JP6973666B2 - Refrigerator, refrigerator management system and water supply control method for the ice tray of the refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a refrigerator having an automatic ice making function.

The refrigerator having an automatic ice making function holds a water supply tank for storing water for supplying water to the ice tray. When the water in the water tank is empty, water is not supplied to the ice tray and ice cannot be made. Therefore, a sensor installed near the ice tray detects the presence or absence of water in the water supply tank, and detects the opening / closing operation of the refrigerator door in the water supply standby state when the water supply tank is out of water, and the opening / closing operation is performed. A refrigerator is disclosed in which a water supply operation for supplying water to an ice tray is performed immediately after the ice tray is used (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-77921

In the refrigerator in Patent Document 1, water is supplied to the ice tray every time the refrigerator door is opened and closed. As a result, there is a problem that a useless water supply operation is performed even when water is not actually supplied to the water supply tank.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator in which unnecessary water supply operation to an ice tray is less likely to occur.

The refrigerator in the present invention has an ice-making water tank provided in the ice-making storage room, a cold storage room door opened when replenishing water to the ice-making water storage tank, and ice making in which water is supplied from the ice-making water storage tank. A water supply pump that supplies water from the plate and the ice storage tank to the ice tray, a water supply command unit that commands the water supply pump to supply water to the ice tray, and a door open / close detection unit that detects the opening and closing of the door for the refrigerating storage room. A door opening / closing history storage unit that stores the opening / closing information and opening / closing time of the cold storage room door detected by the door opening / closing detection unit as a door opening / closing history, an ice tray temperature detecting unit that detects the temperature of the ice tray, and an ice making unit. A water supply presence / absence determination unit that determines whether or not water is supplied to the ice tray based on the temperature of the ice tray detected by the plate temperature detection unit, and an ice tray that is detected by the door open / close history and water supply presence / absence determination unit stored in the door open / close history storage unit. A learning unit that creates replenishment judgment information from the judgment result of whether or not water is supplied to the water supply, a replenishment judgment information storage unit that stores the replenishment judgment information created by the learning unit, and a door opening / closing history storage unit that stores the door opening / closing history. History and replenishment judgment information For ice making based on the estimation unit that estimates whether or not water is replenished to the ice-making reservoir based on the replenishment judgment information stored in the storage unit, and the estimation result that the estimation unit estimates whether or not water is replenished. The water supply command unit does not instruct the water supply pump to supply water when the judgment unit determines that the ice making water tank is empty.

Further, in the refrigerator management system of the present invention, water flows from the ice-making water storage tank provided in the ice-making storage room, the ice-making storage room door opened when water is replenished to the ice-making water storage tank, and the ice-making water storage tank. Detects the opening and closing of the ice tray to be supplied, the water supply pump that supplies the water in the ice tray to the ice tray, the water supply command unit that instructs the water pump to supply water to the ice tray, and the door for the cold storage room. The door open / close detection unit, the door open / close history storage unit that stores the open / close information and opening / closing time of the cold storage room door detected by the door open / close detection unit as the door open / close history, and the ice tray temperature detection that detects the temperature of the ice tray. A refrigerator having a unit and a water supply presence / absence determination unit that determines whether or not water is supplied to the ice tray based on the temperature of the ice tray detected by the ice tray temperature detection unit, and a refrigerator management server connected to the ice tray via a network. The refrigerator management server has a learning unit that receives from the refrigerator the history of opening and closing the door and the result of determining whether or not water is supplied to the ice tray detected by the water supply determination unit, and creates replenishment determination information. Is based on the replenishment judgment information storage unit that stores the replenishment judgment information transmitted from the refrigerator management server, and the replenishment judgment information stored in the door opening / closing history and replenishment judgment information storage unit stored in the door opening / closing history storage unit. An estimation unit that estimates whether or not the ice-making water tank is replenished with water, and a judgment unit that determines whether or not the ice-making water tank is empty based on the estimation result of whether or not the ice-making water tank is replenished. If the judgment unit determines that the ice storage tank is empty, the water supply command unit does not command the water supply pump to supply water.
Further, the water supply control method for the ice tray of the refrigerator in the present invention is a door open / close detection unit that detects the opening / closing of the door for the ice storage chamber, which is opened when water is replenished to the ice storage tank provided in the ice storage chamber. A step to store the opening / closing information and opening / closing time of the cold storage room door detected by the ice tray in the storage unit as a door opening / closing history, and an ice tray temperature detector that detects the temperature of the ice tray to which water is supplied from the ice tray. Creates and stores replenishment judgment information from the step of determining whether or not water is supplied to the ice tray based on the temperature of the ice tray detected by the ice tray, the door opening / closing history stored in the storage unit, and the result of determining whether or not water is supplied to the ice tray. a step of storing the parts, and estimating the presence or absence of a supply of water to the ice for water tank by the door opening and closing history及beauty accessory supply determination information stored in the storage unit, the estimation result of the presence or absence of supply of water The step to determine if the ice-making reservoir is empty, and if it is determined that the ice-making reservoir is not empty, the water supply to the ice tray is ordered and the ice-making reservoir is determined to be empty. If so, it comprises a step that does not direct the water supply to the ice tray.

In the refrigerator of the present invention, the estimation unit replenishes water to the ice-making water tank by the door opening / closing history stored in the door opening / closing history storage unit and the replenishment determination information stored in the replenishment determination information storage unit. Estimate if it was done. Based on the estimation result of the estimation unit, the judgment unit determines whether or not the ice-making water tank is empty. Therefore, it is difficult to perform unnecessary water supply operation to the ice tray.

It is a front view and AA sectional view of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an enlarged sectional view around the automatic ice making apparatus of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the control panel of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the ice making control part of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation at the time of learning of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation at the time of estimation of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the ice making control part of the refrigerator of another embodiment which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the notification part of another embodiment which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a hardware block diagram of the ice making control part of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a front view and CC sectional view of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the control panel of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the ice making control part of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation at the time of estimation of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a front view and the DD sectional view of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is an overall block diagram of the refrigerator management system which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the control panel of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the refrigerator management server which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this Embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of the ice making control part of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation at the time of learning of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention.

Embodiment 1
Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9. FIG. 1 is a front view and a sectional view taken along the line AA of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1A is a front view of the refrigerator 100. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1A of the refrigerator 100. FIG. 1 (c) is a front view of the operation panel 111 provided on the front of the refrigerator 100.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), the refrigerator 100 includes a refrigerating room 1 having a refrigerating room door 61. The refrigerator 100 includes an ice making room 2 having an ice making room door 62 and a switching room (not shown) having a switching room door 63 under the refrigerating room 1. The refrigerator 100 includes a freezing room 4 having a freezing room door 64 under the ice making room 2 and the switching room (not shown). The refrigerator 100 includes a vegetable compartment 5 having a vegetable compartment door 65 under the freezing chamber 4.

The refrigerating room 1 is a storage room having a space for storing storage such as food. The temperature in the refrigerating chamber 1 is maintained in the refrigerating temperature range of + 3 ° C to + 10 ° C. The ice making chamber 2 is a storage chamber for storing ice that has been made. The ice making chamber 2 is maintained in a freezing temperature zone of, for example, −17 ° C. or lower. The switching chamber 3 is a storage chamber capable of switching the indoor temperature to a plurality of stages such as a freezing temperature zone and a refrigerating temperature zone. The freezing chamber 4 is a storage chamber in which the temperature inside the freezing chamber 4 is controlled in the freezing temperature zone. Therefore, the freezing room 4 can store the stored material for a long period of time. The vegetable room 5 is a space for storing vegetables and the like. The vegetable compartment 5 is kept in a refrigerated temperature range of, for example, + 3 ° C to + 10 ° C.

