TWI693370B - Refrigerator and network system containing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The control unit 100 of a refrigerator including a storage room for storing food and a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device used by a manager includes a condition detection unit 101 that detects first information related to at least the following One: the user operation of the refrigerator, the temperature of the air in the storage room, and the state of the food in the storage room; the condition acquisition unit 102 acquires the second information indicating the use status of the refrigerator from the first information in a certain period; and life The management unit 103, when judging from the second information that the user's living condition of the refrigerator should be reported to the manager, notifies the living condition to the terminal device.

Description

Refrigerator and network system containing the same

The invention relates to a refrigerator with a communication function and a network system including the refrigerator.

In recent years, in Japan, the proportion of senior citizens (over 65 years old) in the entire population has been increasing. In addition, there is a tendency for the number of people constituting one household to decrease and the number of households for one person (to live alone) to increase. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm whether the elderly people living alone are safe and whether they need care. However, the living condition of a person can be inferred from the use condition of the refrigerator of the person (user). This is because the use of the refrigerator is closely related to the dietary life of a part of the refrigerator user's life.

Patent Document 1 describes a refrigerator that calculates the idle capacity and idle space of a storage room from image data obtained by shooting the inside of a storage room (storage room), and transmits the calculation result and the storage room image data (image data in the refrigerator) To the display terminal.

In addition, Patent Document 2 describes a refrigerator that serves as an article storage and transmits image data obtained by photographing inside and outside the refrigerator to a mobile phone (mobile terminal) through a server, enabling remote monitoring of the inside and the refrigerator outer.

[Advanced technical literature] [Patent Literature]

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-209048 (for example, paragraphs 0041-0049, 0062-0078, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 15)

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-46833 (for example, paragraph 0021-0025, FIG. 1)

However, although the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1 can display images and the like of the interior of the storage room on the display unit of the display terminal, there is a problem that it does not have a function of estimating the use state (for example, use history) of the refrigerator and cannot Judgment based on the use condition of the refrigerator (for example, judgment on the user's living condition) is performed.

In addition, the refrigerator described in Patent Document 2 can transmit the video data inside and outside the refrigerator to the user's mobile terminal and display the images inside and outside the refrigerator on the display portion of the user's mobile terminal, but there is a problem as follows: Judgment based on the use condition of the refrigerator (for example, judgment on the user's living condition) is performed.

In addition, neither Patent Documents 1 nor 2 describe the technique of notifying the third party other than the user who is the manager of the notification information.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator and a network system including the refrigerator, which can be obtained based on a result of detection of first information such as operation by a user during a certain period of time to indicate the use status of the refrigerator The second information of the user is to determine whether the living condition of the user of the refrigerator belongs to the status to be notified. When the living condition is determined to belong to the status to be reported, the user’s Report the living conditions to the terminal device.

The refrigerator of the present invention is a refrigerator that includes a storage room for storing food and a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device used by a manager. The refrigerator includes a condition detection unit that detects the first information, the first 1 The information is about at least one of the following: the user's operation of the refrigerator, the temperature of the air in the storage room, and the state of the food in the storage room; the condition acquisition unit acquires from the first information for a certain period that the refrigerator The second information of the usage status; and the life management department, judging from the second information that the user's living condition of the refrigerator should be reported to the manager, and reporting the living condition to the terminal device.

The network system of the present invention includes: the refrigerator described above; and a terminal device connected to communicate with the refrigerator.

According to the present invention, the use of the refrigerator can be judged based on the use status of the refrigerator obtained from the detection result of the first information regarding at least one of the operation of the refrigerator user, the temperature of the air in the storage room, and the state of the food in the storage room Whether the living condition of the user belongs to the reporting condition that should be reported to the manager, and when it is determined that the living condition belongs to the reporting condition, the user's living condition is reported to the terminal device. Therefore, after receiving the user's living condition, the manager can take appropriate action against the user.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5‧‧‧ refrigerator

11‧‧‧Refrigerator (storage room)

12‧‧‧Ice making room (storage room)

13‧‧‧ Switching room (storage room)

14‧‧‧Freezer (storage room)

15‧‧‧Fruit and vegetable room (storage room)

16‧‧‧Shelf board

17‧‧‧Cooling room (storage room)

18‧‧‧Cooling box

19‧‧‧cooling air path

20‧‧‧Door

21‧‧‧Operation panel

22‧‧‧Open and close detection department

23‧‧‧Ministry of Communications

24‧‧‧ Memory Department

25‧‧‧ Moment Provision Department

26‧‧‧ Temperature Detection Department

27‧‧‧Photographic device

70‧‧‧Administrator device (terminal device)

71‧‧‧ Display

100, 200, 300, 400 ‧‧‧ Control Department

101, 201, 301, 401

102, 202, 302, 402‧‧‧ situation acquisition department

103, 203, 303, 403

110, 210, 310, 410‧‧‧ control board

304, 404‧‧‧ Food Management Department

405‧‧‧Food Identification Department

406‧‧‧ Information Memory Department

500‧‧‧In-House System

501‧‧‧System power supply

502‧‧‧Wire

503‧‧‧Electricity measuring device

504‧‧‧Power measurement terminal

505‧‧‧In-House Controller

506‧‧‧Broadband Router

600‧‧‧External system

601‧‧‧Internet

602‧‧‧ cloud server

603‧‧‧Personal authentication device

Fig. 1 is a front view showing a schematic structure of a refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment (the cross-sectional structure of Fig. 1 cut with a line II-II).

Fig. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control system of the refrigerator in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control unit of FIG. 3.

Figs. 5 (a) and (b) are diagrams showing an example of the opening and closing history of the door pieces of the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator in the first embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention (the cross-sectional structure of Fig. 1 cut with a line II-II).

Fig. 7 is a block diagram schematically showing the control system of the refrigerator in the second embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control unit of Fig. 7;

9(a) to (c) are diagrams showing examples of temperature history in the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator of the second embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention (the cross-sectional structure of Fig. 1 cut with a line II-II).

Fig. 11 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control system of the refrigerator in the third embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control unit of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the refrigerator in the third embodiment.

Figures 14 (a) to (d) are photographs showing the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator according to the third embodiment. Image images (storage indoor images), food images captured from the photographic images, and illustrations of examples of incidental information of the food images.

Fig. 15 (a) and (b) show the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator according to the third embodiment. An example of a display image of a food image captured by a photographic image (storage room image) on a mobile terminal.

Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a food terminal captured from a photographic image (storage room image) in the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator according to the third embodiment.

Fig. 17 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention (the cross-sectional structure of Fig. 1 cut with a line II-II).

Fig. 18 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control system of the refrigerator in the fourth embodiment.

Fig. 19 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control unit of Fig. 18;

Fig. 20 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the food image database referred to by the food identification unit of the refrigerator in the fourth embodiment in a table format.

Fig. 21 is a flowchart showing the operation of the refrigerator in the fourth embodiment.

Fig. 22 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a network system according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

"1" Implementation form "1-1" Composition

Fig. 1 is a front view showing a schematic structure of a refrigerator 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 1 of Embodiment 1 has a plurality of storage rooms for storing food. The plurality of storage compartments include, for example, a refrigerator compartment 11, an ice making compartment 12, a switching compartment 13, a freezing compartment 14, and a vegetable and fruit compartment 15. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerating compartment 11, the ice making compartment 12, the switching compartment 13, the freezing compartment 14, and the vegetable and fruit compartment 15 are arranged in this order from the top. In addition, the ice making room 12 and the switching room 13 are horizontal Side by side configuration. The refrigerator 1 has a cooling device that cools the storage compartment. The cooling device includes a refrigeration cycle including, for example, a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. A plurality of storage rooms are cooled by a refrigeration cycle. In addition, in Embodiment 2 (Figure 6), Embodiment 3 (Figure 10), and Embodiment 4 (Figure 17), reference is also made to Figure 1. In Embodiments 2, 3, 4, and 5, refrigerator 1 is denoted as refrigerators 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively.

An operation panel 21 may be provided on the front (front) of the door panel (refrigerator door panel) 20 of the refrigerator compartment 11 and has a display unit (display screen) as a display device. The storage room information (information in the refrigerator, information related to the refrigerator 1 such as the set temperature and current temperature of each storage room) can be displayed on the display screen of the operation panel 21. The operation panel 21 has, for example, a touch panel that receives user input. The installation position of the operation panel 21 is not limited to the door piece 20 of the refrigerator compartment 11, and may be provided in other positions such as outside the door piece of the other storage room or the side of the refrigerator 1. In addition, the ice-making compartment 12, the switching compartment 13, the freezing compartment 14, and the vegetable and fruit compartment 15 are configured, for example, in addition to the door panel provided at the front thereof, they can be pulled out to the near side of the refrigerator 1. FIG. 1 shows an example of a refrigerator to which the present invention is applicable, but the refrigerator to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to the refrigerator shown in FIG.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of the refrigerator compartment 11 of the refrigerator 1 of the first embodiment (the cross-sectional structure of Fig. 1 cut with a line II-II). As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerator 1 has a door piece 20 for opening and closing the opening on the front side (left side in FIG. 2) of the refrigerator compartment 11. The refrigerator compartment 11 is divided into a plurality of spaces by a plurality of shelves (shelf) 16 arranged inside. The space below the lowest shelf plate 16 is the cooling chamber 17. Inside the cooling chamber 17, a cooling box 18 is provided, which can be pulled forward (in the left direction in FIG. 2) along a guide element (not shown) such as a rail Out. In addition, a cooling air passage 19 is provided on the back side (the right side in the second drawing) of the refrigerator compartment 11 as a passage for guiding the air cooled by the refrigeration cycle circuit to the storage compartment.

