JP2019095193A - refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a refrigerator that can notify a person of a message without forcing the person to bear burden and making the person feel troublesome.SOLUTION: A refrigerator 1 includes notification means for notifying whether a message has come in or not. The refrigerator stores a message while linking with incidental information capable of identifying an objective person. The notification means notifies a person subject to a message whether a message has come in or not based on the incidental information even while a door of the refrigerator 1 is closed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  Embodiments of the present invention relate to a refrigerator.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been proposed that a refrigerator is provided with a voice recording / reproducing function to notify a message (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, in the configuration in which the message is confirmed based on the operation of a person, it is necessary to perform the confirmation operation even if there is no message, which imposes a burden, and the message itself is transmitted when the confirmation operation is forgotten. There is also a fear that. However, in a configuration in which a message is reproduced when a person is detected, if the message is intended for another person, it will cause annoyance.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-31468

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a refrigerator which can reproduce a message without imposing a burden on a person and without making it feel troublesome.

  The refrigerator according to the embodiment includes notification means for notifying the presence or absence of a message, the message is stored in association with incidental information which is information capable of specifying a person to be a target, and the notification means is based on the incidental information. Even if the door of the refrigerator is closed, it is characterized by notifying the person who is the target of the message the presence or absence of the message.

The figure which shows the outline of a structure of the domestic message system which employ | adopted the refrigerator of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the external appearance of the refrigerator of 1st Embodiment typically The figure which shows typically the structure of the refrigerator of 1st Embodiment The figure which shows typically the electric constitution of the refrigerator of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the flow of the alerting | reporting process by the refrigerator of 1st Embodiment The figure which shows an example of the alerting | reporting screen by the refrigerator of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the message memory screen in 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the alerting | reporting screen by the refrigerator of 1st Embodiment, 2 The figure which shows the flow of the timing setting process by the refrigerator of 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the flow of the timing setting process by the refrigerator of 2nd Embodiment 2 The figure which shows typically the structure of the alerting | reporting means by the refrigerator of other embodiment

Hereinafter, a plurality of embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the site | part which is substantially common in several embodiment, and the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.
First Embodiment
The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the in-home message system 100 employing the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment, the refrigerator 1 is communicably connected to an external network 102 via a wireless access point 101. The refrigerator 1 exchanges various types of information with the terminal device 103 and the server 104 (corresponding to an external device) connected to the network 102. In the present embodiment, a so-called Internet is assumed as the network 102. The terminal device 103 can communicate with the refrigerator 1 not only outside the house 105 but also in the house 105. The terminal device 103 may be a personal computer or the like installed in the house 105. Hereinafter, the device capable of communicating with the refrigerator 1 is conveniently referred to as an external device. The information exchanged between the refrigerator 1 and an external device includes a message targeted in the present embodiment. Further, in the present embodiment, a so-called smartphone, a tablet-type personal computer or the like is assumed as the terminal device 103.

