 13 . In the refrigerator 10 , a side-opening door 15 is provided at the front opening of the refrigerator compartment 12 so as to be freely openable and closable. The freezer compartment 13 is provided with a drawer 16 for accommodating food.

A duct 17 communicating in the vertical direction is provided behind the refrigerator compartment 12 and the freezer compartment 13 of the refrigerator 10 . A plurality of discharge ports 18 for refrigeration communicated with duct 17 are formed at the rear of refrigerator compartment 12 . Also, a plurality of freezing discharge ports 19 communicating with duct 17 are formed at the rear of freezing compartment 13 . Cooler 20 functioning as an evaporator is arranged at a position corresponding to the rear of freezing compartment 13 on duct 17 . A cooling fan 21 is disposed above the cooler 20 in the duct 17 . A damper 22 is provided at a position of the duct 17 corresponding to the partition wall 14 , and the damper 22 adjusts the amount of cold air cooled by the cooler 20 driven by the cooling fan 21 to the refrigerating chamber 12 .

Compressor 23 is arranged in the rear upper portion of refrigerator compartment 12 . The compressor 23 , a condenser (not shown), the expansion mechanism, and the cooler 20 are connected by refrigerant piping to constitute a refrigeration cycle. And, by discharging the refrigerant from the compressor 23, the refrigerant is cooled to a predetermined temperature and exchanges heat with the air flowing through the duct 17 to generate cool air. The cooling fan 21 circulates the cold air in the refrigerator compartment 12 or the freezer compartment 13 to cool the interior of the refrigerator compartment 12 and the freezer compartment 13 .

[1-1-2. Configuration of cold storage time prediction system] Next, the cold storage time prediction system 1 using the said refrigerator 10 is demonstrated. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the cooling time prediction system 1 . As shown in FIG. 2 , the cold storage time prediction system 1 is a system in which a device connected to a global network GN controls a refrigerator 10 through the global network GN. The general network GN includes Internet, telephone network and other communication networks. The cooling time prediction system 1 includes a refrigerator 10 , a refrigerator management server 40 , and a terminal device 50 .

First, the control configuration of refrigerator 10 will be described. The refrigerator 10 includes a refrigerator control unit 30 , a refrigerator communication unit 31 , a cooling unit 32 , and a sensor unit 33 . The refrigerator control unit 30 is constituted by a processor such as a CPU or an MPU that executes programs, and includes a refrigerator storage unit 34 . The refrigerator control unit 30 reads the control program stored in the refrigerator storage unit 34 and executes the control of the refrigerator 10 through cooperation of hardware and software.

The refrigerator storage unit 34 has a storage area, and the storage area stores programs executed by the refrigerator control unit 30 or data processed by the refrigerator control unit 30 . The refrigerator storage unit 34 stores a control program executed by the refrigerator control unit 30 , setting data related to the setting of the refrigerator 10 , and various other data. The refrigerator storage unit 34 has a non-volatile storage area. In addition, the refrigerator storage unit 34 may also have a volatile storage area to constitute a working area of the refrigerator control unit 30 .

The refrigerator communication unit 31 has communication hardware according to a predetermined communication standard, and is controlled by the refrigerator control unit 30 to communicate with devices connected to the general network GN according to a predetermined communication standard. The refrigerator communication unit 31 communicates with the refrigerator management server 40 according to a predetermined communication standard. The communication standard used by the refrigerator communication unit 31 may be a wireless communication standard (such as IEEE802.11a/11b/11g/11n/11ac, Bluetooth (registered trademark)), or a wired communication standard.

The cooling unit 32 controls the compressor 23 , the cooling fan 21 , the damper 22 and other mechanisms that cool each storage chamber of the refrigerator 10 to cool each storage chamber of the refrigerator 10 according to the control of the refrigerator control unit 30 .

The sensor part 33 is equipped with various sensors, and outputs the detected value of the sensor to the refrigerator control part 30 for each sensor. A detector or an opening/closing sensor for detecting the opening and closing of the door 15 and the drawer 16 provided in the refrigerator 10, etc. As shown in FIG. 1 , sensor unit 33 includes refrigerator compartment temperature sensor 35 and freezer compartment temperature sensor 36 as temperature sensors. The refrigerating room temperature sensor 35 is installed at a predetermined position of the refrigerating room 12 to detect the temperature inside the refrigerating room 12 . The freezer temperature sensor 36 is installed at a predetermined position of the freezer 13 to detect the temperature in the freezer 13 . The ambient temperature sensor 37 is installed at a predetermined position outside the refrigerator 10 to detect the ambient temperature of the refrigerator 10 .

The refrigerator control unit 30 controls in any one of a standard operation mode and a pre-cooling operation mode in which the interior temperature of the refrigerator 10 is lower than the standard operation mode. Refrigerator 10 can perform cooling operation in stages of "weak", "medium" and "strong" for refrigerator compartment 12 and/or freezer compartment 13 in the standard operation mode. For example, when the refrigerator compartment 12 is in the standard operation mode, it is set to 5°C in the case of "weak", 4°C in the case of "medium", and 3 in the case of "strong". ℃. When the refrigerator compartment 12 is in the precooling operation mode, it is set to 3°C. Also, for example, when the freezer compartment 13 is in the standard operation mode, it is set to -18°C in the case of "weak", -20°C in the case of "medium", and -20°C in the case of "strong". is set to -22°C. When the freezer compartment 13 is in the precooling operation mode, it is set to -28°C.

Next, the configuration of the refrigerator management server 40 will be described. The refrigerator management server 40 includes a server control unit 41 and a server communication unit 42 .

