JP2006064320A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator capable of avoiding manual input of information about a food, and producing in-box information by only putting the food stuck with a wireless tag into the refrigerator. <P>SOLUTION: After a door of the refrigerator 10 is closed after opening the door, a wireless tag detection device 26 reads wireless tag information from the wireless tag of all the foods present inside a box. Thereby, the information about the food stored in the box can be certainly managed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator capable of storing and managing a food provided with a wireless tag.

  Recently, wireless tag technology has advanced, and a refrigerator for home use that can store and manage foods attached with the wireless tag has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Such a refrigerator has a plurality of antennas for transmitting / receiving radio waves from a wireless tag attached to food, a transmission / reception unit for transmitting / receiving wireless tag information using these antennas, and for controlling the transmission / reception unit. The main controller is provided.
JP 2002-81848 A

  One of the services performed in the refrigerator as described above is a food management service. This food management service is a service in which food in the refrigerator is input in advance from a controller or the like, information input from the controller is transmitted from the information server to each user's mobile phone, and notification is made when the expiration date is approaching.

  However, in order to receive such a service, it is very troublesome because it is necessary to input the food name, the expiration date, and the like for the food that each user puts in the refrigerator.

  In addition, in the case of a refrigerator using a wireless tag as described above, the user often creates in-house information by passing the product with the wireless tag attached to the antenna detection range, and the detected food is actually In many cases, it is left to the user to determine whether or not it exists in the cabinet.

  Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention provides a refrigerator that can avoid the manual input of food information and can create in-compartment information simply by putting food with a wireless tag attached to the refrigerator.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a storage room, a door for opening and closing the storage room, a door opening / closing detection means for detecting opening and closing of the door, an antenna for communicating with a wireless tag provided in food, In the refrigerator having tag detection means for detecting the RFID tag information stored in the RFID tag from an antenna, the tag detection means is configured such that after the door opening / closing detection means detects the open state of the door, It is a refrigerator characterized by detecting all the RFID tag information of the RFID tag within the detection range of the antenna when a closed state is detected.

  The invention according to claim 2 has communication means for transmitting RFID tag information to an external device, and the tag detection means transmits the detected RFID tag information to the external device by the communication means. The refrigerator according to claim 1.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the tag detecting means stores at least one piece of the detected RFID tag information.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the tag detecting means transmits the writing information to the wireless tag of the food and writes it.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, an image photographing unit is provided in the storage chamber, and the image photographing unit detects the closed state of the door after the door opening / closing detecting unit detects the open state of the door. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the means photographs the inside of the storage room and transmits the photographed image to the external device via the communication means.

  In the refrigerator according to the first aspect of the invention, the tag detecting means detects the RFID tag information attached to the food when the door is opened and then the closed state of the door is detected. The wireless tag information of the food stored in the container is read, and the food in the warehouse can be managed reliably. In addition, by reading the RFID tag information, it is possible to automatically input the food name and expiration date that have been performed manually. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to re-detect the RFID tag information until the door is opened again, the system becomes lighter, traffic is reduced and energy is saved.

  In the refrigerator of the invention according to claim 2, since the detected RFID tag information is transmitted to the external device, the external device can always grasp the inventory status of the refrigerator in real time.

  Since the refrigerator of the invention according to claim 3 stores at least one RFID tag information, even if transmission to an external device fails due to a sudden power failure or radio interference, the one or more times Since history is stored, recovery is possible.

  In the refrigerator of the invention according to claim 4, since the writing information can be transmitted and written to the wireless tag of the food, the user's own food management becomes possible.

  Since it is a refrigerator of the invention which concerns on Claim 5, a door will be in an open state, and since the image of the inside of a storage room in the state which became a closed state can be browsed in an external apparatus, the said RFID tag information More detailed food management is possible together with the information contained in.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, the refrigerator 10 of the 1st Example of this invention is demonstrated based on FIGS.

  The refrigerator 10 of this embodiment can read and manage the wireless tag information stored in the wireless tag 24 attached to food.