Hereinafter, when the storage rooms such as the refrigerating room 1 and the ice making room 2 are not distinguished, they are simply referred to as storage rooms. When the storage room doors such as the refrigerating room door 61 and the ice making room door 62 are not distinguished, they are simply described as storage room doors. Further, the storage chamber provided in the region of the refrigerated temperature zone shall be described as a refrigerated storage chamber, and the storage chamber provided in the region of the freezing temperature zone shall be described as a freezing storage chamber. In addition, the door for the refrigerated storage room shall be described as the door for the refrigerated storage room, and the door for the freezing storage room shall be described as the door for the freezing storage room.

As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the refrigerator 100 has an operation panel 111 shown in FIG. 1 (c) in front of the refrigerator door 61. As shown in FIG. 1 (c), the operation panel 111 includes an operation button 112 and an output unit 113. The operation button 112 is an operation button that accepts input operations related to temperature control and various settings of each storage chamber. The output unit 113 displays and outputs information such as the temperature of each room. In the present embodiment, the operation panel 111 is provided in the refrigerating room door 61, but may be provided in any storage room door.

As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment has a box-shaped heat insulating box body 110. The inside of the refrigerator 100 is divided into a plurality of storage chambers by the heat insulating box body 110. The refrigerator 100 is prevented from invading the heat of the outside air into the storage chamber by the heat insulating box body 110 and the storage chamber door arranged in front of each storage chamber. As a result, the inside of the refrigerator 100 can be maintained in a low temperature state. As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the heat insulating box 110 forms a plurality of storage chambers, an outlet air passage 15, a return air passage 16, and a cooling chamber 12. The blowout air passage 15 and the return air passage 16 are circulation paths for circulating air. The cooling chamber 12 houses various devices such as a cooler 9, a blower 10, and a defrost heater 11.

The cooler 9 is, for example, a fin tube heat exchanger in which fins having a thin metal plate are joined to a refrigerant pipe. By joining the refrigerant pipe and the fin, for example, by expanding the pipe, the contact thermal resistance between the refrigerant pipe and the fin is reduced. As a result, the fin efficiency is improved and the amount of heat exchange is improved.

The blower 10 sends the cold air cooled around the cooler 9 to each storage chamber via the blowout air passage 15. As a result, the temperature in each storage chamber is maintained at a low temperature. The blower 10 returns the air sent into each storage chamber to the cooler 9 via the return air passage 16. In this way, the air in the refrigerator 100 circulates in the circulation path formed in the heat insulating box 110 by the blower 10 and each storage chamber.

As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the defrost heater 11 is arranged below the cooler 9. The defrosting heater 11 has a glass tube heater or a carbon heater. The defrost heater 11 heats the cooler 9 to melt ice such as frost adhering to the surface.

As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the refrigerating room door 61 covers the opening on the front surface of the refrigerating room 1 so as to be openable and closable. The refrigerating room door 61 is a double door type in which the opening on the front surface of the refrigerating room 1 is covered with two doors. The double-door type refrigerating room door 61 has features such as a smaller space when opened than a single door, and the ability to suppress the leakage of cold air by opening only one of the doors. When the width of the refrigerating chamber 1 is relatively small, for example, 60 cm or less, the refrigerating chamber door 61 may be a single door. Further, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the inside of the refrigerating room 1 is partitioned by a partition shelf 71, which enhances the storability in the refrigerating room 1.

As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the control panel 14 is housed in the upper part of the back surface of the refrigerator 100. The control panel 14 controls the electric parts used in the refrigerator 100. The control panel 14 is configured by mounting a control circuit, a storage device, and various electric components on a substrate.

Each storage room is provided with a storage room temperature sensor 50, which is a storage room temperature detecting unit that detects the temperature in each storage room. The storage room temperature sensor 50 includes a refrigerating room temperature sensor 51, an ice making room temperature sensor 52, a switching room temperature sensor (not shown), a freezing room temperature sensor 54, and a vegetable room temperature sensor 55. A refrigerating room temperature sensor 51 is provided in the refrigerating room 1. The ice making chamber 2 is provided with an ice making chamber temperature sensor 52. A switching chamber temperature sensor (not shown) is provided in the switching chamber 3. A freezing room temperature sensor 54 is provided in the freezing room 4. The vegetable room 5 is provided with a vegetable room temperature sensor 55. The control panel 14 adjusts the temperature of each storage room based on the temperatures detected by the refrigerating room temperature sensor 51, the ice making room temperature sensor 52, the switching room temperature sensor (not shown), the freezing room temperature sensor 54, and the vegetable room temperature sensor 55. Etc. are controlled.

The door of each storage room is provided with an open / close sensor 90 for the storage room door, which is a door open / close detection unit for detecting the opening / closing of the door. The storage room door open / close sensor 90 includes a refrigerating room door open / close sensor 91, an ice making room door open / close sensor 92, a switching room door open / close sensor (not shown), a freezer room door open / close sensor 94, and vegetables. An open / close sensor 95 for a room door is included. The refrigerating room door 61 is provided with an opening / closing sensor 91 for the refrigerating room door. Inside the ice making chamber door 62, an opening / closing sensor 92 for the ice making chamber door is provided. A switching chamber door opening / closing sensor (not shown) is provided in the switching chamber door 63. The freezing room door 64 is provided with an open / close sensor 94 for the freezing room door. The vegetable room door 65 is provided with an open / close sensor 95 for the vegetable room door.

Further, the configuration of the ice making chamber 2 and its vicinity will be described in more detail. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the periphery of the automatic ice making device of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion B of the refrigerator 100 according to FIG. 1B, which is surrounded by a broken line. An ice-making water tank 20 is provided in a region of the refrigerating temperature zone of the refrigerator 100, for example, in the refrigerating chamber 1. When replenishing the ice making water tank 20 with water, the refrigerating room door 61 is opened and the ice making water tank 20 is taken out from the refrigerating room 1. The ice-making water tank 20 does not have to be provided in the refrigerating room 1. The ice-making water tank 20 may be provided in a refrigerated storage chamber in another refrigerating temperature zone, for example, a vegetable compartment 5. In that case, the door for the refrigerating storage room corresponding to the refrigerating storage room can be opened, the ice-making water storage tank 20 can be taken out from the refrigerating storage room, and water can be replenished to the ice-making water storage tank 20. Further, the ice-making water tank 20 does not have to be removable from the refrigerated storage chamber. In that case, water may be drawn into another container, and water may be replenished from the other container to the ice making water tank 20. In the present embodiment, the ice-making water tank 20 is described as being removable from the refrigerated storage chamber.

An automatic ice making device 21 is provided in a region of the freezing temperature zone, for example, in the ice making chamber 2. The automatic ice making device 21 automatically makes ice using the water stored in the ice making water tank 20. The automatic ice making device 21 has an ice making dish 24, an ice making gearbox 25, and an ice storage detection lever 26.

The ice tray 24 is a container for making a plurality of (for example, 10) ice blocks by freezing the supplied water. The water supply pump 22 supplies the water in the ice making water tank 20 to the ice making tray 24 of the automatic ice making device 21 via the water supply pipe 23. A pipe heater 27 is provided in the water supply pipe 23 to prevent the water supply pipe 23 from freezing.