The server control unit 41 is constituted by a processor such as a CPU or an MPU that executes programs, and includes a server storage unit 43 . The server control unit 41 reads the control program stored in the server storage unit 43, and controls each unit of the refrigerator management server 40 through cooperation of hardware and software.

The server storage unit 43 has a storage area for storing programs executed by the server control unit 41 or data processed by the server control unit 41 . The server storage unit 43 stores the control program executed by the server control unit 41 , the setting data related to the setting of the refrigerator management server 40 , the cooling management database 44 and other various data. The server storage unit 43 has a non-volatile storage area. In addition, the server storage unit 43 may also have a volatile storage area to constitute the work area of the server control unit 41 .

The cold storage management database 44 is a database storing various information related to the operation control of the refrigerator 10 . In the cold storage management database 44 , refrigerator IDs, predicted cold storage time information of the refrigerator 10 , and the like are stored.

The server communication unit 42 has communication hardware according to a predetermined communication standard, and under the control of the server control unit 41 , communicates with devices connected to the general network GN according to a predetermined communication standard. In this embodiment, the server communication unit 42 communicates with the refrigerator 10, the terminal device 50, and the power outage prediction server.

In the cold storage management database 44, the estimated cold storage time information of the refrigerator 10 is stored as mentioned above. For each refrigerator 10, the predicted cold storage time information is obtained through experiments in advance for the refrigerator 12 and the freezer 13. The storage capacity inside is stored in a database based on the cooling time of the refrigerator compartment 12 or freezer compartment 13 .

FIG. 3 is a graph showing an example of the estimated cold storage time in refrigerator compartment 12 . As shown in FIG. 3 , for example, when the temperature inside the refrigerator compartment 12 is 5° C. and the ambient temperature of the refrigerator 10 is 16° C., 25° C., and 32° C., the cold storage capacity of the refrigerator compartment 12 is obtained respectively. time. In the example of FIG. 3 , for example, when the internal temperature of the refrigerator compartment 12 is 5° C., the ambient temperature is 25° C., and the storage capacity of the refrigerator compartment 12 is 50%, it can be known that the cold storage time is 8 hours. Similarly, based on the temperature inside the freezer 13 , the ambient temperature, and the storage capacity of the freezer 13 , the predicted cold storage time in the freezer 13 is obtained in advance to create a database. In addition, the so-called cold preservation time means the time until it becomes 10 degreeC in the case of the refrigerator compartment 12, and means the time until it becomes -15 degreeC in the case of the freezer compartment 13. This point is set in consideration of the influence on the food in the refrigerator, but the reference temperature of the cold storage time can be changed appropriately. For example, in the case of the refrigerator compartment 12, the reference temperature of the cold storage time may be set lower than 10 degreeC, and may be set higher than 10 degreeC. Also, similarly, in the case of the freezer compartment 13, the reference temperature for the cold storage time may be set lower than -15°C, or may be set higher than -15°C.

In this case, in this embodiment, instead of creating a database of predicted cold storage time information in advance, for example, the cold storage time may be generated based on the actually measured values of the internal temperatures of the refrigerator compartment 12 and the freezer compartment 13 . FIG. 4 is a graph showing an example of how to generate the predicted cold storage time based on the actual measurement value of the internal temperature in refrigerator compartment 12 . In this case, first, the refrigerator control unit 30 detects the internal temperature of the compressor 23 when the compressor 23 is stopped or during defrosting, etc. This detected value is sent to the refrigerator management server 40 . The refrigerating room temperature information and the freezing room temperature information are detected temperature information of the refrigerating room 12 or the freezing room 13 detected by the sensor unit 33 .

The server control unit 41 of the refrigerator management server 40 calculates the prediction of the rise of the temperature in the refrigerator according to the change of the received detection value of the temperature in the refrigerator. For example, by predicting the subsequent temperature rise in the chamber from the change in the detection value of the chamber temperature every 5 minutes, a temperature rise prediction curve is generated as shown in FIG. 4 .

The server control unit 41 calculates the cold storage time when the current power failure occurs according to the predicted cold storage time stored in the cold storage management database 44 or the temperature rise prediction curve of the predicted cold storage time calculated by the server control unit 41 . The cooling time is sent to the terminal device 50 described later.

Next, the configuration of the terminal device 50 will be described. The terminal device 50 includes a terminal control unit 51 , a terminal communication unit 52 and a touch panel 53 .

The terminal control unit 51 is constituted by a processor such as a CPU or an MPU that executes programs, and includes a terminal storage unit 54 . The terminal control unit 51 reads the control program stored in the terminal storage unit 54, and controls each unit of the terminal device 50 through cooperation of hardware and software.

The cold storage support application can be installed in advance on the terminal device 50 . The cold keeping support application 55 is read and executed by the terminal control unit 51 from the terminal storage unit 54 , whereby the terminal device 50 notifies the user of the predicted cold keeping time.

The terminal storage unit 54 has a storage area which stores programs executed by the terminal control unit 51 or data processed by the terminal control unit 51 . The terminal storage unit 54 stores the control program executed by the terminal control unit 51 , the setting data related to the setting of the terminal device 50 , the cooling support application 55 , user ID, and other various data. The terminal storage unit 54 has a non-volatile storage area. In addition, the terminal storage unit 54 may also have a volatile storage area to constitute the work area of the terminal control unit 51 .

