Food ingredient management system

Abstract

Provided is a food ingredient management system capable of achieving an improvement in convenience. The food ingredient management system according to the embodiment has a reception unit and a setting unit. The reception unit receives an instruction from a user. When there are a plurality of refrigerators in the same residence, the setting unit sets, based on the instruction received by the reception unit, a refrigerator to be an object of an instruction for food ingredient management from among the plurality of refrigerators.

Description

[0001] This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-129525 (filing date: July 30, 2020) and Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-129526 (filing date: July 30, 2020), and claims priority benefits based on these applications. This application incorporates the entire contents of these applications by reference thereto. Technical Field

[0002] Embodiments of the present invention relate to a food ingredient management system. Background Art

[0003] There has been proposed a food ingredient management system for managing food ingredients stored in a refrigerator or the like. Such a food ingredient management system is expected to improve convenience.

[0004] Prior Art Documents

[0005] Patent Documents

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2018-146120 Summary of the Invention

[0007] Technical Problem to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a food ingredient management system capable of improving convenience.

[0009] Means for Solving the Technical Problem

[0010] The food ingredient management system according to the embodiment has a reception unit and a setting unit. The reception unit receives an instruction from a user. The setting unit, when there are a plurality of refrigerators in the same residence, sets, based on the instruction received by the reception unit, a refrigerator to be an object of the instruction for food ingredient management from among the plurality of refrigerators.

[0011] Advantageous Effects of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to improve convenience. Description of the Drawings

[0013] Figure 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the food ingredient management system according to the embodiment.

[0014] Figure 2 is a front view showing the refrigerator according to the embodiment.

[0015] Figure 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the cooling device according to the embodiment.

[0016] Figure 4It is a diagram showing the change in the air temperature of the chiller compartment in the case of the "special chilled" control mode for implementing the embodiment.

[0017] Figure 5 It is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the server in the embodiment.

[0018] Figure 6 It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the inventory list DB in the embodiment.

[0019] Figure 7 It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the shopping list DB in the embodiment.

[0020] Figure 8 It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the trash bin DB in the embodiment.

[0021] Figure 9 It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the candidate list DB in the embodiment.

[0022] Figure 10 It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the food ingredient DB in the embodiment.

[0023] Figure 11 It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the image of the home page for food ingredient management in the embodiment.

[0024] Figure 12 It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the image showing the food ingredient list in the embodiment.

[0025] Figure 13 It is a diagram showing a control example related to the deletion of inventory registration in the embodiment.

[0026] Figure 14 It is a diagram showing another control example related to the deletion of inventory registration in the embodiment.

[0027] Figure 15 It is a diagram showing yet another control example related to the deletion of inventory registration in the embodiment.

[0028] Figure 16 It is a flowchart showing the process related to the deletion of inventory registration in the embodiment.

[0029] Figure 17 It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the food ingredient priority information in the embodiment.

[0030] Figure 18 It is a flowchart showing the process related to the instruction for simultaneously adding or deleting the registration of multiple food ingredients in the embodiment.

[0031] Figure 19This is a diagram showing an example of the content of the refrigerator registration information of the embodiment.

[0032] Figure 20 This is a flowchart showing the processing when the number of refrigerators that can be set as the object of food ingredient management in the embodiment is changed.

[0033] Explanation of reference numerals

[0034] 1…Food ingredient management system, 30…Display device (reporting unit), 100, 100A, 100B, 100C…Refrigerators, 200…Voice dialogue device (reporting unit), 300…Terminal device, 310…Display device (reporting unit), 400…Server, 421…Instruction reception unit, 422…Registration management unit, 423…Response control unit, 424…Setting unit. Detailed implementation manners

[0035] Hereinafter, the food ingredient management system of the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, components having the same or similar functions are given the same reference numerals. Also, repeated descriptions of these components may be omitted. "Based on XX" means "at least based on XX", and may also include cases where, in addition to being based on XX, it is also based on other elements. "Based on XX" is not limited to directly using XX, and may also include cases where it is based on something obtained by performing operations or processing on XX. "XX or YY" is not limited to the case of either XX or YY, and may also include the case of both XX and YY. "XX" and "YY" are arbitrary elements (for example, arbitrary information). Hereinafter, "database" will be denoted as "DB". "Shelf life" and "consumption deadline" are each an example of "intake deadline". "Temperature of the storage compartment" means the air temperature of the storage compartment. "Answer", "report", "output error", or other "output" means outputting an answer, report, error, or information indicating other content from the reporting unit (for example, a voice dialogue device and / or a display device). In addition, "answer" may also be referred to as "response".

[0036] <1. Overall configuration>

[0037] Figure 1This is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the food ingredient management system 1 according to the embodiment. The food ingredient management system 1 includes, for example, one or more refrigerators 100, a voice dialogue device 200, a terminal device 300, and a server 400. However, the functions of the food ingredient management system 1 described below can be implemented by only the refrigerator 100 or only the server 400. The network NW described later includes, for example, one or more of the Internet, a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), a public line, a telephone line, a wireless base station, etc.

[0038] The refrigerator 100 is installed at the residence of the user U. The refrigerator 100 is connected to the network NW via a router R in the residence, for example, and can communicate with the server 400. In this embodiment, a plurality (for example, two) of refrigerators 100A and 100B are installed at the residence of the user U. It is also possible to install three refrigerators 100A, 100B, and 100C at the residence of the user U. The refrigerators 100A, 100B, and 100C may have different sizes and functions from each other. Hereinafter, without distinguishing between the refrigerators 100A, 100B, and 100C from each other, they will be simply referred to as "refrigerator 100". The refrigerator 100 will be described in detail later.