  As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the refrigerator 1 includes, in order from the top, a refrigerator compartment 3 for storing foodstuffs, a vegetable compartment 4, an icemaker 5 and an upper freezer compartment 6 in the inside of the main body 2. , And lower freezer compartment 7 are provided. The cold storage room 3 and the vegetable room 4 and the ice making room 5 and the upper freezing room 6 are separated by an insulating partition wall. As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerator compartment 3 is opened and closed by so-called Kannon-type left door 3a and right door 3b, and the vegetable compartment 4, ice making room 5, upper freezer compartment 6 and lower freezer compartment 7 are drawer doors. The door 4a, the door 5a, the door 6a and the door 7a respectively open and close. In addition, sensors that detect the open / close state of each door (refer to FIG. 4; cold room left door sensor 35a, cold room right door sensor 35b, vegetable room door sensor 36, ice room door sensor 37, upper freezer room door sensor 38, lower freezer compartment door sensor 39) is provided. The configuration of the storage compartments described above is an example, and the arrangement order of the storage compartments may be different, or, for example, the upper freezing compartment 6 may be a switching compartment capable of switching between refrigeration and refrigeration. The refrigerator 1 is installed, for example, in a so-called live activity line which is a place which is always used when people live, such as a kitchen.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a refrigerator cooler 8 for the refrigerator chamber 3 and the vegetable chamber 4 and a refrigerator fan 9 for circulating the air cooled by the refrigerator cooler 8 behind the refrigerator chamber 3 Is provided. In the rear of the ice making chamber 5, a freezing cooler 10 for the ice making chamber 5, the upper freezing chamber 6 and the lower freezing chamber 7 and a freezing fan 11 for circulating the air cooled by the freezing cooler 10 Is provided. The refrigeration cooler 8 and the refrigeration cooler 10 are driven by a compressor 13 disposed in a machine room 12 at the rear of the lower freezer compartment 7. The compressor 13 constitutes a well-known refrigeration cycle together with the refrigeration cooler 8 and the refrigeration cooler 10. The operation state of this refrigeration cycle is controlled by the main control unit 30 (see FIG. 4) in accordance with the temperature in the refrigerator detected by the refrigerator temperature sensor 14 and the refrigerator temperature sensor 15.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the left door 3 a of the refrigerator compartment 3 is provided with an operation panel 16 (constituting an operation input means) having a display and switches. The display of the operation panel 16 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, and displays various information related to the refrigerator 1 using characters, graphs, and the like. The switches of the operation panel 16 are configured by a plurality of switches such as mechanical switches and touch panel switches, and various operations such as setting of the refrigerator 1 are input by a person.

  In the right door 3b of the refrigerator compartment 3, a human sensor 17 (constituting a human detection means) is provided. The human sensor 17 has a detector (or a combination of these detectors) for detecting, for example, infrared rays, visible light, ultrasonic waves, etc. Detect In this case, the human sensor 17 may be configured to finally determine that a human is detected, for example, when it is continuously detected for a fixed time (that is, when a human is detected a plurality of times), or the distance can be measured. If it is determined that the user is approaching the refrigerator 1, a person may be detected.

  Each door of the refrigerator compartment 3 is provided with a left door touch sensor 18a (constituting a human detection means) and a right door touch sensor 18b (constituting a human detection means), respectively. When touched, the corresponding door is opened by the opening device 19 (see FIG. 2) provided at the upper part of the main body 2.

  In the right door 3b of the refrigerator compartment 3, a display terminal 20 (constituting a notification means, a display output means, a communication means), an imaging camera 21 (constituting a human detection means), a microphone 22 (constituting a communication means And a speaker 23 (constituting notification means and sound output means) are provided. The display terminal 20 is provided so that the surface may be located in the same surface as the right door 3b of the refrigerator compartment 3, or slightly inside the right door 3b, as shown in FIG. The details of the configuration of the display terminal 20 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The imaging camera 21 has an imaging element such as a CCD or a CMOS, for example, and images outside the refrigerator 1. The imaging camera 21 is configured to be able to capture both a still image and a moving image. The image sensor may be either a color image or a monochrome image. Hereinafter, the still image and the moving image are collectively referred to as an image. In addition, the imaging camera 21 is provided at a position near the upper side and the center of the display terminal 20, that is, at a position where an object person looking at the display terminal 20 can be imaged almost from the front. The microphone 22 acquires outside voices, for example, voices of people. The speaker 23 outputs the sound from the display terminal 20 side.

  The refrigerator 1 of such a configuration is controlled by the main control unit 30, as shown in FIG. The main control unit 30 is configured by a computer having a CPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, and the like, and controls the entire refrigerator 1 according to a computer program stored in the ROM 32, for example. Further, the main control unit 30 has a real time clock (hereinafter, referred to as an RTC 34) as clocking means, and can obtain time information. Note that the time information that can be acquired includes time, date, day of the week, and the like. More specifically, the main control unit 30 operates the refrigeration cycle (each cooler and each fan according to the ambient temperature, the temperature of the storage chamber detected by the refrigerator temperature sensor 14 or the freezer temperature sensor 15, etc. Control the operation of Further, when the main control unit 30 can determine that the possibility of using the refrigerator 1 is low, for example, when a person is not detected by the human sensor 17 or when the time acquired from the RTC 34 is midnight. We are performing control such as energy saving operation.