(1) Structure of refrigerator 10 The structure of the refrigerator 10 is demonstrated based on FIG.1 and FIG.2.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a refrigerator compartment 14, a vegetable compartment 16, an ice making room 18, and a freezing room 20 are arranged in the cabinet of the refrigerator 10 from the top, and the inside temperature can be switched on the right side of the ice making room 18. A switching chamber 22 is provided. A tag detection device 26 that is a control unit for transmitting and receiving wireless tag information from the wireless tag 24 attached to food is provided on the ceiling surface of the cabinet 12, and the tag detection device 26 is provided on the right side thereof. A wireless adapter 28 is provided for transmitting the wireless tag information read from. The wireless tag information transmitted from the wireless adapter 28 is transmitted to the home server 30 which is one of external devices. The home server 30 is connected to an external information server 32 via the Internet. The information server 32 can be accessed from a mobile phone 34 owned by the user.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an antenna 38 for transmitting and receiving RFID tag information is provided on the front surface of a partition wall 36 that partitions the refrigerator compartment 14 and the vegetable compartment 16 in the cabinet of the refrigerator 10. The detection range of the antenna 38 covers the entire interior of the refrigerator compartment 14 at the top, and covers the interior of the vegetable compartment 16, the ice making compartment 18, the freezer compartment 20, and the switching compartment 22 at the bottom.

(2) Electrical configuration of refrigerator 10 The electrical configuration of the refrigerator 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The control device 40 of the refrigerator 10 is a part that performs control for driving a compressor or the like in order to manage the internal temperature of the refrigerator 10 and is configured by a microcomputer. Further, the tag detection device 26 and the wireless adapter 28 described above are connected to the control device 40. The tag detection device 26 is connected to the antenna 38 described above.

  The control device 40 is provided with door switches 42, 44, 46, 48, 50 for detecting opening and closing of the doors of the refrigerator compartment 14, the vegetable compartment 16, the ice making compartment 18, the freezer compartment 20, and the switching compartment 22. Yes. Based on the door opening / closing signals of the door switches 42 to 50, the control device 40 can detect which storage room door is opened and closed.

(3) Content of RFID Tag Information Reading Operation Next, an operation state when the RFID tag information is read from the RFID tag 24 attached to food in the refrigerator 10 having the above-described configuration will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. . In this flowchart, the left column indicates the state of the refrigerator 10, the center column indicates the state of the tag detection device 26, and the right column indicates the state of the control device 40.

  First, all the doors are closed in a normal state, and the control device 40 manages the internal temperature of each storage room in a normal operation.

  Next, for example, the door of the refrigerator compartment 14 is opened, and the door switch 42 detects it and transmits a door open signal to the control device 40.

  When the user stores the food with the wireless tag 24 attached inside the refrigerator compartment 14 and closes the door of the refrigerator compartment 14, a door closing signal is transmitted from the door switch 42 to the control device 40.

  When the door closing signal is input after the door opening signal, the control device 40 instructs the tag detection device 26 to detect the wireless tag information.

  The tag detection device 26 starts detecting the wireless tag information. However, when the user opens the door of the refrigerator compartment 14 again for some reason in this state and a door open signal is transmitted from the door switch 42 to the control device 40, the control device 40 stops the detection to the tag detection device 26. Output instructions. As a result, the tag detection device 26 stops detecting the RFID tag information.

  When the user closes the door of the refrigerator compartment 14 again, the door switch 42 transmits a door closing signal to the control device 40, and the control device 40 again issues a detection start command to the tag detection device 26.

  Since the tag detection device 26 has received the start command, the tag detection device 26 performs an operation of detecting the wireless tag information again. In this case, a transmission wave is output from the antenna 38, and the wireless tag 24 detects the wireless tag information (for example, food name, expiration date, etc.) stored in the wireless tag 24 using the transmission wave. To device 26. The tag detection device 26 detects all the RFID tag information within the detection range. That is, in the wireless tag detection device 26, not only the food that the user has opened with the door open, but also all the foods stored in the refrigerator room 14, the vegetable room 16, the ice making room 18, the freezer room 20, and the switching room 22. The wireless tag information is detected from the wireless tag.

  When the detection is completed, the tag detection device 26 transmits a completion notification and wireless tag information of all food items to the control device 40.

