JP2011058662A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to obtain a refrigerator with improved usability by displaying an operation state in accordance with an actual use state.
A storage room provided in a refrigerator body, a storage room door for opening and closing the opening of the storage room, a door front member provided in front of the storage room door, and a contact or proximity to the door front member An operation switch that senses a change in capacitance, a display unit that displays an input result of the operation switch, an illumination unit that illuminates the display unit, and a light control that adjusts the brightness of the illumination unit Means, and door opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the storage room door, when there is an input from the operation switch and the illumination means is not dimmed, when the storage room door is open The input of the operation switch is invalidated.
[Selection] Figure 2A

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator.

  As a conventional refrigerator, an operation part (for example, a push button) is provided in the front part of the door, and by operating the operation part, various functions such as adjustment of storage room temperature, quick freezing, quick refrigeration, automatic ice making device, etc. Configurations that operate are known. As the operation unit, a mechanical switch such as a micro switch is known.

  Further, in recent home appliances, one using a capacitive touch sensor is known. An example of a refrigerator provided with a touch sensor is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  In the configuration described in Patent Document 1, an input unit having a touch electrode and a counter electrode unit is provided on the front surface of the door. The counter electrode part includes a double-sided printed board corresponding to an insulator and a pair of electrodes. In this configuration, when the user's hand or finger touches the touch electrode, the capacitance between the electrodes changes. This change in capacitance is taken out as a switch on / off signal.

JP 2006-304077 A

  However, Patent Document 1 does not describe how to display the input result from the input unit to the user, and there is a problem that an erroneous operation or unnecessary input occurs.

  Further, in the configuration in which the input unit is provided on the storage room door, there is a problem that an erroneous operation occurs because the user unintentionally touches the input part without intention to operate.

  When an erroneous operation occurs, various controls of the refrigerator are changed without the user's recognition, and there is a problem that the storage of food is affected or the power consumption is increased depending on circumstances.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to obtain a refrigerator with improved usability by displaying an operation status according to an actual usage status.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a storage room provided in a refrigerator body, a storage room door that opens and closes the opening of the storage room, a door front member provided on the front surface of the storage room door, An operation switch that is provided in contact with or close to the door front member and senses a change in capacitance, a display unit that displays an input result of the operation switch, an illumination unit that illuminates the display unit, and the illumination unit A dimming means for adjusting the brightness of the storage door, and a door open / close detection means for detecting the opening / closing of the storage compartment door, and when there is an input from the operation switch and the illumination means is not dimmed, the storage The input of the operation switch is invalidated when the room door is open.

  Further, when there is an input from the operation switch and the illumination unit is dimmed, the dimming is canceled.

  Further, the illumination means is dimmed or turned off when there is no input from the operation switch for a predetermined time.

  Further, the lighting means is turned off or turned off by gradually shortening the lighting time of the illumination means per predetermined period.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a refrigerator with improved usability by displaying the operation status according to the actual usage status.

It is a front view of the refrigerator which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the display part of the refrigerator in one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2B is a detailed view of the display unit of FIG. 2A. It is a control block diagram concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a timing chart which shows the light reduction method of the display part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a timing chart which shows the light reduction method of the display part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a configuration diagram of a display unit of the refrigerator in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2B is a detailed view of the display unit of FIG. 2A. FIG. 3 is a control block diagram according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart according to the embodiment of the present invention. 5A and 5B are timing charts showing a dimming method of the display unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, 4 is a refrigerator main body. The refrigerator main body 4 has a refrigerator compartment 5, a lower freezer compartment 25, a vegetable compartment 26, and the like in order from the top. An upper freezer compartment 24 is provided between the refrigerator compartment 22 and the lower freezer compartment 25, and an ice making chamber 23 is provided next to the upper freezer compartment 24.

  Moreover, the door which opens and closes this front opening is provided in the front opening of each store room. In other words, the left refrigerator door 5a and the right refrigerator door 5b are provided at the front opening of the refrigerator compartment 5, and the upper opening of the upper freezer compartment 24, the lower freezer compartment 25, the ice making compartment 23 and the vegetable compartment 26 are provided at the front openings thereof. An upper freezer compartment door 24a, a lower freezer compartment door 25a, an ice making room door 23a, and a vegetable compartment door 26a are provided.

  The left refrigerator compartment door 22a and the right refrigerator compartment door 22b are rotatably supported by upper hinges 3 (left hinge 3a, right hinge 3b) provided on the upper part of the refrigerator body 4, respectively. That is, it constitutes a French door configured in a left-right opening manner.

  Moreover, the lower freezer compartment door 25a, the upper freezer compartment door 24a, the ice making room door 23a, and the vegetable compartment door 25a are each a drawer-type door and can be pulled out together with the containers of the respective storage rooms.

