KR20010074381A - Automatic door openning control apparatus and method for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus and method for controlling automatic opening operation of refrigerator door is provided, in which a sensor for sensing human body temperature is arranged to automatically open the refrigerator door, to thereby achieve an improved user convenience. CONSTITUTION: An apparatus comprises a human body temperature sensor unit(100) arranged at the front surface of a refrigerator door; a door opening/closing unit(110) for opening the refrigerator door in accordance with the door opening/closing signal; and a micro computer(120) for controlling operation of the door opening/closing unit in accordance with the signal output from the human body temperature sensor unit. The door opening/closing unit includes a solenoid valve(111) which operates in accordance with the control signal output from the micro computer; and a plunger(112) positioned side by side with the solenoid valve, and which pushes a plunger pad(113) attached to the top of the refrigerator door in accordance with the operation of the solenoid valve. The human body temperature sensor unit includes an infrared sensor having first to third sensors; an infrared ray input guide arranged in front of the infrared sensor; a lens arranged in front of the infrared ray input guide; and a case for accommodating infrared sensor, infrared ray input guide and the lens.

Description

Refrigerator door automatic opening control device and method {AUTOMATIC DOOR OPENNING CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REFRIGERATOR}

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for automatically opening a door of a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator having a human body detecting sensor on a front surface of the refrigerator, the door of the refrigerator having a human body detecting sensor detecting the person and automatically opening the door. An automatic opening control device and method.

1 is a right side cross-sectional view of a conventional general refrigerator, and as shown therein, is located at a lower side of the refrigerator main body 10 to generate a cooler 30; A drive unit 40 installed at an upper portion of one side of the freezing chamber 1 to supply cold air generated by the compressor 30 to the freezing chamber 1 and the refrigerating chamber 2; A temperature sensing unit 20 for sensing a temperature in the refrigerator through the temperature sensors 21 to 23 installed in the ceiling of the freezing chamber 1 and the ceiling of the refrigerating chamber 2 and the doors 12, respectively; It is installed in one side section of the refrigerating compartment door 12 is composed of a microcomputer 50 that receives the temperature of the freezer compartment 1 and the refrigerating compartment 2 through the temperature sensing unit 20 to control the set temperature respectively. It will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The microcomputer 50, which has received the temperature in the refrigerator via the temperature sensors 21 to 23 installed in the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing chamber 1, respectively, determines whether or not the temperature in the refrigerator is higher than or equal to the set temperature. And the driving unit 40 are operated to supply cold air so that the temperature in the chamber is lower than or equal to the set temperature.

In addition, the microcomputer 50 senses the temperature in the refrigerator through the temperature sensing unit 20 again, and when the temperature is lower than the set temperature, the microcomputer 50 stops the operation of the compressor 30 and the driving unit 40 so that the refrigerating chamber 2 ) And the freezer compartment 1 are maintained at a predetermined temperature.

However, in recent years, as the consumer's standard of living improves, the consumption of the composite refrigerator not only increases in demand as the consumption pattern is changed from a refrigerator having only a refrigerator compartment (2) and a freezer compartment (1) to a composite refrigerator having an automatic ice maker. Functions are also diversifying.

Here, the general refrigerator refers to a complex refrigerator having a relatively large capacity and having various functions. For example, a home bar door is installed at one side of the refrigerating compartment door to frequently take out food such as milk, beverages, alcoholic beverages, etc. It created a space for storage.

As described above, when there is no means for detecting a separate person, when both hands try to open the door of the refrigerator while holding an object, the door of the refrigerator is opened by placing objects of both hands in a predetermined position to open the door, There was a problem that causes inconvenience to the user.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the door automatic opening control device of the refrigerator to automatically open the door by detecting the human approach by the human body sensor provided on the front of the door And its purpose in providing a method.

1 is a right side cross-sectional view of a conventional general refrigerator.

2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the microcomputer in FIG.

3 is a right side cross-sectional view of the refrigerator to which the present invention is applied.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a human body sensor in FIG.

5 is a flow chart showing the operation of the microcomputer in FIG.

6 and 7 are front views of an embodiment refrigerator to which FIG. 3 is applied, respectively.

*** Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings ***

100: human body detection unit 101: lens

102 case 103: infrared detector

103a, 103b, 103c: sensor 104: infrared input guide

110: door opening 111: solenoid valve

112: plunger 113: plunger pad

120: microcomputer

The configuration of the present invention for achieving the above object is a refrigerator for maintaining the temperature in the refrigerator at a predetermined temperature by using a temperature sensor installed in the refrigerator, installed at a predetermined height on one side of the front door to detect the heat of the human body A human body detecting unit; A door opening and closing portion that opens the door by the door opening signal; Characterized in that the microcomputer for controlling the operation of the door opening and closing unit by the detection signal of the human body detection unit.

In addition, the present invention comprises a first step of maintaining whether the temperature in the store at a temperature set by the user and whether a person is detected within a distance set from the door; A second step of determining whether a person is detected for a time set differently from one or more sensors among a plurality of sensors sensing a center and a plurality of sensors sensing different directions based on the determination result of the first step; ; As a result of the determination of the second step, if the detection time is longer than the set time, the door may be opened and the third step of repeatedly performing the operation of the first step may be performed.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the operation and effect of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

