JP6201142B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator including an image display unit on a door surface.

  In general, many refrigerators of this type have been proposed. For example, the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1 is provided with an operation panel with a liquid crystal display on the door surface so that it can be easily seen in an easy posture. As a protective panel for protection, a panel having a metal film formed on one side of a resin plate is used so that both usability and design are compatible.

JP 2005-61757 A

  However, in the above-described conventional configuration, the liquid crystal display in which the operation panel is integrated is embedded in a part of the door surface, so that the hollowed portion of the door surface for arranging the liquid crystal display portion and the liquid crystal display portion There is a problem in that there is an unsightly boundary between the two and the continuity of the design is lost, and the liquid crystal display unit floats. On the other hand, it may be possible to maintain continuity by covering the front of the door with another transparent member to make it flush, but this makes the operation panel difficult to react. There was a problem of losing usability. Therefore, there is a problem that design and usability are not compatible.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a storage chamber that is partitioned by a heat insulating wall and a heat insulating door and stores stored items, a cooler for cooling the storage chamber, a heat insulating door that covers the storage chamber, and the heat insulating material. A display unit disposed on the door for displaying an image, a plate-shaped transparent plate disposed outside the display unit, and an electrostatic capacitance disposed on the outer surface of the transparent plate and having a wiring unit in the periphery A thin film of the formula, a protective member disposed outside the thin film, and a control unit for processing data from the thin film, wherein the transparent plate has a relatively smaller portion than the protective member and then, the transparent plate material is obtained by so positioning the wiring portion of the thin film to a relatively small portion, the wiring portion are those that are located in the upper portion of the insulating door.

  With the above configuration, a capacitance-type thin film larger than the display unit can be used, and the boundary part between the display unit and the door part is covered with the same transparent plate material, whereby the display unit and the door part By maintaining continuity without leaving the border of the front of the door, a refrigerator that achieves both ease of use and design has been realized.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the refrigerator provided with the image display part which was easy to use and was excellent also in design property can be provided.

The perspective view of the refrigerator in embodiment of this invention Schematic sectional view of the refrigerator The perspective view which shows the inside when the storage door of the refrigerator is opened A perspective view when the image display unit is attached to the refrigerator Schematic cross-sectional view of the image display unit in the refrigerator Schematic longitudinal sectional view of the image display unit of the refrigerator Cross-sectional view showing a camera installation example of the refrigerator The camera attachment example of the refrigerator is shown, (a) is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator door portion with the door closed, and (b) is a front view of the door inner surface when the door is opened. (A) (b) (c) The longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the other example of the camera attachment example of the refrigerator Longitudinal sectional view showing an example of camera installation in the case of a single door of the refrigerator The camera attachment example of the refrigerator is shown, (a) is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator door portion with the door closed, and (b) is a front view of the door inner surface when the door is opened. Vertical sectional view showing another example of camera mounting in the case of a single door of the refrigerator Explanatory drawing which shows the imaging | photography state in the camera attachment example of FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the camera attached to the refrigerator System configuration diagram of refrigerator system in the same embodiment Block diagram showing the refrigerator configuration of the refrigerator system Block diagram showing the server configuration of the refrigerator system Flowchart showing photographing to data storage operation when the door of the refrigerator system is closed Flow chart showing photographing to data storage operation during cooling room cooling operation of the refrigerator system Flowchart showing photographing to data storage operation when the door of the refrigerator system is opened FIG. 15 to FIG. 20 are flowcharts showing other operation examples of the photographing operation. The flowchart which shows the case where data storage and composition operation in the refrigerator system are performed by the server The flowchart which shows the case where the data preservation and composition operation in the refrigerator system are done on the refrigerator side The flowchart which shows the case where the data preservation and composition operation in the refrigerator system are done on the portable terminal side Flow chart showing normal image data transmission / reception in the refrigerator system The flowchart which shows transmission / reception of the image data in case the image data is preserve | saved at the portable terminal in the refrigerator system The flowchart which shows the case where a separate image and a synthesized image are switched and transmitted / received in the refrigerator system Flowchart showing image data transmission / reception upon advance transmission request in the refrigerator system Front view of portable terminal for explaining switching of transmission / reception path in the refrigerator system The figure for demonstrating the image composition process in the refrigerator system

  Hereinafter, specific and detailed embodiments of the present invention will be described. First, the main points of the embodiments of the present invention will be described.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a storage chamber that is partitioned by a heat insulating wall and a heat insulating door and stores stored items, a cooler for cooling the storage chamber, a heat insulating door that covers the storage chamber, and the heat insulating material. A display unit disposed on the door for displaying an image, a plate-shaped transparent plate disposed outside the display unit, and an electrostatic capacitance disposed on the outer surface of the transparent plate and having a wiring unit in the periphery A thin film of the formula, a protective member disposed outside the thin film, and a control unit for processing data from the thin film, wherein the transparent plate has a relatively smaller portion than the protective member and then, the transparent plate material is obtained by so positioning the wiring portion of the thin film to a relatively small portion, the wiring portion are those that are located in the upper portion of the insulating door.

  As a result, a capacitance type thin film larger than the display unit can be used, and the boundary between the display unit and the door part is covered with the same transparent plate material, so that the boundary between the display unit and the door part is obtained. By maintaining continuity without coming out of the front of the door, we realized a refrigerator that combines ease of use and design.

  Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiment.

[Embodiment 1]
<1. Configuration>
1-1. Configuration of refrigerator 1-1-1. Configuration of French Door Type Refrigerator First, a configuration example in the case of a French door type refrigerator will be described with reference to FIGS.

  1 to 3, the refrigerator body 1 includes a metal (for example, iron plate) outer box 2 that opens forward, an inner box 3 made of hard resin (for example, ABS), the outer box 2 and the inner box 3. It is made of a heat insulating material 4 such as hard foam urethane filled with foam. The refrigerator main body 1 has a plurality of storage compartments formed therein. This storage is located from the upper part of the refrigerator body 1 to the refrigerator compartment 5, the switching chamber 6 located below the refrigerator compartment 5, the ice making chamber 7 juxtaposed to the switching chamber 6, the switching chamber 6 and the ice making chamber 7 below. There are a freezer compartment 8 and a vegetable compartment 9 located below the freezer compartment 8. The front face of the refrigerator compartment 5 is closed freely by a double door 10 and the front parts of the switching compartment 6, ice making compartment 7, freezer compartment 8, and vegetable compartment 9 are drawer type doors 11, 12, 13 , 14 (hereinafter referred to as a pull-out door) can be freely opened and closed.

  There is a cooling chamber 16 on the back of the refrigerator main body 1, a cooler 17 that generates cool air, a blower fan 18 that supplies the cool air to each chamber, and a damper (air volume adjusting means) for adjusting the air volume to the refrigerator compartment. 22 is provided. In addition, a compressor 19 is provided at the back of the main body top of the refrigerator body 1, and a condenser (not shown), a heat radiating pipe 20, a capillary tube 21, and the cooler 17 described above are sequentially provided. A refrigerant is enclosed in a refrigeration cycle connected in a ring shape, and a cooling operation is performed.

  Here, each said door 10-14 is filled with hard foaming urethane like the refrigerator main body 1, and has heat insulation, In this refrigerator, the door of the storehouse 5 used as a refrigerator compartment among the said doors 10-14. An image display unit 15 is provided on one front surface of the apparatus 10.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image display unit 15 with respect to the door 10.