The ice storage case 28 is a container for storing ice made in the ice tray 24. The ice storage case 28 is provided at the bottom of the ice tray 24. The ice storage case 28 can be pulled out from the ice making chamber 2 with the ice making chamber door 62 open. The ice-making gearbox 25 rotates and moves the ice-making tray 24 upside down, and twists the ice-making tray 24 to perform an ice-removing operation of dropping the ice made in the ice-making tray 24 onto the ice storage case 28.

The ice storage detection lever 26 is for detecting whether or not the amount of ice storage in the ice storage case 28 is a predetermined amount or more. The refrigerator 100 is configured so that the ice making gearbox 25 does not enter the ice removal operation when the ice storage detection lever 26 comes into contact with the ice in the ice storage case 28 and does not fall below a predetermined position. As a result, the refrigerator 100 prevents the ice making chamber 2 from overflowing with ice. The pipe heater 27 prevents the water supply pipe 23 from freezing, and melts the ice adhering to the water supply pipe 23 when the water supply pipe 23 freezes when the pipe heater 27 is turned off.

In the vicinity of the ice tray 24, an ice tray temperature sensor 29, which is an ice tray temperature detecting unit for detecting the temperature of the ice tray 24, is provided.

FIG. 3 is an internal configuration diagram of a control panel of a refrigerator according to the present embodiment. The control panel 14 includes an ice making control unit 80. The internal configuration and function of the ice making control unit 80 will be described later.

FIG. 4 is a functional configuration diagram of the ice making control unit of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the ice making control unit 80 includes a water supply command unit 811, a water supply presence / absence determination unit 812, a door opening / closing history input unit 813, a door opening / closing history storage unit 814, a learning unit 815, a supply judgment information storage unit 816, and an estimation unit. It includes 817, a determination unit 818, and a notification command unit 821. The determination unit 818 includes a water supply frequency counting unit 819 and a water supply frequency comparison unit 820.

The water supply command unit 811 has two modes, a water supply mode and a water supply stop mode. In the water supply mode, for example, when the ice storage detection lever 26 detects that the ice storage case 28 is not full after the ice making gearbox 25 has dropped ice, the water supply command unit 811 issues a water supply command to the water supply pump 22. The water supply pump 22 performs a water supply operation when it receives a water supply command from the water supply command unit 811.

The water supply command unit 811 does not give a command to the water supply pump 22 to supply water from the ice making water tank 20 to the ice making tray 24 in the water supply stop mode. That is, the water supply pump 22 does not perform the water supply operation.

The water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray 24 based on the temperature change of the ice tray 24 detected by the ice tray temperature sensor 29. When the water supply pump 22 actually pumps water to supply water from the ice-making water tank 20 to the ice-making dish 24, when water is actually supplied to the ice-making dish 24, the temperature of the supplied water determines the water of the ice-making dish 24. The temperature rises. As a result, the ice tray temperature sensor 29 detects an increase in the temperature of the ice tray 24. In that case, the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that the ice tray 24 is actually supplied with water.

On the other hand, when the water supply pump 22 pumps water to supply water from the ice making water tank 20 to the ice making tray 24, the ice making water tank 20 is empty and the water is not actually supplied to the ice making tray 24. If so, the temperature of the ice tray 24 does not change. As a result, the ice tray temperature sensor 29 does not detect an increase in the temperature of the ice tray 24. In that case, the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that water has not been supplied to the ice tray 24.

The door opening / closing history input unit 813 stores each door opening / closing history detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90 in the door opening / closing history storage unit 814. The opening / closing history is, for example, opening / closing information (whether or not opening / closing) and opening / closing time of each storage room door.

The learning unit 815 has a function of performing machine learning. Supervised learning can be used in machine learning. Supervised learning is a method of accumulating and learning a data set with a correct label attached to the learning data. Specifically, in supervised learning, a plurality of data sets are accumulated, the characteristics of the plurality of data sets are analyzed, and the functional relationship y = f (x) that best matches the characteristics of the plurality of data sets is obtained. Is to ask. By this function relation y = f (x), the estimated result y can be given to the input unknown data x. As a machine learning method, for example, there are algorithms such as the k-nearest neighbor method and the support vector machine.

In the refrigerator 100, the learning data in the supervised learning corresponds to the opening / closing information and the opening / closing time of the storage room door detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90, and the correct answer label corresponds to the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray 24. .. The opening / closing information and opening / closing time of each storage room door detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90 are used as learning data, and the determination result of whether or not water is supplied to the ice tray 24 determined by the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 is used as the correct label. .. The learning unit 815 stores the replenishment determination information for determining whether or not water is replenished to the ice making water tank 20 in the replenishment determination information storage unit 816 based on the data set with the correct answer label attached to the learning data.

The supply judgment information differs depending on each machine learning method. In the case of the k-nearest neighbor method, the replenishment determination information storage unit 816 supplies water to the ice tray 24 determined by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90, the opening / closing information of each storage room door, the opening / closing time, and the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812. It suffices to memorize the judgment result of the presence or absence of. That is, the replenishment determination information storage unit 816 may store the opening / closing information and the opening / closing time of the door of each storage room, which is determined to have been replenished with water to the ice making water tank 20, as replenishment determination information. Further, in the case of the support vector machine, from the opening / closing information of each storage room door detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90, the opening / closing time, and the judgment result of the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray 24 determined by the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812. , Create a function called a margin classifier that determines whether or not water is replenished to the ice-making water tank 20, and open / close information, opening / closing time, and water supply of each storage room door detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90. Along with the determination result of the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray 24 determined by the presence / absence determination unit 812, the supply determination information storage unit 816 stores the result. The replenishment judgment information may be necessary information based on each machine learning method.

The estimation unit 817 estimates whether or not water is replenished to the ice-making water tank 20 based on the door opening / closing history stored in the door opening / closing history storage unit 814 and the replenishment determination information stored in the replenishment judgment information storage unit 816. do. As the estimation method, an estimation method based on the above-mentioned k-nearest neighbor method and a machine learning method such as a support vector machine is used.

For example, the estimation unit 817 estimates whether or not water is supplied to the ice-making water tank 20 by opening another storage room door such as the vegetable room door 65, for example, taking out cooking materials such as eggs or cooking. It can be categorized as taking out tappers that store food. Generally, the ice-making water tank 20 is often provided in either the left or right corner of the refrigerating chamber 1. In the case of the double door for the cold storage room 61, the water for the ice making water tank 20 is replenished by opening the cold storage room door 61 on the side where the ice making water tank 20 is located and taking out the ice making water storage tank 20. After that, water is replenished to the ice making water tank 20 from a tap or the like. After that, the door 61 for the refrigerating room on the side where the ice-making water tank 20 is located is opened again.

Comparing the opening time and number of times of the refrigerating room door 61 when replenishing water to the ice making water storage tank 20 with the opening / closing operation of other refrigerating room doors 7, for example, the eggs are refrigerated only once to be taken out. The door 7 does not open and close, and the refrigerator door 7 needs to be opened on both the left and right sides in order to take out the tapper.

The determination unit 818 determines whether or not the ice making water tank 20 is empty by estimating whether or not water is supplied to the ice making water tank 20 by the estimation unit 817. The water supply frequency counting unit 819 in the determination unit 818 counts the number of times water is supplied by the water supply command unit 811.

The water supply frequency comparison unit 820 in the determination unit 818 compares whether the number of water supply counts counted by the water supply frequency counting unit 819 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of times. Here, the predetermined number of times is, for example, the number of times that the ice-making water tank 20 can supply water when the water is full. That is, the predetermined number of times is the number of times obtained from the capacity of the ice making water tank 20. For example, the predetermined number of times can be obtained by dividing the capacity of the ice tray 24 from the capacity of the ice making water tank 20.