The body of the refrigerator 1 that is in contact with the door piece 20 is provided with an opening and closing detection section 22 as an opening and closing detection device that detects the opening and closing of the door piece 20. The opening and closing detection unit 22 is a magnet-type device, which detects, for example, the proximity of a magnet (permanent magnet) embedded in the door piece 20 by a pair of reed switches provided in the body of the refrigerator 1. However, the opening and closing detection unit 22 may be a detection device using another detection method such as a mechanical switch or an optical switch.

In addition, the refrigerator 1 has a control board 110 including a control circuit for operating the refrigerator 1. The control board 110 is mounted on the back of the refrigerator 1, for example.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control system of the refrigerator in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the control system of the refrigerator 1 includes, for example, an operation panel 21, an opening/closing detection unit 22 that detects the open state and the closed state of the door panel 20, and a terminal device that can be wired or wirelessly connected to an external device A communication section 23 of a communication device that performs communication, a storage section 24 such as a semiconductor memory that stores information, a time providing section 25 that provides time information, and a control section 100 that controls the operation of the entire refrigerator 1. In addition, the control system of the refrigerator 1 includes, for example, a compressor drive circuit 31 that drives a compressor 32 that forms a part of the refrigeration cycle, and a fan (motor) 34 that drives air to flow into the storage room of the refrigerator 1之 fan驱动电路33. The circuit as the main part of the control system of the refrigerator 1 may be provided on the control substrate 110. However, a part of the circuit of FIG. 3 may also be provided on other control boards.

The communication unit 23 includes a communication module such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark). Refrigerator 1, use communication section 23, borrow For example, via at least one of a router (broadband router 506 shown in FIG. 22 described later) and the Internet (internet 601 shown in FIG. 22 described later), and inside or outside the house Terminal devices such as smart phones, portable tablets, mobile phones, personal computers, etc. (for example, a terminal device 70 used by a third party other than the user of the refrigerator 1 as a manager) to communicate. Therefore, the refrigerator 1 can cause the display section 71 of the terminal device 70 to display various information about the refrigerator 1.

The time information provided by the time providing unit 25 is not only hours, minutes, and seconds, but may also include information about the date (month, day, year, month, and day). The time providing unit 25 may be, for example, a clock or a time receiving device of the time signal transmitted by the provider receiving the time signal.

The control unit 100 may have a processor as an information processing device that executes the software (program) stored in the memory unit 24. In this case, the function of the control unit 100 is realized by executing this program.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control unit 100 of FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 100 includes a state detection unit 101 that performs detection of the first information of the refrigerator 1 (the state of the storage room), and a state of acquiring second information indicating the user’s use of the refrigerator 1 The acquisition unit (use estimation unit) 102 determines from the acquired second information whether or not the user's life condition belongs to the life report part 103 to be reported to the manager. In addition, the communication unit 23, the memory unit 24, and the time providing unit 25 may be a part of the control unit 100. The situation detection unit 101 is connected to the opening and closing detection unit 22 and the situation acquisition unit 102 provided in the body of the refrigerator 1.

The situation detection unit 101 detects the first information, which includes at least one of the following: for example, the user of the refrigerator 1 operates as a storage room An example of the state of the air is the air temperature (or humidity) and the condition of the food in the storage room. In the first embodiment, the situation detection unit 101 detects that the door piece 20 opened and closed by the user as the user (managed person) of the refrigerator 1 is opened and closed as the first information. Furthermore, in Embodiment 2, the temperature of the air in the storage room will be described, and in Embodiments 3 and 4, the state of the food in the storage room will be described. In Embodiment 1, the situation detection unit 101 receives the opening and closing information of the door piece 20 detected by the opening and closing detection unit 22, and transmits the opening and closing information together with time information indicating the time when the door piece 20 is opened and closed to the situation acquisition unit 102 To serve as storage room information. In addition, the situation detection unit 101 stores the opening and closing information of the door piece 20 and the time information in the memory unit 24 and the like in correspondence with each other.

The situation acquisition unit 102 acquires the usage status of the refrigerator 1 from the detection result of the first information in a certain period. For example, the situation acquisition unit 102 receives the storage room information of the refrigerator compartment 11 including the opening and closing information of the door piece 20 and the time information from the situation detection unit 101. The situation acquisition unit 102 calculates the number N of openings and closings of the door piece 20 for each predetermined period (each time zone). The situation acquisition unit 102 can acquire the short-term usage situation from 1 hour to several hours. In addition, the situation acquisition unit 102 can acquire the long-term usage status of a day unit, a January unit, a season (3 month) unit, and a one-year unit based on the time information such as the month day, year, month, and day. As described above, in the first embodiment, the situation obtaining unit 102 obtains the usage status of the refrigerator 1 by the user based on the opening and closing information (opening and closing history) of the door piece 20, and transmits the obtained result to the life management unit 103.

The life management unit 103 determines whether the life status of the user (managed person) of the refrigerator 1 belongs to the status to be notified based on the use status acquired by the status acquisition unit 102, and when the life status belongs to the status to be notified, through communication The unit 23 notifies the notification information indicating the living condition of the user of the refrigerator 1 to the device used by the manager (for example, the device with permission of the manager) (the terminal device 70 in FIG. 3). For example, the life management unit 103 receives the user's usage status of the refrigerator based on the opening and closing information (opening and closing history) of the door 20 from the situation acquisition unit 102, and obtains, for example, the user's tendency to be at home or away from home, or the user's The living conditions of users such as the proportion of self-catering and eating outside in the dietary life. In addition, the life management unit 103 should notify the manager of the notification information (for example, information about whether the user is safe or information about the security of the user’s house, etc.) when the user’s living condition belongs to the status to be notified. ) Send to the communication section 23.

The communication unit 23 is a communication device, which is connected to the life management unit 103 of the control unit 100, and can communicate with the terminal device 70 in a wired or wireless manner. The communication unit 23 receives notification information from the life management unit 103 based on the opening and closing history of the door piece 20 that should be reported to the manager, and transmits the notification information to the terminal device 70.

The terminal device 70 is connected to the communication section 23 in a wired or wireless manner, directly or through the Internet, so that it can communicate. The terminal device 70 receives the notification information from the communication unit 23 and displays an image based on the notification information on the display unit 71 of the terminal device 70.

"1-2" action

Next, an example of the operation of the refrigerator 1 according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.

When storing food in the refrigerator 1, removing food from the refrigerator 1, or confirming the stock status of the food in the refrigerator 1, etc., when the user uses the refrigerator 1, the user opens and closes the door of the refrigerator 1 (For example, door 20). Therefore, the opening and closing operation of the door of the refrigerator 1 can be used as a user Evidence for refrigerator 1.

In the example of the refrigerator 1 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, each time the door 20 of the refrigerator compartment 11 is opened and closed, the opening and closing detection unit 22 detects the opening operation and the closing operation, and indicates the opening operation. The opening signal and the closing signal indicating the closing operation are sent to the situation detection unit 101. The condition detection unit 101 compares the received open signal or closed signal with time information, thereby detecting the open time, closed time, and open time (time in the open state). These detections are performed every time the door 20 is opened and closed, so the opening signal corresponding to the opening time and the closing signal corresponding to the closing time are sent to the situation acquisition unit 102 as time-series data representing the opening and closing history of the door 20 .

The situation acquisition unit 102 obtains the time-series data from the situation detection unit 101 indicating the opening and closing history of the door flap 20, and obtains the opening and closing status of the door flap 20 as second information indicating the usage status of the refrigerator compartment 11. Specifically, the status acquisition unit 102 calculates, for example, the number N of opening and closing times of the door 20 of each time zone from the time series data indicating the opening and closing history of the door 20, for example, acquiring at least one of the short-term use status and the long-term use status One. The short-term use condition is, for example, a condition in which the door flap 20 is opened and closed continuously (at short time intervals) during a day, and a condition in which the door flap 20 is opened and closed only at a specific time in the morning and evening during the day. The long-term usage status is that the number of openings and closings in this month is less than the number of openings and closings in the previous month, and the number of openings and closings in summer is more than the openings and closings in other seasons.

Figs. 5 (a) and (b) are diagrams showing an example of the opening and closing history of the door piece 20 of the refrigerator compartment 11 of the refrigerator 1 of the first embodiment. In the example of (a) and (b) of Figure 5, for the three days from September 23 to September 25, the gate 20’s value is displayed for each specific time (here 6 hours) Calculation result of the number N of opening and closing times. In the example of Figure 5 (a) and (b), the gate 20 of September 25 (Friday) The course of opening and closing times N is different from each other.

