JP2018197628A - refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a refrigerator that can effectively use a display part for displaying an image on a door.SOLUTION: A refrigerator comprises a cabinet 12 comprising a refrigerating chamber 14, etc., a door 38 for the refrigerating chamber 14 provided in the front of the cabinet 12, a liquid crystal display device 50 provided on the door 38, a camera 76 for photographing the outside of the cabinet 12, and a control unit 34 for displaying an image taken by the camera 76, on the liquid crystal display device 50.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  Embodiments of the present invention relate to refrigerators.

  Conventionally, an image display device is provided on a door of a refrigerator to display information necessary for a user.

JP 2007-298242 A JP 2014-70739 A JP 2003-248434 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-223692

  However, when the necessary information is not displayed on the door image display device, an image is not displayed on the front surface of the door, and the image display device does not function effectively.

  Then, embodiment of this invention aims at providing the refrigerator which can utilize effectively the display part which displays an image on a door.

  An embodiment of the present invention includes a cabinet having a storage room, a door of the storage room provided on the front surface of the cabinet, a display unit provided on the door, a camera for photographing the outside of the cabinet, And a control unit that displays an image captured by the camera on the display unit.

The perspective view of the refrigerator of this embodiment. The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the door of a refrigerator compartment. The refrigerator block diagram. The front view of the mode menu of an operation part. The front view of the body type mode of an operation part.

   Hereinafter, the refrigerator 10 of one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIGS.

(1) Structure of refrigerator 10 The structure of the refrigerator 10 of this embodiment is demonstrated with reference to FIG. The cabinet 12 of the refrigerator 10 is a combination of an outer box and an inner box, and the inside thereof is filled with a heat insulating material. The cabinet 12 is provided with a refrigerator compartment 14 and a vegetable compartment 16 from the top, and an ice making chamber 18 and a small freezer compartment 20 are provided side by side at the bottom of the vegetable compartment 16, and the ice making compartment 18 and the small freezer compartment 20 are below. A freezer compartment 22 is provided.

  A machine room 24 is provided at the bottom of the back surface of the cabinet 12, and a compressor 26 shown in FIG. 3 is provided. A refrigeration cycle connected to the compressor 26 is provided on the rear surface of the cabinet 12, and a condenser, an evaporator, and the like are connected to the refrigeration cycle in order from the compressor 26. A defrost heater 28 shown in FIG. 3 is provided below the evaporator, and a fan 30 for blowing the cool air of the evaporator into the cabinet is also provided. An interior lamp 32 is provided on the upper and rear surfaces of the refrigerator compartment 14. On the ceiling surface of the cabinet 12, a control board 36 having a control unit 34 is provided.

(2) Door Structure Next, the door structure of the refrigerator 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

  The refrigerator compartment 14 is provided with a door 38 that rotates around one side at the hinge. The vegetable compartment 16 is provided with a drawer-type door 40, and the ice-making room 18, the small freezer compartment 20 and the freezer compartment 22 are also provided with drawer-type doors 42, 44 and 46, respectively.

  The door 38 of the refrigerator compartment 14 is demonstrated. The door 38 of the refrigerator compartment 14 has a synthetic resin door body 48 as shown in FIG. The door body 48 is a member formed from an upper surface, left and right side surfaces, a lower surface, and a back surface, and has a box shape. A liquid crystal display device 50 is provided in front of the door body 48, and a glass plate 52 is provided on the front surface of the liquid crystal display device 50. A heat insulating material 54 is filled between the back surface of the door main body 48 and the liquid crystal display device 50. A gasket 56 is provided on the back surface of the door body 48 on the four sides.

  The liquid crystal display device 50 includes a liquid crystal panel 58 and a backlight 60. The backlight 60 is composed of a light guide plate, a reflection plate, a diffusion plate, and the like, and a plurality of LEDs 62 are arranged along one side of the backlight 60. ing. The liquid crystal display device 50 is provided slightly narrower than the door 38, has a frame portion on the four peripheral portions, and a driver circuit for displaying an image is provided on the frame portion.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a touch-type operation unit 64 is provided at the lower left portion of the liquid crystal display device 50 (hereinafter referred to as “first display device 50”) of the door 38. The touch-type operation unit 64 is rectangular and is affixed to the liquid crystal panel 58 so that only the display unit and the touch panel that can also display images are used.

