JP2019023534A - refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a refrigerator which learns normal door opening time of a user and issues an alarm at optimal timing for the user.SOLUTION: A refrigerator includes a cold room, a cooler which cools the cold room, and control means which issues an alarm for promoting closing a door. The control means sets time in which predetermined time is added to past average time during which the door is kept open, to time from opening the door until notification of the alarm.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator.

  Conventionally, in a refrigerator, when the door is opened for a long time, the temperature in the refrigerator rises, so the power consumption of the refrigerator may increase, and when the predetermined time has passed to save it, the opened state continues. An alarm can be issued to announce that the door is closed. The user sets the power saving level, and determines the alarm notification based on the set power saving target value. (For example, see Patent Document 1)

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-075400

  However, the predetermined time from when the door is opened to when the alarm is generated is a fixed value, and the time for opening the door by the user varies widely. For example, a user who opens the door for a long time feels annoyed every time the alarm sounds immediately, and conversely, a user who closes the door immediately will save energy. Can't get the benefit of prompting. Even if the target value is set, it is not possible to make an appropriate setting without clarifying the time and effort required for the user to operate and the usual use image.

  This invention solves the above problems, and it aims at providing the refrigerator which can sound an alarm at the user's optimal time by learning a user's usual door opening time.

  In order to achieve the above object, a refrigerator according to the present invention includes a refrigerator, a refrigerator that cools the refrigerator, and a controller that notifies an alarm that prompts the user to close the door. Is characterized in that a time obtained by adding a predetermined time to the past average time when the door is opened is set as the time from the opening of the door to the alarm notification.

  According to the present invention, when the door is opened, the door opening alarm can be sounded at an optimal time for the user, so that a user who is not normally conscious of energy saving can further save energy unconsciously. It is possible to improve energy saving even for users who are conscious of energy saving.

It is a front view of the refrigerator in embodiment of this invention. It is a sectional side view which shows typically the AA cross section of FIG. It is a control block diagram of the refrigerator in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a control panel figure of the refrigerator in the embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, the refrigerator which concerns on the Example of this invention is demonstrated using drawing.

  In each figure, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. Further, in the following description, the vertical and horizontal directions are based on the vertical and horizontal directions shown in FIG. 1, and the front and rear directions are based on the front and rear directions shown in FIG.

≪Overall configuration of refrigerator≫
First, before describing the door opening device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the overall configuration of a refrigerator including the door opening device according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator in an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment includes, from above, a refrigerating room 2, ice making rooms 3 and upper freezing rooms 4 arranged side by side, a lower freezing room 5, and a vegetable room 6. doing. In addition, as an example, the refrigerator compartment 2 and the vegetable compartment 6 are storage rooms in a refrigerator temperature zone of about 3 to 5 ° C. Further, the ice making room 3, the upper freezer room 4, and the lower freezer room 5 are storage rooms in a freezing temperature zone of approximately −18 ° C.

  The refrigerating room 2 is divided into left and right parts, so-called French-type refrigerating room doors 2a (first door) and refrigerating room doors 2b (second doors), which are spread in front (front side in FIG. 1). It has. The refrigerator compartment doors 2a and 2b rotate around the hinges 17a and 17b. In order to close the gap between the left and right refrigerating room doors 2a and 2b, a rotation threshold 18 is provided along the side of the refrigerating room door 2a close to the refrigerating room door 2b. The configuration will be described in detail later.

  The ice making room 3, the upper freezing room 4, the lower freezing room 5, and the vegetable room 6 include a drawer type ice making room door 3a, an upper freezing room door 4a, a lower freezing room door 5a, and a vegetable room door 6a, respectively. . In the following description, left and right refrigerator compartment doors 2a and 2b, ice making compartment door 3a, upper freezer compartment door 4a, lower freezer compartment door 5a, and vegetable compartment door 6a are simply door 2a, door 2b, door, respectively. 3a, door 4a, door 5a, and door 6a.