The door 10 includes a base resin 10a having a convex portion 10a-2 (support portion) at a lower portion, and the base resin 10a is configured such that the lower convex portion 10a-2 supports the display 10a-3. . Further, the image display unit 15 includes a transparent plate material 10a-1 (a plate-like glass, an acrylic plate, or the like) outside the display 10a-3. Further, the transparent plate 10a-1 further includes an electrostatic capacitance type thin film 10a-5 having a wiring part 10a-6 in the peripheral part on the outer surface, and further, a protective member 10a- on the outer side of the thin film 10a-5. 4 is provided. Here, the transparent plate member 10a-1 has a portion relatively smaller than the protective member 10a-4 at the upper end portion, and the wiring portion 10a-6 is arranged in this portion. And the board | substrate 10a-7 connected to the tip of wiring part 10a-6 is arrange | positioned on the back side of transparent board | plate material 10a-1 so that the upper end part of transparent board | plate material 10a-1 may wrap around by the upper end of transparent board | plate material 10a-1. Has been. And the board | substrate 10a-7 is accommodated so that it may be mounted on the rib 10a-9 provided in the base resin 10a above the display 10a-3. At this time, since the width of the substrate 10a-7 is made thinner than that of the display 10a-3, the substrate 10a-7 can be obtained without impairing the heat insulation performance in a state where a sufficient heat insulating material is secured even inside the substrate 10a-7. Can be stored. Further, the display 10a-3 is configured such that the lower end is supported by the convex portion 10a-2 and the rib 10a-9 is disposed above, so that the display 10a-3 is resistant to impact and water.

  Here, the transparent plate member 10a-1 has a portion that is relatively smaller than the protective member 10a-4 at the upper end portion, and the wiring portion 10a-6 is disposed in this portion, thereby protecting the transparent plate member 10a-1. Since the member 10a-4 is arranged so as to conceal the wiring portion 10a-6, it becomes difficult for the user to see and the design is excellent. Moreover, since the wiring part 10a-6 is arrange | positioned in a relatively high position, it becomes difficult for a user to touch and it is excellent also in safety. Further, by arranging the wiring portion 10a-6 so as to go around the upper end portion of the transparent plate 10a-1, the substrate 10a-7 and the thin film 10a-5 are positioned on both sides via the transparent plate 10a-1. Thus, the upper and lower sides of the transparent plate 10a-1 are integrally fixed on the front and back of the transparent plate 10a-1. Thereby, it becomes a structure which can endure long-term use also in the door 10 which is frequently opened and closed. Furthermore, since the transparent plate 10a-1 often has a lower end portion or a side portion utilized as a gripping portion of the door 10, by arranging the wiring portion 10a-6 on the upper end portion of the transparent plate 10a-1, Since a certain distance from the position touched by the user can be maintained, safety is improved, and further, it is not necessary to change the wiring part 10a-6 according to the shape of the gripping part, so that the model development is facilitated.

  Further, the wiring portion 10a-6 disposed in the peripheral portion so as to wrap around the transparent plate material 10a-1 is further configured to cover the upper portion with the cover member 10a-8. Here, the cover member 10a-8 is configured to include the thin film 10a-5 and the transparent plate 10a-1 in the width direction. As a result, the outer side of the cover member 10a-8 is positioned and fixed to the inner side of the protective member 10a-4, and the inner side of the cover member 10a-8 is fixed to the base resin 10a. With this configuration, the wiring portion 10a-6 can be appropriately protected from dust and the like. Furthermore, since the cover member 10a-8 itself is less visible from the front side than the protective member 10a-4, it is excellent in design. Thus, by using the cover member 10a-8 at the upper end of the transparent plate 10a-1, safety, design, long-term use, etc. can be realized simultaneously. In addition, when the decoration part 10a-10 is provided between the board | substrate 10a-7 and the transparent board | plate material 10a-1, design property will improve further. In particular, if a design similar to the state in which the power supply of the display 10a-3 is turned off is used, the continuity of the design is maintained above and below the rib 10a-9, so that the user can use the board 10a-7 and the wiring portion 10a-6. This makes it difficult to recognize the presence of the product and improves the design. On the other hand, there is an advantage that maintenance such as replacement of the substrate 10a-7 is easy.

  In addition, the above configuration makes it possible to provide the capacitive thin film 10a-5 on the entire surface of the transparent plate 10a-1. That is, in the conventional configuration, since the substrate is configured to be hidden by the housing of the door, the touch sensor has to be arranged in a limited space, whereas in the present embodiment, the display 10a-3 By making the thin film 10a-5 different from each other, it is possible to drive the capacitive touch sensor with most of the transparent plate 10a-1. Thus, even if the display 10a-3 is turned off, the display 10a-3 can be turned on by touching any part of the door 10, so that it is dark like night Even so, it is easy to use and dramatically improves the product value.

Further, the transparent plate 10a-1 has a thickness of at least 2 mm. As a result of many experiments, the inventor has found that the capacitive thin film 10a-5 is a display 10a-3.
I found out that the effect of noise is received as noise. Here, when the transparent plate 10a-1 is disposed between the display 10a-3 and the thin film 10a-5, and the thickness of the transparent plate 10a-1 is set to 2 mm or more, the above influence is drastically increased. This is a point that has been found to be reduced.

  Furthermore, the inventor has also found a problem that heat is generated on the inner back side of the display 10a-3 according to the display content and the driving time of the display 10a-3, and heat is trapped inside the door 10. In the first place, the refrigerator is intended to cool the interior of the refrigerator, but it has been devised to determine how to exhaust the heat outside the storage without affecting these effects. It has also been found that by providing the heat dissipating member 10a-11 having the above structure, it can contribute to energy saving. In particular, the heat radiating member 10a-11 is configured to absorb heat from the display 10a-3 on the back side of the display 10a-3 in the lower part, and connected to the metal part constituting the outer peripheral part of the door 10 in the upper part. Like to do. Thereby, even if heat is generated on the back side of the display 10a-3, the heat can be diffused in the outer peripheral direction of the door 10, and the influence on cooling in the cabinet can be minimized. In this embodiment, it is configured to escape upward, but it may be escaped to the side or downward.

  Furthermore, it is good to provide a vacuum heat insulating material in the door 10 inside a warehouse rather than the thermal radiation member 10a-11. In this case, by disposing a vacuum heat insulating material having a size larger than that of the display 10a-3, it is possible to more appropriately combine heat dissipation and heat insulation, thereby realizing a configuration with high energy saving effect and ease of use.

  Further, when an operation panel is provided on the door 10, it is preferable that the display 10 a-3 and the capacitive thin film 10 a-5 be provided at a position where they do not overlap. Thereby, the door 10 can be made into a flat design and the refrigerator excellent in design property is realizable. And it is good to print-display on the part corresponding to an operation panel in transparent board | plate material 10a-1. While the display 10a-3 itself appears to emit light strongly, the operation panel portion is less noticeable than the display 10a-3, so it is used by printing on the transparent plate 10a-1. As a result, the design is balanced overall.

  6A and 6B are schematic cross-sectional views of the door 10 and the image display unit 15 along BB in FIG.

  In FIG. 6A, a smoke sheet 29 in which only a portion facing the display 10a-3 is transparent is provided between the display 10 embedded in the door 10 and the transparent plate 10a-1, and the display 10a-3 is provided. The transparent plate material 10a-1 other than the display 10a-3 also looks black due to the smoke sheet 29, and the boundary with the display 10a-3 is not noticeable, and the appearance can be maintained satisfactorily. . In FIG. 6B, a transparent liquid crystal display unit is used as the display unit of the display 10a-3, and a smoke sheet 29a that is entirely black is laid along the back surface of the transparent liquid crystal display unit. Appearance can be improved.

  7, 8 (a) and 8 (b) show an example of attachment of the camera and the interior lighting lamp as the main part of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the refrigerator with the door closed, FIG. 8 (a) is a cross-sectional view showing the inner surface of the door in the refrigerator with the door closed, and FIG. 8 (b) is a front view of the inner surface of the door when the door is opened.