The situation acquisition unit 102 acquires second information indicating the usage status of the refrigerator by the user from, for example, the opening and closing information (opening and closing history) of the door piece 20 shown in FIGS. 5(a) and (b). In any of the examples in (a) and (b) of Figure 5, on September 23 (holiday), in the "late night time" (0 to 6 o'clock) and "night" (18 o'clock to 24 o'clock) The number of openings and closings N is 3 (slightly fewer openings and closings), the number of openings and closings in the "daytime morning" (6 to 12 o'clock) is 4 times (slightly more opening and closing), "the daytime afternoon" (at 12 o'clock) The opening and closing times N in 18:00 are 0 times (no opening and closing). From the usage status on September 23 (holiday), the second information obtained indicating the usage status is that in "morning during the day" and "at night (at night and late at night)", although refrigerator 1 is used, but in " During the daytime afternoon, refrigerator 1 was not used.

In any of Figure 5 (a) and (b), compared to September 23 (holiday), the second information obtained on September 24 (Thursday) indicating the status of use is, " The number N of openings and closings in the morning of the day (6 to 12 o'clock) and "night" (18 to 24 o'clock) increased, and the number of opening and closing N in the afternoon of the day (12 to 18 o'clock) was 3, The user continues to use the refrigerator 1 throughout the day.

In addition, on the day of September 25 (Friday), in the example of Figure 5 (a), the refrigerator 1 is continuously used for one day, and the "morning in the daytime" (6:00 to 12:00) and The number of openings and closings in "Night" (from 18:00 to 24:00) increased more than the opening and closing times of other days. However, the situation shown in the example of FIG. 5(b) is that the number N of opening and closing times in the "late night" (0 to 6 o'clock) is one, and the refrigerator 1 is not used any more after that.

Next, in the life management unit 103, the user's use status of the refrigerator acquired by the status acquisition unit 102 is received, and the life status is acquired based on the use status condition. In the example of (a) and (b) in Figure 5, September 23 (holiday), the use status of the refrigerator 1 was used only when "late night", "morning during the day", and "night" were used The living condition that can be obtained is that the user's breakfast is eaten at home, but lunch and dinner are outside meals, and in the "night", the door of the refrigerator 1 is opened and closed for taking out drinks and the like. In addition, on September 24 (Thursday), from the use condition of the refrigerator 1 being used continuously for one day, the living condition that can be obtained is that he is at home almost all day.

In addition, in the example of FIG. 5(a), the available living conditions (the living conditions that are not intended to be reported) from the usage conditions in which the number of opening and closing times of "night" on September 25 (Friday) increase are, Eat more ingredients than usual at dinner, and continue to eat for a longer period like a party until late in the evening. However, in the example in Figure 5(b), the living condition on September 25 (Friday) is that the refrigerator 1 has not been used at all after 6 a.m. Consider the possibility that the user will go out early in the morning, or use The possibility of a problem (reporting the situation).

In addition, the life management unit 103 determines whether the acquired (estimated) user's living condition belongs to the notification situation that should be reported to the manager. In the example of Figure 5(a), the living conditions from September 23 (holiday), September 24 (Thursday), and September 25 (Friday), whether or not there is food and home information, and about dinner The quality and time information can determine the user's life status is not urgent (not to be notified). However, in the example of FIG. 5(b), the living condition on September 25 (Friday) is such that the usage condition of the door 20 that has not been opened and closed for almost one day can be determined as the status to be notified (for example, use The situation in which the person has a health problem or a crime-related situation). In this case, the refrigerator 1 reports the notification information to the terminal device 70 through the communication section 23 as safety-related information.

The life management department 103 must store the judgment of the reported situation in advance The reference (or stored in the memory 24 in advance) to determine whether the acquired user's living condition belongs to the notification situation. In the example of September 25 (Friday) shown in FIG. 5(b), the life management unit 103 may be set such that when the refrigerator 1 is not used at all, the duration time is longer than a predetermined reference time (for example, 18 In the case of a threshold time such as hours or 24 hours), the notification information is reported to the terminal device 70. However, when the user is not at home for a period longer than the above reference time due to reasons such as travel, the threshold can be lifted according to the user's operation, thereby avoiding unnecessary transmission of notification information, and The notification information can be reported to the terminal device 70 at a necessary time.

In addition, when the life management unit 103 determines that a notification situation has occurred, the notification information reported to the terminal device 70 is not limited to the safety-related information shown in the examples of (a) and (b) of FIG. 5. For example, the life management unit 103 can be thought of as having unauthorized opening and closing movements of the door 20 during the time when the user is traveling, and the weekdays and daytime when the user goes to work or school. The user's permission to use the refrigerator 1 may notify the terminal device 70 of anti-theft related information as notification information. In this case, the manager who sees the information on the terminal device 70 can promptly notify the police or the security company, so crime can be prevented.

In addition, when the frequency of opening and closing of the door panel 20 (for example, in a situation where the opening and closing frequency of the door panel 20 is high in the "late night") occurs, the user's unhealthy behavior may be notified to the terminal device 70 as notification information. In addition, when the opening and closing of the door of the cooling room 17 in the refrigerator compartment 11 frequently occurs (when the door of the cooling room 17 is also provided with an opening and closing detection section), the terminal device 70 may be notified of the behavior of partial consumption of fresh food. With this information, the mother or wife as a manager can Remotely manage the health status of a child living alone or a single husband.

In addition, it is preferable that the manager using the terminal device 70 is limited to a manager who has been authenticated in advance. The life-related information in the notification information transmitted to the terminal device 70 is personal information, but even if it is disclosed to an unspecified manager, it will not cause a major safety problem. However, the safety-related information or anti-theft related information in the reported information includes the user's health information or the user's home and home information, so it is best to limit the management to family members, relatives, or assistants commissioned by the user, etc. By. In addition, the authentication method of the manager using the terminal device 70 is demonstrated in Embodiment 5. FIG.

"1-3" effect

As described above, according to the refrigerator 1 of the first embodiment, the refrigerator 1 is judged based on the use status (second information) of the refrigerator 1 obtained from the detection result of the number N of opening and closing times of the door piece 20 of the first information of the refrigerator 1. Whether the user’s living condition is a status to be notified, and when it is determined that the living condition is a status to be reported, the reported information (safety related information, anti-theft related information, improper diet related information) indicating the user’s living condition can be reported Etc.) Notification terminal device 70. Therefore, the information manager (for example, the family of a user who lives alone, a professional nursing institution, a professional security company, a public institution, etc.) who has received the notification can take appropriate measures for the user.

Modification of "1-4"

In the above description, the case where the opening/closing detection unit 22 is provided in the refrigerator compartment 11 is described. However, the opening/closing detection unit may be provided in a storage room other than the refrigerator compartment 11, or a plurality of storage rooms may be provided with doors The opening and closing detection section of the film. For example, if the vegetable and fruit room 15 that stores vegetables that are purchased more frequently (the purchase interval is short) is opened By closing the detection section, you can grasp the shopping frequency of the user's living conditions from the opening and closing information (opening and closing history) of the door of the vegetable and fruit room 15. If you use the opening and closing history of the door of the vegetable and fruit room 15, you can improve the use of confirmation The accuracy of the safety situation of the person. In addition, for example, if an opening/closing detection unit is provided in the freezing compartment 14, the user's partial eclipse (degree of dependence on frozen food) can be obtained from the usage status of the freezing compartment 14.

"2" Embodiment 2

"2-1" Composition

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of the refrigerator compartment 11 of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention (the cross-sectional structure of FIG. 1 cut with a line II-II). In FIG. 6, constituent elements that are the same as or corresponding to those shown in FIG. 2 are marked with the same symbols as those shown in FIG. The refrigerator 2 shown in FIG. 6 differs from the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 2 in that it has a temperature detection unit 26 as a temperature detection device that detects the internal temperature of the refrigerator compartment 11 and a control unit ( The content of the control performed at 200) in FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control system of the refrigerator 2 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 7, constituent elements that are the same as or corresponding to those shown in FIG. 3 are marked with the same symbols as those shown in FIG. 3. The control system of the refrigerator 2 shown in FIG. 7 is different from the control system of the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 3 in that it has a temperature detection unit 26 and control contents performed by the control unit 200. As for other features, the refrigerator 2 of the second embodiment is the same as the refrigerator 1 of the first embodiment.

In addition, FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control unit 200 of FIG. 7. As shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 200 includes: a situation detection unit 201 that detects the first information of the refrigerator 2; The status acquisition unit 202 of the second information of the status; and the life management unit 203 that determines whether the user's life status acquired from the acquired use status belongs to the status to be notified. In addition, the communication unit 23, the memory unit 24, and the time providing unit 25 may be a part of the control unit 200. The situation detection unit 201 is connected to the opening and closing detection unit 22, the temperature detection unit 26, and the situation acquisition unit 202 provided in the refrigerator 2 body.

In the second embodiment, the situation detection unit 201 receives the opening and closing information (opening and closing history) of the door piece 20 detected by the opening and closing detection unit 22 and the temperature history in the refrigerator compartment 11 detected by the temperature detection unit 26 , And transmits the time information when the door 20 is opened and closed and the time when the temperature change occurs to the situation acquisition unit 202. That is, in Embodiment 2, the condition detection unit 201 directly detects the temperature information detected by the temperature detection unit 26 as the first information about the refrigerator compartment 11 storing food, and transmits it to Status acquisition unit 202.