  The control device 40 updates the RFID tag information of all foods stored last time to the RFID tag information of all foods input from the tag detection device 26. That is, the control device 40 stores at least one RFID tag information. Then, the stored wireless tag information is transmitted to the home server 30 through the wireless adapter 28. The control device 40 returns to normal operation when transmitting the RFID tag information.

  Since the RFID tag information is detected after the door is closed in the refrigerator 10 having the above-described configuration, it is possible to receive only the RFID tag information of foods that are always present in the refrigerator, thereby preventing malfunction. it can. In addition, since the user does not need to input information about the stored food and can input the food name and the expiration date from the read RFID tag information, the food management service can be easily used.

  In addition, there is no movement of food in the cabinet after the door is closed, so there is no need to re-detect the RFID tag information until the door is opened and closed again, the system becomes lighter, traffic is reduced and energy is saved. It becomes.

  Since the detected RFID tag information is immediately transmitted to the home server 30 which is an external device, the home server 30 can always grasp the stock status of the refrigerator 10 in real time. In addition, the memory capacity of the control device 40 can be reduced. Furthermore, since the control device 40 stores at least one history of wireless tag information, even if transmission to the home server 30 fails due to a sudden power failure or radio wave failure, it can be recovered immediately.

(Second Embodiment)
The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that, in addition to the function of the first embodiment, the user can write necessary information on the wireless tag 24 for food.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the wireless tag 24 has a fixed area and a user area, and data can be written for each user in the user area. Therefore, by using the home server 30 and designating that the user writes necessary write information through the tag detection device 26, the information required by the user can be written in the user area of the wireless tag 24. This makes it possible to make a distinction within each home and to manage the user's own food.

(Third embodiment)
The difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that, in addition to the function of the first embodiment, a camera unit 52 such as a CCD camera is attached inside the refrigerator compartment 14 as shown in FIG. Similarly to reading of the RFID tag information, after the door is opened and closed, the camera unit 52 takes a picture of the inside of the refrigerator compartment 14 with the door closed, and the photographed image is taken together with the RFID tag information by an external device. It transmits to a certain home server 30 and information server 32. Thereby, a user can confirm the inside of the refrigerator compartment 14 in whereabouts, and can visually confirm the number and remaining amount of PET bottles. Therefore, more detailed food management becomes possible.

  In addition, when the camera part 52 image | photographs the inside of a store | warehouse | chamber, the interior lamp of the refrigerator compartment 14 is turned on.

  Further, when one camera unit 52 cannot capture all of the refrigerator compartment 14, the second camera unit 52 may capture the blind spot and transmit two images.

  The present invention is suitable for a household refrigerator.

It is explanatory drawing of the refrigerator, the home server, the information server, and mobile phone which show the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the refrigerator which shows the attachment state of an antenna. It is a block diagram of a refrigerator. It is a flowchart which reads the RFID tag information when storing foodstuffs. It is a figure which shows the state of the memory in a wireless tag. It is a perspective view of the refrigerator of 3rd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Refrigerator 12 Cabinet 14 Cold room 24 Wireless tag 26 Tag detection apparatus 28 Wireless adapter 30 Home server 32 Information server 34 Mobile phone 36 Partition wall 38 Antenna 40 Control apparatus 42-50 Door switch 52 Camera part

Claims (5)

A storage room;
A door for opening and closing the storage room;
Door opening and closing detection means for detecting opening and closing of the door;
An antenna for communicating with a wireless tag provided on the food;
In a refrigerator having tag detection means for detecting RFID tag information stored in the RFID tag from the antenna,
The tag detection means detects all the RFID tag information of the RFID tag within the detection range of the antenna when the door open / close detection means detects the door open state and then detects the door closed state. A refrigerator characterized by detecting. Having communication means for transmitting RFID tag information to an external device;
The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the tag detection unit transmits the detected RFID tag information to the external device by the communication unit. The tag detection means includes
The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the detected RFID tag information is stored at least once. The tag detection means includes
The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the writing information is transmitted by writing to the wireless tag of the food. An image photographing means is provided in the storage chamber,
After the door opening / closing detection means detects the door open state, when the door closed state is detected, the image photographing means photographs the inside of the storage chamber, and the photographed image is transmitted via the communication means. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator is transmitted to the external device.

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