Refrigerator and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10670328-B2
Application number	US-201615002109-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 20, 2016
Priority date	Jan 20, 2015
Publication date	Jun 2, 2020
Grant date	Jun 2, 2020

Abstract

A refrigerator having a cabinet with a storage compartment for storing food therein, a sensor mounted in the cabinet to sense information of an interior of the refrigerator, a first converting unit for converting the information sensed by the sensor into data to be transmitted through a light source, a light source for emitting light so as to flicker according to the data of the first converting unit, a camera for successively capturing an image of the light source, and a second converting unit for converting information related to flickering of the light source captured by the camera into data related to the sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a refrigerator including
a cabinet having a storage compartment,
a door configured to open and close the storage compartment,
a sensor provided in the cabinet to measure information related to an internal state of the refrigerator,
a light source configured to emit light to the storage compartment when the door is in a closed position,
a camera configured to successively capture images of the light source in the storage compartment,
wherein the sensor is configured to transmit the sensed information corresponding to the internal state of the storage compartment,
wherein a first converting unit is configured to convert the sensed information into a digital signal that is to be transmitted through the light source and cause the light source to flicker thereby creating a flicker signal,
wherein a second converting unit is configured to convert the flicker signal of the light source into the digital signal corresponding thereto,
wherein an operation of the refrigerator is controlled based on the digital signal corresponding to the sensed information that is converted by the second converting unit,
wherein the camera and the light source are electrically and physically separate from each other,
the method comprising:
determining whether the storage compartment is closed by the door;
upon determining that the storage compartment is closed by the door,
obtaining the sensed information related to the internal state of the refrigerator,
driving the light source to repeatedly turn on and off according to the digital signal based on the sensed information;
successively capturing images of the flickering light source using the camera;
comparing the images successively captured by the camera to obtain the digital signal;
converting the digital signal into the sensed information; and
controlling an operation of the refrigerator based on the sensor information converted from the sensed information.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
upon determining that the door is closed, converting the first information into the digital signal using the first converting unit.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first information is transmitted to the first converting unit through wires, and the light source connected to the first converting unit via wires is driven to flicker corresponding to the first information converted by the first converting unit.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image captured by the camera is transmitted to the second converting unit through wires, the second converting unit being different than the first converting unit.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
upon determining that the door has been closed for a predetermined time, converting the first information sensed by the sensor into the flicker signal to be transmitted through the light source using the first converting unit.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
upon determining that the door is not closed, driving the light source to provide light to an interior of the storage compartment.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein whether the door is closed is sensed by a door switch sensor.

8. A method for controlling a refrigerator including
a cabinet having a storage compartment,
a door configured to open and close the storage compartment,
a sensor provided in the cabinet to measure and transmit information related to an internal state of the refrigerator, the information being a temperature or humidity level of the inside of the refrigerator,
a light source to emit light to the storage compartment when the door is in a closed position, the light source comprising a plurality of LEDs so that the intensity of illumination of the light source and flickering of the light source are adjustable by selectively turning each of the LEDs on and off, and
a camera to successively capture images of the light source in the storage compartment,
wherein the camera and the light source are electrically and physically separate from each other,
the method comprising:
determining, by a door sensor, whether the storage compartment is closed by the door;
upon determining that the storage compartment is closed by the door,
obtaining the sensed information, from the sensor, related to the internal state of the refrigerator;
converting the sensed information into a digital signal corresponding to the sensed information when the sensed information exceeds a predetermined range;
transmitting the digital signal through the light source;
driving the light source to flicker according to the digital signal, whereby the time interval of the flickering varies according to the sensed information;
successively capturing images of the flickering light source using the camera;
comparing the images successively captured by the camera in temporal order to obtain the sensed information from the intensity of illumination of the light source and flickering of the light source; and
controlling an operation of the refrigerator based on the sensed information obtained from the image comparisons.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Park Kunkook
• Lee Joongkeun
• Kim Choye

Classifications

• F25D29/003

  for movable devices · CPC title

• F25D27/005 Primary

  combined with control means · CPC title

• F25D29/005 Primary

  Mounting of control devices · CPC title