In the second embodiment, the situation acquisition unit 202 connected to the situation detection unit 201 receives the opening and closing information (opening and closing history) and time information of the door piece 20 from the situation detection unit 201, and the temperature information (temperature History) and the time information constitute the air temperature (state of the storage room) as an example of the air state in the refrigerator compartment 11 as the first information, not only can the user’s access to the refrigerator based on the opening and closing history of the door 20 be obtained The usage conditions can also be used to obtain factors affecting the temperature of the air in the storage room, such as usage conditions such as changes in the set temperature by the user, temperature rise caused by the opening and closing of the door panel 20, and load fluctuations when the door panel 20 is opened and closed. As described above, the situation obtaining unit 202 in the second embodiment obtains the usage status of the refrigerator 2 by the user based on the opening and closing history of the door piece 20 and the temperature history of the air in the refrigerator (storage room), and transmits the obtained result to the Life Management Department 203.

In the second embodiment, the life management unit 203 receives from the situation acquisition unit 202 the result of the user's use of the refrigerator based on the opening and closing history of the door 20 and the temperature history in the storage room, and obtains, for example, the user's set temperature The user's living conditions such as the situation and the tendency to shop based on load fluctuations. Subsequent processing is the same as in the first embodiment. The life management unit 203 classifies the information that should be reported to the manager from the obtained user's living conditions, and transmits the notification information to the user who uses the refrigerator 2 through the communication unit 23 The terminal device 70 used by a person other than the person (as a manager of a third party) causes notification information to be displayed on the display unit 71.

The control unit 200 may have a processor as an information processing device that executes a software program stored in the memory unit 24. In this case, the function of the control unit 200 is realized by executing this program.

"2-2" action

Next, an example of the operation of the refrigerator 2 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. In the following, the differences from Embodiment 1 will be mainly described.

When the user uses the refrigerator 2, the door 20 opens and closes. In addition, part of the air in the storage room is exchanged with the air outside the refrigerator as the door 20 opens and closes, so the temperature in the storage room changes (generally The words are elevated). At this time, the temperature fluctuation range will vary depending on the user's movement when the door panel 20 is opened and closed. For example, the longer the opening time of the door panel 20, or the greater the heat load of the food put in, the higher the temperature in the storage room. Therefore, by detecting the opening and closing of the door piece 20 and the temperature in the storage room, the operation content when the refrigerator 2 is used can be more accurately obtained.

In the example of the refrigerator compartment 11 shown in FIG. 6, when the door piece 20 is opened and closed, the opening signal or the closing signal of the door piece 20 detected by the opening and closing detection section 22 is transmitted to the situation detection section 201, The situation detection unit 201 generates the opening and closing history of the door piece 20 as time series data. At this time, regardless of whether the door 20 is opened or closed, the temperature of the air in the refrigerator compartment 11 detected by the temperature detection unit 26 is transmitted to the situation detection unit 201, and the situation detection unit 201 combines the time information to generate The temperature history is used as time series data. Therefore, when the door piece 20 is opened and closed, both the signal indicating the opening and closing of the door piece 20 and the signal indicating the temperature in the storage room are transmitted to the situation acquisition unit 202.

The situation obtaining unit 202 obtains second information indicating the usage status of the refrigerating compartment 11 from the time-series data of the opening and closing history of the door piece 20 and the temperature history in the refrigerating compartment 11 transmitted from the situation detecting unit 201. Specifically, the status acquisition unit 202 acquires the usage status of the cooling load caused by the user (that is, to what degree of temperature has occurred in the temperature history during the opening and closing operation of the door 20 detected from the opening and closing history Increase), and obtain the usage status of the user's temperature setting (it is determined that the temperature increase detected from the temperature history is caused by the opening and closing action of the door piece 20, or is caused by the change of the user's set temperature ).

9(a) to (c) are diagrams showing examples of temperature history (temperature change) in the refrigerator compartment 11 (storage room) of the refrigerator 2 of the second embodiment. Figures 9(a) to (c) show that when the opening and closing movement of the door 20's opening and closing process as shown in Figure 5(b) occurs, it is continuously measured within 3 days from September 23 to September 25到的温度程35. Figure 9 (a) shows the temperature change of the storage room on September 23, Figure 9 (b) shows the temperature change of the storage room on September 24, and Figure 9 (c) shows the storage room on September 25 Temperature changes.

The situation acquisition unit 202 in the second embodiment acquires the user from the history of the number N of opening and closing times of the door piece 20 shown in FIG. 5(b) and the temperature history 35 shown in FIGS. 9(a) to (c). The use of the refrigerator. For example, in Figure 5(b), "Late Night" (0:00 to 6: 00), "Morning during the Day" (6 to 12), and "Day Afternoon" on September 23 (holiday) ( 12 o'clock to 18 o'clock) The temperature rise corresponding to the opening and closing of the door piece 20 detected in the temperature history 35 of Figure 9 (a) is about 0 o'clock to 1 o'clock, about 6 o'clock to 8 o'clock, and It was detected between 18:00 and 21:00. Similarly, for the opening and closing of the door piece 20 that was detected throughout the day on September 24 (Thursday), significant detections were made around 3:00, 6:00 to 8:00, and 9:00 to 22:00 The temperature rises. However, for the doors detected on the "daytime afternoon" (12 o'clock to 18 o'clock) on September 24 (Thursday) and the "midnight time" (0 o'clock to 6 o'clock) on September 25 (Friday) When the flap 20 is opened and closed, a particularly large temperature increase is not observed in the temperature history 35 of FIGS. 9 (b) and (c), so it is presumed that the flap 20 is opened and closed in a short time (instantly). In addition, after 6:00 on September 25 (Friday) when the opening and closing of the door 20 was not detected, there was no temperature increase in the temperature history 35 of FIG. 9 (c), but the temperature was observed Decreased and reached below 0°C after 12 o'clock.

As described above, the situation acquisition unit 202 in the second embodiment can obtain the usage status of the refrigerator by the user by comparing the history of the number N of opening and closing times of the door piece 20 and the temperature history 35. That is, the correct execution time of the opening and closing operation of the door piece 20 or the opening time of the door piece can be obtained from the temperature history 35, and the information required to obtain the content of the opening and closing operation of the door piece 20 can be extracted. In addition, as the temperature decreases as shown in the temperature history 35 of FIG. 9( c ), it is possible to obtain the usage status including the storage temperature in the refrigerator compartment 11.

Next, the life management unit 203 in the second embodiment receives the use status of the refrigerator 1 obtained by the user based on the opening and closing history and temperature history of the door piece 20 in the status acquisition unit 202, and acquires based on the use status (estimated) )Living condition. In the example of the composition of the opening and closing history of the door 20 in FIGS. 5 (a) and (b) and the temperature history in FIGS. 9 (a) to (c), the September 23 ( (Holiday) lunch and dinner are the living conditions of eating out. However, the temperature history in Fig. 9(a) shows that the door 20 is frequently opened and closed during "night", so the dinner taken from Fig. 9(a) is the situation of eating at home.

In addition, on September 24 (Thursday) when it is estimated that the door 20 is on the house almost all day based on the opening and closing history of the door piece 20, the door piece 20 opens and closes only at about 12:00 noon from the temperature history of FIG. 9 (b), Therefore, it can be presumed that there is no cooking lunch, or there is a possibility of eating out. According to the opening and closing history of the door piece 20, the refrigerator 1 is completely unused after 6 o'clock in the morning, and the temperature gradually decreases from the situation where the temperature gradually decreases, presumably that the user lowers the set temperature, or In terms of temperature, the possibility of a new situation where the load in the refrigerator is too small occurs.

As in the first embodiment, the life management unit 203 refers to the temperature history of the storage room, and judges (classifies) whether the life status belongs to the reportable status that should be reported to the manager from the user's life status acquired from the opening and closing history. Only in the example of the opening and closing history of the door piece 20 in FIG. 5(b), on September 25 (Friday), the use condition in which the door piece 20 has not been opened or closed at all for a whole day is judged as the use Only when there is a health problem or a crime-related situation, the communication unit 23 is used as safety-related information to notify the terminal device 70 used by a manager other than the user who uses the refrigerator 2. However, in Embodiment 2, the life management unit 203, by combining the temperature history shown in FIG. 9(c), can 20 does not open and close, but if it is judged that the user has changed the set temperature, etc., the notification information will not be sent. In addition, when it is determined that the set temperature is too low relative to the cooling load, the life management unit 203 may notify the fact that the food may freeze as diet-related information to report the risk of freezing.

"2-3" effect

As described above, according to the refrigerator 2 of the second embodiment, the temperature history of the refrigerator compartment 11 detected by the temperature detection unit 26 is obtained based on the detection result of the first information of the refrigerator 2 (the number of door opening and closing times). The use status of the refrigerator 2 of the refrigerator is used to determine whether the living condition of the user of the refrigerator 2 belongs to the status to be notified. In the case where the living condition is determined to be the status to be notified, it is possible to report information indicating the user's living status (safety related information , Anti-theft related information, improper eating and living related information, etc.) notify the terminal device 70. Therefore, the information manager (for example, the family of a user who lives alone, a professional nursing institution, a professional security company, a public institution, etc.) who has received the notification can take appropriate measures for the user.