  A second display device 66 is also provided in the drawer-type door 40 of the vegetable compartment 16, and the third display device 68 is also provided on the door 42 of the ice making chamber 18, the door 44 of the small freezer compartment 20, and the door 46 of the freezer compartment 22. A fourth display device 70 and a fifth display device 72 are provided. The second display device 66 to the fifth display device 72 have the same structure as the first display device 50. However, the operation unit 64 is not provided.

  A handle 74 at the top of the drawer-type door 38 of the vegetable compartment 16 is provided with a camera 76 and a human sensor 78. The camera 76 photographs a landscape and a user in front of the refrigerator 10. The human sensor 78 is, for example, an infrared sensor, and determines that the user has approached when the user approaches and the temperature detected by the infrared rays rises due to body temperature. The human sensor 78 may be a photoelectric sensor.

(3) Electrical configuration of refrigerator 10 Next, the electrical configuration of the refrigerator 10 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

  The control unit 34 provided on the control board 36 includes a microcomputer, and the control unit 34 includes an analysis unit 88 that analyzes an image, an image processing unit 90 that processes an image, and a memory 92. The memory 92 stores an application program for each function described below, and the CPU of the control unit 34 executes the program.

  A compressor 26, a defrost heater 28, an interior lamp 32, and a fan 30 are connected to the control unit 34. In addition, the control unit 34 communicates with an external device such as a camera 76, a human sensor 78, a temperature sensor 80 that measures the internal temperature of each room, an operation control unit 82, a display control unit 84, and a smartphone. A communication unit 86 is connected.

  An operation unit 64 and the first display device 50 are connected to the operation control unit 82. As shown in FIG. 4, the operation unit 64 has a mode menu screen on which a skin color mode button 641, a body type mode button 642, an enlargement mode button 643, a comparison mode button 644, and a shooting mode button 645 are displayed. . When the enlargement mode is selected on the mode menu screen, as shown in FIG. 5, there is a slide switch 647 for converting the body shape in the image from “clean” to “relaxed”. When the shooting button 648 is operated after the enlargement mode setting is completed, the set image is displayed.

  The display control unit 84 is connected to the first display device 50, the second display device 66 to the fifth display device 72, and divides and converts the image data output from the control unit 34 into image data of each display device, It outputs to the driver circuit of each display device together with a predetermined clock signal.

(4) Operation state of refrigerator 10 Next, the function of the refrigerator 10 is demonstrated.

  The first function will be described. This function is a function of dividing and displaying a vertically long image captured by the camera 76 in real time using the first display device 50 and the second display device 66 to the fifth display device 72. Here, “image” includes still images and moving images. Further, “divided display” means that a vertically long image is divided and displayed according to the position, positional relationship, and size of the doors 38 to 46, and individual images displayed on all display devices are displayed. Together, it means to reproduce one vertically long image. For this purpose, the control unit 34 outputs the image input from the camera 76 to the display control unit 84 together with information such as the size and the number of pixels of the image, and the display control unit 84 outputs the input image based on the information. The divided image data and the clock signal are output to the driver circuits of the first display device 50 and the second display device 66 to the fifth display device 72. Each of the images divided at the same timing is displayed.

  The second function will be described. This function is a function that allows the front surface of the refrigerator 10 to always function as a view mirror. The control unit 34 reverses the image captured by the camera 76 left and right by the image processing unit 90 and outputs the horizontally reversed image to the display control unit 84 to display the first display device 50 and the second display device 66 to the fifth display. As shown in FIG. 1, the device 72 always displays the divided data in real time. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a posture in which the user stands in front of the refrigerator 10 and raises his right hand is photographed by the camera 76, and the photographed image is horizontally reversed to be divided into the first display device 50, The second display device 66 to the fifth display device 72 divide and display.

  The third function will be described. In the second function, the image is always displayed horizontally reversed. However, in this function, the control unit 34 displays the horizontally reversed image only when the human sensor 78 detects that the user approaches, To function as. When the human sensor 78 does not detect the user, the control unit 34 stops the display of each display device, or obtains another image built in the memory 92 or the communication unit 86. Display other images.

  The fourth function will be described. If an image captured by the user is displayed as it is, the user may become dark or the blood color may appear poor depending on the amount of light in the background and the angle of the light source. However, since the refrigerator 10 cannot be easily moved from the installation location, it is not possible to easily change the lighting condition. Therefore, this function determines whether or not the user is captured in the image by the analysis unit 88. If there is an image in which the user is captured, the skin color region in the region is processed brightly. This is a function that always displays the best image. The analysis unit 88 can determine whether or not the user is included in the image by including an area having a skin color in the image or recognizing a face image including eyes, nose, and mouth. If it is, it is determined that the user is reflected in the image.