  And the left refrigerator compartment door 5a, the right refrigerator compartment door 5b, the lower stage freezer compartment door 25a, the upper stage freezer compartment door 24a, the ice making room door 23a, and the vegetable compartment door 26a are provided with the door front member 19 on the outer surface. As the door front member 19, a transparent glass plate 19a is provided.

  Foam insulation (not shown) is filled and foamed between a door front member 19 made of a glass plate 19a and a door rear member (not shown). The plate thickness of the glass plate 19a which is the door front member 19 is 2 mm to 3.5 mm in this embodiment. This plate thickness is a dimension in which the glass plate 19a is not broken or cracked by an impact generated when the refrigerator is assembled, when the refrigerator is transferred, and when the refrigerator is used.

  Further, when further securing the strength or reducing the plate thickness, the glass plate 19a may be subjected to a heat strengthening process, a chemical strengthening process, or the like. The glass plate 19a is an insulator.

  Next, in FIGS. 1 to 2B, 10 is a display unit, and 11 is an operation unit. The operation unit 11 is operated by the user from the outside to set the room temperature of each storage room such as the refrigerating room 5 and the lower freezing room 25, or to rapidly cool the refrigerating room 5 or the upper freezing room 24, The size of ice making in the ice making chamber 23 is set. In addition, the temperature of the storage room (not shown), which is provided in the refrigeration room 5 and maintains the freshness of stored foods and suppresses oxidative degradation, reduces the pressure or reduces the oxygen in the storage space. Or set to turn off the function. That is, various functions of the refrigerator can be set by operating the operation unit 11 by the user.

  Further, the display unit 10 displays the input result from the operation unit 11 on the outside of the refrigerator body 4. Thereby, it is possible to confirm the operation performed by the user with the operation unit 11 or to confirm the states of various functions set in advance.

  The operation unit 11 and the display unit 10 are not provided with a special panel but are provided on the glass plate 19a. That is, the glass plate 19a provided in the left refrigerator compartment door 5a is provided so that it may become a plane over the whole outer surface of the left refrigerator compartment door 5a including the operation part 11 and the display part 10. FIG.

  In other words, the operation unit 11 and the display unit 10 are provided in a planar shape on the door front member 19 which is a glass plate 19a. For this reason, the conventional operation panel is omitted.

  Further, a colored paint is applied to the back surface of the glass plate 19a except for the display unit 10. Thereby, the foamed heat insulating material is processed so as not to be seen from the front side, and the display unit 10 is clearly visually recognized, so that a door having excellent appearance is configured.

  Next, the operation unit 9 and the display unit 10 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B.

  In FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the display of the character part (characters of freezing, refrigeration, ice making, rapid cooling, and vacuum chilling) corresponding to the operation unit 11 is represented by direct printing or the like on the back surface of the glass plate 19a. It is. The operation unit 11 refers to the front surface (the front surface of the glass plate 19a which is the door front member 19) at a position facing the back surface on which the character portion is printed. In addition, as a means for providing an operation display (the character portion) on the back surface of the glass plate 19a, etching, inlay, and the like can be given in addition to printing.

  Further, in FIG. 2B, the display unit 10 indicates the setting state of various functions in accordance with the input by the operation of the operation unit 11 described above. And this character display ("strong (low temperature), medium, weak", "strong (chilled), medium, weak", "large, standard, stop", "quick refrigeration, quick freezing", "vacuum ice temperature, vacuum "Chilled, cut (ice temperature)") is represented on the surface of the sheet 12 by printing or the like.

  The sheet 12 is attached to the back surface of the glass plate 19a, which is the door front member 19, so that there is very little contact or clearance. Therefore, the character display can be clearly confirmed from the front of the left refrigerator compartment door 5a through the glass plate 19a. In other words, the door has an excellent appearance and has a high visibility and an outer surface made of a flat glass plate 19a.

  The operation unit 11 and the display unit 10 are provided side by side as shown in FIG. 2A or 2B. The display unit 10 is configured to display, as a function of the refrigerator body 4, that quick refrigeration or quick freezing is in operation.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, the character display on the display unit 10 is illuminated by an LED 15 (light emitting diode) or the like provided on the substrate unit 13 so that the light is projected up to the front surface of the glass plate 19a and appears to float up. It is configured.

  The substrate unit 13 is provided with an input unit 14 for operating the operation unit 11 and a control unit 16 for controlling the input of the input unit 14 and the output of the LED 15.

  In this embodiment, the input unit 14 uses a capacitive touch sensor that detects a change in capacitance using the copper foil pattern of the printed circuit board of the substrate unit 13 as a touch pad electrode.