The terminal communication unit 52 has communication hardware according to a predetermined communication standard, and under the control of the terminal control unit 51 , communicates with devices connected to the general network GN according to a predetermined communication standard. The terminal communication unit 52 communicates with the refrigerator management server 40 according to a predetermined communication standard by using the function of the cooling support application 55 . The communication standard used by the terminal communication unit 52 is a wireless communication standard.

The touch panel 53 includes a display panel such as a liquid crystal display panel, and a touch sensor that is overlapped with or integrally provided with the display panel. The display panel displays various images under the control of the terminal control unit 51 . The touch sensor detects the touch operation and outputs it to the terminal control unit 51 . The terminal control unit 51 executes processing corresponding to the touch operation according to the input from the touch sensor.

For the terminal device 50, for example, warning information based on weather information such as a typhoon or power failure risk prediction information is sent from the power failure prediction server 60 as a push notification. The push notification can also be sent to the terminal device 50 on a predetermined date and time, such as the first day of each month. When the terminal device 50 receives alarm information from the power outage prediction server 60 , the terminal control unit 51 executes the cold storage support application 55 to request the refrigerator management server 40 for the prediction result of the cold storage time. In response to the request, the refrigerator management server 40 transmits the cold storage time prediction result, and displays the cold storage time of the refrigerator compartment 12 and the freezer compartment 13 of the refrigerator 10 at the time of power failure on the touch panel 53 . In addition, there may be no push notification, and the cold storage time may be predicted by the user executing the cold storage support application 55 .

[1-2. Action, etc.] Next, the operation of refrigerator 10 and cooling time prediction system 1 in Embodiment 1 will be described. First, referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 , the operation in the case of predicting the cooling time based on the database stored in the cooling management database 44 of the refrigerator management server 40 will be described.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of the touch panel of the terminal device 50 . FIG. 6 is a time chart showing an example of predicting the cooling time from the database based on the information obtained in advance. As shown in FIG. 6 , in this embodiment, the refrigerator 10 periodically measures the current interior temperature and ambient temperature, and sends the measurement results to the refrigerator management server 40 . The refrigerator management server 40 stores the transmitted interior temperature information and ambient temperature information in the server storage unit 43 .

And, as shown in FIG. 6, when a push notification such as alarm information has been sent from the power outage prediction server 60, the terminal control unit 51 of the terminal device 50 displays a confirmation button on the touch screen for confirming the cold storage time at the time of power outage. control panel 53.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5( a ), when the push notification has been sent, the terminal control unit 51 of the terminal device 50 activates the cooling support application. When the cold keeping support application starts, the current operation mode of the refrigerator 10 (in FIG. 5 , the operation mode is displayed as the standard mode) and a confirm button for predicting the cold keeping time will be displayed on the touch panel of the terminal device 50 . When the user operates the confirmation button, as shown in FIG. 5( b ), the terminal control unit 51 displays icons for selecting the storage volume of the refrigerator 10 on the touch panel. The user operates the storage volume selection icon to input the storage volume of the refrigerator, and operates the "next" icon. Moreover, similarly, a user inputs the storage volume (not shown) of a freezer compartment.

When the user operates the confirmation button, an instruction is issued to send the storage volume input by the user to the refrigerator management server 40 from the terminal device 50 .

When the storage volume in the storage room is sent to the refrigerator management server 40, the server control unit 41 of the refrigerator management server 40, according to the storage volume information sent, the storage temperature information stored in advance, and the ambient temperature information, from the cold storage management data From the database stored in the library 44 , the corresponding predicted cold storage time is extracted, and the predicted cold storage time is sent to the terminal device 50 .

As shown in FIG. 5( c ), the terminal device 50 displays on the touch panel 53 the estimated cooling time transmitted from the refrigerator management server 40 . In addition, in the case of the refrigerator compartment 12, this predicted cold storage time is not only displayed from the present time until it reaches 10 degreeC, for example, it may display the internal temperature several hours later.

In addition, in this case, for example, when a frozen PET bottle or the like is put in the refrigerator compartment 12 or the freezer compartment 13 , a suggestion to extend the expected cooling time may be displayed. In this case, for example, by selecting the capacity of the plastic bottle, it is also possible to display the extension time of the predicted cold storage time corresponding to the capacity of the plastic bottle.

FIG. 7 is a time chart showing another example of predicting the cooling time from the database based on the information obtained in advance. In the present embodiment, refrigerator 10 is configured to automatically acquire the storage amount in the refrigerator. That is, the refrigerator 10 regularly measures the current interior temperature and ambient temperature, and automatically measures the storage volume in the refrigerator, and sends the measurement result to the refrigerator management server 40 . The storage capacity in the library is measured based on, for example, illumination, weight, images, etc. in the library. The refrigerator management server 40 stores the transmitted interior temperature information and ambient temperature information in the server storage unit 43 .

Moreover, through the push notification, when the user operates the confirmation button, the confirmation operation information of the terminal device 50 is sent to the refrigerator management server 40 . After confirming that the operation information is sent to the refrigerator management server 40, the server control unit 41 of the refrigerator management server 40, according to the stored temperature information, ambient temperature information and storage volume information, from the cold storage management database 44. From the database, the corresponding predicted cold storage time is extracted, and the predicted cold storage time is sent to the terminal device 50 . The terminal device 50 displays on the touch panel 53 the estimated cooling time transmitted from the refrigerator management server 40 .