  Further, the main control unit 30 is connected to the cold storage room left door sensor 35a, the cold storage room right door sensor 35b, the vegetable room door sensor 36, the ice room door sensor 37, the upper freezing room door sensor 38 and the lower freezing room door sensor 39 Detect the open / close state of each door. Each of these sensors constitutes a human detection means. Specifically, when the human detection sensor 17 detects a person, the main control unit 30 releases one of the doors when the touch sensor in the cold storage room 3 is operated when the operation panel 16 is operated. It is determined that a person is detected in the case where the door is closed after the door is opened. Information indicating that a person has been detected is transmitted to the display terminal 20 as described later.

  The main control unit 30 of the refrigerator 1 is communicably connected to the display terminal 20. The display terminal 20 is controlled by the control unit 40. The control unit 40 is configured by a computer having a CPU 41, a ROM 42, a RAM 43, an RTC 44, and the like, and controls the entire display terminal 20 according to a computer program stored in the ROM 42, for example. Further, the control unit 40 is connected to the imaging camera 21, the microphone 22 and the speaker 23 described above, the display unit 45, the touch panel 46 and the communication unit 47.

  The display unit 45 is configured of a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like, and displays various information including a message to be described later. The touch panel 46 is provided corresponding to the display unit 45, and receives an operation of a target person. The communication unit 47 communicates with the wireless access point 101 by a wireless communication method, and can transmit and receive various types of information including messages to and from the terminal device 103 via the network 102.

  The message notified by the refrigerator 1 of such a configuration is stored not in the refrigerator 1 but in the external server 104. In the message, as will be described later, at least information capable of specifying a person to be a target of the message and information capable of specifying the content of the message are stored as supplementary information. Here, the information that can specify the content of the message includes, in addition to the message itself, the classification (category) of the message, whether or not a reply to the message is required, and the storage format of the message.

Specifically, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7 to be described later, for example, four residents of the house 105 use four people as information capable of specifying a person to whom a message is to be sent (“destination” shown in FIG. 7). Yes, assuming their parents, sons and daughters, “father”, “mother”, “older brother”, and “older sister” are shown to indicate each. Further, as the information capable of specifying the content of the message, “contact”, “reply required”, “food”, and “others” indicating the classification of the message (“content” shown in FIG. 7) are set. Also, "voice", "video", and "character" are set as message storage formats. The details of each item will be described later.
Next, the operation of the refrigerator 1 will be described.

  Since refrigerator 1 has a storage room for storing food, it is used almost every day to prepare food, and also in a place where it is almost always dropped in and used in daily life (so-called live activity line) It is often installed. Therefore, the refrigerator 1 is suitable as a home appliance for notifying a message.

The refrigerator 1 executes the notification process shown in FIG. 5 and determines whether the notification timing has come (A1). Here, the notification timing has almost the same meaning as "when a person is detected", but in the present embodiment, "when a person is detected" is used.
When the human sensor 17 detects that a person is approaching: When the operation panel 16 is operated.
-When the left door touch sensor 18a or the right door touch sensor 18b of the refrigerator compartment 3 is operated.
・ When the door of any storage room is opened.
・ When the door is closed after the door of any storage room is opened.

Is assumed. Therefore, these are collectively referred to as "notification timing". In the present embodiment, which one is used as the notification timing is set in advance, but the notification timing may be individually set or changed based on incidental information as in the second embodiment described later. Good.

  When the refrigerator 1 determines that the preset notification timing has come (A1: YES), the refrigerator 1 confirms the presence or absence of a message with the server 104 (A2). Subsequently, if there is no message (A3: NO), the refrigerator 1 proceeds to step A1. On the other hand, when there is a message (A3: YES), the refrigerator 1 reports the presence or absence of the message (A4). That is, the refrigerator 1 first confirms whether or not the message is stored, and does not immediately reproduce the message, but first notifies the presence or absence of the message and prompts the user to confirm the message. This reduces, for example, the annoyance felt when a message addressed to another person is reproduced.

  At this time, the refrigerator 1 performs a notification operation of notifying the presence or absence of a message by displaying a notification screen shown as an example in FIG. 6 on the display unit 45 of the display terminal 20. In this display unit 45, the destination icons M1 to M4 ("Dad", "Mother", "Oichan", "My sister") and the number of stored messages are displayed together with messages such as "There is a message." A number display area M5 to M8 for displaying each address, a reproduction button M9 for inputting a reproduction operation for reproducing stored messages, and an information display area M10 for displaying information on reproduced messages are provided. .