When the water supply frequency comparison unit 820 determines that the number of water supply counts counted by the water supply frequency counting unit 819 has reached a predetermined number, the ice making water storage tank 20 can be considered to be empty. When the water supply frequency comparison unit 820 determines that the number of water supply counts counted by the water supply frequency counting unit 819 has not reached the predetermined number of times, it can be considered that the ice making water tank 20 still contains water.

The notification command unit 821 causes the output unit 113 to output the processing status of the ice making control unit 80. The notification command unit 821 has a first airwater notification command unit 8211 and a learning space-time water notification command unit 8212. When the determination unit 818 determines that the ice making water tank 20 is empty, the first empty water notification command unit 8211 causes the output unit 113 to output that the ice making water tank 20 is empty. When the learning space-time water notification command unit 8212 determines that the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 has not supplied water to the ice tray 24 when the learning unit 815 creates the replenishment determination information, the ice making water tank 20 is empty. The fact is output to the output unit 113.

Next, the operation of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment, that is, the water supply control method to the ice tray of the refrigerator will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment during learning. The learning time is a period in which, for example, from the first operation of the refrigerator to a predetermined period, it is learned whether or not water has been supplied to the ice making water tank 20 according to the door opening / closing information and the opening / closing time. .. The period of study may be arbitrary. The learning period may be automatically started or ended, or the learning period may be started or ended by the operation of the user.

First, the water supply command unit 811 enters the water supply mode. When the water supply command unit 811 commands the water supply pump 22 to supply water to the ice tray 24, the water supply pump 22 tries to supply water to the ice tray 24 (S101). After that, the process proceeds to S102. The timing at which the water supply command unit 811 commands the water supply pump 22 to supply water to the ice tray 24 may be arbitrary. For example, the water supply command unit 811 may command the water supply pump 22 to supply water after the ice making gearbox 25 performs the ice making operation to the ice tray 24.

Next, the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines whether or not water has actually been supplied to the ice tray 24 based on the temperature change of the ice tray temperature sensor 29 (S102). When the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that the ice tray 24 is actually supplied with water (N of S102), the process returns to the process of S101. When the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that water has not actually been supplied to the ice tray 24 (it was empty water supply) (Y in S102), the process proceeds to S103.

Next, the first airwater notification command unit 8211 outputs to the output unit 113 that the ice-making water tank 20 is airwater (S103). After that, the process proceeds to S104.

Next, in the water supply command unit 811, the water supply command unit 811 is in the water supply stop mode (S104). After that, the process proceeds to S105.

Next, the storage room door open / close sensor 90 monitors whether or not the storage room door is detected to be open / closed (S105). If the storage room door open / close sensor 90 does not detect that the storage room door has opened (N in S105), the process of S105 is repeated. When the storage room door open / close sensor 90 detects that the storage room door has opened (Y in S105), the process proceeds to S106.

Next, the water supply command unit 811 commands the water supply pump 22 to supply water to the ice tray 24. As a result, the water supply pump 22 tries to supply water to the ice tray 24 (S106). After that, the process proceeds to S107.

Next, the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines whether or not water has actually been supplied to the ice tray 24 based on the temperature change of the ice tray temperature sensor 29 (S107).

When the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that water is actually supplied to the ice tray 24 (N in S107), the learning unit 815 detects opening / closing information and opening / closing of each storage room door detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90. The time is used as learning data, the correct answer label is used as water supply data, and the learning data and the correct answer label are stored in association with each other (S108). After that, the process returns to S101.

When the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that water has not actually been supplied to the ice tray 24 (Y in S107), the learning unit 815 provides information on opening / closing the door of each storage room detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90. The learning data and the correct answer label are stored with the opening / closing time as the learning data and the correct answer label as the data without water supply (S109). After that, the process returns to S105.

By executing the process of the flowchart of FIG. 5, until the learning period by the learning unit 815 is completed, the opening / closing information of the refrigerating storage room door and the learning data of the presence / absence of water supply according to the opening / closing time are accumulated. For example, when the supervised learning method of the learning unit 815 is the k-nearest neighbor method, the learning data itself of the opening / closing information of the refrigerating storage room door and the presence / absence of water supply according to the opening / closing time can be used as the direct supply judgment information data. .. For example, when the supervised learning method of the learning unit 815 is a support vector machine, a pattern classifier is configured from the learning data of the opening / closing information of the cold storage room door and the presence / absence of water supply according to the opening / closing time, and the pattern identification is performed. The vessel can be used as replenishment judgment information data. The pattern classifier configured by the learning unit 815 stores the replenishment determination information storage unit 816.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment during the estimated operation. First, the water supply count counting unit 819 initializes the counting water count (S201). After that, the process proceeds to S202.

Next, the water supply frequency counting unit 819 waits until water is supplied by the water supply command unit 811 (N in S202), and when water is supplied by the water supply command unit 811 (Y in S202), proceeds to the process of S203. ..

Next, the water supply frequency counting unit 819 counts up the counting water supply frequency (S203). After that, the process proceeds to S204.

Next, the estimation unit 817 supplies water to the ice-making water tank 20 based on the door opening / closing history stored in the door opening / closing history storage unit 814 and the supply determination information stored in the supply determination information storage unit 816. Is estimated (S204). When the estimation unit 817 determines that the water tank 20 for ice making has been replenished (Y in S204), the process returns to the process of S201 and the number of times of ice making counted by the water supply count counting unit 819 is initialized. .. When the estimation unit 817 determines that the water tank 20 for ice making has not been replenished with water (N in S204), the process proceeds to S205.

Next, the water supply frequency comparison unit 820 compares whether or not the water supply frequency counted by the water supply frequency counting unit 819 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (S205). When the water supply frequency comparison unit 820 determines that the water supply frequency counted by the water supply frequency counting unit 819 is equal to or more than a predetermined number obtained from the capacity of the ice making water tank 20 (Y in S205), the determination unit 818. Determines that the ice-making water tank 20 is empty water, and proceeds to the treatment of S206. Then, the first empty water notification command unit 8211 outputs to the output unit that the ice making water tank 20 is empty water (S206).

On the other hand, when the water supply frequency comparison unit 820 determines that the water supply frequency counted by the water supply frequency counting unit 819 is not more than the predetermined number of times obtained from the capacity of the ice making water tank 20 (Y in S205), S202 Returning to the process, the water supply frequency counting unit 819 waits until the water supply command unit 811 issues a water supply command.

After being notified in S206 that the ice-making water tank 20 is empty, the estimation unit 817 has the door open / close history stored in the door open / close history storage unit 814 and the replenishment determination information, as in the process of S204. The process of S201 may be automatically returned by estimating whether or not water has been replenished to the ice-making water tank 20 based on the replenishment determination information stored in the storage unit. Further, it is possible to actually replenish the ice making water tank 20 with water, manually initialize the ice making count by operating the operation button 112, and then return to the process of S202.

Next, the effect of the invention in this embodiment will be described.

In the refrigerator in the preceding document 1, the water supply pump operates to supply water when the door of the refrigerating room is opened. That is, the refrigerator in the prior document 1 is regarded as having water replenished to the water supply tank simply by opening the door of the refrigerating room. As a result, even if the water supply tank is not replenished with water, the water supply pump performs a useless water supply operation.