  The fifth function will be described. Depending on the amount of light in the background, the angle of the light source, the clothes of the user in the image, the color of the background itself, the user's image may appear thicker than it actually is. In addition, when the user suddenly sees his / her image, it may not be desirable to see the expanded figure of himself / herself. Therefore, when the analysis unit 88 determines that there is an area (person area) in which the user is captured, the function is processed and displayed by the image processing unit 90 so that only the person area looks thin. For example, the image processing unit 90 reduces the width by changing the ratio of the number of vertical pixels to the number of horizontal pixels with respect to the person area. Thereby, a user's unpleasant feeling can be decreased.

  The sixth function will be described. This function is a function in which the user himself intentionally changes and displays the user's body shape shown in the image by the operation unit 64. When the user selects the body mode button 642 on the mode menu screen of the operation unit 64 shown in FIG. 4, the operation unit 64 is changed to the screen of the body mode 646 as shown in FIG. 5. On the screen of the body shape mode 646, when the user slides between “clean” and “relaxed” with the slide switch 647, the image processing unit 90 processes and displays the body shape of the person region in the image accordingly. To do.

  The seventh function will be described. The user's skin color may appear unhealthy depending on the amount of light in the background, the angle of the light source, the clothes of the user in the image, the color of the background itself, and the like. Therefore, when the skin color mode button 641 is selected on the mode menu screen of the operation unit 64, this function processes and displays the skin color shade so that the image processing unit 90 can look healthy. Thereby, a user's skin color looks healthy.

  The eighth function will be described. This function is a function of enlarging a part of the image shown in the refrigerator 10 when the enlargement mode button 643 is selected on the mode menu screen of the operation unit 64 of FIG. For example, when the user approaches the refrigerator 10, a part of the body can be seen in some detail, but there is a limit. In addition, depending on the setting position of the camera 76, it may not be possible to see in detail. Therefore, the enlargement mode button 643 on the menu screen of the operation unit 64 in FIG. 4 is selected to change to the enlargement mode. Then, the control unit 34 enlarges and displays an arbitrary place in the image. In addition, a touch panel may be added to the front surfaces of the first display device 50 and the second display device 66 to the fifth display device 72, and the control unit 34 may enlarge an area touched by the user's finger in the enlargement mode. . Further, a reduction mode for reducing the image may be added.

  The ninth function will be described. When the refrigerator 10 is used as a viewing mirror, the user needs to stop and check in front of the refrigerator 10. In order to save the trouble, when the shooting mode button 645 is selected on the mode menu screen of the operation unit 64 shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 34 takes a moving image with the camera 76 and selects one still image from the moving image. And display. Thereby, the user can confirm an image (for example, a user's body) finely based on the still image.

  The tenth function will be described. This function is a case where the comparison mode button 644 is selected on the mode menu screen of the operation unit 64 of FIG. When the user selects the comparison mode button 644, the still image captured by the camera 76 is stored in the memory 92. The stored still image and the still image previously stored in the past are displayed at the same time. Further, an image currently being photographed and a past still image may be displayed side by side without being stored. As a display method in this case, the user's body shape can be confirmed by displaying two images side by side, vertically, or superimposed.

  The eleventh function will be described. The control unit 34 stores images of clothes, accessories, and hairstyles in the memory 92, and displays the clothes and accessories superimposed on the current or previous user images. Thereby, even if the user does not actually wear the clothes or make a hairstyle, it can be confirmed whether or not the user is in a favorite form. In this case, not only clothes stored in the memory 92 but also images of clothes and accessories received by the communication unit 86 may be used.

  The twelfth function will be described. This function is a function that, when the human sensor 78 does not detect the user, displays the image with a reduced resolution and is displayed coarsely, or displays it with a higher resolution only when the user is detected. . Thereby, even when the user is not shown, the refrigerator 10 has a high interior property. In addition, when the user himself does not like to clearly show the appearance and feels that the interior is better when the mirror is normally used, the user is taken when the human sensor 78 does not detect the user. The captured image may be displayed as it is or after being reversed horizontally, and when the user is detected, the captured image may be displayed roughly.