In FIG. 7, FIG. 8 (a), (b), the storage board 5 of the refrigerator is provided with shelf plates 30-1 to 30-4 in a plurality of upper and lower stages. The shelf boards 30-1 to 30-4 are made of a transparent material such as a transparent synthetic resin material or glass except for the surrounding frame.

  Reference numeral 31 denotes a storage container provided so as to be freely drawn out below the lowermost shelf plate 30-4. Although the lowermost shelf plate 30-4 is fixed because it constitutes the upper surface of the storage container 31, the shelf plates 30-1 to 30-3 are respectively protruding side walls provided on both side walls of the storage 5. It is mounted on 32-1 to 32-4 and is detachable. In particular, among the shelf plates 30-1 to 30-3 excluding the bottom shelf plate 30-4, the central shelf plate 30-2 is provided with a plurality of corresponding side wall protrusions 32-2 at different heights. The shelf height can be adjusted.

  33-1 to 33-3 are door pockets provided on the inner surface of the door 10 that opens and closes the opening of the storage 5 and is provided in a plurality of stages. The door pockets 33-1 to 33-3 are also formed of a material having permeability.

  Reference numerals 34-1 and 34-2 denote interior illumination lamps provided on the front opening side walls and the front opening upper wall surface of the storage 5 ahead of the front ends of the shelf plates 30-1 to 30-4. In addition, the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are provided with a substrate having a plurality of LEDs arranged in the vertical direction, for example, for the purpose of energy saving and covered with a translucent cover.

  35-1 and 35-2 are cameras provided so as to be located on the front side of the storage 5 like the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2. For example, a CCD camera or a CMOS camera is used. There are no particular limitations on the type, but it is preferably resistant to condensation.

  In this embodiment, two cameras are provided, and one of the cameras 35-1 is attached in the vicinity of the lower surface of the upper door pocket 33-1, which is substantially at the center in the front-rear direction, and another camera 35-2. Is attached near the top of the door pocket 33-3. Here, the front-rear direction of the door pocket 33 is a direction perpendicular to the surface formed by the inner plate 10b of the door 10, and is the same direction as the front-rear direction of the storage 5 when the door 10 is closed. .

  Further, the upper camera 35-1 is provided at a position substantially in front of the uppermost shelf 30-1, and the lower camera 35-2 is provided at a position in front of the third shelf 30-3 in the drawing. In other words, each camera is not a shelf 30-2 placed on a plurality of side wall projections 32-2 provided on the premise of height adjustment, but a shelf that is detachable but is not premised on height adjustment. It is provided at a substantially forward position of the plate 30-1 and the shelf plate 30-3.

  Furthermore, as is clear from FIG. 7, both the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are located in front of the front ends of the shelf boards 30-1 to 30-4, and are shown in FIG. 8B. In the same manner, the two cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are provided so as to be positioned in the vicinity of the open end side end Y opposite to the shaft support X of the door 10, that is, in the substantially central portion in the left-right direction of the refrigerator 51. You can shoot almost the entire area of the warehouse. In the case of this French door, the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are provided on the side of the door 10 having a large area, and are set so as to be positioned at a substantially central portion of the refrigerator 51. Further, in this example, the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are provided on the door 10 side where the center pillar 36 (see FIG. 3) is not provided, and are set so as to be positioned at a substantially central portion of the refrigerator 51. . As is well known, the center pillar 36 is provided on one side surface of the two doors 10 in the case of a French door, and cold air in the storage 5 leaks from a gap generated between the two doors 10. It is a member provided in order to prevent this.

  The cameras 35-1 and 35-2 may be additionally provided with a dedicated camera 35-3 as shown in FIG. 9A, or the lower camera 35 as shown in FIG. -2 can be moved up and down, or the lower camera 35-2 can be turned up and down as shown in FIG. Good.

  Further, as is apparent from FIG. 7, the interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are provided at positions on the far side of the storage from the cameras 35-1 and 35-2, and the interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are provided. The second light is provided so as not to directly enter the photographing units of the cameras 35-1 and 35-2.

  More specifically, as shown to Fig.8 (a), the imaging | photography part of the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 is the irradiation amount (maximum irradiation amount) of the irradiation direction of the interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2. ) In the range in which the irradiation amount is 1/2 or more, in this example, the irradiation angle is outside the range of 60 degrees.

  In addition, although this is not illustrated, a light-shielding part is provided on the camera side of the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2, or a light source such as an LED constituting the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 is provided. It is possible to prevent the light from the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 from directly entering the photographing units of the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 by adopting a configuration such as being inclined obliquely rearward. Therefore, it may be selected appropriately according to the installation conditions of the camera. The same applies to a single door type refrigerator described below.

1-1-2. Configuration of Single Door Type Refrigerator FIGS. 10 to 13 show examples of attachment of a camera and an interior lighting when the door 10 is a single door. In this single-type door refrigerator, the same parts as those of the already described French door-type refrigerator are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof is omitted, and only different parts will be described.

  First, an example will be described with reference to FIGS. 10, 11A and 11B.

  10 and 11 (a) and 11 (b), in the case of this single door refrigerator, the upper camera 35-1 has a left and right divided door pocket 33-, which is a typical arrangement example in the single door. 4, 33-5, and 33-6 are provided on the raised wall 10 b-2, and the lower camera 35-2 is provided on the inner surface of the door between the door pockets 33-7 and 33-8. . Each of the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 is provided at a substantially forward position of the shelf 30-1 and the shelf 30-3 that are detachable but are not predicated on height adjustment, similar to the French door type. And as shown in FIG. 10, it is a front position from the front end of each shelf board 30-1-30-4, and the center part vicinity of the door 10 so that it can understand in FIG. 11 (a) (b), ie, It is provided so as to be located at a substantially central portion in the left-right direction of the refrigerator 51 so that almost the entire area in the cabinet can be photographed by these two cameras 35-1 and 35-2.

  The interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are provided in the same manner as the French door type. That is, the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are provided in front of the front ends of the respective shelf plates 30-1 to 30-4, and are provided on the front opening both side walls and the front opening upper wall surface of the storage. There is a position where the light does not directly enter the imaging units of the cameras 35-1 and 35-2, that is, the imaging units of the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are irradiated by the interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2. It is provided outside the range where the irradiation amount becomes 1/2 or more with respect to the direction irradiation amount (maximum irradiation amount), in this example, the irradiation angle is 60 degrees.

  12 (a), 12 (b), and 13 show other examples of the single door type.

In the case of this example, the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are provided in the vicinity of the door open end Y on the opposite side of the shaft support X of the door 10 as shown in FIGS. The height positions of the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are the same as those in the case of the single door. When the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are provided in the vicinity of the door open end Y, the image is taken when the door 10 is opened at a predetermined angle, for example, 30 degrees. As a result, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 13, the image can be taken over a wide range up to the vicinity of the opening of the storage 5, and the image is in a state where the user sometimes opens the door slightly. When viewing the image, it is substantially the same as the state of viewing, and when the image is viewed with the image display unit 15 or the portable terminal 55a, the image can be viewed in a natural manner without any sense of incongruity.

1-1-3. Camera Configuration FIG. 14 shows an example of a camera used for internal shooting. As described in the above examples, it is most preferable that the cameras be provided at positions that are separated from each other in the up-down direction. However, even if the upper and lower cameras 35-1, 35-2 are installed close to each other as shown in FIG. As a result of the verification, it was confirmed that the entire area can be photographed.

  Therefore, in such a case, it is conceivable that the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are integrated to form the camera module 41, and the modularization in this way enables easy installation and cost reduction. The module can also be formed by using a wider-angle lens such as a fisheye lens.

1-2. Overall Configuration of Refrigerator System Next, the entire refrigerator system using the refrigerator as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 15 shows an overall configuration of a refrigerator system 50 using the above-described refrigerator. As shown in FIG. 15, the refrigerator system 50 is a system for confirming the state of food in the refrigerator 51 by a portable terminal 55a.