  The input unit 14 (touch sensor using a touch pad electrode) of the substrate unit 13 and the operation unit 11 of the seat 12 are disposed so as to overlap in the front-rear direction and in contact with or close to the door front member 19. In other words, the operation unit 11 contacts or approaches the back surface of the door front member 19 when the operation unit 11 is assembled into the left refrigerator door 5a. That is, the glass plate 19a, the sheet 12, and the substrate part 13 which are insulators are provided such that the operation part 11 overlaps the front side and the input part 14 overlaps the back side. With this configuration, when the user operates the operation unit 11 via the glass plate 19a, the capacitance detected by the control unit 16 is changed by the input unit 14 as compared to when it is stable. By detecting this change, it is recognized that a switch operation has been performed.

  In addition, open / close detection means for detecting the open / closed state of each door is provided. That is, the refrigerating room 5 is provided with a refrigerating room door open / close detecting means 5c for detecting opening and closing of the left refrigerating room door 5a and the right refrigerating room door 5b. The ice making chamber 23, the upper freezing chamber 24, and the lower freezing chamber 25 are provided with an ice making door opening / closing detection means 23b, an upper freezing room opening / closing detection means 24b, and a freezing room door opening / closing detection means 25b, respectively, for detecting the opening / closing of the door. It has been.

  Next, further description will be given based on the control block diagram shown in FIG. Reference numeral 11 denotes an operation unit for the user to set the temperature of each storage room. The operation unit 11 includes an input unit 14 including a touch switch.

  Moreover, the display part 10 which illuminates the present driving | running state with several LED, and the light control means 20 which controls the brightness of LED15 of the display part 10 separately are arrange | positioned in the front of the left refrigerator compartment door 5a. Yes.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes a control unit installed in the refrigerator main body. The following is connected to the control unit 16. That is, the display unit 10, the operation unit 11, the light control unit 20, the refrigerator compartment door open / close detector 5c, the ice making door open / close detector 23b, the upper freezer compartment open / close detector 24b, the freezer door open / close detector 25b, and the warehouse A control device 8 such as a compressor or a cooling fan for cooling the inside is connected.

  The control unit 16 turns on / off the compressor and the cooling fan based on the set temperature information of each storage room input by the input unit 14 and set by the operation unit 11 or information on a temperature sensor (not shown). Etc. are controlled.

  Further, the control unit 16 displays information indicating the current control state, and the open / close state of each door obtained by the refrigerator compartment door open / close detection means 5c, the freezer compartment door open / close detection means 25b, and the vegetable compartment door open / close detection means 26b. 10 or invalidate the information input by the input unit 14.

  Next, a control flow is demonstrated based on the flowchart shown in FIG. In step S1, the input of the touch switch of the input unit 14 is determined. If there is no input, the process proceeds to step S6.

  In step S6, it is determined whether or not the state of no input from the input unit 14 to the input unit 14 has continued for a predetermined time. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the LED 15 of the display unit 10 is turned to the light control means 20 in step S7. Fading. On the other hand, if the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process waits for input from the input unit 14 and returns to step S1.

  Next, when there is an input from the input unit 14 in step S1, the control state of the light control means 20 is determined in step S4. If it is dimmed, the dimming is canceled by the dimming means 20 in step S5, and the process returns to step S1 after waiting for input from the input unit 14. On the other hand, if it is not dimmed in step S4, in step S2, each refrigerator door detected by the refrigeration room door open / close detection means 5c, the freezer compartment door open / close detection means 25b, the vegetable room door open / close detection means 26b, etc. The information indicating the open / close state is comprehensively determined. When it is determined that one of the doors is open, the process returns to step S1 to wait for input from the input unit 14, and when it is determined that all the doors are closed, the input from the input unit 14 is determined in step S3. Reflects changes in temperature and functions according to input.

  As described above, when one or more doors are open, the input from the input unit 14 is not reflected in changes in temperature and various functions. Thus, even when the user unintentionally touches the touch switch portion disposed on the door, the control state of the refrigerator does not change immediately. In addition, the switch input for canceling the dimming state of the display unit 10 is not immediately reflected in the change in temperature or function, so that an erroneous operation can be prevented and food storage or the like is not affected.

  Next, a method for dimming the LED 15 by the light control means 20 will be described with reference to FIG. 5A. The apparent brightness of the LED 15 is determined by adjusting the length of the lighting time T2 in the lighting cycle T1. For example, when the lighting cycle T1 = 10 milliseconds and the lighting time T2 = 5 milliseconds, the visual brightness is 50% of the normal lighting state. If the lighting time T2 = 0 milliseconds, the light is turned off.

  As described above, when the state where there is no switch input continues for a time when the user finishes the operation and leaves the refrigerator (for example, 30 seconds), the LED 15 of the display unit 10 is dimmed or turned off to reduce the power consumption or the LED 15. Thus, the lifetime of the display device can be extended.

