JP2002295960A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator to easily obtain information on a food. SOLUTION: In the refrigerator connectable to an INTERNET, information on foods, such as, the special production localties of a food, a food in season, information on a specified shop, a method of vegetable for home use and the like is obtained through the INTERNET, and the refrigerator is constituted to display the information on the food on a display apparatus. Thus, information on a food having a deep relation with the refrigerator can be obtained, and the refrigerator is easy to use.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with a communication control device connectable to the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Refrigerators that can be connected to the Internet are:
For example, there is one described in JP-A-2000-12224. The refrigerator described in this publication has a configuration provided with a communication control device capable of connecting to the Internet, and describes that information such as images obtained through the Internet can be displayed.

[0003]

The refrigerator described in the above-mentioned publication is considered to be capable of connecting to the Internet and displaying the information. However, there is no description about obtaining information on foods. No, it was unknown. Many information can be browsed on the Internet. Therefore, it is presumed that various button operations are required to obtain necessary information, and it is not easy to obtain.

[0004] The present invention provides a refrigerator from which information on food materials can be easily obtained.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a communication control device connectable to the Internet, a display for displaying the status and settings of the refrigerator, and an operation unit for controlling various settings. In the refrigerator, information on foods such as a special production area of foods, a time of eating the foods, information of a specific shop, a method of a home garden, etc. is obtained via the Internet and displayed on the display.

[0006] Further, there is provided a storage means for storing information on the food material.

[0007] Further, there is provided an operation button for starting to obtain information on the foodstuff.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4 show a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator 1, 2 is a door of a refrigerator (a storage room controlled at about 3 ° C.), and 3 is a vegetable room (5).
Door of a storage room controlled to about ° C), 4 is a door of an ice making room, 5
Is a door of a switching room, and 6 is a door of a freezing room (a storage room controlled at about −20 ° C.).

Reference numeral 7 denotes a speaker for generating an alarm sound or a synthetic sound, and 8 denotes a display using a color liquid crystal, preferably at least 5 inches or more and about 8 to 10 inches. An operation unit 9 includes various operation buttons.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the refrigerator. Reference numeral 10 denotes a control device, which is composed of a microcomputer or the like for controlling each refrigerator. 11
Is a communication control device having a modem and the like, which can be connected to the Internet. Reference numeral 12 denotes a storage means, which is constituted by a nonvolatile storage element or the like, and stores a model, a serial number, an instruction manual, and a version of the instruction manual of the refrigerator. Reference numeral 13 denotes a telephone line, and 14 denotes a modular jack for connecting to the Internet via the telephone line and the provider 19 from the modular jack. Reference numeral 15 denotes a power plug, and reference numeral 16 denotes a power outlet.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory view of the display 8 and the operation unit 9, wherein 20 is a power saving button for saving power, 21 is an iris button for performing odor cooling, 22 is a humidity switching button, and 23 is refrigeration. A refrigerator compartment button for changing the set temperature of the compartment, 24 is a freezer compartment button for changing the set temperature of the freezer compartment, 25 is a selection button for selecting in which temperature zone the switching compartment should be used, and 26 is a display 8 Instruction button for displaying an instruction on the Internet, 27 is an Internet button (operation button) for connecting to the Internet, 28 is a cross key for selecting when connecting to the Internet or displaying the instruction, and 29 is this cross key. A decision button for deciding what has been selected with the key. Although not shown in the drawings, these buttons are displayed in Braille on the side thereof so that even a blind person can operate them.

The refrigerator 1 has a refrigerant circuit formed by connecting a compressor, a condenser, a decompression device, and an evaporator in an annular manner with a refrigerant pipe, but this is not shown. Further, the refrigerant circuit is filled with, for example, R134a and is used as a refrigerant.