[0039] The voice dialogue device 200 is arranged at the residence of the user U. The voice dialogue device 200 is connected to the network NW via a router R, for example, and can communicate with the server 400. The voice dialogue device 200 obtains the sound generated by the speech of the user U using a microphone (voice input), and sends the obtained voice of the user U to the server 400 as voice data. The voice dialogue device 200 receives the voice data for response from the server 400, and outputs the voice corresponding to the received voice data from the speaker to the outside. The voice dialogue device 200 is, for example, a smart speaker arranged independently of the refrigerator 100. However, the voice dialogue device 200 may also be provided as a part of the refrigerator 100 or other household appliances. When the terminal device 300 has a voice dialogue function, the terminal device 300 may also be an example of the "voice dialogue device". In this case, the "voice dialogue device 200" in the following description may also be referred to as the "terminal device 300". The voice dialogue device 200 is an example of the "reporting unit".

[0040] The terminal device 300 is, for example, a portable terminal device owned by the user U, such as a smart phone or a tablet terminal device. The terminal device 300 is connected to the network NW and can communicate with the server 400. The terminal device 300 has a display device 310. The display device 310 includes a display screen capable of displaying images and videos, and a touch sensor provided overlapping the display screen. The display device 310 is another example of the "reporting unit". An application program (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "APP") for performing the subsequent food ingredient management and remote operation of the refrigerator 100 is installed in the terminal device 300. The terminal device 300 is not limited to the above example, and may also be a personal computer, a television with an input function, etc.

[0041] The server 400 provides various services related to food ingredient management. The server 400 may also be referred to as a "server system". The server 400 is composed of, for example, one or more server devices (cloud servers). In the present embodiment, the server 400 is composed of a first server device 410 and a second server device 420. The first server device 410 is a server device for voice conversation that controls the voice conversation device 200. In this case, the first server device 410 may not be included in the food ingredient management system 1. The second server device 420 is a management server device for performing food ingredient management and remote control of the refrigerator 100. The second server device 420 may also be divided into a server device for performing food ingredient management and a server device for performing remote control of the refrigerator. The server 400 may also include an information processing unit contained in the router R and / or an information processing unit contained in the router in the network NW, etc., for performing edge computing and fog computing. The server 400 will be described in detail later.

[0042] <2. Refrigerator>

[0043] <2.1 Composition of the refrigerator>

[0044] Figure 2 is a front view showing the refrigerator 100. The refrigerator 100 includes, for example, a housing 10, a plurality of doors 20, a display device 30, a cooling device 40 (refer to Figure 3 ) and a control device 50. A plurality of storage rooms (storage compartments) 11 are provided inside the housing 10. The plurality of storage rooms 11 include a refrigerating chamber 11A, a chiller chamber 11B, a vegetable chamber 11C, an ice-making chamber 11D, a small freezer 11E1, and a main freezer 11E2. These storage rooms 11 can be closed by the doors 20. Hereinafter, without distinguishing between the small freezer 11E1 and the main freezer 11E2, they are simply referred to as "freezer 11E".

[0045] The refrigerating compartment 11A is a storage compartment 11 within a temperature range of 3°C to 5°C on average. The fresh-keeping compartment 11B is a storage compartment 11 within a temperature range of 0°C to 3°C on average. The fresh-keeping compartment 11B is an example of a "special function compartment". However, the special function compartment is not limited to the fresh-keeping compartment and can also be a partial freezing compartment, a switching compartment, etc. The special function compartment is a storage compartment 11 that has a function of reducing the average temperature compared to the refrigerating compartment 11A at least in a certain control mode (operation mode). The vegetable compartment 11C is a storage compartment 11 within a temperature range of approximately 6°C on average. The freezer compartment 11E is a storage compartment 11 with an average temperature of -18°C or lower. That is, these storage compartments 11 have decreasing temperature ranges in the order of the vegetable compartment 11C, the refrigerating compartment 11A, the fresh-keeping compartment 11B, and the freezer compartment 11E. Here, for any elements X, Y, Z, "decreasing in the order of X, Y, Z" means that X is higher, Y is in the middle, and Z is lower. This definition is the same hereinafter. The small freezer compartment 11E1 and the main freezer compartment 11E2 are storage compartments 11 within the same temperature range.

[0046] The display device 30 includes a display screen capable of displaying images and videos, and a touch sensor provided overlapping the display screen. The display device 30 is another example of a "reporting unit". Hereinafter, without distinguishing between the display device 310 of the terminal device 300 and the display device 30 of the refrigerator 100, it is simply referred to as the "display device DD".

[0047] The cooling device 40 is a device for cooling the storage compartment 11 and includes a compressor, a blower, etc. The cooling device 40 will be described later. The control device 50 controls the overall refrigerator 100. For example, the control device 50 controls the display device 30 to display the information received from the server 400 on the display device 30. The control device 50 cools the storage compartment 11 of the refrigerator 100 by controlling the cooling device 40.

[0048] Figure 3 It is a diagram showing the configuration of the cooling device 40. The cooling device 40 includes a compressor 41, a condenser 42, a dryer 43, a three-way valve 44, capillary tubes 45A, 45B, coolers 46A, 46B, suction pipes 47A, 47B, and a check valve 48 in the order of refrigerant flow. One of the two outlets of the three-way valve 44 is connected to the refrigerating capillary tube 45A, the refrigerating cooler 46A, and the refrigerating suction pipe 47A. The other of the two outlets of the three-way valve 44 is connected to the freezing capillary tube 45B, the freezing cooler 46B, the freezing suction pipe 47B, and the check valve 48.

[0049] In the above-described cooling device 40, the three-way valve 44 is controlled by the control device 50 to selectively select a flow path for supplying the refrigerant to the refrigerating cooler 46A (hereinafter referred to as "flow path A") and a flow path for supplying the refrigerant to the freezing cooler 46B (hereinafter referred to as "flow path B"). The control device 50 alternately switches between flow path A and flow path B as the flow path of the refrigerant by controlling the three-way valve 44. When the refrigerant flows through flow path A, the refrigerating chamber 11A, the fresh food chamber 11B, and the vegetable chamber 11C are cooled. When the refrigerant flows through flow path B, the ice-making chamber 11D and the freezing chamber 11E are cooled. For example, the control device 50 alternately repeats a refrigerating operation in which the refrigerant flows through flow path A for 20 minutes to cool the refrigerating chamber 11A, the fresh food chamber 11B, and the vegetable chamber 11C, and a freezing operation in which the refrigerant flows through flow path B for 40 minutes to cool the ice-making chamber 11D and the freezing chamber 11E. Therefore, as shown in Figure 4 described later, the temperature in the storage chamber 11 changes up and down in a sawtooth shape.