3 is a right side cross-sectional view of the refrigerator to which the present invention is applied, and the compressor 30 is located at one side of the lower part of the refrigerator main body 10 to generate cold air as shown therein; A driving unit 40 installed at an upper portion of one side of the freezing chamber 1 to supply cold air generated by the compressor 20 to the freezing chamber 1 and the refrigerating chamber 2; A temperature sensing unit 20 for sensing the temperature in the refrigerator through the temperature sensors 21 to 23 respectively installed on the ceiling of the freezing chamber 1 and the ceiling and doors of the refrigerating chamber 2; A human body detecting unit 100 installed at one side of a front door of the freezing compartment 1 or the refrigerating compartment 2 at a predetermined height h to detect whether a person is approaching; A door opening and closing unit 110 for selectively opening a door of a freezing compartment or a refrigerating compartment by a door opening signal; Installed in one side of the door of the refrigerating compartment (2) and receives the temperature of the freezer compartment 1 and the refrigerating compartment (2) through the temperature sensing unit 20 to control the set temperature, respectively, of the human body detecting unit 100 A microcomputer 120 for controlling the operation of the door opening and closing unit 110 by a detection signal, wherein the door opening and closing unit 110 includes a solenoid valve 111 operated under the control of the microcomputer 120; Located on the same line as the solenoid valve 111, the plunger 112 is opened by pushing the plunger pad 113 attached to the upper end of the door according to whether the solenoid valve 111 is operated.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the human body detecting unit 100 includes a first sensor 103a that detects an infrared ray change amount on the left side, a second sensor 103b that detects an infrared ray change amount on the center side, and An infrared detector 103 integrated with a third sensor 103c for detecting an infrared ray change amount; An infrared input guide 104 installed in front of the infrared detector 103 for dividing an area of left, center, and right sides; A lens 101 installed in front of the infrared input guide 104 to collect infrared rays generated from a human body; The infrared detector 103, the infrared input guide 104, and the case 102 supporting the lens 101 are described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7 attached to the operation process according to the present invention. Explain.

First, the operation of maintaining the freezer compartment 1 and the refrigerating compartment 2 at a set temperature is the same as in FIG. 1. That is, the microcomputer 50, which has received the temperature in the refrigerator via the temperature sensors 21 to 23 provided in the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing chamber 1, respectively, determines whether or not the temperature in the refrigerator is equal to or higher than the set temperature. 30) and the driving unit 40 to supply cold air so that the temperature in the refrigerator is below the set temperature to lower the temperature in the refrigerator below the set temperature, and when the temperature in the refrigerator is below the set temperature, the compressor The operation of the 30 and the drive unit 40 is stopped.

In addition, the microcomputer 40 is installed at a predetermined height h on one side of the front door of the freezing compartment 1 or the refrigerating compartment 2 within a predetermined distance through a human body detecting unit 100 that detects the presence or absence of human access. Detect if there is a person.

Here, the human body detection unit 100 is installed at a height (h) of about 1M or more from the bottom surface, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 in order to prevent opening by children, and the door to be opened is a user It can be determined by the selection of.

In this case, the human body detecting unit 100 collects infrared rays generated by the human body through the lens 101 and the infrared input guide 104, and detects the infrared rays generated by the sensors 103a to 103c in the infrared detector 103.

Therefore, when the microcomputer 120 detects a person within a predetermined distance through the human body detecting unit 100, the microcomputer 120 determines whether the person is detected for a predetermined time or more through the sensor 103b detecting the center.

At this time, the microcomputer 120 determines that a person approaches to open the door of the refrigerator when the signal detected by the sensor 103b is greater than or equal to a predetermined time, and operates the solenoid valve 111 in the door opening and closing unit 110. The door is opened by pushing the plunger pad 113 attached to the upper end of the selected door through the plunger 112 positioned on the same line.

However, when the signal detected by the sensor 103b is within the set time, the microcomputer 120 sets the time set by the sensors 103a and 103c for detecting the amount of infrared change on both sides of the sensor 103b. Determine if abnormality is detected.

At this time, the microcomputer 120 determines that a person approaches to open the door of the refrigerator when the signal detected by the sensors 103a and 103c is greater than or equal to a predetermined time, and the solenoid valve in the door opening and closing unit 110 is determined. Operation 111 opens the selected door.

At this time, the setting time of the sensors 103a and 103c is set longer than the setting time of the sensor 103b to prevent the door from being opened by a passing person.

As described above in detail, the present invention detects the heat of a person within a predetermined distance and opens the door of the refrigerator through a human body detecting means installed at a predetermined height on one side of the front door, thereby expanding the use area of the refrigerator to satisfy the customer. Has the effect of maximizing.

Claims (5)

A refrigerator for maintaining a temperature in a refrigerator at a predetermined temperature by using a temperature sensor installed in the refrigerator, the refrigerator comprising: a human body detecting unit installed at a predetermined height on one side of the front door to sense heat of a human body; A door opening and closing portion that opens the door by the door opening signal; The automatic door opening control device of the refrigerator, characterized in that configured as a microcomputer for controlling the operation of the door opening and closing part by the detection signal of the human body detection unit. The method of claim 1, wherein the door opening and closing portion and the solenoid valve to operate by the door open signal of the microcomputer; And a plunger positioned on the same line as the solenoid valve and configured to push a plunger pad attached to an upper end of the door to open the door according to whether the solenoid valve is operated. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the human body sensing unit comprises: an infrared detector which senses heat of the human body using a plurality of sensors that sense an amount of change of infrared rays collected through a lens; An infrared input guide installed in front of the infrared detector to determine a direction of each sensor in the infrared detector; The door opening control device of the refrigerator, characterized in that consisting of a case for supporting the infrared detector, the infrared input guide and the lens. A first step of determining whether a person is detected within a distance set from the door while maintaining the temperature in the refrigerator at a temperature set by the user; A second step of determining whether a person is detected for a time set differently from one or more sensors among a plurality of sensors sensing a center and a plurality of sensors sensing different directions based on the determination result of the first step; ; And a third step of opening the door and repeating the operation of the first step if the detection time of the second step is greater than the preset time. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the sensing set time of the sensor is set to be longer than the set time of the central sensor.