  The refrigerator 1 includes door sensors (not shown) that detect the open / closed states of the doors 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a, and the doors 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, When a state in which it is determined that at least one of the doors 6a is open is continued for a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute or more), the buzzer 62 that notifies the user to that effect, the refrigerator compartment 2, and the upper freezing A temperature setter (such as a control panel 40 shown in FIG. 1 having a predetermined operation unit and a display unit) is provided for setting the temperature of the chamber 4 and the lower freezing chamber 5.

  The first door 2a is provided with a first door opening switch 48a, and the second door 2b is provided with a second door opening switch 48b.

  Moreover, the glass plate which is a light transmissive member is each arrange | positioned in the front surface of the door 2a, the door 2b, the door 3a, the door 4a, the door 5a, and the door 6a. The glass plate can be fixed using a structure that is supported by a frame member at each door end or a structure that is fixed to urethane foam inside the door.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view schematically showing the AA section of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the outside of the refrigerator 1 and the inside of the refrigerator 1 are separated by a heat insulating box 10 formed by filling a foam heat insulating material (foamed polyurethane) between the inner box 10a and the outer box 10b. ing. Moreover, the heat insulation box 10 of the refrigerator 1 is mounted with a plurality of vacuum heat insulating materials 14.

  In the warehouse, a plurality of storage chambers arranged in different vertical directions in different temperature zones are adiabatically partitioned by heat insulating partition walls 11a and 11b. That is, the upper heat insulating partition wall 11a separates the refrigerating room 2 that is a refrigerating temperature zone storage room from the upper freezing room 4 and the ice making room 3 (see FIG. 1) that are refrigerating temperature zone storage rooms. . Further, the lower heat-insulating partition wall 11b separates the lower freezing room 5 that is a storage room in the freezing temperature zone and the vegetable room 6 that is a storage room in the refrigerating temperature zone.

  A plurality of door pockets 13 are provided on the inner side of the doors 2a and 2b. The refrigerator compartment 2 is partitioned into a plurality of storage spaces in the vertical direction by a plurality of shelves 12.

  In the upper freezer compartment 4, the lower freezer compartment 5, and the vegetable compartment 6, storage containers 4b, 5b, 6b are respectively provided behind the doors 4a, 5a, 6a provided in front of the respective storage compartments. The storage containers 4b, 5b, and 6b can be pulled out by placing a hand on a handle portion (not shown) of the doors 4a, 5a, and 6a and pulling it out toward the front side. Similarly, in the ice making chamber 3 shown in FIG. 1, a storage container (indicated by reference numeral 3b in FIG. 2) is provided behind the door 3a, and the handle 3 (not shown) of the door 3a is put on a hand and pulled out to the front side. Thus, the storage container 3b can be pulled out.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the doors 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a are provided with door packings 15 around the doors 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a. The inside of the storage space (the refrigerator compartment 2, the ice making compartment 3, the upper freezer compartment 4, the lower freezer compartment 5, and the vegetable compartment 6) is closed and sealed by closely adhering to the peripheral edge of the front opening of the refrigerator 1. This prevents the leakage of cold air from the storage space.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cooler 7 is disposed in a cooler storage chamber 8 provided substantially at the back of the lower freezing chamber 5. The cooler 7 is configured by attaching a large number of fins (not shown) to the cooler pipe 7d so that heat can be exchanged between the refrigerant and the air in the cooler pipe 7d.

  Above the cooler 7, an internal fan 9 (for example, a motor-driven fan) is provided. The air cooled by heat exchange in the cooler 7 (hereinafter, this cooled low-temperature air is referred to as “cold air”) is blown into the refrigerator compartment air duct 22, the vegetable compartment air duct 25, and the ice making room by the internal fan 9. Via the duct 26 a, the upper freezer compartment air duct 26 b and the lower freezer compartment air duct 27, it is sent to the storage rooms of the refrigerator compartment 2, the vegetable compartment 6, the ice making room 3, the upper freezer compartment 4 and the lower freezer compartment 5. It has become.