[0050] <2.2 Control Modes of the Fresh Food Chamber>

[0051] Next, the control modes (operation modes) of the fresh food chamber 11B that the control device 50 can execute will be described.

[0052] <Normal Fresh Food>

[0053] The control mode of "Normal Fresh Food" is a control mode in which the fresh food chamber 11B is cooled by the basic operation of the refrigerator 100. In the control mode of "Normal Fresh Food", the temperature of the fresh food chamber 11B is maintained, for example, in a certain temperature range with an average temperature of 0.5 to 1.0 °C.

[0054] <Quick Fresh Food>

[0055] The control mode of "Quick Fresh Food" is a control mode in which the temperature of the fresh food chamber 11B is reduced faster than in the control mode of "Normal Fresh Food". In the control mode of "Quick Fresh Food", within a specified time, the operating frequency of the compressor 41 and the rotational speed of a blower (not shown) are set higher. As a result, more cold air is sent into the fresh food chamber 11B, and the temperature of the fresh food chamber 11B is suddenly reduced. From a certain perspective, the control mode of "Normal Fresh Food" is an example of the "first operation mode". The control mode of "Quick Fresh Food" is an example of the "second operation mode".

[0056] <Defrosting>

[0057] The "thawing" control mode is a control mode that raises the temperature of the chiller compartment 11B compared to the control mode of "normal chilled storage". The "thawing" control mode is a control mode that raises the temperature of the chiller compartment 11B to promote the thawing of the foodstuffs in the chiller compartment 11B. In the "thawing" control mode, within a specified time, the operating frequency of the compressor 41 and the rotational speed of a blower (not shown) are set lower. Thereby, relatively warm air is sent into the chiller compartment 11B to raise the temperature of the chiller compartment 11B. In the "thawing" control mode, the temperature of the chiller compartment 11B falls, for example, within a certain temperature range with an average temperature of 1.5°C. From another perspective, the "thawing" control mode is an example of the "first operating mode". The control mode of "normal chilled storage" is an example of the "second operating mode".

[0058] <Special chilled storage>

[0059] The control mode of "special chilled storage" is a control mode that alternately repeats the time for cooling the chiller compartment 11B in a low-temperature temperature range and the time for cooling the chiller compartment 11B in a high-temperature temperature range. The following will explain this control mode of "special chilled storage" in detail.

[0060] Figure 4 This is a graph showing the temperature change of the chiller compartment 11B when the control mode of "special chilled storage" is executed. In the control mode of "special chilled storage", the control device 50 alternately repeats the low-temperature cooling control (first cooling control) for cooling the chiller compartment 11B in the first temperature range Ta and the high-temperature cooling control (second cooling control) for cooling the chiller compartment 11B in the second temperature range Tb that is higher than the first temperature range Ta. Here, the meaning of "cooling" in the above-mentioned refrigerated operation and frozen operation is to supply refrigerant to the cooler (refrigerated cooler 46A or frozen cooler 47B). In contrast, the meaning of "cooling" in the low-temperature cooling control and the high-temperature cooling control is to operate the refrigerator 100 in such a way as to maintain the temperature in the first temperature range Ta or the second temperature range Tb. "Alternately repeating the low-temperature cooling control (first cooling control) and the high-temperature cooling control (second cooling control)" includes cases such as performing multiple refrigerated operations during the implementation of the low-temperature cooling control (first cooling control), then performing multiple refrigerated operations during the implementation of the high-temperature cooling control (second cooling control), and then performing multiple refrigerated operations during the implementation of the low-temperature cooling control (first cooling control).

[0061] The average temperature of the first temperature range Ta is, for example, -5°C. The average temperature of the first temperature range Ta is a temperature below the freezing point, for example, a temperature less than 0°C. The first temperature range Ta is a temperature at which the surface of the foodstuffs in the chiller compartment 11B is slightly frozen. The first temperature range Ta is a temperature range lower than that of "normal chilled storage". The low-temperature cooling control is implemented within a specified implementation time Sa (for example, 2 hours).

[0062] The second temperature zone Tb is the set temperature zone of the chilled food compartment 11B during high-temperature cooling control. The average temperature of the second temperature zone Tb is, for example, +1°C. The average temperature of the second temperature zone Tb is a temperature higher than the freezing point, for example, a temperature of 0°C or higher. The second temperature zone Tb is a temperature at which the slightly frozen layer formed on the surface of the foodstuffs in the chilled food compartment 11B can be melted. The high-temperature cooling control is carried out within a prescribed operation time Sb (for example, 5 hours) that is longer than the operation time Sa of the low-temperature cooling control.

[0063] According to this "special chilling" control mode, by alternately repeating the low-temperature cooling control within the prescribed operation time Sa and the high-temperature cooling control within the prescribed operation time Sb, only the surface of the foodstuffs is slightly frozen, thereby being able to suppress the drying and oxidation of the foodstuffs. Thereby, compared with normal chilling, the freshness of the foodstuffs can be maintained for a longer time.

[0064] In the "special chilling" control mode, when observed during the low-temperature cooling control and the high-temperature cooling control, it is a temperature zone with an average temperature of -0.5. That is, the "special chilling" control mode is a control mode in which the temperature zone of the chilled food compartment 11B is lower compared with the "normal chilling" control mode. The "normal chilling" control mode is an example of the "first operation mode". The "special chilling" control mode is an example of the "second operation mode".

[0065] <3. Server>

[0066] Figure 5 It is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the server 400. As described above, the server 400 is constituted by, for example, a first server device 410 and a second server device 420.