  The refrigerator system 50 includes a refrigerator 51 and a portable terminal 55a, and further includes a wireless adapter (communication device) 53, a gateway device (relay device) 54, a router device 55, the Internet 56, and a server device 57.

  The refrigerator 51 is arrange | positioned in a user's residence A, for example, is arrange | positioned in the kitchen room in the residence A.

  The wireless adapter (communication device) 53 is configured to be electrically connected to a control unit (described later) of the refrigerator 51 and communicate with the router device 55 via a gateway device (relay device) 54. The wireless adapter 53 receives the signal transmitted from the router device 55 and outputs the received signal to the control unit of the refrigerator 51. Based on this signal, the refrigerator 51 is configured to perform a corresponding operation.

  The wireless adapter 53 also acquires identification information (for example, a serial number and model number) of the refrigerator 51, image data in a warehouse to be described later, and the like from the storage unit of the refrigerator 51, and a router via the gateway device (relay device) 54. It is configured to transmit to the device 55. The wireless adapter 53 may be provided integrally with the refrigerator 51 or may be configured to be detachable.

  The wireless adapter 53 includes a “connect” button 53a. The “connect” button 53a is used to newly connect to the gateway device (relay device) 54. When the “connect” button 53 a is operated by the user, the wireless adapter 53 is configured to acquire identification information (for example, a manufacturing number or a model number) of the refrigerator 51 from the storage unit of the refrigerator 51.

  As described above, the portable terminal 55a is a general-purpose portable terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet PC (personal computer), and communicates with a function (means) for connecting to the Internet 56 and a gateway device 54 described later. And a function (means) to perform.

  The mobile terminal 55a (for example, a smartphone) is configured to connect to the Internet 56 via a telephone line network (for example, a 3G line network). In addition or alternatively, for example, the portable terminal 55a is configured to connect to the Internet 56 via a public wireless LAN with a Wi-Fi communication function.

  By connecting to the Internet 56, for example, the mobile terminal 55a acquires image data of food in the refrigerator and data for energy saving operation (for example, data such as the number of times the door is opened and closed). Can be obtained from the website of the manufacturer of the refrigerator 51 via the Internet 56. By installing the acquired program in the mobile terminal 55a and starting the installed program, the mobile terminal 55a can acquire image data of food in the refrigerator. That is, the portable terminal 55a can generate and transmit an operation signal for acquiring the image data of the refrigerator 51 by operating the operation screen. Details will be described later.

  The mobile terminal 55 a is also connected to the router device 55 by general-purpose communication not via the Internet 56 such as Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication, infrared communication, etc., and the gateway device 54 via the router device 55. Is configured to connect to the communication. A device for that purpose (for example, a Wi-Fi antenna or the like) is incorporated in the portable terminal 55a.

  The gateway device (relay device) 54 is a device that relays communication between the wireless adapter 53 and the portable terminal 55a. For example, the gateway device 54 and a specific small power wireless special small frequency band (924.0 to 928.0 MHz). ) Is used for communication. The communication frequency band between the gateway device 54 and the wireless adapter 53 is preferably a low frequency band that reaches a long distance, and is installed in the residence A of the user where the refrigerator 51 is installed together with the router device 55.

  The gateway device 54 is also configured to be in communication connection with the mobile terminal 55a via the router device 55. That is, the gateway device 54 is configured so that communication (first communication) can be executed only through the router device 55 without going through the mobile terminal 55a and the Internet 56.

  The gateway device 54 is further configured to be connectable to the Internet 56 via the router device 55. Thereby, the gateway device 54 can communicate with the mobile terminal 55a (second communication) via the Internet 56 and the router device 55, and can also communicate with the server device 57.

  Therefore, the gateway device 54 communicates with the mobile terminal 55a via the Internet 56 (ie, the first communication via only the router device 55) and via the Internet 56 (ie via the Internet 56 and the router device 55). Second communication). The reason for this configuration will be described later.

  The server device 57 is prepared by a manufacturer of the refrigerator 51, for example. The server device 57 manages information necessary for access and authentication regarding the portable terminal 55a, the refrigerator 51, and the wireless adapter 53. For example, the server device 57 determines whether or not the identification information of the portable terminal 55 a included in the communication request signal matches the identification information of the portable terminal 55 a stored (registered) in association with the wireless adapter 53. Authenticate (distinguish). And when these correspond, the server device 57 authenticates the portable terminal 55a to access as a regular terminal, and permits communication with the refrigerator 51 in the residence A.

  The server device 57 stores the image data of the food in the refrigerator transmitted from the refrigerator 51, data for energy saving operation, and the like. These data are transmitted to the portable terminal 55a based on the data call signal from the portable terminal 55a. That is, the user can display and confirm the food image data in the refrigerator by operating the portable terminal 55a.

1-3. FIG. 16 shows a system configuration of a refrigerator used in the refrigeration system.

  In FIG. 16, this refrigerator 51 includes an interface (I / F) 58, a controller (control unit) 59, a storage unit 60, a door opening / closing detection unit 61, interior lighting lights 34-1 and 34-2, and a camera 35-. 1, 35-2, a fan drive circuit 62, a compressor drive circuit 63, a blower fan 18, and a compressor 19, and are supplied with power from an AC power supply 64 such as a commercial power supply in the house A, for example.

  The interface (I / F) 58 exchanges data and the like between the wireless adapter 53 and the controller 59 of the refrigerator 51.

  A controller (control unit) 59 controls the operation of the refrigerator. The controller 59 controls the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 and the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 to photograph food in the refrigerator, and temporarily stores the image data in the storage unit 60. In addition, the data is transmitted to the server device 57 on the Internet 56. Further, if there is a request signal for image data pre-transmission from the portable terminal 55a via the server device 57, the portable terminal 55a is instructed to send it to the portable terminal 55a via the server device 57 immediately after food photography. Details thereof will be described later.

  The storage unit 60 rewrites and stores the image data of the food in the cabinet and the data for energy saving operation taken by the cameras 35-1 and 35-2, in addition to the identification symbol and the control program.

  The interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are controlled to be turned on / off by the controller 59 based on a signal from the door opening / closing detection unit 61. The interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are turned on when the door 10 is opened and several seconds when the door 10 is closed. Turns off after a delay.

  The cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are controlled by the controller 59 based on a signal from the door opening / closing detection unit 61, and take a picture of food in the refrigerator when the door 10 is closed. Details thereof will be described later.

  The fan drive circuit 62 receives a control signal from the controller 59 and controls the rotation of the blower fan 18.

  The compressor driving circuit 63 receives a control signal from the controller 59 and controls driving of the compressor 19 such as the rotational speed.

  The blower fan 18 operates according to the control of the fan drive circuit 62 and generates an air flow for circulating the cool air.

  The compressor 19 compresses a refrigerant (not shown) circulating in the refrigerator 51 according to the control of the compressor drive circuit 63.

1-4. Configuration of Server Device Next, a configuration example of the server device of the refrigerator system in Embodiment 1 will be described using FIG. Here, the configuration of the server device 57 in FIG. 15 is taken as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the server device 57 includes a server interface 65, a server control unit 66, and a data storage unit 67.

  The server interface 65 is a communication unit that exchanges data and the like between the mobile terminal 55 a and the router device 55 and the server device 57 via the Internet 56 under the control of the server control unit 66.

  The server control unit 66 controls the overall operation of the server device 57. The server control unit 66 also combines the image data of the food transmitted from the refrigerator 51 and stores it in the data storage unit 67. When there is a signal for requesting prior transmission of image data from the portable terminal 55a, the data storage unit Each time the image data is transmitted from the refrigerator 51, the latest image data stored in the image data 67 is transmitted to the portable terminal 55a, and the portable terminal 55a is rewritten and updated. Of course, when a data call signal is transmitted from the portable terminal 55a in a state where there is no image data prior transmission request signal, the latest image data stored in the data storage unit 67 is transmitted to the portable terminal 55a.