  Below the cooler 7, a defrost heater 35 that is a defrosting means is installed, and above the defrost heater 35, in order to prevent defrost water from dripping onto the defrost heater 35, An upper cover (not shown) is provided.

  The defrost water generated by the defrosting (melting) of the frost attached to the wall of the cooler 7 and the surrounding cooler storage chamber 8 flows into the gutter 32 provided at the lower part of the cooler storage chamber 8. It reaches the evaporating dish 34 disposed in the machine room 50 via the drain pipe 33, is evaporated by the heat of the compressor 51 and the condenser (not shown), and is discharged outside the refrigerator 1. .

  As shown in FIG. 2, a door opening device 60 is provided adjacent to the front surface of the upper surface of the ceiling wall of the refrigerator 1, that is, the doors 2 a and 2 b. The opening device 60 includes projecting members 61a and 61b corresponding to the first door 2a and the second door 2b, respectively. The protruding members 61a and 61b operate so as to protrude toward the first door 2a and the second door 2b from the state housed in the main body of the opening device 60, and the first door 2a is projected by the protruding member 61a. By pushing the vicinity of the upper end of the second door and pushing the vicinity of the upper end of the second door 2b by the projecting member 61b, the doors are respectively pushed open.

  In addition, the 1st door opening switch 48a and the 2nd door opening switch 48a which were each provided in the front surface of the 1st door 2a and the 2nd door 2b are means to detect the drive command of the door opening apparatus 60. Therefore, in the following, it may be referred to as “detecting means”.

  As shown in FIG. 2, on the upper surface side of the ceiling wall of the refrigerator 1, a control board 41, which is a control unit on which a CPU, a memory such as a ROM or a RAM, an interface circuit, and the like are mounted as a control unit. The refrigerator 1 includes a refrigerator temperature sensor 44 that detects the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 2, a vegetable compartment temperature sensor 45 that detects the temperature of the vegetable compartment 6, a freezing temperature zone (the ice making chamber 3, the upper freezer compartment 4, and the lower freezer compartment). 5) a temperature sensor such as a freezer temperature sensor 46 that detects the temperature of the cooler 7, a cooler temperature sensor 47 that detects the temperature of the cooler 7, and an outside air temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the room. 41 is input.

  The control board 41 includes a door sensor (not shown) that detects the open / closed state of the doors 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a, and the control panel 40 (see FIG. 1) provided on the door 2a. The left opening switch 48a (see FIG. 1) provided on the doors 2a and 2b and the right opening switch 48b (see FIG. 1) are connected.

  The control board (control means) 41 controls the ON / OFF of the compressor 51 and the rotational speed, the refrigeration temperature zone cool air control device 20 and the freezing temperature zone cool air control device 21 according to a program previously installed in the ROM. Control of each drive motor (not shown) for individually driving, control of ON / OFF of internal fan 9 and rotational speed, control of ON / OFF of external fan (not shown), rotational speed, etc., door The operation of the entire refrigerator can be controlled by controlling ON / OFF of the alarm 52 for notifying the open state, the operation of the door opening device 60, and the like.

  FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator. In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes a control board, which is used to input and open each door opening switch such as a first door opening switch 48a, a second door opening switch 48b, a freezer compartment lower door opening switch 48c, and a vegetable compartment door opening switch 48d. An operation command to the door device 60, an output to the buzzer 62, and the like are controlled. 40 is a control panel installed on the surface of the first door 2a of the refrigerator 1, an input unit 40b for switching a cooling temperature, a quick freezing operation stop, and the like, and a set cooling temperature and a quick freezing operation state. The display unit 40a indicates the open state of each door.