[0067] The first server device 410 has, for example, a voice processing unit 411, a response generation unit 412, and a storage unit 413. All or part of these functional units are implemented by executing a program (software) by one or more hardware processors such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) mounted on the first server device 410. However, all or part of these functional units may also be implemented by hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) (including a circuitry unit), or may be implemented by the cooperation of software and hardware. The storage unit 413 is implemented by a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash memory, or a combination of multiple ones of them. The storage unit 413 stores a voice DB 511. In the voice DB 511, a dictionary for interpreting the meaning of the speech of the user U and voice information for generating voice data for responses are registered.

[0068] The voice processing unit 411 receives voice data obtained based on the speech of the user U from the voice dialogue device 200. The voice processing unit 411 analyzes the voice data received from the voice dialogue device 200. For example, the voice processing unit 411 textifies the voice data by performing a voice recognition process and performs natural language processing on the textified voice data, thereby performing meaning interpretation. The voice processing unit 411 sends the analysis result of the voice data to the second server device 420.

[0069] The response generation unit 412 receives information indicating the speech content output from the voice dialogue device 200 to the user U from the second server device 420. The response generation unit 412 generates voice data to be output to the user U based on the information received from the second server device 420 by referring to the voice DB 511. The response generation unit 412 sends the generated voice data to the voice dialogue device 200. The voice dialogue device 200 answers and reports to the user U by voice by operating a speaker based on the voice data received from the first server device 410.

[0070] The second server device 420 has, for example, an instruction reception unit 421, a registration management unit 422, a response control unit 423, a setting unit 424, and a storage unit 425. All or part of these functional units are implemented by executing a program (software) by one or more hardware processors such as a CPU mounted on the second server device 420. However, all or part of these functional units may also be implemented by hardware such as an ASIC, a PLD, or an FPGA (including a circuit unit; circuitry), or may be implemented by the cooperation of software and hardware. The storage unit 425 is implemented by a RAM, a ROM, an HDD, a flash memory, or a combination of multiple ones of them. The storage unit 425 stores an inventory list DB 521, a shopping list DB 522, a trash bin DB 523, a candidate list DB 524, a foodstuff DB 525, a standing stock DB 526, foodstuff priority information 527, response priority information 528, and refrigerator registration information 529. The inventory list DB 521, the shopping list DB 522, the trash bin DB 523, the candidate list DB 524, the standing stock DB 526, and the refrigerator registration information 529 are prepared for each user U.

[0071] The instruction reception unit 421 receives instructions from the user U related to foodstuff management and setting changes of the refrigerator 100, etc. For example, the instruction reception unit 421 receives an instruction based on the voice input of the user U by analyzing the voice data of the user U who speaks to the voice dialogue device 200 from the first server device 410. Further, the instruction reception unit 421 receives information indicating an operation of the user U on the refrigerator 100 and / or the terminal device 300 (for example, an operation of the user on the display device DD) from the refrigerator 100 and / or the terminal device 300. The instruction reception unit 421 receives the instruction of the user U based on the information received from the refrigerator 100 and / or the terminal device 300. The instruction reception unit 421 outputs the received instruction of the user U to the registration management unit 422, the response control unit 423, and the setting unit 424. The instruction reception unit 421 is an example of the "reception unit".

[0072] Based on the information received by the instruction reception unit 421, the registration management unit 422 manages various DBs (such as the inventory list DB 521, the shopping list DB 522, the candidate list DB 524, the trash bin DB 523, the standing stock DB 526, etc.) described later. For example, the registration management unit 422 performs processes of adding, deleting, and confirming (viewing) the registration of foodstuffs for various DBs. The specific functions of the registration management unit 422 will be described later. In the following description, the meaning of "user's instruction" is the instruction of the user U received by the instruction reception unit 421.

[0073] The response control unit 423 generates information to be reported to the user U regarding food ingredient management and others based on the instruction of the user U received by the instruction reception unit 421 and / or the information managed by the registration management unit 422. When reporting to the user U by voice from the voice dialogue device 200, the response control unit 423 transmits the generated information and a prescribed control signal to the first server device 410. When reporting to the user U by display on the display device DD of the refrigerator 100 and / or the terminal device 300, the response control unit 423 transmits the generated information and a prescribed control signal to the refrigerator 100 and / or the terminal device 300. The specific functions of the response control unit 423 will be described later.

[0074] When there are a plurality of refrigerators 100 in the same residence, the setting unit 424 sets, based on the instruction received by the instruction reception unit 421, the refrigerator 100 to be the instruction target of food ingredient management from among the plurality of refrigerators 100. The specific functions of the setting unit 424 will be described later.

[0075] <4. Various DBs>

[0076] <4.1 Inventory List DB>

[0077] Figure 6 This is a diagram showing an example of the content of the inventory list DB521. In the inventory list DB521, food ingredients existing as inventory in the residence of the user U are registered. In the inventory list DB521, not only the food ingredients stored in the refrigerator 100 but also the food ingredients stored outside the refrigerator 100 (for example, stored at room temperature) can be registered.

[0078] In the inventory list DB521, a registration R1 (hereinafter referred to as “inventory registration R1”) indicating the inventory of food ingredients is managed. In each inventory registration R1, “management ID”, “food ingredient name”, “food ingredient classification”, “storage location”, “purchase date”, “shelf life” (or “consumption deadline”), “quantity”, “unit” and “history” are associated. In the inventory list DB521, the same type of food ingredients (food ingredients with the same name) purchased at the same time are registered as one inventory registration R1. In other words, even for the same type of food ingredients (food ingredients with the same name), the food ingredients purchased at a certain date and time and the food ingredients purchased at another date and time are registered as different inventory registrations R1. The “purchase date” mentioned here is used in the following sense: it refers to the registration date when a specific food ingredient is newly registered, that is, the day when the inventory quantity increases, and also includes cases where the acquisition route of the food ingredient is not purchase. The same type of food ingredients (food ingredients with the same name) is an example of “food ingredients of the same category”. Food ingredients of the same category are not limited to food ingredients with the same name, and may also include multiple types of food ingredients that are preset to be the same category. This will be described later.