  The data storage unit 67 stores necessary data such as a management program and an application program for executing the refrigerator system. Further, the data storage unit 67 rewrites and stores the latest data of the food image data transmitted from the refrigerator 51 under the control of the server control unit 66. The data storage unit 67 is configured by, for example, an HDD (Hard Disc Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or the like.

  The server device 57 can be constructed by either a server composed of a single large computer or a cloud server composed of a large number of computers.

<2. Operation>
Next, the operation of the refrigerator and the refrigeration system configured as described above will be described. In the following descriptions, the same operations are described with the same step numbers added.

2-1. Food photographing operation 2-1-1. Photographing when the door is closed FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the operation when photographing the food in the storage when the door 10 of the refrigerator 51 is closed.

  When the door 10 is opened to put in and out the food (Y in Step 1), the interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are turned on (Step 2), and when the door 10 is closed (Y in Step 3), The illuminance of the interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2 is decreased (step 4), and after a few seconds, for example, a few seconds have elapsed, the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are activated to photograph the food in the interior (step 5). . Thereafter, the captured image data is stored in the storage unit 60 of the refrigerator 51 (step 6), and the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are turned off (step 7).

Here, if the illuminance of the interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2 is reduced during the above photographing, the food can be clearly photographed, which is preferable. That is, when food is photographed by turning on the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2, the inner surface of the storage is white, and the reflected light is strongly reflected from the entire peripheral surface except the opening of the storage. However, the food is whitish with high illuminance without lowering the illuminance, and the food becomes whitish, making clear photography difficult. However, if the illuminance of the interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2 is reduced as in the above example, the influence of the reflected light from the inner surface of the storage can be greatly reduced, and a clear image can be taken. It becomes.

2-1-2. Photographing at the time of cooling in the refrigerator compartment FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an operation when photographing food in the storage room at the time of cooling the refrigerator compartment after the food in the refrigerator is taken in and out.
When the door 10 is opened to put food in and out (Y in Step 1), the interior lighting 34-1 and 34-2 are turned on (Step 2), the door 10 is closed (Y in Step 3), and the refrigerator compartment It is determined whether or not it is in the cooling operation state (step 8). If the blower fan 18 is ON and the damper 22 is open and the refrigerator is in the cooling operation, the illuminance of the interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2 is reduced as in the case of closing the door (step 4). ), The cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are activated, and the food in the cabinet is photographed (step 5). Thereafter, the captured image data is stored in the storage unit 60 of the refrigerator 51 (step 6), and the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are turned off (step 7).

  In this way, by taking a picture during the cold room cooling operation, even if condensation occurs due to a temperature difference between the inside and outside of the storage, for example, on the surface of the food newly put in the storage, this condensation is eliminated by the cooling operation, Disappear. Therefore, photographing with the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 is preferably performed so clearly that the characters written on the food packaging container can be read.

  During the above operation, when the door 10 is closed (Y in Step 1), the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are once turned off, and the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34 are again turned on before photographing. -2 is turned on to reduce the illuminance thereof, it is possible to suppress wasteful power consumption due to continuous lighting of the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2.

2-1-3. Photographing when the door is opened FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing an operation when photographing a food in the storage when the door 10 is opened at a predetermined angle in the case of a single door.

  When the door 10 is opened to put food in and out (Y in Step 1), the interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are turned on (Step 2), and the opening angle of the door is a predetermined angle, for example, as shown in FIG. When the opening angle shown is 30 degrees (Y in Step 10), the illuminance of the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 is decreased (Step 4), the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are activated, and the warehouse The food inside is photographed (step 5). Thereafter, the photographed image data is stored in the storage unit 60 of the refrigerator 51 (step 6). When the door is closed (Y in step 11), the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are turned off (step 7). .

  If the door 10 is photographed when the door 10 is opened at a predetermined angle as in this example, the interior of the storage 5 can be photographed over a wide area as described above, and the image becomes natural with no sense of incongruity. It is.

  Note that when shooting is performed when the predetermined angle is opened, shooting is performed at least twice during the door opening operation and the door closing operation. At this time, in the operation time from one door opening to closing, the last taken image data (at the time of the door closing operation) is stored in the storage unit 60, so that the latest storage that has finished taking in and out the food is stored. The state of food can be photographed.

  Needless to say, in step 10 for detecting whether or not the opening angle of the door 10 reaches a predetermined angle, if the door 10 is closed before reaching the predetermined angle, the interior illumination lamp 34-1 is used. , 34-2 is turned off, and it is waited for the door 10 to be opened again.

In the above, a typical example of the shooting operation has been described. However, in addition to the shooting operation, for example, shooting is performed when a predetermined time elapses after a predetermined time or the previous shooting, or the mobile terminal 55a
A shooting operation such as shooting when a shooting instruction is issued from the camera is also conceivable.

2-1-4. Illumination at the time of photographing Food illumination at the time of photographing reduces the illuminance after lighting the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2, as already described with reference to FIGS. Irradiate and shoot. Depending on the case, it is also conceivable to illuminate and shoot with reduced illumination as lighting of only the interior lighting 34-1 on both sides of the storage or the interior lighting 34-2 on the upper surface of the storage. The reason for shooting with the illuminance lowered will be described later.

  As another example of food irradiation at the time of photographing, the following may be considered. That is, FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the state of lighting / extinguishing of the interior illumination lights 34-1 and 34-2 at the time of photographing by the cameras 35-1 and 35-2. This corresponds to the operation of the broken line portion.

  The imaging in FIGS. 18, 19, and 20 is an example in which the illumination lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are turned on and the illuminance is lowered, and in this example, both sides of the storage are taken. Each one of the interior lighting lamps 34-1 on the surface is turned off, in other words, only one of the interior lighting lamps 34-1 on both sides of the storage is turned on, and the food is irradiated and photographed. In this case, the interior illumination lamp 34-2 on the upper surface of the storage may be either turned on or off, but any one may be appropriately selected so that the illuminance in the interior is optimal for photographing.

  In FIG. 21, before shooting with the cameras 35-1 and 35-2, one of the interior lighting lamps 3-1 on both sides of the storage area that has already been lit, for example, the right interior lighting lamp is turned off ( Step 12), taking a picture of the food that has been irradiated by the left interior lamp (step 13) and storing it (step 14). Thereafter, the right interior lamp is turned on (step 15), and then the left interior lamp is turned off (step 16), and the food being irradiated with the right interior lamp is photographed (step 17). ). The image data is stored (step 18), and the right interior illumination lamp is turned off (step 19). Thus, the image data stored by irradiating food from one side is synthesized and stored as one image.

  As described above, the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are turned on one by one to photograph foods and combine them into one. In other words, as described above, the illuminance of the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 is reduced during photographing, and if the illuminance reduction is too large, the image becomes dark and lacks in clarity. Therefore, there is a limit to the decrease in illuminance. For this reason, a certain level of illuminance is maintained. However, even if the illuminance is high, the effect of reflected light may remain when the internal volume of the storage is small. However, as described in this example, when food is photographed by lighting one of the left and right sides of the interior illumination lamp 34-1, the influence of the reflected light can be reduced, and the interior illumination lamp illumination lamp 34-1 is illuminated. The surface on the side you are shooting can be taken with moderate brightness. Therefore, it is preferable to perform a combining process that combines the left and right images of food taken with moderate brightness, so that the whole image becomes clear.

2-2. Image Storage and Composition Next, storage and composition of image data taken by the above-described operations will be described.