  The front surfaces of the first door 2a and the second door 2b are each composed of a light-transmitting glass plate, and a capacitive touch detection switch is brought into contact with or close to a predetermined position on the back surface of the glass plate. It is arranged. With this configuration, the functions of the refrigerator described above can be switched by the user touching from the front surface of the glass plate within the detection range of the touch detection switch.

First, Example 1 of the present invention will be described.
The control means 41 stores the time when the door is opened for a predetermined number of times (for example, 100 times) or for a predetermined period (for example, for 7 days), and calculates the average time. Then, a time obtained by adding a predetermined time to the calculated average door opening time is set to a time from when the door is opened until the door opening alarm for encouraging the user to close the door is sounded. For example, when the calculated average door opening time A is 30 seconds and the predetermined time B is 15 seconds, the time C from when the door is opened until the door opening alarm is sounded is “A (30 seconds) + B (15 seconds) = C (45 seconds) ". As a result, the user who normally closes the door early in consideration of energy saving can be notified that the door is opened a little longer than usual, and energy saving can be promoted. On the other hand, a user who is not conscious of energy saving can usually sound a door open alarm at an appropriate time to prompt the user to close the door at a time that suits the user. It will be excellent.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the refrigerator having the contents described in the first embodiment, the predetermined time B is varied by an outside air temperature sensor provided in the refrigerator 1. Specifically, when the room temperature acquired by the outside temperature sensor is low, the temperature difference in the refrigerator is considered to be small because the temperature difference with the refrigerator is small even if the door is opened. If the normal time is 15 seconds, it may be longer than 30 seconds. Note that a predetermined threshold is set for low and high outside air temperatures. For example, if the outside air temperature is less than 15 degrees, the temperature is low, and in that case, the predetermined time B is lengthened. The threshold value of the outside air temperature may be set in a fine range such as less than 10 degrees, less than 10-15 degrees, less than 15-20 degrees, 20 degrees or more. Thereby, the predetermined time B suitable for the environment where the refrigerator is placed can be set, and a refrigerator with better usability can be provided to the user.

Further, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the refrigerator having the contents described in the first embodiment, the refrigerator is provided with a function capable of detecting face pattern recognition. The refrigerator discriminates users who use the refrigerator by face pattern recognition detection, and calculates the average door opening time described in the first embodiment for each user. As a result, it is possible to set the time until the individual door opening alarm is sounded for different users. However, it becomes possible to cope with this, and the usability for the user is further improved.

  Embodiment 4 of the present invention will be described below. About the said Examples 1-3, a user turns on / off a function by setting from the control panel of the refrigerator 1. FIG. Specifically, when a predetermined button on the control panel as shown in FIG. 4 (for example, pressing the power saving button 42 for 5 seconds) is pressed and the function is set to “ON”, as in the first to third embodiments. Makes the correct action. As a result, the user can raise energy saving awareness by setting himself, and the function can be turned off for the user who feels that this embodiment is unnecessary, according to the environmental form of each user. It becomes possible to operate.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Refrigerator 2 ... Cold room 40 ... Control panel 41 ... Control board 42 ... Power-saving button

Claims (4)

A refrigerator room,
A cooler for cooling the refrigerator compartment;
Control means for informing an alarm prompting the user to close the door;
In the refrigerator with
The control means includes
A refrigerator characterized in that a time obtained by adding a predetermined time to a past average time in a state where the door is opened is set as a time from the opening of the door to the alarm notification. In claim 1,
It has an outside air temperature sensor,
The refrigerator characterized in that the predetermined time is varied according to the temperature acquired from the outside air temperature sensor. In claim 1,
It has a face pattern recognition detection function,
The refrigerator is characterized in that the average time for each user is calculated while identifying the user by the face pattern recognition function. In any of claims 1 to 3,
A control panel for cooling operation is provided.
The refrigerator is characterized in that the function of varying the time from the opening of the door to the alarm notification is turned on and off by a predetermined operation from the control panel.

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