[0079] "Ingredients classification" means the division (Japanese: classification) of ingredients. In the present embodiment, the following 16 types of ingredients classification are set as "Ingredients classification": "Vegetables", "Fruits", "Meat", "Fish and Shellfish·Seaweed", "Eggs·Dairy Products", "Beans·Bean Products", "Processed Foods", "Rice·Bread", "Noodles", "Beverages", "Frozen Foods", "Sweets", "Seasonings", "Spices", "Side Foods", and "Others". However, the above divisions are only examples, and the divisions of ingredients classification can be set appropriately.

[0080] "Storage place" means a place where food is stored. In the present embodiment, the following five storage places are set as "storage places": "refrigerator", "vegetable room", "chilled room", "freezer" and "others". "Refrigerator" corresponds to refrigerator 11A. "Vegetable room" corresponds to vegetable room 11C. "Chilled room" corresponds to chilled room 11B. "Freezer" corresponds to the area including small freezer 11E1 and main freezer 11E2. "Others" corresponds to storage places outside refrigerator 100. The latest quantity of food is recorded in "Quantity". In "History Record", when the amount of food is reduced, information indicating the reduced quantity and the date and time of the reduction is recorded.

[0081] <4.2 Shopping List DB>

[0082] Figure 7 This is a diagram showing an example of the content of the shopping list DB522. The shopping list DB522 is a DB that the user U can refer to when shopping to prevent forgetting to buy. In the shopping list DB522, ingredients for which the purchase plan of the user U (for example, the explicit purchase intention) has been confirmed are registered. In the shopping list DB522, ingredients that are more likely to be purchased are registered compared to the candidate list DB524 described later. In the shopping list DB522, it is not limited to the purchase intention explicitly stated by the user U, and ingredients can also be registered by inference based on the user U's regular intention (the intention to stockpile a certain ingredient as a regular item). In the shopping list DB522, a registration R2 representing a shopping candidate (hereinafter referred to as a "shopping registration R2") is managed. In each shopping registration R2, a correspondence is established between "management ID", "ingredient name", "ingredient category", "quantity" and "unit".

[0083] <4.3 Trash Bin DB>

[0084] Figure 8This is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the trash bin DB523. In the trash bin DB523, the food ingredients deleted from the inventory list DB521 are temporarily registered. For example, in the trash bin DB523, there are registered the food ingredients that were once registered in the inventory list DB521, consumed, and deleted from the inventory list DB521 based on the deletion instruction of the user U. The food ingredients registered in the trash bin DB523 can be registered again in the inventory list DB521 based on the instruction of the user U. In the trash bin DB523, the registration R3 indicating the deleted food ingredients (hereinafter referred to as "deletion registration R3") is managed. In each deletion registration R3, "management ID", "food ingredient name", "food ingredient classification", and "registration date in the trash bin DB523" are associated with each other.

[0085] <4.4 Candidate list DB>

[0086] Figure 9 This is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the candidate list DB524. The candidate list DB524 is a DB that the user U can refer to assistively to prevent forgetting to purchase. In the candidate list DB524, the food ingredients that are purchase candidates whose purchase plans (such as explicit purchase intentions) of the user U have not been confirmed are registered. In the candidate list DB524, the registration R4 indicating the food ingredients proposed for purchase (hereinafter referred to as "proposal registration R4") is managed. In each proposal registration R4, "management ID", "food ingredient name", "food ingredient classification", and "registration date in the candidate list DB524" are associated with each other. The candidate list DB524 is generated, for example, by using the deletion of the registration of the food ingredients registered in the inventory list DB521. In the present embodiment, when the quantity of the food ingredients registered in the inventory list DB521 decreases and satisfies the specified conditions (for example, when the inventory becomes zero), the food ingredients are automatically registered in the candidate list DB524. The instruction reception unit 421 can receive the instruction of the user U to move the food ingredients registered in the candidate list DB524 to the shopping list DB522.

[0087] <4.5 Food ingredient DB>

[0088] Figure 10 This is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the food ingredient DB525. The food ingredient DB525 is a default DB set jointly for multiple users. In the food ingredient DB525, a plurality of commonly circulated food ingredients are registered. In the food ingredient DB525, the registration R5 indicating the information of the food ingredients used for automatic input of food ingredient information (hereinafter referred to as "food ingredient registration R5") is registered. In each food ingredient registration R5, "food ingredient name", "acceptable candidate for the food ingredient name (synonym of the food ingredient name)", "food ingredient classification", "icon of the food ingredient classification", "default storage location (recommended storage location)", and "shelf life (or expiration date)" are associated with each other.

[0089] <4.6 Standing Supplies DB>

[0090] In the standing supplies DB 526, the ingredients that user U often uses (such as ingredients that do not want the stock to run out) are registered. In the standing supplies DB 526, the ingredients that user U has indicated the intention to keep in stock are registered.

[0091] <4.7 Display Examples of Various DBs>

[0092] Figure 11 An example of the content of the image IM1 showing the home page of ingredient management is shown. The content displayed in the image IM1 is generated based on the inventory list DB 521. The image IM1 includes display frames D1 to D5 corresponding to the refrigerating chamber 11A, the fresh food chamber 11B, the vegetable chamber 11C, the freezer 11E, and other places. The quantities of the ingredients stored in the refrigerating chamber 11A, the fresh food chamber 11B, the vegetable chamber 11C, the freezer 11E, and other places (the quantities of the inventory registrations R1) are displayed in the display frames D1 to D5. The image IM1 is displayed on the display device DD of the refrigerator 100 and / or the terminal device 300 under the control of the server 400.

[0093] Figure 12 A diagram showing an example of the content of the image IM2 representing the ingredient list. Figure 12 The shown ingredient list is a list of all the inventory registrations R1 registered in the inventory list DB 521. In the ingredient list, the icons representing ingredient classifications, ingredient names, purchase dates, expiration dates (or consumption dates), quantities, and units are displayed for each inventory registration R1. The inventory registrations R1 are arranged in a prescribed order regardless of which storage place the ingredients of the inventory registrations R1 are stored in. The "prescribed order" is, for example, the alphabetical order of ingredient names (alphabetical or kana order (such as the order of "あいうえお")), the order of purchase dates from oldest to newest (or from newest to oldest), or the order of expiration dates (consumption dates) from nearest to farthest (or from farthest to nearest). The user can change the above-mentioned prescribed order (can rearrange the display order of the inventory registrations R1) by operating the operation unit IM2a included in the image IM2.