  In the case of FIG. 6, it is shown that there are one message in "father" and two messages in "one sister". In addition, the icons of "Mother" and "Older brother" with no message are grayed out to notify that there is no message. That is, the refrigerator 1 identifies the person who is the target of the message and reports that there is a message for the person. In FIG. 6, graying out is schematically shown by hatching.

  As described above, when the presence or absence of a message is notified, a person checks the display unit 45 and first selects a message to be reproduced by touching the icon of the user, and then performs a touch operation on the reproduction button M9. In this case (by performing the reproduction operation), the stored message is reproduced. If only one message is sent or if only one person is set as the destination, the message can be played back by touching the play button M9.

  Therefore, the refrigerator 1 determines whether the regenerating operation has been performed (A5) and whether the predetermined period has passed (A8), and when the regenerating operation is performed (A5: YES), the server 104 The message is acquired (A6), and the acquired message is reproduced (A7). At this time, if the message is a voice, the message is reproduced by voice from the speaker 23, and if the message is an image (still image, moving image or the like), a video is reproduced on the display unit 45. In the case of a sentence (so-called text), the text is displayed in the information display area M10. In the information display area M10, additional information such as "destination" or "content" is also displayed, and "From" (see FIG. 11 described later) indicating the sender is also displayed.

In this case, when the presence or absence of a message is notified, a person confirms the screen, and it is considered that the reproduction operation is not performed unless the message is addressed to oneself. Therefore, the refrigerator 1 ends the process when the predetermined period has passed without performing the regenerating operation (A8: YES). The predetermined period can be set arbitrarily, for example, 30 seconds.
Thus, the refrigerator 1 performs notification of the presence or absence of the message and reproduction of the message.

  Here, a procedure for storing a message to be reproduced by the refrigerator 1 will be described. Although an example in which the message is stored using the refrigerator 1 will be described below, the message can of course be stored using the terminal device 103 or the like.

  In the refrigerator 1, when storing a message, a message storage screen is displayed on the display unit 45 as shown as an example in FIG. 7. In this message storage screen, along with a message such as “leave message”, destination icons M1 to M4, content icons M11 to M14 (“contact”, “reply required”, “food”, “others”), storage format icons M15 to M17 ("audio", "image", "character") are displayed.

  The person who leaves the message selects the person who is the target of the message. Specifically, the target person is selected by touch-operating any of the destination icons M1 to M4. In addition, what is necessary is just to touch-operate each icon, when selecting two or more persons. Subsequently, by touching any of the content icons M11 to M14, the content (classification) of the message is selected. Specifically, "contact" is a so-called voice memo and is selected when leaving a small message.

  "Reply required" is selected when leaving a message asking for an answer after listening to the message. When the "reply required" is selected, notification of the presence or absence of a message is as shown in FIG. 8 as an example. FIG. 8 is a notification screen for notifying the presence or absence of a message, and it is shown that there is one message in "father", the telephone icon M18 is displayed, and the content of the message is "reply required" It is shown that there is. In this way, the father can understand that he / she is asked for a reply only by looking at this screen. In other words, the refrigerator 1 prompts communication by displaying the telephone icon M18. In addition, since the message is one in FIG. 8, the incidental information is displayed in the information display area M10.

  The telephone icon M18 also functions as an operation button for executing a telephone function. Specifically, when the telephone icon M18 is touch-operated, the imaging camera 21, the microphone 22, and the speaker 23 are driven, and it is possible to make a so-called videophone call with the "grandmother" who is the sender. When the other party only has a telephone function, the microphone 22 and the speaker 23 are driven to make a general voice call.

  The “food material” is selected when leaving a message regarding a meal such as a night meal mentioned above or a food material etc. stored in the refrigerator 1. That is, "the thing regarding foodstuffs" described in the claim includes not only the foodstuff itself such as vegetables and meat but also information regarding meals. "Other" is selected when leaving messages of other classifications. In addition, the classification set to these content icons M11 to M14 may be set in advance by the manufacturer, or may be set arbitrarily by the user.