In addition, the temperature history is reflected in the first information detected by the situation detection unit 201, whereby compared with the case where the living condition is obtained only by the opening and closing history of the door 20, it can be based on A large amount of information, such as the operation content, the user's set temperature change operation, and the load condition of the storage room, obtain the living condition of the user of the refrigerator 2. As a result, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the estimation of the user's safety information, anti-theft-related information, food and life-related information reported to the manager, and to avoid sending notification information even when it is not necessary to report to the manager Situation.

Modification of "2-4"

The example described in the above description is that the situation detection unit 201 The information of both the opening and closing history of the door piece 20 obtained by the detection unit 22 and the temperature history obtained by the temperature detection unit 26 detects the temperature of the air in the storage room in the refrigerator compartment 11, however, the condition detection unit 201 may only The first information in the refrigerator compartment 11 is detected based on the temperature history information obtained by the temperature detection unit 26. As shown in FIGS. 9 (a) to (c), the temperature history 35 contains information about the temperature rise caused by the opening and closing of the door 20, and the temperature detection unit 26 replaces the opening and closing detection unit 22, compared to When the opening/closing detection unit 22 is added, only when the temperature detection unit 26 is added as a device, it is possible to obtain more user's living conditions.

In the above description, the case where the temperature detection unit 26 is provided in the refrigerator compartment 11 is exemplified. However, the temperature detection unit may be provided in another storage room, and the refrigerator 2 may be detected based on the detection result of the temperature detection unit. control.

"3" Embodiment 3 "3-1" Composition

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of the refrigerator compartment 11 of the refrigerator 3 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention (the cross-sectional structure of Fig. 1 cut with a line II-II). In FIG. 10, constituent elements that are the same as or corresponding to those shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 are marked with the same symbols as those shown in FIGS. 2 and 6. The refrigerator 3 shown in FIG. 10 is different from the refrigerator 2 shown in FIG. 6 in that it has a photographing device 27 which is a camera that photographs the inside of the refrigerator compartment 11.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control system of the refrigerator in the third embodiment. In FIG. 11, constituent elements that are the same as or corresponding to those shown in FIGS. 3 and 7 are marked with the same symbols as those shown in FIGS. 3 and 7. The control system of the refrigerator 3 shown in FIG. 11 is different from the control system of the refrigerator 2 shown in FIG. 7 in that The control content of the device 27 and the control unit 300. Regarding other features, the refrigerator 3 of the third embodiment is the same as the refrigerator 2 of the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control unit 300 of FIG. 11. As shown in FIG. 12, the control unit 300 includes a food management unit 304 that manages the image data generated by the photographing device 27, a status detection unit 301 that performs detection of the first information of the refrigerator 3, and obtains the user’s The status acquisition unit 302 of the usage status of the user determines whether the user's life status belongs to the life management unit 303 to be notified of the status from the acquired use status. In addition, the communication unit 23, the memory unit 24, and the time providing unit 25 may be a part of the control unit 300. The situation detection unit 301 is connected to the opening and closing detection unit 22, the temperature detection unit 26, and the situation acquisition unit 302 provided in the body of the refrigerator 3. The situation acquisition unit 302 is connected to the situation detection unit 301 and the life management unit 303. The life management unit 303 is connected to the situation acquisition unit 302 and the communication unit 23.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the refrigerator 3 of the third embodiment, a photographing device 27 for shooting video images is provided on the inner surface of the door panel 20. The configuration of the photographing device 27 is preferably such that the entire range of the interior of the refrigerating compartment 11 from the top surface of the refrigerating compartment 11 to the cooling compartment 17 is used as the field of view. The position of the opening) photographed the interior of the refrigerator compartment 11. Therefore, the image data output from the imaging device 27 is preferably the entire image data including the entire interior of the refrigerator compartment 11.

Furthermore, the installation position of the photographing device 27 is not limited to the inner surface of the door panel 20. The photographing device 27 may be installed at another position as long as it can photograph a storage item such as food placed on the shelf plate 16 of the refrigerator compartment 11 in a wide range. In addition, considering that the shelf plate 16 of the refrigerator compartment 11 blocks the view, it may be A plurality of photographing devices 27 for photographing the inside of the refrigerator compartment 11 are provided so that more storage items can be photographed.

In addition, the control unit 300 is mounted on the control board 310 provided on the back of the refrigerator 3, and the food management unit 304 is connected to the imaging device 27 and the situation detection unit 301. The food management section 304 captures food images from the images in the refrigerator compartment 11 (storage room images) captured by the photographing device 27, judges the insertion and removal of food from the captured food images, and then places the food in and out Information (including food images) is memorized in time series. The stored food image is transmitted to the condition detection unit 301, so the control unit 300 can reflect the food image information including the image of the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 11 and the history of taking out and putting it in the condition detection The first information detected by the Department 301. Furthermore, the food image data stored in the food management section 304 may also be stored in other storage sections (for example, the storage section 24).

Therefore, the situation detection unit 301 in Embodiment 3 receives the opening and closing history of the door piece 20 detected by the opening and closing detection unit 22, the temperature history in the refrigerator compartment 11 detected by the temperature detection unit 26, and includes 27. Capture and store the image of the food taken in the storage room. The image information of the food taken in the history, together with the opening and closing history of the door 20 and the temperature history, send the image information about the food stored in the refrigerator 11 to the status acquisition unit. 302. As described above, the situation detection unit 301 in Embodiment 3 not only detects the temperature of the air in the refrigerator compartment 11 where food is stored, but also detects and transmits information about the food itself stored therein.

The situation acquisition unit 302 of Embodiment 3 receives the temperature and air information of the refrigerator compartment 11 constituted by the opening and closing history and time information of the door flap 20 and the temperature history and time information in the refrigerator compartment 11 from the situation detection unit 301, and stores therein The information of the food itself is taken as the first information, not only from the temperature of the air in the refrigerator compartment 11, The user's use status of the refrigerator 3 is also obtained from the status of the food stored therein. As described above, the situation acquisition unit 302 of the third embodiment obtains the usage status of the refrigerator 3 by the user based on not only the opening and closing history of the door 20 and the temperature history of the storage room, but also the condition of the stored food, and the result送到生活管理部303.

The life management unit 303 in the third embodiment receives from the situation acquisition unit 302 the acquisition result of the use status of the refrigerator 3 by the user based on the opening and closing history of the door piece 20, the temperature history of the storage room, and the state of the stored food , To obtain the user's living conditions, such as: the tendency to take out food according to the time zone, as the storage capacity (load) of the door 20 when the door 20 is opened and closed due to changes in shopping trends, temperature changes, and storage status correlation, etc. . After that, the life management unit 303, as in the case of the first and second embodiments, judges whether the acquired user's life status includes the status to be notified that should be reported to the manager, and when the status to be reported is included, through the communication unit 23. The notification information is transmitted to the terminal device 70 to which the administrator other than the user who uses the refrigerator 3 is authorized to use, and the notification information is displayed on the display unit 71.

Furthermore, the control unit 300 may have a processor as an information processing device that executes the software (program) stored in the memory unit 24. In this case, the function of the control unit 300 is realized by executing this program.

"3-2" action

Next, an example of the operation of the refrigerator 3 in the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 13. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation performed each time the door 20 of the refrigerator 3 is opened and closed.

As explained in the first embodiment, when the user uses the refrigerator 3, the operation of opening and closing the door piece occurs, and in addition, the first piece Information changes, that is, the temperature of the storage room and the state of the food stored in the storage room. Therefore, the opening and closing of the door piece 20 triggers the detection of the first information, and obtains the user's use status of the refrigerator based on the detection result, and can obtain the living condition from the use status.

The operation shown in Fig. 13 starts with the opening and closing of the door piece 20. When the opening and closing of the door piece 20 is detected (Yes in step S11), the photographing device 27 images the storage room of the refrigerator compartment 11 (step S12).

The imaging device 27 transmits the captured image of the storage room of the refrigerator compartment 11 (the image of the entire storage room is preferable) to the food management unit 304 (step S13). Therefore, whenever the door 20 is opened and closed (that is, whenever the storage state in the refrigerator compartment 11 may change), the food management unit 304 receives the storage room image from the photographing device 27. In the following description, this time (the latest) door piece 20 is called "this time door piece 20 is opened and closed", and the last time (one time ago) door piece 20 is opened and closed is called "last door" When film 20 opens and closes."

The food management unit 304 memorizes the storage room image received from the imaging device 27 when the door 20 was opened and closed last time, and re-stores the storage room image received from the imaging device 27 when the door 20 is opened and closed this time. Then, the difference between the images in the storage room when the door 20 is opened and closed last time and this time is calculated, thereby capturing the image of the changed part of the image in the refrigerator (step S14). The image of the changed part of the image in the refrigerator is an image of food put in the refrigerator (into the storage) or taken out of the refrigerator (out of the storage).

For example, in the image of the storage room when the door 20 was opened and closed last time, beer was placed on the shelf plate 16 of the refrigerator compartment 11. In the image of the storage room when the door 20 was opened and closed this time, only the beer that was not placed in the same position In the case of the shelf board 16, the food image of the beer is captured from the difference between the images in the two storage rooms. The food management unit 304 arranges the food images thus captured in time series based on the current time information of the time point at which the acquisition is performed, and stores the time information as incidental information together with the food images (step S15).

