Refrigerator providing local cooling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016370107-A1
Application number	US-201514837963-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 27, 2015
Priority date	Jun 16, 2015
Publication date	Dec 22, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A refrigerator capable of detecting a stored item having a higher-than-ambient temperature and accordingly directing a cool airflow thereto for rapid cooling. The refrigerator includes a thermal image capturing unit for sensing a temperature of the item, a position sensing unit for locating the item in the storage space. A control unit can control a temperature and/or a direction of the cool air discharged from a cool air discharge unit via a fan unit based on the sensed temperature and position of the item.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A refrigerator comprising:
a thermal image capturing unit configured to sense a temperature of an item placed in a storage space of the refrigerator; a position sensing unit configured to sense a position of the item in the refrigerator; a cool air discharge unit for discharging cool air; and a control unit configured to control a direction of discharged cool air based on the sensed temperature and the sensed position of the item.

2 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 further comprising:
a door coupled to a main frame of the refrigerator; and
a refrigerating cycle device for supplying cool air to the storage space.

3 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the thermal image capturing unit is disposed on a top surface defining the storage space.

4 . The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein the thermal image capturing unit is disposed proximate to the door.

5 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the thermal image capturing unit comprises a lens assembly with a wide angle of view.

6 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 further comprising:
at least one partition for dividing the storage space into a plurality of chambers,
wherein the position sensing unit is configured to: identify a chamber containing the item; and send identification of the chamber to the control unit.

7 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the position sensing unit is configured to sense a lateral position and a vertical position of the item.

8 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 further comprising:
a cooling fan unit coupled to the control unit and configured to: provide a circulation force for the discharged cool air; and adjust a direction of the circulation force in response to a control signal from the control unit,
wherein the control unit is configured to control a temperature or a direction of the cool airflow based on the sensed temperature and the sensed position of the item.

9 . A method for controlling a refrigerator, the method comprising:
sensing a temperature of an item stored in a storage chamber of the refrigerator; sensing a position of the item with reference to the refrigerator; generating cool air to be supplied to the storage chamber; and controlling cool air discharge by adjusting a temperature and/or a discharge direction of the cool air based on the temperature and position of the item.

10 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the sensing the temperature of the item comprises sensing the temperature by using a thermal image capturing unit disposed within the refrigerator.

11 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the sensing the temperature of the item comprises sensing the temperature of the item using a thermal image capturing unit disposed on a ceiling surface inside the refrigerator and proximate to a door of the refrigerator.

12 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the refrigerator comprises a plurality of storage chambers, and wherein the sensing the position of the item comprises identifying the storage chamber containing the item.

13 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the sensing the position of the item comprises sensing a lateral position of the item and a vertical distance from a bottom surface of the refrigerator to the item.

14 . The method according to claim 8 further comprising:
causing a cooling fan unit to face the item based on the temperature and the position; and
directing cool air towards the item by using the cooling fan unit.

Assignees

• Dongbu Daewoo Electronics Corp

Inventors

• Moon Sung Jin
• Kim Seong Jin
• Kim Jong Woong

Classifications

• F25D2317/0682

  Two or more fans · CPC title

• G01J5/0003 Primary

  for sensing the radiant heat transfer of samples, e.g. emittance meter · CPC title

• F25D2700/06

  Sensors detecting the presence of a product · CPC title

• F25D29/003

  for movable devices · CPC title

• F25D2700/16

  Sensors measuring the temperature of products · CPC title