On the other hand, in the refrigerator 100 of the present invention, the estimation unit 817 uses the door opening / closing history stored in the door opening / closing history storage unit 814 and the replenishment determination information stored in the replenishment determination information storage unit to make the ice-making water tank 20. Estimate if water has been replenished to. Based on the estimation result of the estimation unit 817, the determination unit 818 determines whether or not the ice making water tank 20 is empty. Therefore, when the refrigerating room door 61 is opened and the ice making water tank 20 is not replenished with water, it is difficult for the water supply pump 22 to uselessly supply water to the ice tray 24. That is, it has the effect of reducing the waste of energy due to wasteful water supply.

Further, the refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment does not directly detect that the ice-making water tank 20 is empty by using a dedicated sensor. Both the ice tray temperature sensor 29 and the storage room door open / close sensor 90 are general parts mounted on a normal refrigerator. The processing of the ice making control unit 80 mounted on the control panel 14 can be realized by software mounted on hardware on which, for example, a memory and a CPU are mounted, as described later. That is, the refrigerator 100 in the present embodiment has a further effect that it can be realized at a lower cost than the refrigerator using the dedicated sensor as described above.

The ice making control unit 80 in the present embodiment does not necessarily require the learning unit 815. FIG. 7 is a functional configuration diagram of an ice making control unit of a refrigerator of another embodiment according to the present embodiment. The ice making control unit 801 of FIG. 7 does not have a learning unit 815 with respect to the ice making control unit 80. In that case, the supply determination information storage unit 816 may store the supply determination information in advance. The replenishment determination information may be typical replenishment determination information when an average user, which has been constructed by some method (for example, a desk calculation) in the past, supplies water to the ice making water tank 20. Even in that case, the same effect as described above can be obtained that the waste of energy due to the wasteful water supply can be reduced.

However, as shown in FIG. 4, by providing the learning unit 815 in the ice making control unit 80, the refrigerator 100 can be used for the usage status of the refrigerator 100 of the individual user (for example, the door for the storage room when water is supplied to the ice making water tank 20). You can learn personal habits when opening the door). That is, the learning unit 815 can construct replenishment determination information suitable for the individual user who actually uses the refrigerator 100. As a result, the estimation unit 817 can more accurately estimate whether or not the water supply tank 20 for ice making has been replenished according to the individual user, so that the ice tray 24 can be more accurately estimated by the water supply pump 22. It has the further effect of preventing unnecessary water supply.

Further, the ice making control unit 80 in the present embodiment can obtain the above-mentioned effect that the waste of energy due to unnecessary water supply can be reduced even without the notification command unit 821. However, by providing the notification command unit 821, the user of the refrigerator 100 can know that the ice-making water tank 20 is empty, which is a further effect.

Further, the notification command unit 821 may include a second airwater notification unit 8213. FIG. 8 is a functional configuration diagram of a notification unit of another embodiment according to the present embodiment.

The ice making control unit 80 in the present embodiment determines whether or not the ice making water tank 20 is empty by the estimation unit 817 and the determination unit 818. As a result, depending on the estimation result of the estimation unit 817, although the ice making water tank 20 is actually empty, the judgment unit 818 may make an erroneous judgment that the ice making water tank 20 is not empty. Eh. As a result, wasteful water supply to the ice tray 24 by the water supply pump 22 is performed. When such useless water supply is performed, the second empty water notification command unit 8213 may notify the output unit 113 that the ice making water storage tank 20 is empty. That is, when the determination unit 818 determines that the ice making water tank 20 is not empty and the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that there is no water supply to the ice tray 24, the second empty water notification command unit 8213 determines. The output unit 113 may be notified that there is no water in the ice making water tank 20. As a result, the user of the refrigerator 100 can more accurately know that the ice-making water tank 20 is empty, which is a further effect.

Further, after the wasteful water supply is performed as described above, the learning unit 815 is made to learn the opening / closing information and the opening / closing time of the storage door when the user actually supplies water to the ice making water tank 20. , The supply determination information stored in the supply determination information storage unit 816 may be updated. That is, when the determination unit 818 determines that the ice storage tank 20 is not empty and the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that there is no water supply to the ice tray 24, the learning unit 815 determines that the refrigerating storage room door is not available. Even if the replenishment judgment information is created based on the door opening / closing history and the judgment result of the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray 24 judged by the water supply judgment information storage unit 812, the replenishment judgment information is stored in the replenishment judgment information storage unit 816. good. As a result, the estimation unit 817 can more accurately estimate whether or not the water supply tank 20 for ice making has been replenished, so that wasteful water supply to the ice tray 24 by the water supply pump 22 can be prevented with higher accuracy. It has the further effect of being able to do it.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the notification command unit 821 may include a water supply frequency notification unit 8214. The water supply frequency notification command unit 8214 may notify the output unit of information based on the number of water supply counts counted by the water supply frequency counting unit 819. For example, the remaining number of times the ice can be made in the ice tray 24 can be calculated from the number of times of water supply counted by the water supply count counting unit 819. The water supply frequency notification command unit 8214 may notify the output unit of the number of times the ice can be made. As a result, it is possible to prevent the ice-making water tank 20 from becoming empty in advance, which is a further effect.

Further, the determination unit 818 includes a water supply frequency counting unit 819 and a water supply frequency comparison unit 820, and the estimation unit 817 estimates the water supply to the ice making water tank 20 and the water supply pump 22 supplies water to the ice tray 24. It is determined whether or not the ice-making water tank 20 is empty. However, it is not necessary for the judgment by the water supply frequency counting unit 819 and the water supply frequency comparison unit 820.

For example, consider a case where wasteful water supply to the ice tray 24 by the water supply pump 22 is performed. In that case, the determination unit 818 determines that the ice-making water tank 20 is empty until it is estimated that the ice-making water tank 20 has been replenished with water by the estimation unit 817. After that, when it is estimated by the estimation unit 817 that the ice making water tank 20 has been replenished with water, the determination unit 818 may determine that the ice making water tank 20 is not empty. Even in that case, the wasteful water supply to the ice tray 24 by the water supply pump 22 is reduced.

Each part indicated by reference numeral 811-821 in the present embodiment shows the function which the ice making control unit 80 and the ice making control unit 801 of the refrigerator have. FIG. 9 is a hardware configuration diagram of the ice making control unit according to the present embodiment. The ice making control unit 80 and the ice making control unit 801 include a processing circuit including, for example, a processor 1001 and a memory 1002 as hardware resources. The functions of the door opening / closing history storage unit 814 and the supply determination information storage unit 816 are realized by the memory 1002. The ice making control unit 80 and the ice making control unit 801 execute the water supply control to the ice tray of the refrigerator stored in the memory 1002 by the processor 1001, so that the water supply command unit 811, the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812, and the door open / close history input unit The functions shown in 813, the learning unit 815, the estimation unit 817, the judgment unit 818, and the notification command unit 821 are realized. Alternatively, the program stored in the external storage medium is installed in the memory 1002 mounted on the computer, and the program is executed by the processor 1001 to realize the above functions in the memory 1002 and the processor 1001.

The processor 1001 is also referred to as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a central processing unit, a processing unit, an arithmetic unit, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, or a DSP. As the memory 1002, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a mini disk, or a DVD may be adopted. The semiconductor memory that can be adopted includes RAM, ROM, flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM, and the like.

Some or all of the functions of the ice making control unit 80 and the ice making control unit 801 may be realized by hardware. As the hardware that realizes the functions of the ice making control unit 80 and the ice making control unit 801 may adopt a single circuit, a decoding circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof. ..