At this time, the food management unit 304 judges whether to enter or leave the food. Specifically, the food management unit 304 analyzes the changed part based on the difference when capturing the food image, for example, the amount of change in the edge obtained after the edge processing, and the empty state previously memorized (the refrigerator compartment 11 is completely (No food is stored) Comparison of the images in the storage room to determine whether food enters or leaves the store. Next, the food management unit 304 appends the judgment result (incoming and outgoing storage identification information) of the inbound or outbound storage to the incidental information of the food image and stores it (step S16).

In addition, the food management section 304 transmits the food image and accompanying information (time information and in-out identification information) to the situation detection section 301 (step S17). Here, after capturing the storage room image of the refrigerator compartment 11 from step S12 to step S17, a series of operations until the food image and incidental information are transmitted to the condition detection unit 301 are detected every time the door piece 20 is detected in step S11 Implemented at the time of opening and closing.

14 (a) to (d) are diagrams showing an example of photographic images of the refrigerator compartment 11 of the refrigerator 3 of the third embodiment, food images captured from the photographic images, and incidental information of the food images. Figures 14(a) to (d) show that when the door 20 is opened and closed, the photographic data (images in the storage room) and the food captured from the images in the storage room after being photographed by the photographing device 27 and transmitted to the food management section 304 The image, and the incidental information (time information and identification information for storage).

FIG. 14(a) shows that at time A, the image in the storage room after being photographed by the imaging device 27 and transmitted to the food management unit 304 is shown. At time A, the door flap 20 is opened and closed, but no food is put in or taken out. Storage at time A and before The image in the storage room does not change, so the food management unit 304 does not generate a differential image (food image).

FIG. 14(b) shows that at time B, the storage room image captured by the photographing device 27 and transmitted to the food management unit 304, the food image captured from the storage room image, and its accompanying information. At time B, beer is taken out from the top shelf of the refrigerator compartment 11 in the refrigerator compartment. The food management unit 304 extracts the food image (beer) 82b based on the difference between the images in the storage room at times A and B, and stores the food image, time information (time B) 83b and "out of storage" based on the judgment result of entering or leaving the store Identification information 84b. In addition, for the convenience of illustration, the food image (differential image) shown in FIG. 14(b) also shows the shelf of the refrigerator compartment, but in the actual food image, there is no refrigerator shelf, only beer .

FIG. 14(c) shows that at time C, the storage room image captured by the photographing device 27 and transmitted to the food management unit 304, the food image captured from the storage room image, and its accompanying information. At time C, the salad is taken out from the bottom shelf of the refrigerator compartment 11. The food management section 304 extracts the food image (salad) 82c based on the difference between the images in the storage room at times B and C, and stores the food image, time information (time C) 83c and "out of storage" based on the judgment result of entering or leaving the store Identification information 84c.

FIG. 14(d) shows that at time D, the storage room image captured by the photographing device 27 and transmitted to the food management unit 304, the food image captured from the storage room image, and its accompanying information. At time D, the milk is placed on the top shelf of the refrigerator compartment 11 and the cake is placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator compartment. The food management unit 304 extracts food images (bottle and cake) 82d1 and 82d2 according to the difference between the images in the storage room at times C and D, and based on the storage Or the judgment result of leaving the store, storing the food image, time information (time D) 83d1 and 83d2, and the "in and out" identification information 84d1 and 84d2.

As described above, the food management section 304 stores food images together with time information and in-out identification information, so that whenever the door 20 is opened and closed, the storage status of the food in the refrigerator compartment 11 and the refrigerator compartment can be grasped The food entry and exit status of 11 is transmitted to the condition detection section 301 as image information.

In the third embodiment, the situation detection unit 301 transmits the food image information received from the food management unit 304 to the situation acquisition unit 302 together with the opening and closing history and temperature history of the door 20. In the third embodiment, the situation acquisition unit 302 can obtain information about the opening and closing history and temperature history of the door piece 20, as well as the image information of the stored food itself. Therefore, for example, when the opening and closing of the door piece 20 can be confirmed When there is a change in at least one of the temperature histories, images of foods entering or leaving the store at the same time are used as the usage status.

The life management unit 303 can confirm the food used for cooking based on the image information, for example, based on the user's use of the refrigerator that combines the food image information with the opening and closing history and temperature history of the door 20 obtained by the situation acquisition unit 302. And get the living conditions. In addition, the life management unit 303 cannot determine from the opening and closing history and temperature history of the door 20 whether the temperature is gradually lowered because the user lowers the set temperature or whether the storage room load is too small relative to the set temperature And the situation caused. However, since the life management unit 303 can acquire the storage room load from the food image, it is possible to determine whether it is necessary to report the fact that the food may freeze (freezing risk), etc., to the terminal device 70 as diet-related information.

In addition, in the third embodiment, the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 11 For food, the food management department 304 stores the food image data stored together with the accompanying information (time information and in-out identification information) according to time series or divided into in-store or out-store. Therefore, the terminal can be transmitted to the user’s own terminal, and the same information can be transmitted to the terminal device 70. Therefore, not only the user but also the administrator can visually confirm the display screen, thereby grasping the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 11 Situation.

Figs. 15 (a) and (b) are diagrams showing an example of a display screen of the mobile terminal of the refrigerator 3 in the third embodiment showing the food image captured from the photographed image. In the display screen (time axis display screen) shown in FIG. 15(a), the food image 42 captured from the storage room image each time the door 20 is opened and closed, the time information 43 attached to the food image, and The inbound and outbound identification information 44 is arranged and displayed in time series. In this example, at the center of the screen, the food images 42 are arranged from top to bottom according to the order of time information (photographing time information) 43, and the time information 43 is displayed on the left of each food image, and on the right. Display the incoming and outgoing identification information 44. In addition, the target storage room (refrigeration room in this example), its set temperature, and the current time are displayed at the top of the screen.

In the time axis display screen shown in FIG. 15(a), for example, the target food retrospective time can be searched to obtain the consumption period or taste period, so the effective period or taste period of the food can be reported as Information related to eating and drinking life to promote consumption and use to prevent food waste.

The display screen shown in Fig. 15 (b) (in and out storage list display screen) is divided into left and right columns according to in and out storage. In each column, food images and time information are displayed in time series (list display). That is, in the left column, the food image 52 and the time information (that is, the storage time) 53 of the storage and removal identification information 54 as "warehousing" are displayed in order from top to bottom according to the order of the storage time 53 Show. In the right column, the food image 52 whose entry/exit identification information 54 is "outgoing" and its time information (that is, the exit time) 53 are displayed in order from top to bottom according to the order of the entry and exit time 53.

In the storage list display screen shown in FIG. 15(b), the current remaining amount of the food can be obtained from the storage and removal history of the target food, so the remaining amount of the food can be reported to the terminal device 70 as As information related to eating and drinking, the display part 71 can be checked by a family member or an assistant at a remote place (for example, at a shopping place), so that it is possible to prevent the purchase of useless ingredients, purchase too many ingredients, and forget to buy ingredients.

Fig. 16 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen of the mobile terminal of the refrigerator 3 according to the third embodiment of the food image captured from the photographic image. The food management department 304, from the food image (that is, the food image captured every time the door 20 is opened and closed) 62, and the time information and the identification information for entering and leaving the warehouse as its accompanying information, store it at a specific time The food images in the refrigerator compartment 11 (incoming and outgoing identification information is not "outgoing"), and as shown in Fig. 16, a list of food images in the store is displayed as a display screen of the food list in store. Furthermore, in this example, unlike (a) and (b) of Fig. 15, the food images are arranged from top to bottom based on the time information and in the order of the storage time.

The food inventory display screen shown in Figure 16 shows a list of food images in storage at a certain point, and the list of the remaining amount of food is more clearly reported as a diet than the list display shown in Figure 15(b). Life-related information, so as to be able to grasp the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 11, is expected to be able to prevent the purchase of useless ingredients, buy too many ingredients, and forget to buy ingredients. In addition, the food images are arranged in order from top to bottom according to the time of storage, so it is easy to find Food (that is, food that must be used as soon as possible), and can reduce food waste.

Furthermore, above the screen of the display unit 71 shown in FIGS. 15 (a) and (b) and FIG. 16, the target storage room (in this example, the refrigerator room) and its set temperature are displayed, and At the present time, in addition to the set temperature, the number of opening and closing times of the door panel 20 detected by the opening and closing detection unit 22 in a specific period or the temperature in the refrigerator compartment 11 detected by the temperature detection unit 26 may be displayed. .

"3-3" effect

As described above, according to the refrigerator 3 of the third embodiment, the food image information including the food image captured from the storage room image captured by the photographing device 27 and the process of entering and leaving it is reflected in the condition detection unit 301 In the first information of this, not only can the living condition based on the temperature of the air in the storage room obtained by the opening and closing history and temperature history of the door 20 be obtained, but also the storage of the food itself based on the food image information can be obtained State of life. As a result, the following effect is obtained: There is more information that can be reported to the manager regarding the living conditions of food life-related information such as the life span and remaining amount of food.

