Refrigerators having internal content cameras, and methods of operating the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10721382-B2
Application number	US-201816035220-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 13, 2018
Priority date	Aug 5, 2015
Publication date	Jul 21, 2020
Grant date	Jul 21, 2020

Abstract

Example refrigerators having internal content cameras, and methods of operating the same are disclosed. A disclosed example refrigerator includes a cabinet, an internal compartment disposed within the cabinet, a closing member operatively coupled to the cabinet providing selective access to the internal compartment, two cameras disposed in the compartment and positioned to capture images of different portions of the compartment, two light sources disposed in the compartment, and a controller communicatively coupled with the cameras and light sources and configured to control the light sources to provide two different illuminations for respective ones of the two cameras.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator comprising:
a cabinet;
an internal compartment disposed within the cabinet;
a door operatively coupled to the cabinet by a door hinge and providing selective access to the internal compartment;
a camera operatively coupled with the door and adjustable to capture images of different portions of the internal compartment;
light source disposed in the internal compartment and adjustable to different angles to provide different illuminations within the internal compartment; and
a controller disposed in the cabinet and communicatively coupled with the camera and the light source through the door hinge.

2. The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
control the light source to provide a first illumination in the cabinet during capture of a first image; and
control the light source to provide a second illumination different than the first illumination in the cabinet during capture of a second image.

3. The refrigerator of claim 2 , wherein the first and second illuminations differ in color.

4. The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the images are stored at a remote server for retrieval by a remote user device.

5. The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the camera is disposed on one of a wall of the internal compartment, a shelf, and a storage bin.

6. The refrigerator of claim 1 , further comprising:
a pulse-width modulator, wherein the controller controls the pulse-width modulator to control illuminations made by the light source.

7. The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the controller controls the camera to capture the images after a door closure event is detected.

8. A refrigerator comprising:
a cabinet;
an internal compartment disposed within the cabinet;
a door operatively coupled to the cabinet by a door hinge and providing selective access to the internal compartment;
a camera operatively coupled with the door and adjustable between different positions to capture images of different portions of the internal compartment;
a plurality of light sources disposed in the internal compartment and adjustable to provide different illuminations within the internal compartment;
a controller disposed in the cabinet and communicatively coupled with the camera and the light sources through the door hinge, the controller configured to capture the images after a door closure event is detected; and
an appliance control unit disposed in said refrigerator and configured to store the captured images.

9. The refrigerator of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to:
control the plurality of light sources to provide a first illumination in the cabinet during capture of a first image; and
control the plurality of light sources to provide a second illumination different than the first illumination in the cabinet during capture of a second image.

10. The refrigerator of claim 8 , wherein the appliance control unit transmits the images to a remote server for retrieval by a remote user device.

11. The refrigerator of claim 8 , wherein the camera is disposed on one of a wall of the internal compartment, a shelf, and a storage bin.

12. The refrigerator of claim 8 , further comprising:
a pulse-width modulator, wherein the controller controls the pulse-width modulator to control illuminations made by the light source.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Carlotto Victor Henrique Sfoggia
• Moore Michael Todd
• Purandhar Sushanth
• Post Ryan Michael
• Richards Michael S

Classifications

• H04N23/90

  Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums · CPC title

• H04N23/51

  Housings · CPC title

• H04N23/56 Primary

  provided with illuminating means · CPC title

• F25D29/00 Primary

  Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices · CPC title

• G06F16/587

  using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location · CPC title