  Then, by touching any of the storage format icons M15 to M17, the message storage format is selected. In this case, if "voice" is selected, the voice input from the microphone 22 is stored as a message. If “video” is selected, the image input from the imaging camera 21 and the sound input from the microphone 22 are stored as messages. If "character" is selected, for example, a software keyboard or a handwriting pad is displayed on the display unit 45, and the input text (text) is stored as a message.

At this time, the stored message is stored not in the refrigerator 1 but in the server 104. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide the refrigerator 1 with a large capacity storage means. Not only the message, but also the address, the content, the storage format, and the like are associated with the message and stored as incidental information. In addition, if it is an apparatus provided with a display part like terminal devices 103, such as a smart phone, for example, a message can be memorize | stored in the same procedure. In addition, in the case of a terminal device not provided with cameras, the storage format can be previously set to only voice. That is, the storage format of the message may be selected according to the device used to leave the message.
Thus, the refrigerator 1 reproduces the presence or absence of the message, and further, the message.
According to the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  The refrigerator 1 includes a person detection unit that detects a person, and a notification unit that notifies the presence or absence of a message. When the person detection unit detects a person, the refrigerator 1 notifies the presence or absence of a message. That is, the refrigerator 1 reports the presence or absence of a message regardless of the operation of a person. For this reason, since it does not alert | report the presence or absence of a message when not detecting a person, while unnecessary alerting | reporting is not performed, since a refrigerator 1 can be made into what is called a standby state when not detecting a person, saving. Power consumption can be achieved.

  In addition, even if the person does not perform an operation to confirm the presence or absence of the message, the presence or absence of the message is notified at the timing when the person is detected, so that no burden is imposed. In addition, since the presence or absence of the message is notified before the message is reproduced, the message for another person is not erroneously reproduced, and no annoyance is felt.

  Furthermore, since a refrigerator 1 is often installed on a live activity line in a general household, it is possible to confirm the presence or absence of a message in daily life without having the consciousness of confirming the message. , Convenience is improved.

  In the refrigerator 1, the message is stored outside the server 104, that is, the refrigerator 1. When the storage format of the message is a video, it is assumed that the amount of data increases. However, by storing the message outside the refrigerator 1, it is not necessary to provide the refrigerator 1 with a large capacity storage means. Therefore, the increase in cost can be suppressed.

  Since the notifying means is constituted by the display output means such as the display unit 45, the message can be left not only in the voice but also in the picture. Therefore, you can communicate more closely. Of course, since an audio output means such as the speaker 23 is also formed as an informing means, an audio memo can be left.

  Since the person detecting sensor 17 detects the person approaching the refrigerator 1 in a non-contact manner, the presence or absence of a message can be notified when the person approaches, that is, before the door of the refrigerator 1 is opened. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the door from being opened uselessly even though it is not necessary to open the door of the refrigerator 1.

  Since it is possible to set the time when the operation to the refrigerator 1 is performed as the notification timing, it is possible to reliably notify the presence or absence of a message when a person is in front of the refrigerator 1, and the notification itself of the presence or absence of a message is not transmitted. Can be prevented.

  Since it is possible to set the time when the door of the refrigerator 1 is opened as the notification timing, it is possible to give advice when opening the door and selecting a stored food.

  Since it is possible to set the time point closed after the door of the refrigerator 1 is opened as the notification timing, it is possible to avoid the situation where the message is notified when the door is opened and the message is checked while the door is opened. .

  Since the message is stored in association with the subject person and the accompanying information that can specify the content thereof, it is possible to identify who is the subject of the message. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, by notifying that there is a message to the target person, the target person can surely reproduce the message and the message addressed to other people is unnecessarily reproduced. It can prevent things.

  When it is specified that the content of the message relates to the food, the presence or absence of the message is notified at the timing before the door of the refrigerator 1 is opened, so unnecessary opening and closing of the door is prevented. This prevents the temperature inside the refrigerator 1 from changing, leading to energy saving.

  When the content of the message is to request a reply, communication by a video telephone or the like can be promoted by displaying the telephone icon M18. That is, even without complicated operations, only by operating the telephone icon M18, it is possible to make a call with the person who left the message. Thereby, even when, for example, an elderly person operates the refrigerator 1, it is possible to easily make a call. In addition, since a call can be made by videophone, more direct and close communication can be performed.