Furthermore, the described example is: the situation detection unit 301 adds the storage room image captured by the photography device 27 to the opening and closing history of the door piece 20 acquired by the opening and closing detection unit 22 and the temperature history acquired by the temperature detection unit 26 The first image of the cold storage room 11 is the information of the acquired food image. However, the situation detection unit 301 may detect the first information based only on the food image information based on the imaging device 27. Based on the food image information alone, the living conditions based on the storage state of the food itself can also be obtained, so it is also possible to report food life related information such as the use period or remaining amount of the food. In addition, if it can be detected as shown in Figure 15 And (b) the process of entering and leaving the warehouse, you can also report the user's use history, that is, safety related News. In addition, the condition detection unit 301 may detect the first information based on the food image information and the opening and closing history based on the photographing device 27, or may only detect the first information based on the food image information and the temperature history based on the photographing device 27. 1 Information.

"4" Implementation form 4

"4-1" Composition

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of the refrigerator compartment 11 of the refrigerator 4 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention (the cross-sectional structure of FIG. 1 cut with a line II-II). In Figure 17, the same or corresponding components as those shown in Figures 2, 6 and 10 are marked with the same symbols as those shown in Figures 2, 6 and 10 symbol. The refrigerator 4 shown in FIG. 17 is different from the refrigerator 3 shown in FIG. 10 in the characteristics of the control unit 400 that controls the substrate 410.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control system of the refrigerator 4 of the fourth embodiment. In Fig. 18, constituent elements that are the same as or corresponding to those shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 7, and Fig. 11 are marked with symbols shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 7, and Fig. 11 The same symbol. The control system of the refrigerator 4 shown in FIG. 18 is different from the control system of the refrigerator 3 shown in FIG. 11 in the control content of the control unit 400. As for other features, the refrigerator 4 of the fourth embodiment is the same as the refrigerator 3 of the third embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control unit 400 of FIG. 18. As shown in FIG. 19, the control unit 400 includes a food management unit 404 that manages the image data generated by the photographing device 27, a status detection unit 401 that detects the first information indicating the status of the food in the refrigerator 4, and acquires The status acquiring unit 402 that represents the second information of the user's usage of the refrigerator 4 and the usage status indicated by the acquired second information determine the user's living condition Whether it belongs to the life management department 403 to report the situation. In addition, the control unit 400 includes a food identification unit 405 and an information storage unit 406.

The food identification unit 405 is connected to the situation detection unit 401, the food management unit 404, and the information storage unit 406. The food identification section 405 receives food images and incidental information (time information and in-out identification information) captured in the food management section 404, and identifies the type and amount of food stored in the storage room (refrigerator 11 here) . At this time, the food recognition unit 405 refers to the information stored in the information storage unit 406 to recognize the type of food, etc. The food recognition unit 405 adds the recognition result (food type and portion information) to the time information of each food image received from the food management unit 404 and the in-out identification information as incidental information, and transmits it to the situation detection department 401.

The information storage unit 406 is connected to the food recognition unit 405. The information storage unit 406 stores, for each food type, characteristic attributes (such as at least one of food shape, size, color, and packaging label) that can distinguish the food type from other food types, as a reference corresponding to each food type News.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of specific information (food image database) stored in the information storage unit 406. Here, the characteristic quantities of the food itself belonging to the food category or the container holding the food correspond to the memory of the food category. Specifically, for each food category, the shape (contour), long axis size, and representative color ( Red, green and blue (RGB) values), and labels (text) are used as feature quantities.

In addition, the shape of each food type stored in the information storage unit 406 may be, in addition to the outline as an example here, a geometric shape (for example, a cylinder, a trapezoid, etc.) closest to the shape of the food. In this case, the recognition by the food recognition unit 405 is performed by, for example, pattern comparison (pattern methods such as matching) to compare it with the shape stored in the information storage unit 406. In addition, regarding the color, in addition to the RGB value of the representative color, other index values such as brightness, saturation, etc. may be used.

The control unit 400 may have a processor as an information processing device that executes the software (program) stored in the memory unit 24. In this case, the function of the control unit 400 is realized by executing this program.

"4-2" action

Next, an example of the operation of the refrigerator 4 according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 to 21. FIG. 21 is a flowchart for explaining the operation performed each time the door 20 of the refrigerator 4 is opened and closed. In FIG. 21, steps that are the same as or corresponding to the steps shown in FIG. 13 are marked with the same step number as the step number shown in FIG.

In the operation shown in FIG. 21, from the opening and closing of the door panel 20, the food management unit 404 calculates the difference between the images of the storage room when the door panel 20 was opened and closed last time, thereby capturing the image of the changed part of the image in the storage room As a food image, the steps up to and including the time information and the identification information of the storage and storage as incidental information are determined as the food image, and the steps up to and including the food image (step S16) are the same as Embodiment 3 shown in FIG. 13 The actions are the same. In the third embodiment, the food management unit 404 transmits these food images and incidental information to the situation detection unit 401, but in the fourth embodiment, it is first transmitted to the food recognition unit 405 (step S21).

The food recognition unit 405 refers to the information stored in the information storage unit 406 as shown in the example of FIG. 20, and recognizes and stores in the storage room (here, the refrigerator room 11) based on the food image received from the food management unit 404 Types of food And portion (step S22). During this recognition, the food recognition unit 405 compares each food image captured by the food management unit 404 among the food categories stored in the information storage unit 406 to determine which feature type of the food category it matches.

Next, when there is a feature amount stored in the information storage section 406 consistent with each food image, the food recognition section 405 determines that the food type of the image is the type corresponding to the consistent feature amount in the information storage section 406 . In addition, when there is no data with the same feature quantity in the information storage unit 406, the most similar food type can be used to replace the food type of the image, or the food of the image can be regarded as an unknown type of storage and only recognized Its size.

The food identification unit 405 attaches the food type and portion information identified by the above method as incidental information to the food image received from the food management unit 404, the time information about each food image, and the in-out identification information (step S23) And, as in the third embodiment, it is sent to the situation detection unit 401 (step S17).

Compared with the third embodiment, in the fourth embodiment, the food type and portion information are added as incidental information to the food image information received in the situation detection unit 401. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, the situation acquisition unit 402 acquires not only the image of the stored food itself, but also the information of the type and portion of the food. Therefore, for example, when at least one of the opening and closing of the door piece 20 and the temperature history changes , You can confirm the type or amount of food that enters or leaves the warehouse at the same time as the usage status.

In the fourth embodiment, the life management unit 403 can confirm the type of food or the amount of food used during cooking based on the user's use of the refrigerator obtained by adding the food type and portion information to the food image information in the situation acquisition unit 402 To get the living condition. Therefore, users other than the refrigerator 4 The administrator of can confirm the user's consumption tendency. In addition, by setting in advance, they can also receive information such as the user's partial eclipse tendency as diet-related information.

In addition, for the food stored in the refrigerator compartment 11, not only the food image, but also the food type and portion information are stored. Therefore, as in the third embodiment, of course, it can be output to the display unit of the user's own terminal device. The display unit 71 of the terminal device 70 that can output to a person other than the user (a manager as a third party) can grasp the type and amount of food stored in the refrigerator compartment 11 by visually confirming the display screen Inventory status.

"4-3" effect

As described above, according to the refrigerator 4 of the fourth embodiment, information on the type and amount of food is further added to the food image captured from the storage room image captured by the photographing device 27 and reflected in the status detection unit 401 The status of the food (the first information) to obtain the user's use of the refrigerator (the second information), by which you can get at least one based on the type and portion of the food itself, confirm and manage the information related to eating and living Consumer propensity to consume. In addition, there is an effect that will be described later: In particular, the living conditions of food life-related information such as the food inventory status and remaining amount can be reported to the manager in more detail than the image information in the third embodiment.

"5" Implementation form 5

In Embodiment 5 of the present invention, a network system including any of the refrigerators of Embodiments 1 to 4 will be described. Fig. 22 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the network system of the fifth embodiment. In FIG. 22, the same constituent elements as those explained in Embodiments 1 to 4 are indicated as those in Embodiment 1. The symbols used in 4 are the same. As shown in FIG. 22, the network system of the fifth embodiment includes an in-home system 500 and an out-of-home system 600 capable of communicating with the in-home system 500 via the Internet. The in-house system 500 has a refrigerator 5. The refrigerator 5 is any one of the refrigerators 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the first, second, third, and fourth embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 22, the in-house system 500 includes household appliances such as a refrigerator 5, a room air conditioner, a soup feeder, an IH (Induction Heating) cooking heater, and a microwave oven. These household electrical appliances and electric power measuring device 503 are connected to the system power supply 501 by the electric wire 502, and the system power supply 501 supplies electric power. The house system 500 includes a power measurement device 503 and a power measurement terminal 504 for measuring the power supplied by the system power source 501 to each household electrical appliance through a wire 502, a house controller 505, a broadband router 506, and a machine communication section as a communication device 515.

The power measuring device 503 measures the power supplied to each household electrical appliance (that is, the power consumption of each household electrical appliance), and the total power supplied by the system power supply 501 to the entire household electrical appliances and the power measuring device 503, and can save the measurement result (course). The electric power measurement device 503 measures the supplied electric power through an electric power measurement terminal 504 such as CT (Current Transformer).

