JP2001183043A - Refrigerator system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator system that can easily add and curtail a function, and at the same time can perform preservation and cooking with appropriate conditions. SOLUTION: Each unit that can be separated is combined for composing this refrigerator system. For example, a microwave oven unit 10, a refrigerating unit 12, a control and cold-storage unit 14, a chilled unit 16, and a compressor unit 18 are connected. Each unit has communication and refrigerant interfaces, sends and receives information, and can supply a refrigerant from a common compressor. Data on cooking time required for the microwave oven unit 10 is automatically obtained by the control and cold-storage unit 14 via the Internet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a refrigerator system, and more particularly to a refrigerator comprising a plurality of units.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, refrigerators of various sizes have been manufactured in accordance with the size and use of a room. In addition to refrigerators and freezers, refrigerators having various functions such as a vegetable room and a chilled room are also known.

[0003]

However, user demands are diversifying more and more, and even if a freezing room is considered unnecessary at a certain point in time, a freezing room is required later. At the same time, the functions required of the refrigerator may change. In such a case, the conventional refrigerator cannot flexibly respond to the user's request, and there is a problem that a refrigerator having a necessary function must be purchased separately.

In addition, with the progress of the information society in recent years, the movement of acquiring information by using the Internet at home has been widespread, and not only computers but also home appliances such as refrigerators and microwave ovens have an Internet connection function. Things are also appearing. For example, by providing the microwave oven with an Internet connection function, data necessary for cooking in the microwave oven can be acquired from the Internet, and the optimal cooking time for the ingredients and dishes can be set.

However, it is useless to provide a refrigerator, a microwave oven, or another electric appliance with the Internet connection function redundantly, and it also increases the price of a single product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the related art, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily add or delete a new function in response to various requests of a user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that can centrally manage information required for a refrigerator and its peripheral devices (such as a microwave oven and a toaster) and can greatly improve the usability.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a refrigerator system comprising a plurality of units, a control unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from each unit, and supplying a refrigerant to each unit. And a communication interface for transmitting and receiving data, and a refrigerant interface for receiving a refrigerant.

Here, it is preferable that the control unit automatically recognizes the type of each unit when the respective units are connected.

Preferably, the control unit has communication means for connecting to the Internet, and transmits information obtained from the Internet to at least one of the units.

It is preferable that the compressor unit supplies the refrigerant to each unit based on a command from the control unit.

[0011]

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

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a refrigerator system in the present embodiment. The refrigerator of the present embodiment includes:
It is composed of a plurality of units.
It comprises a microwave unit 10, a refrigeration unit 12, a control and refrigeration unit 14, a chilled unit 16, and a compressor unit 18. Each unit is separable from each other and is connected to each other via an interface provided for each unit. The control and refrigeration unit 14 has a control unit for controlling each unit, and also has a display unit 14a for displaying the connection status and contents of each unit. The display unit 14a can also function as an input unit for the user to input contents at the same time. The control and refrigeration unit 14 will be further described later. The microwave unit 10 has a function of a so-called microwave oven, and cooks by microwave. Information on cooking is supplied from the control and refrigeration unit 14 as appropriate. The refrigeration unit 12 and the chilled unit 16 are units for cooling to a refrigeration temperature and a chilled temperature, respectively, and a refrigerant required for cooling is supplied from a compressor unit 18. The same applies to the refrigeration function of the control and refrigeration unit 14. That is, in the system of FIG. 1, the compressor unit 18 functions as a common compressor of the refrigeration unit 12, the control and refrigeration unit 14, and the chilled unit 16.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of each unit in FIG. Each unit has a communication interface 20 for transmitting and receiving information to and from the control unit of the control and refrigeration unit 14, and a refrigerant interface 22 for receiving refrigerant from the compressor unit 18. The communication interface 20 can be, for example, an interface conforming to IEEE1394, and each unit is electrically connected by connecting the communication interfaces 20 to each other. The control unit 14b of the control and refrigeration unit 14 automatically recognizes which unit is connected via the communication interface, and automatically transmits information necessary for each unit to each unit. If the necessary information does not exist in the memory of the control and refrigeration unit 14, it is connected to the Internet and acquired from a predetermined information site and transmitted.

On the other hand, by connecting the refrigerant interface 22, each unit is mechanically connected to the compressor unit 18 and can receive the refrigerant from the compressor unit 18. The supply of the refrigerant from the compressor unit 18 is executed based on a command from the control and refrigeration unit 14. That is, when the connection of each unit is confirmed, the control unit 14 of the control and refrigeration unit 14
b sends a command to the compressor unit 18 to operate the compressor 18b to supply the refrigerant. It is preferable that the amount of the refrigerant to be supplied is adjusted according to the number and type of the connected units. Of course, a CPU is provided in the compressor unit 18 and the control and refrigeration unit 14
The supply, stop, and supply amount of the refrigerant can be controlled in cooperation with the control unit 14b.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit 14b in the control and refrigeration unit 14. As shown in FIG.
The control unit 14b includes a display unit 14a, a communication unit 14c, a control unit 14d, a memory 14e, an interface 14j, and a power supply unit 14g.

The communication unit 14c is a device for connecting to the Internet, and includes a modem connected to a telephone line,
It is composed of a processing unit for connecting to a digital line. It is also preferable to connect to the Internet wirelessly rather than by wire. The control unit 14d includes a CPU,
The presence or absence of connection of each unit and the type of the connected unit are identified. When necessary, it connects to the Internet via the communication unit 14c, acquires necessary information, stores it in the memory 14e, and transmits it to each unit via the interface 14j.