As shown in the notification process of FIG. 5, the refrigerator 1 performs a notification operation to notify the presence or absence of a message when there is a message, but does not perform the notification operation itself when there is no message, so unnecessary power is Consumption can be suppressed.
Second Embodiment

The second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the notification timing is set according to the incidental information. In addition, since the structure of a refrigerator is common in 1st Embodiment, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.
In the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment, the notification timing for notifying the presence or absence of a message is set based on the incidental information, specifically, for example, according to the content and the destination of the message.

  When the classification of the message is "food", the notification timing may be desirable when the human sensor 17 detects that a person is approaching, that is, before the door of the refrigerator 1 is opened. This is because, for example, in the case where a dinner for father is prepared outside the refrigerator 1 such as a range or a cupboard, even if the refrigerator 1 is not opened, the refrigerator 1 is wasted because the place of the dinner is known if the message is heard. There is no need to open and close. However, in the case of the configuration in which the message is stored in the external server 104, the message that is originally intended to be transmitted "before opening" can not be transmitted to "before opening" because communication with the server 104 takes time. Is assumed.

In addition, when the classification of the message is "contact", the notification timing may be desirable when the door of any storage room is opened and then closed. This is because after the door of the refrigerator 1 is closed, the operation on the refrigerator 1 is finished (after taking out the food etc.), so it takes time to confirm the message, and the message is opened with the door opened. It is because it can prevent confirming.
That is, depending on the content and the destination of the message, it may be desired to change at which timing the notification is to be made.

  Therefore, in the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment, the notification timing is set according to the content of the message as shown in FIG. 9 or the notification timing is set according to the person who is the target of the message as shown in FIG. Do. Each of these will be described below.

  The refrigerator 1 first confirms the presence or absence of a message with the server 104 as shown in FIG. 9 (B1). At this time, the refrigerator 1 repeatedly executes the timing setting process every predetermined period such as every hour or a predetermined time. That is, the refrigerator 1 periodically executes the timing setting process. Then, if there is a message, it is judged whether the content relates to a food (B2), and if it is a food (B2: YES), the notification timing is "before opening", that is, a refrigerator Set before door 1 is released. If the content of the message is not a food (B2: NO), the process ends without changing the timing.

  At this time, the refrigerator 1 stores, in the main control unit 30 and the RAM of the control unit 40, that the content of the message is a food and that the notification timing is "before door opening". This is because the information indicating the presence or absence of the message and the information regarding the setting of the notification timing are considered to be small in data amount. When the notification timing is set, the refrigerator 1 performs the notification operation when the notification timing comes, as in step A1 of the notification processing shown in FIG. 5 described above. In this case, since the presence or absence of the message has already been confirmed, the processes of steps A2 and A3 performed in the notification process of FIG. 5 can be omitted.

  Similarly, as shown in FIG. 10, the refrigerator 1 confirms the presence or absence of a message (C1), and if the address is "Mother" (C2: YES), the notification timing is "After closing", that is, the door Set after closing (C3).

  Thus, the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment sets and changes the notification timing based on the incidental information. This makes it possible to notify the presence or absence of a message at an appropriate timing. Moreover, convenience is also improved by setting and changing the notification timing for each content of the message.

  Further, by storing the presence / absence of the message and the notification timing by itself (that is, in the refrigerator 1), it is possible to immediately notify the presence / absence of the message. For example, if you want to transmit a message to “Before opening door”, if you detect the person and then inquire the server 104 about the presence or absence of the message, it takes time for the communication, and the door is already open when notifying the presence or absence of the message. It is also possible that it has been released. Therefore, by storing the presence or absence of a message on the refrigerator 1 side, notification can be made promptly and at an appropriate timing.

Of course, the refrigerator 1 can also set the notification timing individually for the contents such as "contact" and "reply required". Further, the processing based on the content shown in FIG. 9 and the processing based on the destination shown in FIG. 10 may be combined, and the notification timing may be set individually according to “destination” + “content”. That is, if it is based on incidental information, the combination of incidental information is arbitrary.
(Other embodiments)

  The present invention can be modified or expanded as follows without being limited to those exemplified in the above embodiment. In addition, some or all of the modifications and extensions described below can be arbitrarily combined.

