Refrigerator and camera device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11143450-B2
Application number	US-201815974952-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 9, 2018
Priority date	Mar 12, 2013
Publication date	Oct 12, 2021
Grant date	Oct 12, 2021

Abstract

A refrigerator (1) is provided with an image capturing camera 18 (image capturing unit) configured to capture an image of an interior of a storage chamber (such as a refrigeration chamber 3); a communication portion (52) (communication unit) configured to transmit image of the interior of the storage chamber captured by the image capturing camera (18) to an exterior device; wherein the image capturing unit is stored in a recess provided in the interior of the storage chamber.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A refrigerator comprising:
a refrigerator body;
a storage chamber formed in the refrigerator body;
a pair of biparting double doors configured to open and close the refrigerator, wherein the first one of the double doors includes a storing portion and a revolving vertical partition configured to rotate to fill a clearance from the second one of the double doors;
a lighting unit configured to illuminate an interior of the refrigerator;
an image capturing unit configured to capture an image of the interior of the refrigerator, the image capturing unit being provided on the vertical partition on the lateral center of the refrigerator and being configured to change orientation by the rotation of the vertical partition; and
a control portion configured to control the image capturing unit,
wherein when the first one of the doors is closed, the image capturing unit faces the refrigerator so that it is capable of capturing an image of the refrigerator, and when the first one of the doors is opened the image capturing unit faces toward an opposite side of the opened side of the first one of the doors and faces the storing portion of the first one of the doors so that the image capturing unit is capable of capturing an image of the storing portion of the first one of the doors.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of image capturing units and a shelf provided in the interior of the refrigerator are located at different elevations.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein a front portion of the shelf is glossed, and a lighting unit and a shelf provided in the interior of the refrigerator are located at different elevations.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein a gloss is applied to a front portion of a shelf provided in the interior of the refrigerator and an irradiation direction of a lighting unit is not oriented towards the front portion of the shelf.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of image capturing units are oriented downward from an upward direction.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein plural shelves are provided in the interior of the refrigerator and the plurality of image capturing units are located between the shelves.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the image capturing unit captures an image at a timing in which instructions have been received from an external device when the first one of the doors is closed, and without instructions from the external device when the first one of the doors is opened.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the lighting unit is provided at a position where it does not face the image capturing unit when the first one of the doors is closed.

Assignees

• Toshiba Lifestyle Products & Services Corp

Inventors

• Sumihiro Katsushi
• Marutani Yuuki
• Furuta Kazuhiro
• Izawa Hirokazu
• Watanabe Kota
• Kawada Ryo

Classifications

• F25D23/12

  Arrangements of compartments additional to cooling compartments; Combinations of refrigerators with other equipment, e.g. stove · CPC title

• F25D29/003 Primary

  for movable devices · CPC title

• F25D2700/08

  Sensors using Radio Frequency Identification [RFID] · CPC title

• F25D23/04 Primary

  with special compartments, e.g. butter conditioners · CPC title

• F25D29/005

  Mounting of control devices · CPC title