22-2-1 Storage and Compositing by Server FIG. 22 shows a case where image data is stored and composited by the server device 57. When the interior is photographed by the operations shown in FIGS. 18 to 20 including FIG. The refrigerator 51 is connected to the Internet 56 from the wireless adapter 53 via the gateway device 54 and the router device 55 (step 20), and individual image data photographed and stored by each camera is transferred to the server device 57 connected to the Internet 56. Transmit (step 21). The image data transmitted via the Internet 56 is subjected to a combining process (step 22) for combining individual image data by the server control unit 66 of the server device 57. The combined image data is stored in the data storage unit 67 of the server device 57 (step 23).

  If the server device 57 synthesizes and stores the images as in this example, the load on the refrigerator-side controller 59 and storage unit 60 can be reduced, and an Internet-compatible refrigerator can be provided at low cost. can do.

2-2-2- Storage and Compositing on Refrigerator Side FIG. 23 shows a case where image data is stored and combined on the refrigerator side, and the interior is photographed by the operations shown in FIGS. 18 to 20 including FIG. The controller (control unit) 59 of the refrigerator 51 takes out the individual image data from each camera stored in the storage unit 60, combines them, and combines them (step 24). The synthesized image data is stored (step 25), the refrigerator 51 is connected to the internet 56 from the wireless adapter 53 via the gateway device 54 and the router device 55 (step 20), and the stored image data is connected to the internet 56. The data is transmitted to the server device 57 (step 21). The composite image data transmitted via the Internet 56 is stored in the data storage unit 67 of the server device 57 (step 23).

  In this example, the load on the controller 59 and the storage unit 60 on the refrigerator side is increased, but image data can be transmitted to and received from the portable terminal 55a without going through the data storage unit 67 of the server device 57, thereby reducing system operation costs. can do.

2-2-3. Storage and Compositing on the Mobile Terminal Side FIG. 24 shows a case where image data is stored and combined on the mobile terminal 55a side. When the interior is photographed by the operations shown in FIGS. Connects to the Internet 56 from the wireless adapter 53 via the gateway device 54 and the router device 55 (step 20), and transmits the image data to the mobile terminal 55a instead of the server (step 26). The image data transmitted via the Internet 56 is subjected to a composition process (step 27) for combining the image data by the portable terminal 55a. The synthesized image data is stored in the data storage unit of the portable terminal 55a (step 28).

  In this example as well, although the load on the portable terminal 55a increases, the load on the controller 59 and the storage unit 60 on the refrigerator side can be reduced, and an Internet-compatible refrigerator can be provided at low cost.

  The image data transmission and the composition operation have been described above by exemplifying typical ones. However, the storage and the composition portion are not necessarily performed at the same location, for example, the server device 57. For example, the refrigerator 51 The image data may be combined with each other and the server device 57 may store the image data.

2-3. Normal transmission / reception of image data 2-3-1. Transmission / Reception of Image Data Stored in Server and Refrigerator FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing transmission / reception between the server device 57 or the refrigerator 51 and the portable terminal 55a, and shows transmission / reception of image data stored in the server device 57 or the refrigerator 51. is there.

First, the user presses a server connection button (not shown) displayed on the portable terminal 55a at a shopping destination, for example, and makes a request for reading image data stored in the data storage unit 67 of the server device 57 (step 31). ). It is detected whether image data has been captured from the server device 57 (step 32), and if the image data has not been transferred, connection is made from the portable terminal 55a to the Internet 56 (step 33). The image data stored in the data storage unit 67 of the server device 57 or the storage unit 60 of the refrigerator is taken out (step 34), and the image data is transferred to the portable terminal 55a such as a smartphone that is a data caller via the Internet 56. Is transferred (step 35). It is detected whether image data has been captured from the server device 57 (step 32). When the image data is captured, the image data is output to the portable terminal 55a (step 36).

  Thereafter, it is detected whether an enlarge button (not shown) displayed on the portable terminal 55a has been pressed (step 37), and if it is detected that the enlarge button has been pressed, the image in the storage output on the display. Image data is created by enlarging the data 1.1 times or more by digital conversion. The enlarged and converted image data is output to the portable terminal 55a (step 36).

  After that, it is detected whether a numeric key button (not shown) displayed on the display is pressed (step 38). When it is detected that the numeric key button is pressed, the enlarged image data in the storage output on the display is displayed. The image data at the location designated by the numeric keypad is output to the display (step 36). Further, it is detected whether the numeric keypad is pressed (step 38). Exit if not detected.

  It should be noted that the enlargement button and the numeric keypad for displaying image data at a predetermined location may be of a type in which the surface of the display is slid with a finger. Such a configuration improves usability.

  As described above, according to this refrigerator system, the contents of the refrigerator 51 can be confirmed at a glance at a shopping destination, so that forgetting to buy can be prevented and the waste of purchasing extra ingredients can be eliminated. . In addition, in a family working together, it is possible to check the inside of the storage 5 of the refrigerator 51 just before returning, and to purchase foods and the like on the way home, thereby reducing time for the user.

  In addition, by displaying an enlarged display or a predetermined location, it is possible to surely see the foodstuffs by enlarging and displaying an image even on a terminal that has been miniaturized, such as the portable terminal 55a.

2-3-2. Transmission / Reception of Image Data Saved in Portable Terminal FIG. 26 shows a case where image data is already stored and saved in the portable terminal 55a. In this case, as described with reference to FIG. 24, the image data is transmitted and stored in the portable terminal 55a, and when this image data is requested to be read (step 31), the image data is fetched from the storage unit of the portable terminal 55a. The image data is output to the display of the portable terminal 55a (step 36). The subsequent enlargement display operation and local display are as described with reference to FIG.

2-3-3. Image data switching reception Images taken by the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are obtained by taking the respective photographed images of the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 (the upper half or the lower half in the storage) and the respective photographed images. An example is shown in which composite images combined and combined (images combined in the storage from the top to the bottom) are stored and stored, and these images can be switched and transmitted and displayed on the portable terminal 55a.

  FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing the operation in such a case.

  First, the user presses an individual image / composite image call button (not shown) displayed on the display of the portable terminal 55a (step 41), and calls either an individual image or a composite image (step 42). ). Thereafter, either the individual image or the composite image is captured by the flow shown in FIG. 25 or 26 and displayed on the display of the portable terminal 55a.

  When the image to be displayed on the mobile terminal 55a can be switched to either an individual image or a composite image as in this example, normally the food status in the storage can be confirmed at a glance by calling the composite image and displaying it. However, when it is difficult to discriminate the food due to the corner of the storage, etc., it can be surely discriminated by switching to an individual image and displayed, which improves usability.

2-4. Transmission / reception at the time of a prior transmission request for image data and the like FIG.

  First, the user operates the portable terminal 55a to perform a request operation for a prior request signal (step 51). The server device 57 or the refrigerator 51 receives this request signal (step 52), and reads and transmits image data (individual image data or composite image data, the same applies hereinafter) stored in the data storage unit 67 or the storage unit 60 (step 52). 53). The portable terminal 55a detects whether the image data from the server device 57 or the refrigerator 51 has been taken in (step 54). If no image data is transmitted, the portable terminal 55a connects to the Internet 56 (step 55). The server devices 57 take out the image data stored in the refrigerator 51 (step 56), and transmit the image data to the portable terminal 55a via the Internet 56 (step 57). It is detected whether the image data has been taken in from the server device 57 (step 54). When the image data is detected, the process waits until the image data is called (N in step 58). If there is an image data call (Y in step 58), the image data is output to the display of the portable terminal 55a (step 59).

  Accordingly, when image data is requested by the portable terminal 55a, even when access to the server device 57 is concentrated and transmission of the image data from the server device 57 is delayed, the image data is requested in real time simultaneously with the request for the image data. Can be displayed on the display to check the image. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation of waiting for image data to be displayed at the shopping destination, and to shorten the shopping time.