  As the display terminal 20, as shown in FIG. 12, you may employ | adopt the portable terminal device 60 which can be attached or detached from the refrigerator 1. FIG. The portable terminal device 60 includes a terminal-side camera 61 (person detection means, constituting communication means), a terminal-side microphone 62 (constituting communication means), a terminal-side speaker 63 (constituting notification means), a terminal-side display It comprises a unit 64 (constituting notification means), a terminal side control unit 65 (constituting human detection means, notification means), a terminal communication unit 66 (constituting communication means) and the like. The portable terminal device 60 is always provided on the right door 3 b of the refrigerator 1 in a detachable manner, but can also be detached from the refrigerator 1. In addition, although the portable terminal device 60 is not shown, when it is attached to the refrigerator 1, the portable terminal device 60 is connected to the refrigerator 1 by short distance wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or wired communication such as USB standard. It also includes near field communication means for communicating between each other.

  The portable terminal device 60 can communicate with the server 104 via the network 102 in, for example, a living room or outing place, and can confirm the presence or absence of a message and reproduce the message. That is, as the display terminal 20, a portable terminal device 60 such as a so-called tablet-type personal computer, a smartphone or a mobile phone can be adopted. Of course, the message can be left from the portable terminal device 60. In this case, instead of providing the imaging camera 21 and the microphone 22 in the refrigerator 1 as in each embodiment, the terminal side camera 61 may be used to capture an image and the terminal side microphone 62 may be configured to input audio. . In this case, if the portable terminal device 60 can be charged from the refrigerator 1 when the portable terminal device 60 is attached to the refrigerator 1, the possibility of battery exhaustion can be reduced, and confirmation of charging is not performed intentionally. Improve convenience.

  In the refrigerator 1 of each embodiment, the wireless access point 101 is used because the wireless communication system is adopted as the communication means, but it is needless to say that a wired communication means may be adopted.

  Although an example in which messages are exchanged with the refrigerator 1 alone or with the terminal device 103 has been described, messages may be exchanged with a personal computer or a device owned by a resident in the house 105, or via the network 102. Messages may be exchanged with the refrigerator 1 of another connected house.

  In the notification process shown in FIG. 5, step A3 may be omitted. That is, even when there is no message, a notification operation may be performed to notify the presence or absence of the message. This is because, when the user knows that the refrigerator 1 has a function of notifying a message, there is a possibility that it may be determined that a failure occurs if the notification operation is not performed. In this case, it is possible to notify that there is no message by graying out all the destinations, as in the case of the icons of "Mother" and "Older brother" in FIG. More preferably, it is possible to set whether or not to perform the notification operation when there is no message, and the user can set it.

  For example, the human sensor 17 may be configured as an illuminance sensor, and may be configured to indirectly detect a human, such as determining that a human is present when the illuminance outside the storage exceeds a predetermined reference value.

  It may be configured to be able to identify the person who is the target of the message. And you may set alerting | reporting timing according to the person who becomes object. In addition, when the identified person is not a target person, the notification operation may not be performed. That is, the setting of the notification timing based on the incidental information may be performed arbitrarily, and may be combined in any manner. In this case, convenience can be further improved if a plurality of timings that can be set as the notification timing are provided and it is possible for the user to select which timing to use.

  Time may be adopted as incidental information. In this case, for example, it is possible to adopt a use form in which the notification timing is set according to the time, such as not notifying the presence or absence of a message while making a breakfast, and the convenience is further improved.

It is not limited to what was illustrated by each embodiment, such as the position of each sensor etc., the number, the attachment method, etc. For example, it is conceivable to make the orientation of the imaging camera 21 variable, to enable imaging of a wide area of the entire room installed using a wide-angle lens, and to provide a plurality of imaging cameras 21.
In each embodiment, an example in which the main control unit 30 and the control unit 40 are provided is shown, but either one may be provided and each processing may be executed by one control unit.

  Although the wireless access points 101 are individually provided in each embodiment, the wireless access points 101 may be integrated into the refrigerator 1. By giving the function as an access point to the refrigerator 1 which is always supplied with power, the possibility that the power of the access point is accidentally cut off can be avoided. That is, the refrigerator 1 may have a function as an access point of the home network.