Embodiment 2
Hereinafter, the configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 13. FIG. 10 is a front view and a sectional view taken along the line CC of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. FIG. 10A is a front view of the refrigerator 101. FIG. 10B is a sectional view taken along the line CC according to FIG. 10A of the refrigerator 101. As shown in FIG. 10B, the refrigerator 101 differs from the refrigerator 100 of the first embodiment in that it has a control panel 142 instead of the control panel 14. Other points are the same as the refrigerator 100 of the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 11 is a functional configuration diagram of the control panel of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, the control panel 142 differs from the control panel 14 of the first embodiment in that it has an ice making control unit 802 instead of the ice making control unit 80. Other points are the same as those of the control panel 14 of the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 12 is a functional configuration diagram of the ice making control unit of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, the ice making control unit 802 further includes a storage room temperature history input unit 823 and a storage room temperature history storage unit 824 with respect to the ice making control unit 80 in the first embodiment. Further, the ice making control unit 80 in the first embodiment is provided with a learning unit 825 instead of the learning unit 815, a supply judgment information storage unit 826 instead of the supply judgment information storage unit 816, and a replacement unit 817. It differs in that it is provided with an estimation unit 827. The other points are the same as those of the ice making control unit 80 of the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The storage room temperature history input unit 823 stores the temperature history of each storage room detected by the storage room temperature sensor 50 in the storage room temperature history storage unit 824. The temperature history is, for example, the temperature in each storage and the time indicating the temperature.

In addition to the opening / closing information and opening / closing time of the refrigerating storage room door detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90, and the determination result of the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray 24 determined by the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812, the learning unit 825 , The replenishment judgment information storage unit is created by creating replenishment judgment information for determining whether or not water is replenished to the ice making water storage tank 20 based on the temperature information created from the temperature in the refrigerating storage room detected by the storage room temperature sensor 50. Store in 826. Here, the temperature information is the temperature change when the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that the ice tray 24 has been supplied with water, or when the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that the ice tray 24 has not been supplied with water. Show that. Specifically, for example, it shows the temperature change before and after opening and closing the door for the refrigerating storage room. The data indicating the temperature change may be, for example, the temperature and the time indicating the temperature, or the difference in temperature before and after opening and closing the door for the refrigerating storage room.

The estimation unit 827 is stored in the storage room temperature history storage unit 824 in addition to the door open / close history stored in the door open / close history storage unit 814 and the replenishment determination information stored in the replenishment determination information storage unit 826. It is estimated whether or not water is replenished to the ice-making water tank 20 based on the temperature history of each storage room. As the estimation method, the estimation method based on the k-nearest neighbor method and the machine learning method such as the support vector machine is used as in the first embodiment.

Next, FIG. 13 describes the operation of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment, that is, the method of controlling the water supply to the ice tray of the refrigerator. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment during learning. The flowchart of FIG. 13 is substantially the same as the flowchart of FIG. 5 of the first embodiment. The processing having the same reference numerals as the flowchart of FIG. 13 and the flowchart of FIG. 5 of the first embodiment is the same processing, and thus description thereof will be omitted. Only the difference between the flowchart of FIG. 13 and the flowchart of FIG. 5 of the first embodiment will be described.

When the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that water is actually supplied to the ice tray 24 (N in S107), the learning unit 825 detects opening / closing information and opening / closing information of each storage room door detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90. The temperature information created from the time and the temperature of each storage tank detected by the storage room temperature sensor 50 is used as learning data, the correct answer label is used as water supply data, and the learning data and the correct answer label are stored in association with each other (S118). After that, the process returns to S101.

When the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that water has not actually been supplied to the ice tray 24 (Y in S107), the learning unit 825 has information on opening / closing the door of each storage room detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90. The temperature information created from the opening / closing time and the temperature of each storage tank detected by the storage room temperature sensor 50 is used as learning data, and the correct answer label is used as waterless data, and the learning data and the correct answer label are stored in association with each other (S119). After that, the process returns to S105.

Next, the effect of the invention in this embodiment will be described.

The refrigerator 101 of the present embodiment also has the same effect as the refrigerator 100 of the first embodiment. In addition, in the refrigerator 101 of the present embodiment, in addition to the door opening / closing history stored in the door opening / closing history storage unit 814 and the replenishment judgment information stored in the replenishment judgment information storage unit 826, the storage room temperature. The presence or absence of water supply to the ice making water storage tank 20 is estimated from the temperature history of each storage room stored in the history storage unit 824. That is, the estimation unit 827 can use the temperature change in the storage chamber after the ice making water tank 20 is inserted into the storage chamber to estimate the presence or absence of water supply to the ice making water tank 20. As a result, since the estimation unit 827 can more accurately estimate whether or not the water supply tank 20 for ice making has been replenished, the ice tray 24 by the water supply pump 22 has higher accuracy than the refrigerator 100 of the first embodiment. It has the further effect of preventing unnecessary water supply to the refrigerator.

The ice making control unit 802 in the present embodiment does not necessarily need the learning unit 825 as in the learning unit 815 of the first embodiment. In that case, the supply determination information storage unit 826 may store the supply determination information in advance. The replenishment determination information may be typical replenishment determination information when an average user, which has been constructed by some method (for example, a desk calculation) in the past, supplies water to the ice making water tank 20. Even in that case, the same effect as described above can be obtained that the waste of energy due to the wasteful water supply can be reduced.

However, as shown in FIG. 11, by providing the learning unit 825 in the ice making control unit 802, the refrigerator 100 can be used with the usage status of the refrigerator 101 of the individual user (for example, the door for the storage room when water is supplied to the ice making water tank 20). You can learn personal habits when opening the door). That is, the learning unit 825 can construct replenishment determination information suitable for the individual user who actually uses the refrigerator 101. As a result, the estimation unit 827 can more accurately estimate whether or not the water supply tank 20 for ice making has been replenished according to the individual user, so that the water supply pump can be more accurately estimated as in the first embodiment. It has a further effect of preventing unnecessary water supply to the ice tray 24 by 22.

Each part indicated by reference numerals 811-814, 818-821, and 823-827 in the present embodiment also shows the function of the ice-making control unit 802 of the refrigerator, similarly to the ice-making control unit 80 of the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the ice making control unit 802 includes a processing circuit including, for example, a processor 1001 and a memory 1002 as hardware resources. The functions of the door opening / closing history storage unit 814, the storage room temperature history storage unit 824, and the replenishment determination information storage unit 826 are realized by the memory 1002. The ice making control unit 802 executes the water supply control to the ice tray of the refrigerator stored in the memory 1002 by the processor 1001, so that the water supply command unit 811, the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812, the door opening / closing history input unit 813, and the storage room temperature are executed. The functions shown in the history input unit 823, the learning unit 825, the estimation unit 827, the judgment unit 818, and the notification command unit 821 are realized. Alternatively, the program stored in the external storage medium is installed in the memory 1002 mounted on the computer, and the program is executed by the processor 1001 to realize the above functions in the memory 1002 and the processor 1001.

The processor 1001 is also referred to as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a central processing unit, a processing unit, an arithmetic unit, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, or a DSP. As the memory 1002, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a mini disk, or a DVD may be adopted. The semiconductor memory that can be adopted includes RAM, ROM, flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM, and the like.

A part or all of each function of the ice making control unit 802 may be realized by hardware. As the hardware that realizes the function of the ice making control unit 802, a single circuit, a decoding circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof may be adopted.