[0094] The server 400 generates the image IM2 of the ingredient list and displays it on the display device DD of the refrigerator 100 and / or the terminal device 300. The server 400 can independently generate an ingredient list representing the inventory registrations R1 of each storage room 11 and display it on the display device DD. For the content registered in the shopping list DB 522, the trash bin DB 523, the candidate list DB 524, and the standing supplies DB 526, the server 400 can also generate the same list and display it on the display device DD.

[0095] <5. Control Examples Based on Voice Input>

[0096] Based on the instructions brought about by the user's speech (voice input) to the voice dialogue device 200, the server 400 can perform the following controls. Details of control examples other than those described below are described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-022905 (filed on February 13, 2020) and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-022912 (filed on February 13, 2020). The entire specifications of these applications are incorporated herein by reference into the specification of this application.

[0097] <5.1 Inventory Addition>

[0098] First, the addition of the inventory registration R1 to the inventory list DB521 will be described. The same applies to the addition of the shopping registration R2 in the shopping list DB522.

[0099] The instruction reception unit 421 can receive an addition instruction for the inventory registration R1 that specifies the food ingredient and the storage room 11, and an addition instruction for the inventory registration R1 that only specifies the food ingredient without specifying the storage room 11. The "addition instruction for the inventory registration that specifies the food ingredient and the storage room" refers to an addition instruction for the inventory registration R1 such as "put 1 sliced mackerel in the freezer" or "register 5 cucumbers and 2 bags of enoki mushrooms in the vegetable room", which is accompanied by the name of the food ingredient, the quantity of the food ingredient, and the name of the storage room 11. The speaking order of the name of the food ingredient and the name of the storage room 11 is not restricted, and the name of the storage room 11 can also be spoken first. The registration management unit 422 adds the inventory registration R1 of the specified food ingredient in association with the specified storage room 11.

[0100] On the other hand, the "addition instruction for the inventory registration that only specifies the food ingredient without specifying the storage room" refers to an addition instruction for the inventory registration R1 such as "add three eggs" that is not accompanied by the name of the storage room 11. In the case of receiving such an addition instruction, the registration management unit 422 adds the inventory registration R1 of the specified food ingredient in association with the storage room 11 that is set as the default storage place according to the food ingredient based on the food ingredient DB525.

[0101] The instruction reception unit 421 of this embodiment can register or delete multiple food ingredients before the end of one reception of the voice dialogue function. In other words, the instruction reception unit 421 can continuously receive multiple instructions (for example, "register 5 cucumbers and 2 bags of enoki mushrooms in the vegetable room") contained in a single speech of the user U. Details of this process are described in detail in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-022912 (filed on February 13, 2020).

[0102] In the present embodiment, the registration management unit 422 manages the maximum registration quantity of the food materials that can be registered in each inventory registration R1 as 999 portions, and the maximum number of registration items of the inventory registration R1 as 100 items. Therefore, when the registration management unit 422 receives an additional instruction for the inventory registration R1, it determines which of the following applies to the food materials to be added to the inventory registration R1: "Addition completed (presence of room designation) (A1)", "Addition completed (absence of room designation) (A2)", "Quantity exceeds 1000 portions (A3)", "Number of food materials exceeds 100 items (A4)", "System error (A5)".

[0103] In the case of the above (A1), the response control unit 423 answers that the addition to the inventory registration R1 is completed by showing the name of the storage room 11, the name of the food material, and the quantity, such as "One slice of mackerel with the middle opened has been added to the freezer." In the case of the above (A2), the response control unit 423 answers that the addition to the inventory registration R1 is completed by showing the name of the food material and the quantity without mentioning the name of the storage room 11, such as "3 eggs have been added." However, in the case of the above (A2), the response control unit 423 may also answer by adding the name of the storage room 11 to which the inventory registration R1 has been added (the name of the storage room 11 that is set as the default storage room according to the food material).

[0104] In the case of the above (A3), for example, when receiving an additional instruction for the inventory registration R1 such as "Add 1500 grams of beef to the refrigerator", the registration management unit 422 adds the quantity of the food materials to be added to the inventory registration R1 as a specified quantity equal to or less than the maximum registration quantity (999 grams). In the present embodiment, the registration management unit 422 adds the quantity of the food materials to be added to the inventory registration R1 as the maximum registration quantity (999 grams). Then, the response control unit 423 answers that the addition to the inventory registration R1 has been made with the quantity of the food material as the maximum registration quantity (999 grams) and that an error related to the maximum registration quantity (the first error described later) has occurred, such as "The maximum quantity that can be registered is 999. 999 grams of beef have been added to the refrigerator." This will be described in detail later. In addition, the above specified quantity is not limited to the maximum registration quantity and may also be a quantity less than it. For example, when receiving an additional instruction for the inventory registration R1 such as "Add 1500 cabbages to the refrigerator", the inventory registration R1 may be added with a specified quantity (for example, 20 in the case of cabbages) that is preset according to the food material.

[0105] In the case of the above (A4), for example, when an additional instruction for the inventory registration R1 is accepted while 100 pieces of the inventory registration R1 already exist in the inventory list DB521, the registration management unit 422 does not add the inventory registration R1. Then, the response control unit 423 answers an error related to the maximum number of registrations (the second error described later), such as "The maximum number of registrations in the ingredient list is 100 pieces. Please delete an ingredient." This will also be described in detail later. In the case of the above (A5), the response control unit 423 answers that the process has failed, such as "Sorry. It has failed. Please try again."

[0106] <5.2 Inventory deletion>

[0107] Next, the deletion of the inventory registration R1 in the inventory list DB521 will be described. The same applies to the deletion of the shopping registration R2 in the shopping list DB522.