  Further, if there is an image pre-transmission request from the portable terminal 55a, the server device 57 is set to transmit image data transmitted each time the door 10 of the refrigerator 51 is closed to the portable terminal 55a, and the portable terminal If the user who has 55a sets it so that it may leave when image data is transmitted, he can know this whenever a door is opened and closed. Therefore, for example, when the number of times of door opening / closing increases and the power consumption is likely to increase, the user can talk to the child to refrain from using the refrigerator 51 by calling his home. Convenience is also improved.

2-5. Switching of transmission / reception path of image data etc. FIG. 29 shows a display when the communication path of the portable terminal 55a is selected. The flow of transmission / reception of image data is as described above, but the communication route is changed to speed up the acquisition of image data.

  Specifically, the user can select whether to perform the mobile terminal 55 a directly with the gateway device 54 via the router device 55 or with the server device 57 via the Internet 56.

29, reference numerals 70 and 71 denote communication path selection buttons displayed on the display of the portable terminal 55a. Reference numeral 70 denotes a “direct” selection for directly connecting the portable terminal 55a to the refrigerator 51 via the router device 55 and the gateway device 54. Button 71 is Internet 56
This is a “server” selection button connected to the server device 57 or the refrigerator 51 via the. 72 and 73 are data selection buttons for data to be called, 72 is a button for food image data, and 73 is a button for energy saving related data such as the number of times the door is opened and closed. Reference numeral 74 denotes a transmission button.

  When the “direct” selection button 70 is selected, “direct” communication is set for the portable terminal 55a. When the user touches the send button 74 while “direct” communication is set, the image data request signal of the mobile terminal 55a is directly transmitted from the mobile terminal 55a to the gateway device (relay device) 54 via the router device 55. Sent. The gateway device 54 transmits the received data request signal to the wireless adapter 53 of the refrigerator 51. When the wireless adapter 53 receives the image data request signal, it transmits it to the controller 59 of the refrigerator 51. When the controller 59 of the refrigerator 51 receives the image data request signal, the controller 59 reads the image data stored in the storage unit 60 and transmits the image data to the portable terminal 55 a via the wireless adapter 53 and the router device 55.

  Therefore, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 15, when the user is located in the house A, in a broad sense, when the mobile terminal 55 a is in a position where it can directly communicate with the router device 55, the mobile terminal 55 a The image data can be directly acquired from the storage unit 60 of the refrigerator 51 by communicating with the gateway device 54 via the network.

  As a result, when there is a delay in the transmission response of the image data in response to the user's operation to the mobile terminal 55a due to the congestion of the line due to the concentration of access to the Internet 56, the user moves the mobile terminal 55a to “ By switching to “direct” communication, it is possible to acquire image data without being congested with the Internet 56 line. Therefore, the user can check the food state in the storage 5 by displaying an image on the display of the portable terminal 55a in real time without waiting.

  On the other hand, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 15, when the user is located outside the residence A, in a broad sense, when the mobile terminal 55 a is present at a position where it cannot communicate directly with the router device 55, the user selects the “server” selection button. By touching 71, the portable terminal 55 a communicates with the server device 57 via the Internet 56 and reads the image data of the refrigerator 51. That is, when the user is outside the residence A and touches the “server” selection button 71 to set “server” communication, the user can obtain the image data of the refrigerator by the portable terminal 55a even if the user is in a remote place. You can know the storage status of.

  As described above, the refrigerator system in this embodiment allows the user to select either “direct” communication or “server” communication. You can select the communication and view the image in a comfortable state without being affected by the congestion of the Internet line.

  As mentioned above, although the specific structure was illustrated and the refrigerator and refrigerator system of this invention were demonstrated, this invention is not limited to the said structure.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the gateway device 54 is interposed in the communication path between the portable terminal 55a, the wireless adapter 53 of the refrigerator 51, and the Internet 56. However, the gateway device 54 is not necessarily required, and the router device 55 It may be configured to communicate directly with the mobile terminal 55a, the wireless adapter 53 of the refrigerator 51, and the Internet 56 through the above, and in this way, the system configuration can be simplified.

In the above embodiment, the image data is acquired from the server device 57 when the user is outside the residence A. However, the Internet 56, the router device 55, and the gateway device are connected from the portable terminal 55a without using the server device 57. The image data stored in the storage unit 60 of the refrigerator 51 may be directly captured from the refrigerator 51. In this case and when “direct” communication is performed, it is preferable to perform image combining processing in the storage unit 60 of the refrigerator 51 and transmit the image data after the combining processing.

  Further, in this embodiment, a case where the “direct” selection button 70 and the “server” selection button 71 are displayed on the display of the portable terminal 55a and the user selects “direct” communication or “server” communication is illustrated. However, this may be configured so that the mobile terminal 55a has a function of automatically switching to “direct” communication when the radio wave of the router device 55 is caught, so that “direct” communication is automatically selected. Can be improved.

2-6. Display of image data etc. Moreover, when displaying image data on the image display part 15 of the refrigerator 51, it is good to display based on the result of sensing of the capacitive thin film 10a-5. In particular, in the case of the present invention, since a large sensor can be used as compared with a conventional sensor, not only the operation of displaying the entire image in the warehouse on the display unit 10a-1, but also the capacitance. Only the portion corresponding to the sensed position of the thin film 10a-5 of the equation may be displayed. By doing so, even if the user wants to confirm a part of the storage and does not need to display the whole, it can be displayed properly and impair usability It is possible to realize energy saving without any problems.

  Moreover, in the case of the image display part 15, you may change the content displayed on the image display part 15 according to the content which the capacitive thin film 10a-5 sensed. For example, when the area sensed by the capacitive thin film 10a-5 is very small, it is determined that the child has touched and the parent image is displayed and exchanged with the portable terminal 55a side, or the message You can leave notes. On the other hand, when the area sensed by the capacitive thin film 10a-5 is larger than a certain area, it may be determined that an adult has touched and the image data in the warehouse may be displayed. . By doing in this way, it becomes possible to implement | achieve a pleasant refrigerator by judging a user's characteristic according to the content which the capacitive thin film 10a-5 sensed, and changing a display content. .

  Furthermore, when the elderly is living alone, communication is performed to the portable terminal 55a according to the state of touching the refrigerator 51 (the reaction of the capacitive thin film 10a-5). Also good. By doing in this way, the refrigerator 51 will exhibit a watching function, and it becomes possible to provide safety and security through the refrigerator 51.

<3. Effect>
As described above, the refrigerator and the refrigerator system according to the embodiment of the present invention achieve various functions and effects as described above with a specific configuration. However, the installation configuration of the camera and the interior lamp is the gist of the present invention. According to this, it is possible to provide an inexpensive refrigerator and refrigeration system that can take a good picture of food in the storage and can easily identify the food.

  That is, in the refrigerator of this embodiment, the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 photograph foods in the storage 5 from the front side of the storage 5, and at this time, the interior lighting lamps 13-0 and 34-2 are also stored in the storage. 5, the food in the storage 5 is irradiated from the same front side as the photographing direction by the cameras 35-1 and 35-2. Therefore, the captured image is not as dark or difficult to see as when the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are provided on the back wall of the storage 5, and becomes a clear image. Further, it is not necessary to request the server device 57 to perform image processing that brightens and sharpens the captured image.

  Moreover, since the said cameras 35-1, 35-2 and the interior lighting lamps 34-1, 34-2 are provided so that it may be located ahead from the front end of the said shelf boards 30-1 to 30-4, Images in the storage 5 taken by the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are the same as when the user actually opens the door 10 of the refrigerator 51 and sees it. Therefore, when the user displays the image data on the image display unit 15 or the portable terminal 55a, the food state in the storage 5 can be confirmed without any sense of incongruity. Moreover, since the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 illuminate the food on the shelf board from the front front of the shelf boards 30-1 to 30-4, they are mounted on the front edge parts of the shelf boards 30-1 to 30-4. The food that is placed can be photographed brightly and clearly.