FIG. 8 is a time chart showing an example of a case where a cold storage time is predicted using a database. As shown in FIG. 8 , when a push notification such as alarm information has been sent from the power outage prediction server 60, the terminal control unit 51 of the terminal device 50 displays on the touch panel a confirmation button for confirming the cold storage time during the power outage. 53. When the user operates the confirmation button, an instruction is issued to measure the current internal temperature, ambient temperature, and storage capacity of the refrigerator 10 from the terminal device 50 , and send the measurement results to the refrigerator management server 40 .

After the measurement result is sent to the refrigerator management server 40, the server control unit 41 of the refrigerator management server 40, as mentioned above, from the database stored in the cold storage management database 44, according to the stored temperature information sent from the refrigerator 10 , ambient temperature information, storage capacity information in the warehouse, extract the corresponding predicted cold storage time, and send the predicted cold storage time to the terminal device 50 .

The terminal device 50 displays on the touch panel 53 the estimated cooling time transmitted from the refrigerator management server 40 .

FIG. 9 is a time chart showing an example of how the refrigerator 10 performs prediction of the cold storage time. In the present embodiment, a database of predicted cooling time information is stored in the refrigerator storage unit 34 in advance. As shown in FIG. 9, in the present embodiment, when a push notification such as alarm information has been sent from the power outage prediction server 60, the terminal control unit 51 of the terminal device 50 makes a confirmation message for confirming the cold storage time during the power outage. Buttons are displayed on the touch panel 53 . When the user operates the confirmation button, an instruction is issued to measure the current interior temperature, ambient temperature, and storage capacity of the refrigerator 10 from the terminal device 50 .

The refrigerator control unit 30 uses the measured internal temperature information, ambient temperature information, and storage volume information from the database stored in the refrigerator storage portion 34 to obtain the internal temperature information, ambient temperature information, and storage capacity information. , extracting the corresponding predicted cold keeping time, and sending the predicted cold keeping time to the terminal device 50 . The terminal device 50 displays on the touch panel 53 the predicted cooling time transmitted from the refrigerator 10 .

In addition, in this case, as shown in FIG. 6 , the user may input the storage volume of the refrigerator 10 through the terminal device 50, and send the storage volume information to the refrigerator 10, thereby controlling the storage capacity of the refrigerator 10. 30 to extract the predicted cold storage time. In this example, without using the refrigerator management server 40 , the refrigerator 10 can be used to obtain the predicted cooling time and display it on the terminal device 50 . Therefore, even if there is no device connected to the general network GN such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), as long as there is a short-distance communication device such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), the predicted cold storage time can be obtained.

FIG. 10 is a time chart showing an example of a state where the terminal device 50 performs prediction of the cold storage time. In the present embodiment, the terminal storage unit 54 stores a database of predicted cooling time information in advance.

As shown in FIG. 10, in this embodiment, when a push notification such as alarm information has been sent from the power outage prediction server 60, the terminal control unit 51 of the terminal device 50 makes a confirmation message for confirming the cooling time during the power outage. Buttons are displayed on the touch panel 53 . When the user operates the confirmation button, an instruction is issued to measure the current interior temperature, ambient temperature, and storage capacity of the refrigerator 10 from the terminal device 50 .

The refrigerator control unit 30 transmits the measured interior temperature information, ambient temperature information, and interior storage volume information to the terminal device 50 . The terminal control unit 51 extracts the corresponding predicted cold keeping time from the database stored in the terminal storage unit 54 according to the internal temperature information, ambient temperature information, and storage volume information sent from the refrigerator 10, and makes the predicted cold keeping time The time is displayed on the touch panel 53 .

In addition, in this case, as shown in FIG. 6 , the user may input the storage volume of the refrigerator 10 through the terminal device 50 , and thereby use the terminal control unit 51 according to the information sent from the refrigerator 10 . The storage temperature information, ambient temperature information and storage volume information have been input to extract the predicted cold storage time. In this example, without using the refrigerator management server 40 , the refrigerator 10 can be used to obtain the predicted cooling time and display it on the terminal device 50 . Therefore, even if there is no device connected to the general network GN such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), as long as there is a short-distance communication device such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), the predicted cold storage time can be obtained.

Next, the operation in the case where the refrigerator management server 40 predicts the cold keeping time based on the actual measurement value will be described. Fig. 11 is a time chart showing an example of the case of predicting the cold storage time from actual measurement values. As shown in FIG. 11 , when a push notification such as alarm information has been sent from the power outage prediction server 60, the terminal control unit 51 of the terminal device 50 displays on the touch panel a confirmation button for confirming the cold storage time during the power outage. 53. When the user operates the confirmation button, an instruction is issued to send the predicted cooling time from the terminal device 50 to the refrigerator management server 40 .

In the refrigerator management server 40, the detection value of the temperature inside the refrigerator in the state in which the compressor 23 is stopped is sent from the refrigerator 10 to the refrigerator management server 40 in advance, and the server control unit 41 of the refrigerator management server 40 is based on the From the interior temperature sent by the refrigerator 10 , calculate the temperature rise prediction curve for the predicted cold storage time to find the cold storage time when a power failure occurs at the current time point, and send the predicted cold storage time to the terminal device 50 .

The terminal device 50 displays on the touch panel 53 the estimated cooling time transmitted from the refrigerator management server 40 . In this case, as mentioned above, it may be made to display the internal temperature after several hours, or it may be made to display the proposal which aims at prolonging the predicted cold storage time.

