JP2001208463A - Refrigerator giving instruction on cooking menu - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator which tells in pictures, voices, and letters to a person who is out, or lives alone, what is stored in the refrigerator, how to do cooking he wants to eat, or how to do cooking by depending solely on materials stored in the refrigerator. SOLUTION: A display is provided on the front door of a refrigerator, electronic cameras, micro-cameras and the like are installed in the inside of the chamber. Picture recognition, voice recognition, character recognition are conducted by a controller, ROM, RAM, D/A, a modem, and the like to indicate pictures or characters on the display, give voice by a speaker, and furthermore by connecting a telephone line and on the Internet, the user can be informed what is stored in the refrigerator.

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and relates to the contents of food items stored in the refrigerator without opening the refrigerator door. It's a refrigerator that tells you what kind of food you can cook with the food in it, and even how to make that dish. It is a refrigerator where you can see what foods are inside and watch TV broadcasts. [0002] Until now, refrigerators have only been able to delay the decay of foodstuffs by freezing or refrigeration, to extend their usable life, or to make ice. [0003] In addition, even if the refrigerator was not opened, the housewife who manages the refrigerator could not accurately grasp what was in the refrigerator and what the remaining food was. [0004] Furthermore, there was no refrigerator that taught the kind of food that can be made with foods in the refrigerator or that taught how to cook the food. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005] The present invention enables a user to know what is in a refrigerator without opening the refrigerator door, whether at home or from a distance. The goal was to teach them what food they could cook with just the food in the refrigerator, and even how to make that dish. A refrigerator is provided with a control device (hereinafter, referred to as a control device) having a CPU (Central Processing Unit). In order to view food items in the refrigerator without opening the refrigerator door, a display device (monitor) is attached to the front of the refrigerator door. The display device may be a liquid crystal, a plasma display, a CRT, or anything. This display device is connected to the control device. [0008] A plurality of electronic cameras, micro cameras and the like are mounted inside the refrigerator, arranged so that all food items in the refrigerator are photographed, and connected to the control device. A ROM (Read Only Memory) having a built-in image recognition processing program, character recognition processing program, and voice recognition processing program is connected to the control device. This ROM stores the dishes of the world, how to make the dishes, and the ingredients required to make the dishes (materials for making the dishes) so that they can be displayed on the display device in the form of images, characters, and voices. deep. This can be replaced by storing the software on a floppy disk or the like. A RAM (Random Acc) is provided in the control device.
The essence memory is connected, and the food in the refrigerator taken from the electronic camera is sent as an image signal via the control device, and the image signal is temporarily stored in the RAM. [0011] A digital-to-analog converter (D / A) is connected to the controller, the audio digital signal sent from the ROM through the controller is converted into an audio analog signal, and audio is displayed from a speaker through an amplifier. By connecting a modem to the control device, it is possible to connect to a telephone line or the Internet. [0013] A television tuner is connected to the control device, and a television broadcast or a cable television broadcast received from a television antenna is also displayed on the display device. A remote control receiving device is connected to the control device to enable remote control. A digital-to-analog converter (D
/ A) is connected to the receiver, the audio analog signal picked up by the receiver is converted into an audio digital signal, and the ROM recognizes the audio. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a refrigerator for teaching a cooking menu. [0017] When wondering what to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the user presses a switch button on the remote control (10). Then, the control device (1) operates via the receiving device (9). The control device (1) instructs an electronic camera, a micro camera or the like (3) to photograph foods in the refrigerator and to use them as image signals through the RO (1).
Send to M (4) and RAM (5). The image signal temporarily stored in the RAM (5) is recognized by the image recognition processing program in the ROM (4), and the recognized food in the refrigerator is stored in advance in accordance with an instruction from the control device (1). ROM
Images and characters are sent to the display device (2) from among (4), and an audio digital signal is sent from the ROM (4) to the D / A (digital-to-analog converter) (6) according to the instruction of the display device (1). The audio signal is converted into an audio analog signal, and is sent to an amplifier, whereby the audio signal is displayed from a speaker. Recognized foodstuffs are displayed one after another on the display device (2) by images and characters, or by voice display from a speaker. When all the foodstuffs in the refrigerator are displayed, they are stored in the ROM (4). The message "This is all the foodstuffs in the refrigerator." Is displayed by the control device (1) in characters and voice. Next, when a designated button switch on the remote controller (10) is pressed, the control device (1) instructs the ROM (4) to read the foodstuffs in the refrigerator temporarily stored in the RAM (5). Searching from the ingredients stored in (4), all kinds of dishes that can be made only with food items in the refrigerator are displayed on the display device (2) as images and characters, and audio is also displayed from the speaker. Let it. When the type of dish is displayed, the number in front of the dish that the user wants to eat is pressed by a button switch of the remote control (10), and the control device (1) instructs the RAM.
(5) temporarily memorize the food you want to eat
M (4) is made to search for a cooking method and a cooking method of the dish to be eaten, and to display it in an image, a voice, and characters. The telephone line can be connected by connecting the modem (7) to the control device (1), so if you want to check the food in the refrigerator when you are out or shopping, All you have to do is get a phone or payphone at home. When the telephone line is connected to the control device (1) via the modem (7), the control device (1) performs the following operations and sends a voice display through the telephone line. [0025] Even through the Internet, the control device (1) similarly performs the following operations through the modem (7) to transmit digital signals of images, sounds, and characters. When the user wants to watch a television broadcast on the display device (2), the controller (1) sends a transmission from the television tuner (8) to the display device (2) by pressing a screen switch button switch of the remote control (10). send. The display device (2) is now switched to the television screen, so that a television broadcast can be watched by selecting a television station with the button switch of the remote control (10). If there is a dish to be eaten, the receiver (11) picks up the voice just by saying it aloud and temporarily stores it in the RAM (5) from the control device (1) through the D / A,
The voice digital signal is recognized by the voice recognition processing program in the ROM (4), and the food stored in the ROM (4) is searched. When the search is performed, the control device (1) searches for the cooking method of the dish and displays the information on the display device (2).
Instruct OM (4). The ROM (4) faithfully executes what is instructed by the control device (1), and displays the cooking method on the display device (2) in the form of images, sounds, and characters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a refrigerator that teaches a cooking menu. [Description of References] (1); a control device including a CPU (2); a display device (3); Cameras, micro cameras, etc. (4); ROM (Read Only Memory)
y) (5); RAM (Random Access Me)
(6); D / A (digital-to-analog converter) (7); modem (8); TV tuner (9); receiving device (10); remote controller (11);

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A refrigerator is provided with a monitor on the front door, a plurality of electronic cameras and micro cameras in the refrigerator, and it is possible to know what is in the refrigerator without opening the refrigerator door, and to broadcast on television. Refrigerator where you can watch and access the Internet 2. A refrigerator that teaches the types of dishes that can be made only with food items in the refrigerator and how to make the dishes using images, sounds, and characters. 3. A refrigerator that teaches you how to cook the food you want to eat by using images, audio, and text. 4. A refrigerator in which a user can see foodstuffs stored in a refrigerator at home from outside. 5. A remote controller (remote controller) for realizing the first, second, third, and fourth aspects of the present invention.