Embodiment 3
In this embodiment, a refrigerator management system for connecting a plurality of refrigerators to a server via a network will be described. Hereinafter, the configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 19. FIG. 14 is a front view and a DD sectional view of the refrigerator used in the refrigerator management system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 14A is a front view of the refrigerator 102. 14 (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. 14 (a) of the refrigerator 102. As shown in FIG. 14B, the refrigerator 102 differs from the refrigerator 100 of the first embodiment in that it has a control panel 143 instead of the control panel 14. Other points are the same as the refrigerator 100 of the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 15 is a schematic configuration diagram of a refrigerator management system according to the present embodiment. The refrigerator management system 400 has a plurality of refrigerators 102, a network line 200, and a refrigerator management server 300. The refrigerator 102 is installed in, for example, a house of each household. The refrigerator management server 300 is installed in, for example, a refrigerator management center. The refrigerator 102 is connected to the refrigerator management server 300 via the network line 200. The network line 200 may be either wireless or wired. For example, it may be a public line or a private LAN line. The refrigerator management server-300 collects information in each refrigerator 102 installed in each house (for example, temperature setting information of each storage room, opening / closing history of doors, etc.), and processes the information into calculations and the like. , The processed information can be transmitted to each refrigerator 102.

FIG. 16 is a functional configuration diagram of the control panel of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 16, the control panel 143 is different from the control panel 14 of the first embodiment in that the communication control unit 201 is further provided and the ice making control unit 803 is provided instead of the ice making control unit 80. Other points are the same as those of the control panel 14 of the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The communication control unit 201 transmits / receives data between the ice making control unit 803 and the refrigerator management server 300 via the network line 200.

FIG. 17 is a functional configuration diagram of the refrigerator management server according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 17, the refrigerator management server 300 has a communication control unit 301, a learning unit 335, and a supply determination information storage unit 336.

The communication control unit 301 receives the opening / closing information of the door of each storage room, the opening / closing time, and the determination result of the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray 24 transmitted by each refrigerator 102 connected to the network line 200, and receives the determination result to the learning unit 335. Send. Similar to the learning unit 815 of the first embodiment, the learning unit 335 is replenished based on the opening / closing information of the door of each storage room received by the communication control unit 201, the opening / closing time, and the determination result of the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray 24. Judgment information is created and stored in the supply judgment information storage unit 336. Then, the communication control unit 301 transmits the determination information stored in the supply determination information storage unit 336 to each refrigerator 102.

FIG. 18 is a functional configuration diagram of the ice making control unit of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 18, the ice making control unit 803 does not include the learning unit 815 with respect to the ice making control unit 80 in the first embodiment. Further, the ice making control unit 80 in the first embodiment is different from the ice making control unit 80 in that the supply determination information storage unit 836 is provided instead of the supply determination information storage unit 816. The other points are the same as those of the ice making control unit 80 of the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The communication control unit 201 determines the opening / closing information of each storage room door detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90, the opening / closing time, and the determination result of the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray 24 determined by the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812. It is transmitted to the refrigerator management server 300 via 200. Further, the communication control unit 201 receives the replenishment determination information transmitted by the communication control unit 301 of the refrigerator management server 300 provided in the refrigerator management server, and stores the replenishment determination information in the replenishment determination information storage unit 836.

Next, FIG. 19 describes the operation of the refrigerator management system according to the present embodiment, that is, the water supply control method for the ice tray of the refrigerator in the refrigerator management system. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the operation of the refrigerator management system according to the present embodiment during learning. The flowchart of FIG. 19 is substantially the same as the flowchart of FIG. 5 of the first embodiment. The processing having the same reference numerals as the flowchart of FIG. 19 and the flowchart of FIG. 5 of the first embodiment is the same processing, and thus description thereof will be omitted. Only the difference between the flowchart of FIG. 19 and the flowchart of FIG. 5 of the first embodiment will be described.

When the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that the ice tray 24 is actually supplied with water (N in S107), the learning unit 335 receives information on opening / closing the door of each storage room detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90. The opening / closing time and the determination result that water has been supplied to the ice tray 24 determined by the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 are transmitted. After that, the process returns to S101.

When the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 determines that the ice tray 24 is actually supplied with water (Y in S107), the learning unit 335 receives information on opening / closing the door of each storage room detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90. The opening / closing time and the determination result that water has not been supplied to the ice tray 24 determined by the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 are transmitted. After that, the process returns to S101. After that, the process returns to S105.

The learning unit 335 of the refrigerator management server 300 supplies water to the ice tray 24 determined by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90, the opening / closing information, the opening / closing time, and the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812, which are detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensor 90. Learning is repeated every time the judgment result of presence / absence is received.

Next, the effect of the invention in this embodiment will be described.

The refrigerator management system 400 of the present embodiment also has the same effect as the refrigerator 100 of the first embodiment. In addition, the refrigerator 102 in the present embodiment has a learning unit 335 and a supply determination information storage unit 336. As a result, the opening / closing information of each storage room door detected by the storage room door opening / closing sensors 90 of the plurality of refrigerators 102, the opening / closing time, and the determination result of the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray 24 determined by the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812 are obtained. Since it can be centralized in the refrigerator management server 300 and made to learn by the learning unit 335, it is possible to further achieve the further effect that wasteful water supply to the ice tray 24 by the water supply pump 22 can be prevented with higher accuracy.

Further, the refrigerator 102 in the present embodiment has a learning unit 335 and a supply determination information storage unit 336. As a result, since the processing of the learning unit 815 having a high load in the first embodiment can be performed by the refrigerator management server 300 having a high processing capacity, the processing load of the ice making control unit 803 can be reduced, which is a further effect.

Each part indicated by reference numerals 811-814, 817 to 821, and 836 of the present embodiment also shows the function of the ice making control unit 803 of the refrigerator, similarly to the ice making control unit 80 of the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the ice making control unit 803 includes a processing circuit including, for example, a processor 1001 and a memory 1002 as hardware resources. The functions of the door open / close history storage unit 814 and the supply determination information storage unit 836 are realized by the memory 1002. The ice making control unit executes the water supply control to the ice tray of the refrigerator stored in the memory 1002 by the processor 1001, so that the water supply command unit 811, the water supply presence / absence determination unit 812, the door open / close history input unit 813, the estimation unit 817, The functions shown in the determination unit 818 and the notification command unit 821 are realized. Alternatively, the program stored in the external storage medium is installed in the memory 1002 mounted on the computer, and the program is executed by the processor 1001 to realize the above functions in the memory 1002 and the processor 1001.

The processor 1001 is also referred to as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a central processing unit, a processing unit, an arithmetic unit, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, or a DSP. As the memory 1002, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a mini disk, or a DVD may be adopted. The semiconductor memory that can be adopted includes RAM, ROM, flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM, and the like.

A part or all of each function of the ice making control unit 803 may be realized by hardware. As the hardware that realizes the function of the ice making control unit 803, a single circuit, a decoding circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof may be adopted.