In addition, although the operation|movement in the case of predicting a cold storage time from an actual measurement value was demonstrated, this indication is not limited to this. For example, the refrigerator management server 40 may also be configured to stop the compressor 23 stored in the refrigerator storage unit 34 in advance, instead of obtaining the temperature information of the refrigerator 10 in advance, when the user presses the confirm button. The detection value of the internal temperature of the refrigerator is sent to the refrigerator management server 40 . In this case, it is preferable to send the latest detection value of the internal temperature before the user operates the confirmation button, that is, the detection value of the internal temperature in the state where the compressor 23 is stopped, to the refrigerator management server 40 . At least two detection values of the temperature in the refrigerator sent to the refrigerator management server 40 are required. There may also be more than 2 detected values of the temperature in the refrigerator sent to the refrigerator management server 40 . In addition, the detection value of the temperature in the storage can also be stored in the temperature sensor. Also, as in the case of predicting the cold storage time using the aforementioned database, it is not only the refrigerator management server 40 that predicts the cold storage time, but also the refrigerator 10 or the terminal device 50 may be used.

[1-3. Effects, etc.] As described above, in this embodiment, a refrigerator 10 is provided with a cooler 20 for cooling the inside of the refrigerator; Set the internal temperature or the actual measured internal temperature, calculate the predicted cold storage time in case of power failure, and notify the user. In this way, since the server control unit 41 calculates the predicted cooling time during a power outage and notifies it to the user, it is possible to grasp the cold storage condition in the refrigerator 10 when the power outage occurs, and to obtain the cold storage time during the power outage. Carry out food management in the warehouse.

Also, in the present embodiment, the server control unit 41 (control unit) is provided with: a database, and the cold storage time based on the set store temperature and the ambient temperature is obtained in advance, and the server control unit 41 obtains the storage time according to the database. Predicted cold storage time in the event of a power outage. In this way, the cold storage time can be easily predicted based on the database.

Also, in the present embodiment, the server control unit 41 (control unit) acquires the actual temperature inside the refrigerator 10 when the cooling of the refrigerator 10 is stopped, and the server control unit 41 calculates the temperature at the time of power failure based on the acquired temperature inside the refrigerator. Predict cold storage time. Thereby, prediction of the cold storage time at the time of power failure can be performed based on the actual measurement value of the temperature inside a storehouse.

Also, in the present embodiment, the server control unit 41 (control unit) acquires the ambient temperature of the refrigerator 10 and the storage volume in the refrigerator, and calculates the predicted cold storage time during power failure based on the internal temperature, the ambient temperature, and the storage volume. . This makes it possible to predict the cold storage time during a power outage.

Also, in this embodiment, there is provided a terminal device 50 capable of communicating with the refrigerator 10 and the refrigerator management server 40, and the terminal device 50 displays the predicted cooling time calculated by the server control unit 41 and notifies the user. Thereby, the user can be notified of the estimated cool-keeping time during a power outage through the terminal device 50 .

(Embodiment 2) Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. [2-1. Composition] In this embodiment, since the configurations of the refrigerator 10 and the cold storage time prediction system 1 are the same as those of the first embodiment, the drawings used in the description of the first embodiment will be used for description, and the same parts will be denoted by the same reference numerals. and omit its description. In the first embodiment, the cold storage time before the power outage is predicted, but in this embodiment, the cold storage time during the power outage is predicted.

Similar to Embodiment 1, a cold storage management database 44 is installed in the refrigerator management server 40, and the cold storage management database 44 stores the predicted cold storage time information of the refrigerators 10 that have been databased. In Embodiment 1, although the server control unit 41 is configured to obtain the predicted cold storage time based on the temperature information in the refrigerator 10, the ambient temperature information, and the storage capacity information in the refrigerator, it becomes difficult to obtain the time during a power outage. the information. Therefore, in the present embodiment, for example, a battery that can drive only the sensor unit 33 and the refrigerator communication unit 31 of the refrigerator 10 is provided. server 40. Then, the server control unit 41 will predict the cold storage time from the cold storage management database 44 according to the temperature information in the storage room.

Moreover, similarly to Embodiment 1, it is also possible to generate|occur|produce the cooling time based on the actual measurement value of the interior temperature of the refrigerator compartment 12 and the freezer compartment 13. In this case, first, the refrigerator control unit 30 detects the internal temperature of the compressor 23 when the compressor 23 is stopped or during defrosting, etc. This detected value is sent to the refrigerator management server 40 . The server control unit 41 of the refrigerator management server 40 calculates the prediction of the rise of the temperature in the refrigerator according to the change of the received detection value of the temperature in the refrigerator.

In this case, in this embodiment, since the power outage is in progress, the refrigerator 10 is stopped at the present time, and the temperature inside the refrigerator 10 cannot be acquired. Therefore, what is necessary is just to predict the cold preservation time based on the actual measurement value acquired before a power outage, when predicting the cool preservation time based on the actual measurement value of temperature inside a storeroom. In addition, as mentioned above, it is also possible to transmit the actually measured value of the temperature inside the refrigerator to the refrigerator management server 40 using a battery during a power outage.

Also, during a power outage, the refrigerator management server 40 cannot determine whether or not the refrigerator 10 is in a power outage. Therefore, for example, the refrigerator management server 40 may communicate with the refrigerator 10 at predetermined intervals, and if there is a response, it may be determined that it is not a power failure. Also, similarly, when the cold storage time is predicted based on actual measured values, it may be determined that there is a power outage if the actual measured value of the interior temperature is not transmitted from refrigerator 10 within a certain period of time. In addition, it is also possible to transmit to the refrigerator management server 40 the fact that it is in a power outage state by operating the terminal device 50 by the user.

[2-2. Action, etc.] Next, the operation of refrigerator 10 and cold storage time prediction system 1 in Embodiment 2 will be described. First, referring to FIG. 12 , the operation in the case of predicting the cooling time based on the database stored in the cooling management database 44 of the refrigerator management server 40 will be described.

