Refrigerator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10684069-B2
Application number	US-201916453495-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 26, 2019
Priority date	Mar 27, 2013
Publication date	Jun 16, 2020
Grant date	Jun 16, 2020

Abstract

A refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator may include a main body having a storage compartment, a first door rotatably installed at a first side of the main body to open and close a first portion of the storage compartment, and a second door rotatably installed at a second side of the main body to open and close a second portion of the storage compartment. A first camera may be installed at the first door to take a picture of an interior of the first storage compartment during rotation of the first door, and a second camera may be installed at the second door to take a picture of the interior of the first storage compartment during rotation of the second door. A controller may combine plural pictures taken by the first camera and the second camera into a single corrected image of a region of the first compartment spanning from the first door to the second door.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator, comprising:
a main body having a storage compartment;
a door rotatably coupled to an end portion of the main body, the door having baskets to store food and to be arranged on an inner surface of the door;
a plurality of cameras provided at the baskets and configured to take at least one picture, the cameras arranged in only a row;
a light source provided on the storage compartment;
a door opening/closing sensor; and
a controller configured to actuate the light source and to control the cameras to take the pictures of the storage compartment when the door opening/closing sensor detects that the door closes the storage compartment,
wherein the cameras are located on a middle portion of the storage compartment in a width direction, and
wherein the cameras take photos simultaneously.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the cameras have one of cameras arranged on a upper portion and the other of cameras arranged on a lower portion.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the cameras takes photos when the light source is operated.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the controller combines a plurality of pictures taken by the cameras simultaneously.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a decorative portion provided on the door,
wherein the camera is arranged to the decorative portion.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 5 , wherein the decorative portion is formed of an opaque material, and the decorative portion has a transparent window at the middle portion of the decorative portion.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a storage device configured to store the pictures taken by the cameras; and
a communication device configured to transmit the pictures stored in the storage device to an external device.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 7 , wherein the storage device stores the picture combined by the controller.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 7 , wherein the communication device transmits the last pictures taken by the cameras to the external device.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 7 , wherein the communication device transmits the pictures when the controller receives a user's request signal.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 7 , wherein the external device includes a terminal having a display that displays the picture.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 11 , wherein the terminal is connected to the refrigerator through a network.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the storage compartment includes a refrigerating compartment, and wherein the door opens and closes the refrigerating compartment.

14. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of racks is provided in the storage compartment.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Ryu Inhwan
• Cha Minjoo
• Yang Hyein

Classifications

• H04N23/51

  Housings · CPC title

• H04N23/64

  Computer-aided capture of images, e.g. transfer from script file into camera, check of taken image quality, advice or proposal for image composition or decision on when to take image · CPC title

• F25D23/02 Primary

  Doors; Covers (F25D23/08 takes precedence {locks or fastenings E05B65/0042}) · CPC title

• F25D29/00 Primary

  Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices · CPC title

• G06T11/60

  Creating or editing images; Combining images with text · CPC title