The present invention is not limited to the first to third embodiments. It is possible to change or omit a part thereof within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

1 refrigerating room, 2 ice making room, 4 freezing room, 5 vegetable room,
9 cooler, 10 blower, 11 defrost heater, 12 cooling chamber,
14, 142, 143 control panel,
15 Outlet air passage, 16 Return air passage,
20 water tank for ice making, 21 automatic ice making device, 22 water pump, 23 water pipe,
24 ice tray, 25 ice gearbox, 26 ice storage detection lever, 27 pipe heater, 28 ice storage case, 29 ice tray temperature sensor,
50 storage room temperature sensor, 51 refrigerating room temperature sensor, 52 ice making room temperature sensor,
53 Switching room temperature sensor, 54 Freezing room temperature sensor, 55 Vegetable room temperature sensor,
61 Refrigerator door, 62 Ice making room door, 63 Switching room door,
64 Freezing room door, 65 Vegetable room door, 71 Partition shelf,
80, 801, 802, 803 Ice making control unit,
90 Open / close sensor for storage room door, 91 Open / close sensor for refrigerating room door, 92 Open / close sensor for ice making room door,
94 Open / close sensor for freezer door, 95 Open / close sensor for vegetable room door,
100, 101, 102 refrigerator,
110 Insulated box body,
111 operation panel, 112 operation button, 113 output unit,
200 network lines, 300 refrigerator management servers, 400 refrigerator management systems,
201, 301 communication control unit,
811 Water supply command unit, 812 Water supply presence / absence judgment unit,
813 Door open / close history input section,
814 Door open / close history storage unit,
815, 825, 335 Learning Department,
816, 826, 836, 336 Replenishment judgment information storage unit,
817, 827 estimation part,
818 Judgment unit, 819 water supply frequency counting unit, 820 water supply frequency comparison unit,
821 Notification command unit,
8211 1st air / water notification command unit, 8212 learning space / water notification command unit,
8213 Second airwater notification command unit, 8214 Water supply frequency notification command unit,
823 Storage room temperature history input unit,
824 Storage room temperature history storage unit,
1001 processor, 1002 memory.

Claims (9)

An ice-making water tank installed in the refrigerated storage room,
The door for the refrigerating storage room that can be opened when replenishing water to the ice-making water tank,
An ice tray to which water is supplied from the ice-making water tank, and
A water supply pump that supplies water in the ice-making water tank to the ice-making dish,
A water supply command unit that commands the water supply pump to supply water to the ice tray, and
A door open / close detection unit that detects the opening / closing of the refrigerating storage room door,
A door opening / closing history storage unit that stores the opening / closing information and opening / closing time of the refrigerated storage room door detected by the door opening / closing detection unit as a door opening / closing history.
The ice tray temperature detector that detects the temperature of the ice tray,
A water supply presence / absence determination unit that determines whether or not water is supplied to the ice tray based on the temperature of the ice tray detected by the ice tray temperature detection unit.
A learning unit that creates replenishment determination information from the door opening / closing history stored in the door opening / closing history storage unit and the determination result of the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray detected by the water supply presence / absence determination unit.
A replenishment judgment information storage unit that stores the replenishment judgment information created by the learning unit, and a replenishment judgment information storage unit.
An estimation unit that estimates whether or not water is replenished to the ice-making water tank based on the door opening / closing history stored in the door opening / closing history storage unit and the replenishment determination information stored in the replenishment determination information storage unit. ,
A determination unit for determining whether or not the ice-making water tank is empty based on the estimation result of the presence or absence of water supply estimated by the estimation unit is provided.
The water supply command unit is a refrigerator that does not instruct the water supply pump to supply water when the determination unit determines that the ice-making water tank is empty. When the determination unit determines that the ice storage tank is not empty and the water supply presence / absence determination unit determines that there is no water supply to the ice tray, the learning unit determines that the refrigerating storage chamber door is not empty. claim creates the replenishment determination information based on the door opening and closing history and the water supply existence determining section determines a result of the presence or absence of water supply to the determination by said ice tray, and stores the replenishment determination information to the replenishment determination information storage section 1 The refrigerator described in. A storage room temperature detecting unit provided in the refrigerated storage room and detecting the temperature in the refrigerated storage room,
A storage room temperature history storage unit that stores the temperature of the refrigerated storage room detected by the storage room temperature detection unit and the time of the temperature as a temperature history is provided.
The learning unit creates temperature information in the refrigerated storage chamber where it is determined that water has been replenished from the temperature in the refrigerated storage chamber to the ice-making water storage tank, and the temperature information is used as further replenishment determination information. Stored in the judgment information storage unit
The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the estimation unit estimates whether or not water is replenished to the ice-making water tank based on the temperature history stored in the storage room temperature history storage unit. The judgment unit
When the water supply command unit commands the water supply pump to supply water, the number of times water is supplied is counted, and when the estimation unit estimates that water has been supplied to the ice making water tank, the number of times water is supplied is initialized. Water supply frequency counting unit and
When the number of times counted by the water supply count counting unit reaches a predetermined number of times determined from the capacity of the ice-making water tank, the water supply count comparison unit determines that there is no water in the ice-making water tank.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising the above. The invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the determination unit includes a first empty water notification command unit for notifying the output unit that the water in the ice-making water tank is determined to be empty. refrigerator. When the determination unit determines that the ice-making water tank is not empty and the water supply presence / absence determination unit determines that there is no water supply to the ice tray, water is added to the ice-making water tank. the refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3 comprising a second air-water notification command unit for notifying to the output section that there is no. The refrigerator according to claim 4 , further comprising a water supply frequency notification command unit that notifies an output unit of information based on the number of times counted by the water supply frequency counting unit. An ice-making water tank provided in the ice-making storage room, a door for the ice-making storage room opened when replenishing water to the ice-making water storage tank, an ice tray to which water is supplied from the ice-making water storage tank, and the above. A water supply pump that supplies water in the ice tray to the ice tray, a water supply command unit that commands the water pump to supply water to the ice tray, and a door open / close detection that detects the opening / closing of the cold storage chamber door. A door opening / closing history storage unit that stores the opening / closing information and opening / closing time of the refrigerating storage room door detected by the door opening / closing detection unit as a door opening / closing history, and an ice tray temperature detection that detects the temperature of the ice tray. A refrigerator having a unit and a water supply presence / absence determination unit for determining the presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray based on the temperature of the ice tray detected by the ice tray temperature detection unit.
A refrigerator management server connected to the refrigerator via a network is provided .
Before SL refrigerator management server includes a learning unit for creating the door opening and closing history and auxiliary supply determination information by receiving the result of determination of the presence or absence of water from the refrigerator to the water supply state determining unit said ice tray has been detected ,
The refrigerators may include a supply determination information storage section for storing the supply determination information transmitted from the refrigerator management server, to the door opening and closing history and the replenishment determination information storage unit stored in the door opening and closing history storage unit The ice-making water tank has an estimation unit that estimates whether or not water is replenished to the ice-making water tank based on the stored replenishment determination information, and the ice-making water storage tank that estimates the presence or absence of water replenishment estimated by the estimation unit. It also has a judgment unit to judge whether it is empty or not,
The water supply command unit is a refrigerator management system that does not instruct the water supply pump to supply water when the determination unit determines that the ice making water tank is empty. The opening / closing information and opening / closing time of the cold storage room door detected by the door open / close detection unit that detects the opening / closing of the cold storage room door that is opened when water is replenished to the ice storage tank provided in the cold storage room. And the step to store in the storage unit as the door opening / closing history,
A step of determining whether or not water is supplied to the ice tray based on the temperature of the ice tray detected by the ice tray temperature detector that detects the temperature of the ice tray to which water is supplied from the ice tray.
A step of creating replenishment determination information from the door opening / closing history stored in the storage unit and the determination result of presence / absence of water supply to the ice tray, and storing it in the storage unit.
Estimating the presence or absence of a supply of water to the ice making for water tank by the door opening-closing history and the replenishment determination information stored in the storage unit,
A step of determining whether or not the ice-making water tank is empty based on the estimation result of the presence or absence of water supply, and
If the ice for water tank is determined not to be empty, the water supply to the ice tray and command, when said ice-making for reservoir is determined to be empty, a step that does not command the water supply to the ice tray ,
How to control the water supply to the ice tray of the refrigerator equipped with.

Images