  Moreover, since the light control means 20 can control several LED15 separately, it is comparatively important, such as LED for failure display which displays the failure state of a refrigerator, LED for quick freezing display which shows that it is quick-frozen, for example With respect to the LED, it can be prevented from dimming. As a result, it is possible to detect a failure at an early stage, or to constantly grasp the operation state of the quick freezing, thereby improving usability.

  Next, when the brightness of the display unit is dimmed or turned off, the display unit can be made to appear darker (fade out) by gradually reducing the lighting time T2. Therefore, a fade-out dimming method will be described with reference to FIG. 5B. As described above, the apparent brightness of the LED 15 is determined by adjusting the length of the lighting time T2 in the lighting cycle T1. Therefore, the lighting time T2 is reduced to the target lighting time every N changing periods, thereby making it appear darker. For example, when the change period N = 2, the first 20 milliseconds (2 periods) is the lighting time T2 = 9 milliseconds (90% brightness), and the next 20 milliseconds (2 periods) is the lighting time T2. The lighting time T2 is decreased by 1 millisecond (10%) every change period (2 periods = 20 milliseconds), such as = 8 milliseconds (80% brightness). Thereafter, when a switch input to the input unit 14 is generated during dimming to return to the brightness before dimming, contrary to the above, the lighting time T2 is set to the target lighting time (100 for every N changing cycles). %) Until it becomes brighter (fade in). In this way, by gradually decreasing the brightness of the display unit or gradually increasing the brightness, the light stimulus can be reduced and the usability can be improved.

  Here, the lighting cycle T1, the lighting time T2, and the change cycle N are adjusted to values that do not flicker according to the characteristics of the device to be displayed.

  By changing the lighting time T2 for each change period N, a smooth change in brightness can be realized with only a timer function mounted on a general microprocessor without having a PWM or DA converter. Yes, cost can be reduced.

  In addition, when a switch input to the input unit 14 is generated during dimming and the brightness is restored to that before dimming, it is also effective to immediately set the lighting time T2 = 10 milliseconds (100% brightness). Thereby, when the user wants to check the current driving state, it can be presented immediately, so that the usability can be improved.

  In the above embodiment, the dimming method by the light control means 20 has been described with respect to the example configured under specific conditions, but is not limited thereto. That is, the display unit 10 may be a combination of a liquid crystal and a backlight instead of the LED 15. Moreover, the light control means 20 may take the means which adjusts a voltage value and an electric current value according to the display device of the display part 10 instead of adjustment of lighting time T2.

  When any of the doors is open as in the present embodiment, the input from the input unit 14 related to the adjustment of temperature and various functions is invalidated. Even when there is no flat surface, it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation due to an unintended contact by a person or an object when the door is open.

  In addition, when there is no input from the input unit 14 for a predetermined time, the brightness of the display unit 10 is dimmed or turned off until there is an input from the input unit 14 of the operation unit 11 again. Reduction and the lifetime of display devices such as LEDs can be extended.

  Further, when the brightness of the display unit 10 is dimmed or turned off, the brightness is changed step by step, and when there is an input from the input unit 14 while the light is dimmed or turned off, the original brightness is immediately restored. Since it has the structure to return, usability can be improved.

4 refrigerator main body 5 refrigerator compartment 5a left refrigerator compartment door 5b right refrigerator compartment door 5c refrigerator compartment door open / close detection means 8 control device 10 display unit 11 operation unit 12 sheet 13 substrate unit 14 input unit 15 LED
16 Control part 19 Door front member 19a Glass plate 20 Dimming means 23 Ice making room 24 Upper freezing room 25 Lower freezing room 25b Freezing room door opening / closing detection means 26 Vegetable room 26b Vegetable room door opening / closing detection means

Claims (4)

A storage room provided in the refrigerator body;
A storage room door for opening and closing the opening of the storage room;
A door front member provided in front of the storage room door;
An operation switch that is provided in contact with or close to the door front member and senses a change in capacitance;
A display unit for displaying an input result of the operation switch;
Illumination means for illuminating the display unit;
Dimming means for adjusting the brightness of the illumination means;
Door opening and closing detection means for detecting opening and closing of the storage chamber door,
When there is an input from the operation switch and the illumination means is not dimmed, the input of the operation switch is invalidated when the storage chamber door is open.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein when there is an input from the operation switch and the illumination unit is dimmed, the dimming is canceled.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein when there is no input from the operation switch for a predetermined time, the illumination unit is dimmed or turned off.   The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the lighting means is dimmed or extinguished by gradually shortening the lighting time of the lighting means per predetermined period.

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