FIG. 12 is a time chart showing an example of a case where a cold storage time is predicted from a database. As shown in FIG. 12 , the refrigerator 10 regularly measures the current interior temperature and ambient temperature, and automatically measures the storage volume in the refrigerator, and sends the measurement results to the refrigerator management server 40 . The refrigerator management server 40 stores the transmitted interior temperature information, ambient temperature information, and storage volume information in the server storage unit 43 .

Moreover, when the power is off, when the user operates the confirmation button of the terminal device 50 , the confirmation operation information of the terminal device 50 is sent to the refrigerator management server 40 .

After confirming that the operation information is sent to the refrigerator management server 40, the server control unit 41 of the refrigerator management server 40 will use the temperature information sent from the refrigerator 10 from the database stored in the cold storage management database 44, and the ambient Temperature information, storage capacity information, and extract the predicted cold storage time that matches.

In this case, since the power outage is in progress, new storage temperature information, ambient temperature information, and storage capacity information will not be sent from the refrigerator 10, so it will be based on the storage temperature information, ambient temperature information, Storage capacity information to predict cold storage time. As mentioned above, for example, the refrigerator management server 40 may communicate with the refrigerator 10 at predetermined intervals, and if there is no response, it may be determined that the power is outage. Therefore, the refrigerator management server 40 first stores the time of the power failure, and then subtracts the time from the time of the power failure to the time when the confirmation button is operated by the user from the predicted cold keeping time, thereby calculating the remaining cold keeping time.

The terminal device 50 displays the remaining cooling time transmitted from the refrigerator management server 40 on the touch panel 53 . At the same time, display the temperature in the storage. In this case, similarly to Embodiment 1, it may be made to display the interior temperature several hours later, or it may be made to display the proposal for prolonging the predicted cold storage time.

Next, the operation in the case where the refrigerator management server 40 predicts the cold keeping time based on the actual measurement value will be described. Fig. 13 is a time chart showing the operation in the case of predicting the cold storage time from actual measurement values. In the present embodiment, for example, a configuration is provided such that a battery capable of driving only the sensor unit 33 and the refrigerator communication unit 31 of the refrigerator 10 is provided, and the actually measured value of the temperature inside the refrigerator can be transmitted to the refrigerator during a power failure using the battery. Management server 40 . In addition, a configuration may be adopted in which a temperature sensor used during a power failure unlike a refrigerator can transmit an actually measured value of the interior temperature to the refrigerator management server 40 . In this case, the temperature sensor used during a power failure is driven by a battery and has the same functions as the sensor unit 33 and the refrigerator communication unit 31 of the refrigerator 10 . As shown in FIG. 13 , when the user operates the confirmation button of the terminal device 50 , an instruction is issued to send the predicted cooling time from the terminal device 50 to the refrigerator management server 40 .

In the refrigerator management server 40 , based on the detection value of the internal temperature during the power outage transmitted in advance, the temperature rise prediction curve for the predicted cold storage time is calculated to obtain the predicted cold storage time. Then, the refrigerator management server 40 calculates the remaining cold keeping time according to the predicted cold keeping time, and sends it to the terminal device 50 .

The terminal device 50 displays on the touch panel 53 the remaining cooling time and/or the temperature in the refrigerator sent from the refrigerator management server 40 .

Next, the operation|movement in the case of predicting a cold storage time based on an actual measurement value is demonstrated. Fig. 14 is a time chart showing an example of the case of predicting the cold storage time from actual measurement values. In the present embodiment, for example, the configuration is as follows: the refrigerator control unit 30 capable of driving the refrigerator 10, the sensor unit 33, and the battery for the refrigerator communication unit 31 are provided. The value is sent to the refrigerator management server 40. In addition, unlike the refrigerator 10 , a temperature sensor used during a power outage may be configured to transmit the actually measured value of the interior temperature to the refrigerator management server 40 . In this case, the temperature sensor used during the power failure has the same functions as the refrigerator control unit 30 , the sensor unit 33 , and the refrigerator communication unit 31 of the refrigerator 10 .

As shown in Figure 14, when the user operates the confirmation button of the terminal device 50, an instruction is issued to measure the current internal temperature of the refrigerator 10 from the terminal device 50, and send the internal temperature information including the measurement result to Refrigerator management server 40 . The internal temperature information also includes the result of measuring the internal temperature during a power outage before the user operates the confirmation button. At least two results of temperature measurement in the refrigerator are required to be sent to the refrigerator management server 40 . There may be more than two results of temperature measurement in the refrigerator sent to the refrigerator management server 40 . In this case, the refrigerator storage unit 34 stores the temperature in the refrigerator during the power failure. In addition, when the refrigerator control unit 30 is not driven, the sensor unit 33 may have a function of storing the temperature in the refrigerator during a power failure.

After the storage temperature information is sent to the refrigerator management server 40, the server control unit 41 of the refrigerator management server 40 calculates the temperature rise prediction curve of the predicted cold storage time according to the storage temperature information, obtains the predicted cold storage time, and according to the The predicted cold storage time is used to calculate the remaining cold storage time and send it to the terminal device 50 . In addition, after the user operates the confirmation button, an instruction may be issued to measure the current internal temperature of the refrigerator 10 from the terminal device 50 and send the measurement result to the refrigerator management server 40 . In this case, after the measurement result is sent to the refrigerator management server 40, the server control unit 41 of the refrigerator management server 40 calculates the temperature rise forecast for predicting the cold storage time based on the detected value of the temperature inside the refrigerator during the power outage sent in advance. curve, calculate the predicted cold storage time, and calculate the remaining cold storage time according to the predicted cold storage time, and send it to the terminal device 50 . The terminal device 50 displays on the touch panel 53 the remaining cooling time and/or the temperature in the refrigerator sent from the refrigerator management server 40 .