The operation of the refrigerator system according to this embodiment will be described by taking as an example a case where the microwave oven unit 10 and the refrigeration unit 12 are connected in such a configuration.

When the refrigeration unit 12 is connected, the control and refrigeration unit 14 confirms via the communication interface 20 that the refrigeration unit has been connected. Then, a command is sent to the compressor unit 18, and the refrigerant necessary for refrigeration is supplied to the refrigeration unit 12 using the refrigerant interface 22. When the user inputs the material to be frozen from the display unit 14a, the control unit 14b of the control and refrigerating unit 14 searches the memory 14e for the optimum freezing temperature for the material, and controls the compressor unit 18. If there is no information on the optimal freezing temperature of the input material in the memory 14e, the control unit 1
4d automatically accesses a predetermined site on the Internet via the communication unit 14c, and downloads information on the optimum freezing temperature of the material. Then, the compressor unit 18 is controlled based on the downloaded information, and the temperature of the refrigeration unit 12 is adjusted.

When the microwave oven unit 10 is connected, the control and refrigeration unit 14 confirms via the communication interface 20 that the microwave oven unit has been connected. Then, information on the cooking time of the basic ingredients is transmitted to the microwave unit 10 via the communication interface 20. The microwave oven unit 10 stores the transmitted information in its own memory and automatically sets the cooking time. Alternatively, if the user
When the data of the material to be cooked is input from the display unit 14a, the control unit 14d searches the memory 14e for information on the cooking time of the material (if it does not exist in the memory 14e, it is automatically obtained from the Internet). The obtained information is displayed on the display unit 14a so that the user can easily set the optimum cooking time.

As described above, in this embodiment, the units are freely combined, the information of the units connected to the control and refrigeration unit 14 is centrally managed, and the information necessary for the function of each unit is supplied. If the necessary information does not exist, it is automatically obtained and supplied via the Internet, so that the user can select only necessary functions and add and delete them freely, and the usability of each unit. Can be improved.

In the present embodiment, the control function and the refrigeration function are integrally realized by the control and refrigeration unit 14. However, the control function and the refrigeration function, or the control function and the chilled function may be integrally unitized. It is possible.

In the present embodiment, the control and refrigeration unit 14 and the compressor unit 18 are used as basic units, and the microwave oven unit 10 and the refrigeration unit 12
And the chilled unit 16 are connected, but other connections are of course possible.

FIG. 4 shows another configuration of the present system. In the figure, a vegetable unit 13 and a wine cellar unit 17 are connected in addition to the control and refrigeration unit 14 and the compressor unit 18. It goes without saying that the vegetable unit 13 and the wine cellar unit 17 also have the communication interface 20 and the refrigerant interface 22 like the other units. When the vegetable unit 13 is connected, the control unit 14d controls the compressor unit 18 so as to reach a temperature necessary for refrigeration of the vegetables. Of course, when the user inputs the type of vegetable to be stored from the display unit 14a, information on the optimal temperature corresponding to the type is searched from the memory 14e,
Alternatively, the compressor unit 18 may be obtained from the Internet and controlled. In the case of the wine cellar unit 17, when the user inputs the type of wine to be stored from the display unit 14a, the compressor unit 18 is controlled so that the temperature becomes suitable for storing the wine. When the information necessary for the storage temperature of wine does not exist in the memory 14e, it goes without saying that the control unit 14d accesses a site storing information on wine via the Internet and acquires the necessary information. Which site to access is determined by the R of the control unit 14b.
What is necessary is just to store in OM beforehand.

It is also preferable that a bar code reader or the like for specifying the type of the material to be stored is incorporated in the display unit 14a so as to save the trouble of inputting the material. For example, when storing a certain wine in the wine cellar unit 17, first, the barcode portion attached to the wine bottle is read by the barcode reader of the display unit 14a. Information on the type of wine read by the barcode reader is supplied to the control unit 14d via the communication interface 20. The control unit 14d acquires the optimum temperature for storing the wine from the memory 14e or the Internet, and adjusts the temperature of the wine cellar unit 17. This enables storage under optimal conditions.

In this embodiment, when removing a unit already connected, the control unit 14
It is sufficient that b detects the removal of the unit and stops the supply of the refrigerant via the refrigerant interface 22 or the transmission of the information via the communication interface 20.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, various functions can be added to the control unit in addition to the functions described above.

For example, it is possible to display the weather forecast and perform online shopping by connecting to the Internet, and it is also possible to perform online shopping and advertisement display.

Further, besides the microwave oven unit and the toaster unit, other household appliances such as a digital TV, an air conditioner, a lighting device, a DVD, and a home security system are bidirectionally connected via a communication interface to provide information. Communication and control may be enabled. In this case, the control unit also functions as a home LAN server.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since various functions associated with the refrigerator can be freely added and deleted, and the functions can be efficiently exhibited, it is possible to meet various demands of users.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of each unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a control unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Microwave oven unit, 12 Refrigeration unit, 14
Control and refrigeration unit, 16 chilled unit, 18
Compressor unit.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerator system comprising a plurality of units, comprising: a control unit that sends and receives information to and from each unit; and a compressor unit that supplies a refrigerant to each unit. A refrigerator system comprising: a communication interface for sending and receiving, and a refrigerant interface for receiving a refrigerant. 2. The refrigerator system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit automatically recognizes the type of each unit when each of the units is connected. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit includes a communication unit for connecting to the Internet, and transmits information obtained from the Internet to at least one of the units. And refrigerator system. 4. The refrigerator system according to claim 1, wherein the compressor unit supplies the refrigerant to each of the units based on a command from the control unit.