The household electrical appliance and the electric power measuring device 503 respectively have a device communication section 515, which is used to communicate with the in-house controller 505 through a communication network. The communication network is, for example, a wired or wireless LAN (local area network). The household electrical appliances such as the refrigerator 5 and the electric power measurement device 503 can perform two-way communication with the house controller 505 in a wired or wireless manner through their respective device communication sections 515. In addition, the function of the appliance communication unit 515 connected to the refrigerator 5 is the same as that of the communication unit 23 as the communication device described in the first to fourth embodiments. Therefore, refrigerator 5 When the communication part 23 of the device can directly communicate with the in-house controller 505 in a wired or wireless manner, there is no need to provide a machine communication part 515 for the refrigerator 5.

When the device communication section 515 has a wired communication function, the device communication section 515 includes a wired communication module such as a serial interface or a driver. When the device communication unit 515 has a wireless communication function, the device communication unit 515 has a wireless communication module such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark). Furthermore, the appliance communication unit 515 may be built in the household electrical appliance and the electric power measurement device 503, respectively, or may be installed outside the household electrical appliance and the electric power measurement device 503.

The in-house controller 505 can acquire information on the power consumption of the household electrical appliances measured by the power measurement device 503 and the power supplied by the system power supply 501 from the power measurement device 503 through the communication network. In addition, the in-house controller 505 can obtain information on the operating state of the home appliance through the communication network. In addition, the in-house controller 505 manages the acquired power consumption, power supply, and operating state information, and can issue control change instructions (eg, operating state change instructions) to household electrical appliances through a communication network as needed.

In addition, the in-house controller 505 is connected to the Internet 601 of the out-of-home system 600 via the broadband router 506.

The Internet 601 is connected to a cloud server 602 that stores various power information, weather information, and other environmental information. In addition, the Internet 601 is also connected to the terminal device 70. As described in the first embodiment, the terminal device 70 is a terminal device such as a smart phone, a portable tablet computer, a mobile phone, a personal computer, etc., which is provided with a management authority different from that of the refrigerator 5 user.

The cloud server 602 can be accessed via the Internet 601 The external server connected to the refrigerator 5 and the terminal device 70 by means of communication. The cloud server 602 preferably has a personal authentication device 603, which authenticates the terminal device 70 whether it has the connection authority with the refrigerator 5.

For example, the cloud server 602 memorizes in advance the ID (identifier) of the refrigerator 5 as the mobile terminal ID of the terminal device 70 having the connection authority with the refrigerator 5. Here, the ID of the refrigerator 5 is information that can uniquely identify each of the plural refrigerators connected to the Internet 601. In addition, the so-called mobile terminal ID is information that can uniquely identify each of a plurality of mobile terminals connected to the Internet 601.

Furthermore, the personal authentication device 603 confirms whether the mobile terminal ID of the terminal device 70 has been memorized as having authority to connect to the refrigerator 5 to the refrigerator 5, thereby authenticating whether the terminal device 70 has authority to connect to the refrigerator 5.

The cloud server 602 as an external server permits the terminal device 70 authenticated by the personal authentication device 603 as having the connection authority to the refrigerator 5 to be connected to the refrigerator 5 via the Internet 601. That is, the cloud server 602 prohibits the mobile terminal that has not been authenticated by the personal authentication device 603 as having the connection authority to the refrigerator 5 from connecting to the refrigerator 5 through the Internet 601.

The home controller 505 acquires the power consumption of the home appliance or the power supply of the system power supply 501 from the power measurement device 503 in the home system 500, and also obtains information on the operating state or surrounding environment from the home appliance. In addition, the in-house controller 505 is connected to the Internet 601 via the broadband router 506, and can obtain various power information or environmental information from the cloud server 602.

For example, the in-house controller 505 of the in-house system 500 obtains the power supply and demand status of the area where the in-house system 500 is located as power information from the cloud server 602 of the out-of-home system 600. Moreover, the power consumption in the area is approaching the supply In the case of the upper limit value of the electric power, the house controller 505 can transmit a power-saving instruction especially to the household electrical appliances that consume a large amount of power. In addition, in this case, when it is determined that the refrigerator 5 is excessively cooled based on the set temperature of the storage room and the actual temperature history, the house controller 505 can instruct the set temperature to increase.

For example, the in-house controller 505 of the in-house system 500 obtains the power supply and demand status of the area where the in-house system 500 is located as power information from the cloud server 602 of the out-of-home system 600. In addition, when the power consumption of the area approaches the upper limit value of the supplied power, the house controller 505 can transmit a power-saving instruction particularly to the household electrical appliances that consume a large amount of power. In addition, in this case, when it is determined that the refrigerator 5 is excessively cooled based on the set temperature of the storage room and the actual temperature history, the house controller 505 can instruct it to increase the set temperature.

In addition, the terminal device 70 can be directly or indirectly connected to the refrigerator 5 through the in-house controller 505 via the Internet 601. At this time, only the personal authentication device 603 via the cloud server 602, which is authenticated as the terminal device 70 having the connection authority to the refrigerator 5, is permitted to be connected to the refrigerator 5.

Therefore, for example, when a family member or an assistant is a manager, if the mobile terminal ID of the terminal device 70 is registered in advance and the safety is maintained, information about the living conditions of the user of the refrigerator 5 can be shared. In addition, for example, since it is possible to confirm the stock status of food in the storage room of the refrigerator 5 at a shopping place such as a supermarket, it is possible to prevent family members from repeatedly buying the same ingredients or forgetting to buy necessary ingredients.

In the fifth embodiment, all or a part of the information storage unit referred to by the food identification unit may be provided in the cloud server 602 as an external server. The information storage unit 406 is stored in the cloud server 602, by which Enough to allow, for example, other users to share a large amount of information about food types.

Furthermore, the personal authentication device 603 described above is a device that uses ID to authenticate connection authority. The authentication method is not limited to this. In addition to the ID, biometric authentication such as fingerprints, veins, eye irises, etc., or password authentication, or a combination of these authentication methods can be used to authenticate the connection authority.

1‧‧‧Refrigerator

11‧‧‧Refrigerator (storage room)

12‧‧‧Ice making room (storage room)

13‧‧‧ Switching room (storage room)

14‧‧‧Freezer (storage room)

15‧‧‧Fruit and vegetable room (storage room)

21‧‧‧Operation panel

Claims (12)

A refrigerator is a refrigerator that includes a storage room for storing food and a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device used by a manager. The refrigerator includes a condition detection unit that detects the first information and the first information It is at least one of the following: the operation of the user of the refrigerator, the temperature of the air in the storage room and the state of the food in the storage room; the condition acquisition unit, which obtains from the first information during a certain period the status of the refrigerator The second information; and the life management department, determine the user who knows the refrigerator from the predetermined time zone judgment standard on weekdays and the second information, or from the predetermined time zone judgment standard and the second information late at night In case that the living condition of should be reported to the manager, the living condition should be reported to the terminal device. For example, the refrigerator described in item 1 of the patent application scope further includes: a memory section that memorizes information; and a time providing section that provides time information; wherein: the status detecting section obtains the inspection of the first information from the time providing section The moment of knowing, and make the memory section memorize the first information and the moment of detection; the situation acquisition section, acquire the first information stored in the memory section and the second information of the moment of detection. The refrigerator as described in any one of claims 1 or 2 further includes: a temperature detection device that detects the temperature of the air in the storage room; wherein, the first 1 Information contains by the temperature The temperature detected by the detection device. The refrigerator as described in item 1 or 2 of the scope of the patent application further includes: a photographing device that photographs the storage room to obtain an image in the storage room; and a food management department that extracts and stores the image obtained from the photographing device The food image of the food in the storage room stores the information about the putting in and taking out of the food in the storage room as the first information; wherein, the first information detected by the situation detection department includes The storage information stored by the food management department. The refrigerator as described in item 4 of the patent application scope further includes: a food identification section that identifies the type and portion of the food corresponding to the food image captured by the food management section; wherein, the status detection section The detected first information includes the type and portion of the food identified by the food identification unit. The refrigerator as described in item 5 of the patent application scope, wherein the food identification section includes an information memory section, which stores the information memory of at least one of the corresponding food shape, size, color, and packaging label as the food type Reference information; wherein the food identification section refers to the reference information to identify the food type and portion corresponding to the food image. The refrigerator as described in item 1 or 2 of the patent application scope, wherein the life management department, through the communication department, if the usage condition indicated by the second information remains unchanged for more than a predetermined period, The notification information informs the terminal device. The refrigerator as described in item 1 or 2 of the patent application scope, in which the life management department, after receiving the information indicating that the user is not at home, during the period until receiving the information indicating that the user is at home, when it is determined that When there is a change in the usage status indicated by the second information, the notification information is notified to the terminal device through the communication unit. The refrigerator as described in item 1 or 2 of the patent application scope, in which: the life management department includes an information memory unit that memorizes in advance reference information related to the usage status indicated by the second information; the life management department, at When referring to the reference information and judging that the usage status has predetermined characteristics, the notification information is notified to the terminal device through the communication section. A network system includes: a refrigerator as described in any one of patent application items 1 to 9; and a terminal device connected to communicate with the refrigerator. The network system as described in item 10 of the patent application scope further includes: a server, which is connected to the refrigerator and the terminal device in a communicable manner through the Internet; the server has a personal authentication device, which authenticates The terminal device is a terminal permitted to communicate with the refrigerator. The network system as described in item 11 of the patent application scope, wherein the server has an information storage section, and the refrigerator refers to the information stored in the information storage section to identify the food corresponding to the food image of the food stored in the storage room The type and serving size.

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