[0108] The instruction reception unit 421 can accept a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 that specifies an ingredient and the storage room 11, and a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 that only specifies an ingredient without specifying the storage room 11. The so-called "deletion instruction for the inventory registration that specifies an ingredient and a storage room" refers to a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 that is accompanied by the name of the ingredient and the name of the storage room 11, such as "Delete ice cream from the freezer" and "Remove 2 colored peppers and 1 Chinese cabbage from the vegetable room". The speaking order of the name of the ingredient and the name of the storage room 11 is not restricted, and the name of the storage room 11 can also be spoken later. On the other hand, the "deletion instruction for the inventory registration that only specifies an ingredient without specifying a storage room" refers to a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 that is not accompanied by the name of the storage room 11, such as "Delete 100 grams of chicken drumsticks".

[0109] When these deletion instructions are accepted, the registration management unit 422 determines which of the following applies to the inventory registration R1 of the ingredient that is the object of the deletion instruction: "Can be deleted (B1)", "There is no inventory of the ingredient (B2)", "The quantity is insufficient in the ingredient (B3)", "The specified unit is different in the ingredient (B4)", or "System error (B5)".

[0110] In the case of (B1) above, the response control unit 423 states the name of the storage compartment 11, the name of the food ingredient, and the quantity, such as "One ice cream has been deleted from the freezer compartment.", and answers that the deletion of the inventory registration R1 has been completed. However, it is also possible not to mention the name and quantity of the storage compartment. In the case of (B2) above, it answers that the deletion of the inventory registration R1 has failed, such as "There is no ice cream in the freezer compartment.". In the case of (B3) above, for example, when a deletion instruction of "Delete 200 grams of chicken drumsticks in the refrigerating compartment" is received while there is only 100 grams of chicken drumsticks in the refrigerating compartment 11A, the registration management unit 422 deletes the inventory registration R1 of 100 grams of chicken drumsticks related to the refrigerating compartment 11A. Then, the response control unit 423 states that the deletion of the inventory registration R1 has been performed within the registered inventory quantity, such as "There is only 100 grams of chicken drumsticks in the refrigerating compartment. All have been deleted.". In the case of (B4) above, the response control unit 423 answers that the process has failed, such as "The unit is different from the registration, so please make a change.". In the case of (B5) above, the response control unit 423 answers that the process has failed, such as "Sorry. It has failed. Please try again.".

[0111] Here, when two or more of the above (B1) to (B4) occur simultaneously, the priority of the response by the response control unit 423 decreases in the order of (B1), (B3), (B2), (B4). That is, the priority of (B1) is the highest, and the priority of (B4) is the lowest. The "priority of the response" refers to the priority of the output order of the processing results (which processing result is output first). In the present embodiment, when a deletion instruction related to a plurality of food ingredients is received, in the case where two errors of "There is no inventory of any food ingredient (B2)" and "The quantity is insufficient in the food ingredient (B3)" occur, the error related to "The quantity is insufficient in the food ingredient (B3)" is output first, and then the error related to "There is no inventory of any food ingredient (B2)" is output. For example, when a deletion instruction of "Delete three cabbages and three tomatoes" is received in a state where there is an inventory registration R1 of two tomatoes and no inventory registration R1 of cabbages, a response such as "There are only two tomatoes. All have been deleted. There are no cabbages." is output.

[0112] <5.3 Inventory confirmation>

[0113] <5.3.1 Inventory confirmation for specified food ingredients>

[0114] In the present embodiment, the instruction reception unit 421 can receive an inventory confirmation specifying ingredients. The so-called "inventory confirmation specifying ingredients" refers to instructions for inventory confirmation accompanied by ingredient names, such as "Are there eggs?", "Are there chicken drumsticks and milk?", "Are there two eggs?", "How many slices of dried mackerel are there?".

[0115] In this case, based on the inventory list DB521, the registration management unit 422 determines which of the following is equivalent for the object of the inventory confirmation: "There is inventory (C1)", "There is no inventory among all ingredients (C2)", or "There is no inventory among some ingredients (C3)".

[0116] In the case of (C1) above, the response control unit 423 answers that there is inventory by showing the ingredient name and quantity, such as "There are 2 eggs". In the case of (C2) above, the response control unit 423 answers that there is no inventory of all the ingredients for which the inventory confirmation is made, such as "Well, there is no chicken drumstick and milk". Additionally, the connecting word "Well" may not be present. In the case of (C3) above, the response control unit 423 answers the ingredients with inventory and the ingredients without inventory, such as "There is chicken drumstick. There is no milk".

[0117] <5.3.2 Inventory Confirmation Specifying a Storage Room>

[0118] In the present embodiment, the instruction reception unit 421 can receive an inventory confirmation specifying the storage room 11. The so-called "inventory confirmation specifying a storage room" refers to instructions for inventory confirmation accompanied by the name of the storage room 11, such as "What is in the vegetable room?", "Is there dried mackerel in the freezer?".

[0119] In this case, based on the inventory list DB521, for the object of the inventory confirmation, the registration management unit 422 determines which of the following is equivalent: "There is one or more inventories in the specified storage room (D1)", "There is no inventory in the specified storage room (D2)", "There is the specified ingredient in the specified storage room (D3)", or "There is no specified ingredient in the specified storage room (D4)".

[0120] In the case of the above (D1), the response control unit 423 answers, "There are 7 items registered in the vegetable compartment. There is one 〇〇, two 〇〇s,.... The other two can be confirmed on the APP." etc., the number of inventory registrations R1 in the specified storage compartment, the reading of the ingredients up to the specified quantity (for example, 5 items), and the number of inventory registrations R1 and the confirmation method for ingredients other than the read-out ingredients. The reading of the ingredients up to the specified quantity is, for example, in the order from the oldest purchase date to the newest or in the order from the nearest expiration date to the farthest. In the case of the above (D2), the response control unit 423 answers that there is no ingredient in the specified storage compartment 11, such as "Oh, there is no ingredient in the vegetable compartment 11C." Additionally, the connecting word like "Oh" may not be present. In the case of the above (D3), the response control unit 423 shows the specified storage compartment 11, the ingredient name, and the quantity and answers that there is inventory, such as "There are two pieces of dried horse mackerel in the freezer." In the case of the above (D4), the response control unit 423 shows the specified storage compartment 11 and answers that there is no inventory of the specified ingredient name, such as "There is no dried horse mackerel in the freezer."