The user can select the model, serial number, address, name,
A customer registration postcard with a telephone number or the like is mailed to a service department (a service department of a manufacturer or a service company entrusted by the manufacturer) in advance. For this reason, if data on the model and serial number of the refrigerator is sent to the server of the service department via the Internet, the service department can immediately grasp the user's address, name, telephone number, etc., and respond quickly to various services You can do it. The user has a contract with an Internet connection company called a provider in advance.

In the refrigerator configured as described above, food information can be obtained and displayed on the display 8 by connecting to the Internet. This method will be described. When the user presses the Internet button 27, connection to the Internet is started and a menu shown on the display unit 8 in FIG. 3 is displayed. On this display screen, when "4. Download of food information" is selected with the cross key 28 and the enter button 29 is pressed, the download of the food information is started. The download is performed by storing a file of the food information in the storage unit 12.

When the download of the ingredient information is completed, if the operations of menus 1 to 4 shown in FIG. 3 are not performed,
Select “5. End connection” to end the connection.

Next, when the user presses the instruction manual 26 button, a menu on the display 8 shown in the upper part of FIG. 4 is displayed.
If the user wants the food information, the user selects “4. Provision of food information” using the cross key 28 and presses the enter button 29. Then, the menu is switched to the menu of the display 8 shown in the lower part of FIG.
Then, the user selects desired information on the food information providing menu with the cross key 28, presses the enter button 29, displays the desired information on the display 8, and obtains the desired information.

According to the user, "1. Ingredients (vegetables and fruits)
Is selected, the display 8 displays which food is produced and where. As this display method, for example, a display (a still image or a moving image) and a character display are displayed, and a description using a synthesized voice along the display may be given.

When "2. About season" is selected, which ingredient is in season and when is displayed.

In addition, "3. Price information (store, sales date,
Is selected, the display 8 displays information such as the store, the date of sale, the selling price, and the selling time after the current date.

When "4. How to cook (recipe)" is selected, a food menu and a cooking method are displayed.

Further, when “5. Restaurant information (introducing a delicious restaurant) is selected, information such as menu, price, location of the restaurant, contact information, and opening time of the restaurant that is evaluated as delicious is displayed. Is displayed.

When "6. Home garden method" is selected, information on the home garden, for example, information on the time of sowing, how to water, how to use fertilizer, etc. is displayed.

As described above, according to this refrigerator, since information on foods can be displayed, information on foods closely related to the refrigerator can be obtained, and the refrigerator can be easily used.

Also, since the storage means 12 for storing information on foods is provided, the information on the foods can be displayed even when the user is not connected to the Internet, and this information can be seen, making the refrigerator easy to use. be able to.

The food information mainly changes depending on the season and the weather, but an operation button (such as the Internet button 27) for starting the acquisition of the information about the food.
, It is possible to easily obtain the latest information on the ingredients and to use the refrigerator easily.

[0028]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a refrigerator that can be connected to the Internet, information of a special production area of foodstuffs, a time of eating foodstuffs, information of a specific shop,
Information about the ingredients such as the method of the kitchen garden is obtained via the Internet, and is configured to be displayed on the display, so that information on ingredients closely related to the refrigerator can be obtained,
Refrigerators can be easier to use.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the storage means for storing the information on the food is provided, the information on the food can be displayed even when the user is not connected to the Internet, and this information can be viewed Can make the refrigerator easier to use.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the operation button for starting the acquisition of the information on the food is provided, the information on the food can be easily obtained, and the refrigerator can be easily used. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the refrigerator.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a display unit and an operation unit of the refrigerator.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a display when a handling explanation button of the refrigerator is pressed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator 8 Display 9 Operation part 11 Communication control device 12 Storage means 27 Internet button (operation button)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerator equipped with a communication control device connectable to the Internet, a display for displaying the status and settings of the refrigerator, and an operation unit for controlling various settings, etc. A refrigerator, which obtains information on foods such as information on a particular store, a method of a home garden, etc. at the time of eating the foods through the Internet, and displays the information on the display. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising storage means for storing information on the food. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an operation button for starting to obtain information on the food.
A refrigerator according to claim 1.