  When the above-described mobile terminal device 60 is provided, the mobile terminal device 60 may be used as an access point. In this case, the refrigerator 1 can be connected directly to the network 102 without passing through a router or access point in the home, for example, a function of connecting to a portable communication network like a 3G communication function, or a so-called wide area wireless LAN ( A function of connecting to WiMAX (registered trademark) or the like may be provided. That is, the communication means provided in the refrigerator 1 includes not only the communication function with the wireless access point 101 shown in each embodiment but also the communication function directly connectable with the external network 102. .

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

  In the drawings, 1 is a refrigerator, 16 is an operation panel (person detection means), 17 is a person detection sensor (person detection means), 18a is a left door touch sensor (person detection means), 18b is a right door touch sensor (person detection means 20, a display terminal (notification means, display output means, communication means), 21 an imaging camera (human detection means), 22 a microphone (communication means), 23 a speaker (informing means, voice output means), 30 Main control unit (person detection means), 35a: cold storage room left door sensor (person detection means), 35b: cold storage room right door sensor (person detection means), 36: vegetable room door sensor (person detection means), 37: ice making Room door sensor (person detection means), 38: upper freezer compartment door sensor (person detection means), 39: lower freezer compartment door sensor (person detection means), 40: control unit (notification means, communication means), 45: display Section (notification means, display output means), 47 The unit (communication means), 60 is a portable terminal device (notification means, display output means, communication means), 61 is a terminal side camera (human detection means), 62 is a terminal side microphone (communication means), 63 is a terminal side speaker ( Informing means, sound output means), 64 is a terminal side display unit (informing means, display output means), 65 is a terminal side control unit (informing means, communication means), 66 is a terminal side communication unit (communication means), 104 is Indicates a server (external device).

Claims (13)

It has a notification means for notifying the presence or absence of a message,
The message is stored in association with incidental information, which is information that can identify the target person,
The said notification means is characterized by alerting | reporting the presence or absence of a message to the person who becomes an object of a message based on the said supplementary information, even if the door of a refrigerator is closed. It has a notification means for notifying the presence or absence of a message,
The message is stored in association with incidental information, which is information that can identify the content,
The notification means notifies the presence or absence of the message even if the door of the refrigerator is closed based on the incidental information, and changes the timing of notifying the presence or absence of the message according to the content of the identified message A refrigerator that is characterized by   The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the message notified by the notification means is stored outside the refrigerator.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the notification means is constituted by a display output means for displaying a message.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the notification means is an audio output means for outputting a message as a voice. Equipped with human detection means for detecting people,
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the notification means notifies presence or absence of a message when a person is detected by the person detection means. Equipped with human detection means for detecting people,
The human detection means detects a person approaching the refrigerator without contact.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the notification means notifies presence or absence of a message when it is detected that a person approaches the refrigerator. Equipped with human detection means for detecting people,
The human detection means detects that an operation has been performed on the refrigerator.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the notification means reports presence or absence of a message when it is detected that an operation on the refrigerator has been performed. Equipped with human detection means for detecting people,
The human detection means detects that the door of the refrigerator is opened,
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the notification means reports the presence or absence of a message when it is detected that the door of the refrigerator is opened. Equipped with human detection means for detecting people,
The human detection means detects that the refrigerator door is closed after being opened.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the notification means reports the presence or absence of a message when it is detected that the door of the refrigerator is closed after being opened. Equipped with human detection means for detecting people,
The human detection means detects a person approaching the refrigerator or detects that an operation on the refrigerator has been performed.
The said alerting | reporting means alert | reports the presence or absence of a message at the timing before the door of a refrigerator is open | released, when it specifies that the content of a message is a thing regarding foodstuffs. The refrigerator according to one of the items. It further comprises communication means capable of bi-directional communication with an external device,
The message is stored in association with incidental information, which is information that can identify the content,
12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit identifies the content of the message based on the incidental information, and promotes the communication by the communication unit when the identified content is a request for a reply. The refrigerator according to one of the items.   13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notifying means performs an informing operation of informing the presence or absence of a message when there is a message, and does not perform the notifying operation itself when there is no message. Description refrigerator.

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