  Moreover, since the said cameras 35-1, 35-2 are provided so that it may be located in the door 10 inner surface part of the refrigerator 51, and in the left-right substantially center part of the storage 5, the said cameras 35-1, 35-2. The photographed image can be made closer to a state in which the user opens the door 10 of the refrigerator 51 and actually sees it. In addition, it is possible to photograph a wide range in the storage 5 by taking a large distance between the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 and the food on the shelf, and display an image of a wider range of food storage conditions. It becomes possible to confirm with the unit 15 or the portable terminal 55a. Further, in this example, the uppermost part of the storage 5 that is relatively difficult to be seen when the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are provided on the inner surface part of the door is provided with a compressor 19 in this example so that the uppermost part protrudes forward. Therefore, this part can also be photographed with certainty, and the compressor 19 is provided at the upper part of the main body to improve the storage capacity of the lower part of the main body, and the photographing with the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 is also good. be able to.

  In addition, since the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are provided so as to be positioned at a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction of the door pockets 33-1 and 33-2 on the inner surface of the door, not only the food in the storage 5 but also the door pockets. A part of the food stored in 33-1 and 33-2, for example, milk cartons can be photographed. Since the user has stored it by himself, the user can recognize what it is even if only a part of it is shown. Therefore, it is possible to photograph almost all food items in the storage.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9A, if the camera is provided with a camera 14-3 dedicated to the storage container, the food in the storage container 31 can be clearly photographed. Further, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), the camera 35-2 can be moved up and down, and the food in the storage container 31 is also made up of two cameras by making the camera 35-2 rotatable up and down as shown in FIG. 9 (c). You can shoot efficiently with a small number of cameras.

  On the other hand, the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are provided at positions farther from the cameras 35-1 and 35-2, as is apparent from FIGS. Since the light of 34-2 is provided so as not to directly enter the photographing units of the cameras 35-1 and 35-2, the lights of the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are transmitted to the cameras 35-1 and 35-2. The camera 35-1 and 35-2 can be prevented from being deteriorated, and a good image can always be obtained. This can be achieved by providing a light-shielding portion on the camera side of the interior lighting lamps 35-1 and 35-2, or tilting the light source such as the LED constituting the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 obliquely backward. The same effect can be obtained even if a configuration such as arrangement is adopted.

In addition, the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 have an illuminance in the storage of 150 lux to 200 lux, and when photographing with the illuminance as it is, the food is whitish as described in the section of the photographing operation of FIG. It is difficult to see and distinguish. For this reason, in this embodiment, the illuminance is lowered to take a picture. As a result, even with a CCD camera or a CMOS camera, it is possible to capture a clear image with moderate brightness. The server controller 66 controls the illuminance of the interior lighting lamps 34-1 and 34-2 so that the illuminance is lower than normal only when the door 10 is closed or the door 10 is opened for photographing. By performing such control, it is possible to make clear photographing while keeping the illuminance as usual and making it easy to see the inside in the normal time when photographing is not performed. The decrease in illuminance may be caused by, for example, turning off a part of one or both of the interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2, or lighting both interior lamps 34-1 and 34-2. Various considerations such as lowering the illuminance of the lamps 34-1 and 34-2 are conceivable and may be appropriately selected.

  Moreover, the image in the storage 5 image | photographed with the said cameras 35-1 and 35-2 transmits the image of each camera 35-1 and 35-2 to the server apparatus 57, the server apparatus 57, the refrigerator 51, or Although the combination processing is performed in the portable terminal 55a, the image is easily combined in this embodiment.

  That is, the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are door inner surfaces corresponding to the front ends of the shelf boards 30-1 to 30-4, in this example, the upper shelf board 30-1 and the third shelf board 30-. 3 is provided on the inner surface of the door corresponding to the front end of the camera 3, so that the cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are mainly photographed on the shelf plates 30-1 and 30-3 where the line Z in FIG. Will shoot as.

  Therefore, the image data in the storage 5 photographed by the two cameras 35-1 and 35-2 can be combined at the shelf plate 30-2 serving as the boundary line Z. That is, as shown in the “photographed raw image” in FIG. 30, the shelf plate 30-2 is shown in common in the upper and lower images. After “image”, if the common shelf 30-2 moved to the upper and lower images is matched, a captured image of the entire storage is obtained. As a result, it is not necessary to perform extremely difficult correction processing to align and combine each food placed on the shelf board at the time of image combining processing, and image combining processing is easy. Become. Therefore, the processing program for image combining can be simplified, and the capacity of the control unit of the server device 57, the refrigerator 51, or the portable terminal 55a for image combining processing is also required to be large. This can contribute to speeding up of processing speed.

  Further, since the two cameras 35-1 and 35-2 are provided substantially in front of the shelf plate 30-1 and the shelf plate 30-3 that cannot be adjusted in height, the shelf plate 30-that can be adjusted in height. Even when the height of 2 is changed, the image combining process can be easily performed by adjusting the range to be combined according to the height of the shelf 30-2 during the image combining process.

  The present invention can be applied not only to household refrigerators but also to chain store refrigerators (including freezers in the present invention) such as convenience stores, and can be applied to commercial use as highly designed refrigerators.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator main body 2 Outer box 3 Inner box 4 Heat insulation material 5 Storage (refrigeration room)
6 switching room 7 ice making room 8 freezing room 9 vegetable room 10 door 10a base resin 10a-1 transparent plate material 10a-2 convex part 10a-3 display 10a-4 protective member 10a-5 thin film 10a-6 wiring part 10a-7 substrate 10a -8 Cover member 10a-9 Rib 10a-10 Decorating part 10a-11 Radiating member 10b Inner plate 10b-1, 10b-2 Raised wall part 11-14 Pull-out door 15 Image display part 16 Cooling room 17 Cooler 18 Air blower Fan 19 Compressor 20 Radiation pipe 21 Capillary tube 22 Damper 29, 29a Smoke sheet 30-1 to 30-4 Shelf plate 31 Storage container 32-1 to 32-4 Side wall convex part 33-1 to 33-8 Door pocket 34-1 , 34-2 Internal lighting 35-1, 35-2, 35-3 Camera 36 Center pillar 41 Mela module 50 Refrigerator system 51 Refrigerator 53 Wireless adapter (communication device)
53a "Connect" button 54 Gateway device (relay device)
55 Router device 55a Mobile terminal 56 Internet 57 Server device 58 Interface (I / F)
59 Controller (control unit)
60 Storage Unit 61 Door Open / Close Detection Unit 62 Fan Drive Circuit 63 Compressor Drive Circuit 64 AC Power Supply 65 Server Interface 66 Server Control Unit 67 Data Storage Unit 70 “Direct” Selection Button 71 “Server” Selection Button A Housing

Claims (3)

A storage room that is partitioned by a heat insulating wall and a heat insulating door to store storage items, a cooler for cooling the storage room, a heat insulating door that covers the storage room, and a display unit that is disposed on the heat insulating door and displays an image A plate-shaped transparent plate disposed on the outer side of the display unit, a capacitive thin film disposed on the outer surface of the transparent plate and having a wiring portion in the periphery, and an outer side of the thin film And a control unit for processing data from the thin film, wherein the transparent plate has a relatively smaller portion than the protective member, and the transparent plate is relatively small The refrigerator is characterized in that the wiring portion of the thin film is disposed in a portion, and the wiring portion is disposed at an upper end portion of the heat insulating door . The insulating door has a support portion formed in a convex shape in the lower portion, the display unit according to claim 1, characterized in that it is arranged to be supported lower end by the support unit refrigerator. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the transparent plate material is a glass plate.