Next, the operation|movement in the case where refrigerator 10 predicts cold storage time based on an actual measurement value is demonstrated. FIG. 15 is a time chart showing an example of how the refrigerator 10 predicts the cold keeping time from actual measured values. In the present embodiment, for example, it is configured as follows: the refrigerator control unit 30 capable of driving the refrigerator 10, the sensor unit 33, and the refrigerator communication unit 31 are equipped with a battery, etc., and the battery can be used to store the remaining cold storage time and/or the refrigerator during a power failure. Or the actual measurement value of the temperature in the chamber is sent to the terminal device 50 . In addition, a configuration may be adopted in which a temperature sensor used during a power failure, unlike the refrigerator 10 , can transmit the remaining cooling time and/or the actually measured value of the interior temperature to the terminal device 50 . In this case, the temperature sensor used during a power failure is driven by a battery and has the same functions as the refrigerator control unit 30 , the sensor unit 33 , and the refrigerator communication unit 31 of the refrigerator 10 .

As shown in FIG. 15, when the user operates the confirmation button of the terminal device 50, an instruction is issued to measure the current internal temperature of the refrigerator 10 from the terminal device 50, and calculate the temperature based on the internal temperature information including the measurement result. The predicted cold storage time and/or remaining cold storage time are displayed. The internal temperature information also includes the result of measuring the internal temperature during a power outage before the user operates the confirmation button. At least 2 results are required to measure the temperature in the chamber. There may be more than two results of measuring the internal temperature. In this case, the refrigerator storage unit 34 stores the temperature in the refrigerator during the power failure. In addition, when the refrigerator control unit 30 is not driven, the sensor unit 33 may have a function of storing the temperature in the refrigerator during a power failure. The refrigerator control unit 30 calculates the predicted temperature rise curve of the predicted cold storage time based on the actual temperature inside the refrigerator to obtain the predicted cold storage time, and calculates the remaining cold storage time based on the predicted cold storage time, and sends it to the terminal device 50 . The terminal device 50 displays on the touch panel 53 the remaining cooling time and/or the temperature in the refrigerator which have been transmitted from the refrigerator 10 .

In this example, without using the refrigerator management server 40 , the refrigerator 10 can be used to obtain the remaining cold storage time and display it on the terminal device 50 . Therefore, even if a device connected to the general network GN such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) cannot be used during a power outage, as long as there is a short-distance communication device such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), the remaining cold storage time can be obtained And/or the temperature inside the warehouse.

Next, the operation in the case where the terminal device 50 predicts the cold storage time based on the actual measurement value will be described. FIG. 16 is a time chart showing an example of a situation in which the terminal device 50 predicts the cooling time from the actual measurement value. In the present embodiment, for example, a battery is provided to drive the sensor unit 33 and the refrigerator communication unit 31 of the refrigerator 10, and the battery can be used to transmit the actually measured value of the temperature inside the refrigerator to the terminal device during a power failure. 50. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which transmits the actual measurement value of the interior temperature to the terminal device 50 by the temperature sensor used in a power failure unlike the refrigerator 10. In this case, the temperature sensor used during the power failure has the same functions as the refrigerator control unit 30 , the sensor unit 33 , and the refrigerator communication unit 31 of the refrigerator 10 .

As shown in Figure 16, when the user operates the confirmation button of the terminal device 50, an instruction is issued to measure the current internal temperature of the refrigerator 10 from the terminal device 50, and send the internal temperature information including the measurement result to terminal device 50 . The internal temperature information also includes the result of measuring the internal temperature during a power outage before the user operates the confirmation button. At least two results of the temperature measurement in the chamber are required to be sent to the terminal device 50 . There may be more than two results of measuring the internal temperature of the storage to be sent to the terminal device 50 . In this case, the refrigerator storage unit 34 stores the temperature in the refrigerator during the power failure. In addition, when the refrigerator control unit 30 is not driven, the sensor unit 33 may have a function of storing the temperature in the refrigerator during a power failure. The terminal control unit 51 calculates the expected temperature rise curve of the predicted cold storage time based on the internal temperature information sent from the refrigerator 10 to obtain the predicted cold storage time, and calculates the remaining cold storage time based on the predicted cold storage time. The terminal device 50 displays the calculated remaining cooling time and/or temperature in the refrigerator on the touch panel 53 .

[2-3. Effects, etc.] As described above, in this embodiment, there are provided: a refrigerator 10 including a cooler 20 for cooling the inside of the refrigerator; Calculate the predicted cold storage time based on the internal temperature or the measured internal temperature, and notify the user. Thereby, since the remaining cooling time in the power outage is obtained by the server control unit 41, and notified to the user, it is possible to grasp the cold keeping condition in the refrigerator 10 during the power outage, and to carry out maintenance during the power outage. Food management in the warehouse.

Also, in the present embodiment, the server control unit 41 (control unit) is provided with: a database, and the cold storage time based on the set store temperature and the ambient temperature is obtained in advance, and the server control unit 41 obtains the storage time according to the database. Remaining cool time during power outage. In this way, the cold storage time can be easily predicted based on the database.

