Refrigerator for managing food by using RFID

• US 7,716,935 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2006
• Issued: 05/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Eun Jeong, Kim, Yong Tae, Sim, Jae Seng, Kwon, Yong Chol, Son, Ku Young, Kong, Byung Koo, Youn, Deok Hyun, Bae, Sun Cheol, Park, Eun Young, Shin, Jong Min, Lee, Su Won
• Primary Examiner(s): Norman; Marc E
• Application Number:
  US11/440,440
• Publication Number:
  US 20070016852A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,454 Days
• Field of Search: 621/26, 621/29, 621/87, 624/41, 236/51, 236/94
• US Class Current: 62/126
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2500/06 Stock management
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2700/08 Sensors using Radio Frequency Identification [RFID]
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 29/00 Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices

Abstract

Refrigerator for managing food by using RFID including a plurality of storage portions divided in the refrigerator for storing food, RFID devices each having storage information of each kind of food stored in the storage portions, and controller for reading the storage information and setting up the storage portion which maintains a storage condition suitable to the storage information read thus, thereby permitting easy storage of food in a storage portion having the storage condition by using the RFID device.

Claims

1. A refrigerator for managing food by using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) comprising:

a plurality of storage portions divided in the refrigerator for storing food;

an RFID tag being attached to food or a storage container containing food and having storage information of food stored in the storage portions;

a controller for identifying the RFID tag and reading the storage information from the RFID tag, the controller storing food managing information based on the read storage information, and the controller setting up the storage portion that maintains a storage condition based on the read storage information; and

display means for a user to notice the storage information and food managing information based on the storage information, and the set up storage portion.

2. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, further comprising sensors for measuring storage conditions of the storage portions.

3. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage portions include movable shelves such that a position at a time of placing of the food in the storage of the food is different than a stored position of the food after placing of the food.

4. A refrigerator for managing food by using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) comprising:

a plurality of storage portions divided in the refrigerator for storing food;

sensors on the storage portions for measuring storage conditions of the storage portions, respectively;

a plurality of RFID tags being attached to food or a storage container containing food and each having storage information of each kind of food to be stored in the storage portions;

a controller for identifying the RFID tag and reading the storage information from the RFID tags, the controller storing food managing information based on the read storage information, and the controller setting up the storage portion that maintains a storage condition suitable to the storage information read from the RFID tag from the storage conditions of the storage portions measured by the sensors; and

display means for a user to notice the storage information and the food managing information based on the storage information from the controller, and the set up storage portion,

wherein the display means includes a light emitting member mounted in correspondence to the storage portions respectively and the light emitting member being connected to the controller for indicating the storage portion with a light emitted based on the controller.

5. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 4, wherein the storage portions include movable shelves for moving in front/rear directions or up/down directions, respectively.

6. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 5, wherein at least one of the movable shelves is arranged at a particular position through which the food can be introduced to the refrigerator, and once the storage portion is set up, the at least one movable shelf moves to a position of the storage portion.

7. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 4, wherein the storage conditions include temperatures, humidity, cold air circulating rates, composition of air, vibration, and light quantities of respective storage portions.

8. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 4, wherein the controller controls such that, once the storage condition is set up, the storage portion maintains a storage condition suitable to the storage information.

9. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 8, wherein the controller includes:

a damper mounted on at least one cold air supply hole in one side of the storage portion so as to open/close the air supply hole for introduction of cold air passed around an evaporator of a refrigerating cycle mounted on an inside wall of the refrigerator into the refrigerator, and

a microcomputer for controlling opening/closing of the damper so that the storage portion maintains a storage condition suitable to the storage information.

10. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 4, wherein the display means includes a liquid crystal display on a refrigerator door mounted on the refrigerator so as to be opened/closed, and the display means being connected to the controller.

11. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 10, wherein the light emitting member comprises light emitting diodes.

12. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 11, wherein the light emitting diode is a dual light emitting diode having at least two colors for turning on/off or for displaying various colors according to storage states of the food stored in the storage portions.

13. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 11, wherein the display means further includes automatic open/close devices mounted in correspondence to the storage portions so as to be opened/closed respectively and the automatic open/close devices being connected to the controller for opening/closing in response to a signal from the controller to indicate the storage portion.