Refrigerator and positioning device thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10254377-B2
Application number	US-201715835485-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 8, 2017
Priority date	Jul 5, 2016
Publication date	Apr 9, 2019
Grant date	Apr 9, 2019

Abstract

A refrigerator and a positioning device for a refrigerator are provided. The positioning device includes: a wave absorbing component disposed in the refrigerator and configured to absorb a radio frequency (RF) signal emitted from an RF tag in the refrigerator; a plurality of reading components disposed in the refrigerator and configured to receive an RF signal passing through the wave absorbing component; an intensity detecting module configured to detect an intensity of the RF signal received by each of the plurality of reading components; and a positioning module configured to determine a location of the RF tag according to the intensity of the RF signal received by each of the plurality of reading components.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A positioning device for a refrigerator, comprising:
a wave absorbing component disposed in the refrigerator and configured to absorb a radio frequency RF signal emitted from an RF tag in the refrigerator;
a plurality of reading components disposed in the refrigerator and configured to receive an RF signal passing through the wave absorbing component;
an intensity detecting module configured to detect an intensity of the RF signal received by each of the plurality of reading components; and
a positioning module configured to determine a location of the RF tag according to the intensity of the RF signal received by each of the plurality of reading components.

2. The positioning device according to claim 1 , wherein the wave absorbing component comprises a wave absorbing material attached to an outer side of an inner liner of each compartment in the refrigerator.

3. The positioning device according to claim 1 , wherein the RF tag is configured to radiate the RF signal after receiving a reading signal emitted from at least one of the plurality of reading components.

4. The positioning device according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of reading components comprises an RF antenna.

5. The positioning device according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of reading components comprise a first reading component disposed in a refrigerating compartment of the refrigerator and a second reading component disposed in a freezing compartment of the refrigerator.

6. The positioning device according to claim 5 , wherein the plurality of reading components further comprise a third reading component disposed in a temperature changing compartment of the refrigerator.

7. The positioning device according to claim 1 , wherein the intensity detecting module comprises a plurality of intensity detecting units corresponding to the plurality of reading components, each of the plurality of intensity detecting units comprises:
a differential transforming unit configured to perform a balance-unbalance conversion on the RF signal received by a corresponding reading component to generate a first differential signal and a second differential signal;
a first processing unit configured to process the first differential signal to generate a first intensity value; and
a second processing unit configured to process the second differential signal to generate a second intensity value orthogonal to the first intensity value;
wherein the positioning module is configured to calculate the intensity of the RF signal received by the corresponding reading component according to the first intensity value and the second intensity value.

8. The positioning device according to claim 7 , wherein
the first processing unit comprises a first mixer configured to perform frequency conversion on the first differential signal to convert the first differential signal into a first baseband signal, a first amplifying and filtering element configured to amplify and filter the first baseband signal, and a first analog-to-digital converter configured to perform analog-to-digital conversion on the first baseband signal amplified and filtered to generate the first intensity value; and
the second processing unit comprises a second mixer configured to perform frequency conversion on the second differential signal to convert the second differential signal into a second baseband signal, a second amplifying and filtering element configured to amplify and filter the second baseband signal, and a second analog-to-digital converter configured to perform analog-to-digital conversion on the second baseband signal amplified and filtered to generate the second intensity value.

9. The positioning device according to claim 7 , wherein the positioning module calculates the intensity of the RF signal received by the corresponding reading component according to following formulas:
RFIN _ I′= 20 log 10 ( RSSII )−GAIN_ I

RFIN _ Q′= 20 log 10 ( RSSIQ )−GAIN_ Q

RFIN _ I″= 10 ORFIN _ 1′/20)
RFIN _ Q″= 10 (RFIN _ Q′/20)
RFIN =[( RFIN _ I ″)+( RFIN _ Q ″) 2 ] 1/2

RSSI= 20 log 10 ( RFIN )
where RSSI is the intensity of the RF signal, RSSII is the first intensity value, and RSSIQ is the second intensity value.

10. A refrigerator comprising a positioning device, comprising:
a wave absorbing component disposed in the refrigerator and configured to absorb a radio frequency RF signal emitted from an RF tag in the refrigerator;
a plurality of reading components disposed in the refrigerator and configured to receive an RF signal passing through the wave absorbing component;
an intensity detecting module configured to detect an intensity of the RF signal received by each of the plurality of reading components; and
a positioning module configured to determine a location of the RF tag according to intensity of the RF signal received by each of the plurality of reading components.

Assignees

• Hefei Midea Intelligent Tech Co Ltd
• Hefei Hualing Co Ltd
• Midea Group Co Ltd

Inventors

• Xu Da

Classifications

• G01S2205/01

  specially adapted for specific applications · CPC title

• G06Q10/00

  Administration; Management · CPC title

• G06K7/10009

  sensing by radiation using wavelengths larger than 0.1 mm, e.g. radio-waves or microwaves · CPC title

• G06K7/0008

  General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer · CPC title

• G01S13/74

  Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems · CPC title