In addition, in this embodiment, the server control unit 41 (control unit) acquires the internal temperature actually measured by the refrigerator 10 during a power outage, and the server control unit 41 calculates the remaining cooling time during the power outage based on the acquired internal temperature. Thereby, prediction of the cold storage time during a power outage can be performed based on the actual measurement value of the temperature inside the storehouse.

Also, in the present embodiment, the server control unit 41 (control unit) acquires the ambient temperature of the refrigerator 10 and the storage volume in the refrigerator, and calculates the remaining cold storage time during the power failure based on the internal temperature, the ambient temperature, and the storage volume. . This makes it possible to predict the cold storage time during a power outage.

Also, in this embodiment, it is equipped with: a refrigerator management server 40, which can communicate with the refrigerator 10, and the refrigerator is equipped with: a sensor part, which detects the temperature in the store; When the power is off, the temperature in the storage is sent to the refrigerator management server 40 . This makes it possible to predict the cold storage time during a power outage at the time of a power outage.

Also, in this embodiment, there is provided a terminal device 50 capable of communicating with the refrigerator 10 and the refrigerator management server 40, and the terminal device 50 displays the predicted cooling time calculated by the server control unit 41 and notifies the user. Thereby, the user can be notified of the estimated cool-keeping time during a power outage through the terminal device 50 .

In addition, Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 have been described as examples of the technology disclosed in this application. However, the technology in the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and can be applied to embodiments in which changes, substitutions, additions, omissions, etc. have been made.

Industrial availability As described above, the cold storage time prediction system of the present invention can be suitably used as a cold storage time prediction system that can confirm the cold storage time during a power outage and can perform food management in a warehouse based on the cold storage time.

1: Cold storage time prediction system 10: Refrigerator 11: Housing 12: Refrigerator 13: Freezer 14: Partition wall 15: door 16: drawer 17: Conduit 18: Refrigeration outlet 19: Freezing outlet 20: Cooler 21: cooling fan 22: damper 23: Compressor 30: Refrigerator control department 31: Refrigerator Communication Department 32: cooling department 33: Sensor part 34: Refrigerator storage department 35: Refrigerator temperature sensor 36: Freezer temperature sensor 37: Ambient temperature sensor 40: Refrigerator management server 41:Server Control Department 42: Server Communication Department 43: Server storage department 44: Cold storage management database 50: terminal device 51: Terminal control department 52: Terminal Communication Department 53: Touch panel 54: Terminal storage department 55: Cold storage support application 60: Blackout prediction server GN: General Network

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator in Embodiment 1. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a cold keeping time prediction system. Fig. 3 is a graph showing an example of predicted cold storage time in a refrigerator. Fig. 4 is a graph showing an example of how to generate the predicted cold storage time based on the actual measurement value of the internal temperature in the refrigerator. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an example of display on the touch panel of the terminal device in Embodiment 1. FIG. Fig. 6 is a time chart showing an example of predicting the cold storage time from the database based on the information obtained in advance in the first embodiment. Fig. 7 is a time chart showing another example of predicting the cold storage time from the database based on the information obtained in advance in the first embodiment. Fig. 8 is a time chart showing an example of the case where the cooling time is predicted from the database in the first embodiment. Fig. 9 is a time chart showing an example of how the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 performs prediction of the cold storage time. Fig. 10 is a time chart showing an example of a case where the terminal device in Embodiment 1 performs prediction of the cold storage time. Fig. 11 is a time chart showing an example of the case of predicting the cooling time from actual measurement values in the first embodiment. Fig. 12 is a time chart showing an example of the case where the cooling time is predicted from the database in the second embodiment. Fig. 13 is a time chart showing an example of the case of predicting the cold storage time from actual measurement values in Embodiment 2. Fig. 14 is a time chart showing an example of the case of predicting the cooling time from actual measurement values in Embodiment 2. Fig. 15 is a time chart showing an example of the case where the refrigerator in the second embodiment predicts the cold storage time from actual measurement values. Fig. 16 is a time chart showing an example of a case where the terminal device in Embodiment 2 predicts the cold storage time from the actual measurement value.

Claims (7)

A cold storage time prediction system is characterized in that it has: Refrigerators with coolers to cool the interior; and When the power failure is predicted in advance, the control unit calculates the predicted cold storage time at the time of power failure based on the set interior temperature or the actually measured interior temperature of the refrigerator, and notifies the user. The cold storage time prediction system of claim 1, wherein the aforementioned control unit has: database, pre-calculate the cold storage time based on the aforementioned set temperature in the warehouse, The control unit obtains a predicted cold storage time during a power outage based on the database. The cold storage time prediction system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit obtains the actual temperature inside the refrigerator when the cooling of the refrigerator is stopped, The control unit obtains an estimated cold storage time during a power outage based on the acquired interior temperature. The cold storage time prediction system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit obtains the ambient temperature of the refrigerator and the storage volume in the refrigerator, and calculates the predicted cold storage time based on the internal temperature, the ambient temperature, and the storage volume. The cold storage time prediction system according to claim 2, wherein the control unit obtains the ambient temperature of the refrigerator and the storage volume in the refrigerator, and calculates the predicted cold storage time based on the internal temperature, the ambient temperature, and the storage volume. The cold storage time prediction system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which has: The refrigerator management server can communicate with the aforementioned refrigerator, The control unit is a server control unit of the refrigerator management server. Such as the cold storage time prediction system of claim 6, which has: a terminal device capable of communicating with the aforementioned refrigerator and the aforementioned refrigerator management server, The terminal device displays the estimated cooling time obtained by the server control unit, and notifies the user.

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