  The thirteenth function will be described. This function transmits, when the user is out, an image obtained by photographing the outside of the warehouse with the camera 76 to the smartphone of the user who is out through the communication unit 86. Thus, the user can check the image inside the house (outside the box) and check the state of the child or the pet when the user is absent, or the state of the close relative living alone in the distance.

  The fourteenth function will be described. The analysis unit 88 in this function has a function of analyzing the health state of the user from the captured image. Thereby, a user's daily health condition can be confirmed. Further, advice on health may be obtained through the communication unit 86 and displayed on the image. Further, a camera may be added to the refrigerator 10 and the controller 34 may grasp the food in the refrigerator and display recommended foods according to the user's health on the display device.

  The fifteenth function will be described. When the human sensor 78 does not detect the user, this function displays the image with reduced brightness, or does not display the image at all, and displays the image with normal brightness only when the user is detected. It is a function to display. Thereby, a power saving effect can be obtained, and the refrigerator 10 having high interior properties can be obtained even when the user is not shown. In addition, when the user himself does not want to clearly show the appearance of the user and feels that the interior is better when the mirror is normally used, the image is taken when the human sensor 78 does not detect the user. The displayed image may be displayed as it is or after being reversed horizontally, and the brightness of the image may be lowered or not displayed when a user is detected.

(5) Effect According to the present embodiment, since the image outside the cabinet (that is, outside the cabinet 12) photographed by the camera 76 can be displayed on the front door of the refrigerator 10, it can be displayed in a room, baby, or child. An image is displayed so that a user in the kitchen can check.

  Moreover, since an image can be displayed on the front surface of the refrigerator 10 by reversing left and right, it can be used as a view mirror.

  Further, when the user is not detected by the human sensor 78, other images can be displayed, and thus the refrigerator 10 is excellent in interior properties.

  Also, by changing the resolution depending on whether or not the user has detected or performing a blurring process, an image that suits the user's preference can be displayed.

  In addition, since an image captured by the camera 76 can be enlarged or reduced and displayed, it is easy to check a detailed portion or, conversely, to display a large object small and grasp the whole.

(6) Modified Example In the above embodiment, the camera 76 is provided on the handle 74 of the door 40 of the vegetable compartment 16, but is not limited thereto, and may be provided on another door or on the top of the cabinet 12.

  In addition, when it is difficult to capture the whole body of the user with one camera 76, cameras 76 are provided at a plurality of locations, and the control unit 34 takes images captured by the plurality of cameras as one image. May be combined to display the whole body of the user.

  Further, the camera 76 may be provided not only on the front surface of the refrigerator, but also on the side surface, a position where the oblique upper part is photographed, and a position where the obliquely lower part is photographed so as to photograph an area that is blinded by the user. As a result, images of babies and pets in the blind spot from the user can be displayed.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the display apparatus was provided in all the doors, you may provide a display apparatus only in the door 38 of the refrigerator compartment 14 not only in this.

  In the above embodiment, the door 38 of the refrigerator compartment 14 is a hinge-type door, but it may be a double doors instead.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Refrigerator, 12 ... Cabinet, 14 ... Cold room, 16 ... Vegetable room, 18 ... Ice making room, 20 ... Small freezer room, 22 ... Freezer room, 34. ..Control part, 38 ... door, 40 ... door, 42 ... door, 44 ... door, 46 ... door, 50 ... first display device, 64 ... operation part , 66 ... 2nd display device, 68 ... 3rd display device, 70 ... 4th display device, 72 ... 5th display device, 76 ... Camera, 78 ... Human sensor

Claims (7)

A cabinet having a storage room;
A door of the storage room provided in front of the cabinet;
A display provided on the door;
A camera for shooting outside the cabinet;
A control unit that displays an image captured by the camera on the display unit;
Refrigerator. The control unit displays the image on the display unit by inverting the image horizontally.
The refrigerator according to claim 1. A human sensor,
The control unit changes the image when a person is detected by the human sensor, and displays the image on the display unit.
The refrigerator according to claim 1. The control unit reverses the image horizontally when the person is detected by the human sensor, and displays the image on the display unit.
The refrigerator according to claim 3. The control unit changes the resolution of the image when the person is detected by the human sensor, or blurs the image,
The refrigerator according to claim 3. The control unit enlarges or reduces the image from the camera and displays the image on the display unit.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The control unit displays information other than the image from the camera.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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