[0121] <5.3.3 Unspecified Ingredient and Inventory Confirmation of Storage Compartment>

[0122] In the present embodiment, the instruction reception unit 421 can receive the inventory confirmation of unspecified ingredients and the storage compartment 11. The so-called "inventory confirmation of unspecified ingredients and storage compartment" refers to instructions for inventory confirmation of all ingredients registered in the inventory list DB521, such as "What is in the refrigerator?" and "Please read out the ingredient list."

[0123] In this case, the registration management unit 422 determines, based on the inventory list DB521, which of "there is one or more in inventory (E1)" and "there is no inventory at all (E2)" it corresponds to. In the case of the above (E1), the response control unit 423 answers, "There are 12 items registered. There is one 〇〇, two 〇〇s,.... The other 7 items can be confirmed on the APP." etc., the number of all inventory registrations R1, the reading of the ingredients up to the specified quantity (for example, 5 items), and the number of inventory registrations R1 and the confirmation method for ingredients other than the read-out ingredients. The reading of the ingredients up to the specified quantity is, for example, in the order from the oldest purchase date to the newest or in the order from the nearest expiration date to the farthest. In the case of the above (E2), the response control unit 423 answers that there is no inventory, such as "There is no inventory."

[0124] <5.4 Inventory Exhaustion Confirmation>

[0125] In the present embodiment, the instruction reception unit 421 can receive the out-of-stock confirmation. The so-called "out-of-stock confirmation" refers to an instruction to confirm the ingredients without inventory among the ingredients set in the standing stock DB 256, such as "Please inform the items without inventory" and "The frequently used ingredients are now out of stock".

[0126] In this case, the registration management unit 422 determines which of the following two cases it corresponds to: "Regarding all the ingredients registered in the standing stock DB 526, there is an inventory registration R1 (F1) in the inventory list DB 521" or "Regarding a part or all of the ingredients registered in the standing stock DB 526, there is no inventory registration R1 (F2) in the inventory list DB 521".

[0127] In the case of the above (F1), the response control unit 423 answers "All the standing foods are available." In the case of the above (F2), the response control unit 423 answers "There are 7 registered ingredients out of stock in the refrigerator. There is no 〇〇, 〇〇,... Two others can be confirmed on the APP." etc., including the number of out-of-stock ingredients, the reading of the out-of-stock ingredients up to a specified number (for example, 5 pieces), and the number and confirmation method of the out-of-stock ingredients other than the read-out ingredients. The reading of the ingredients of the specified number is, for example, in the order from the oldest to the newest registration in the standing stock DB 526. In the case of the above (F2), the response control unit 423 outputs a question "Add to the shopping list?" Then, when the instruction reception unit 421 receives an affirmative answer from the user U to this question, the registration management unit 422 adds all the ingredients registered in the standing stock DB 526 that have no inventory registration in the inventory list DB 521 to the shopping list DB 522.

[0128] <5.5 Confirmation of Shopping List>

[0129] In the present embodiment, the instruction receiving unit 421 can receive the confirmation (viewing) of the shopping list. The so-called "confirmation of the shopping list" refers to instructions for confirming the content of the shopping list, such as "What is in the shopping list?", "What was I supposed to buy?", etc. In this case, based on the shopping list DB522, the response control unit 423 answers questions such as "There are 6 items registered. There are 〇〇, 〇〇,.... One other item can be confirmed on the APP.", the number of shopping registrations R2 registered in the shopping list DB522, the reading aloud of ingredients up to a specified number (for example, 5 portions), and the number and confirmation method of shopping registrations R2 other than the ingredients read aloud. The reading aloud of ingredients up to the specified number is, for example, in the order from the most recent registration to the oldest in the shopping list DB522. That is, the more recently registered shopping registration R2 is read aloud first. However, the reading aloud of ingredients up to the specified number can also be, for example, in the order from the oldest registration to the most recent in the shopping list DB522.

[0130] <5.6 Confirmation of the Standing Stock List>

[0131] In the present embodiment, the instruction receiving unit 421 can receive the confirmation (viewing) of the standing stock list. The so-called "confirmation of the standing stock list" refers to instructions for confirming the content registered in the standing stock DB526, such as "What are the frequently used ingredients?", "Please inform me of the standing stock foods.", etc. In this case, based on the standing stock DB526, the response control unit 423 answers questions such as "There are 15 items registered. There are 〇〇, 〇〇,.... 10 other items can be confirmed on the APP.", the number of registrations registered in the standing stock DB526, the reading aloud of ingredients up to a specified number (for example, 5 items), and the number and confirmation method of registrations other than the ingredients read aloud. The reading aloud of ingredients up to the specified number is, for example, in the order from the oldest registration to the most recent in the standing stock DB526.

[0132] Next, several control examples related to the addition and deletion of registrations will be described. In the following description, the meaning of "the case where an instruction is received" is the case where the instruction of the user U is received by the instruction receiving unit 421.

[0133] <6. Control Example Related to a Deletion Instruction with an Unclear Deletion Target>

[0134] <6.1 Processing Content>

[0135] As Figure 12 shown, there are cases where there are multiple inventory registrations R1 related to ingredients of the same name (the same type of ingredients) in the inventory list DB521. In Figure 12 the example shown, regarding "pork", there are multiple inventory registrations R1 with different purchase dates. Hereinafter, multiple inventory registrations R1 related to ingredients of the same name are sometimes simply referred to as "multiple inventory registrations RS".

[0136] When there are multiple inventory registrations RS related to ingredients with the same name, and when a deletion instruction from user U specifying the deletion target is received, the inventory registration R1 of the deletion target is deleted from the multiple inventory registrations RS. The so-called "deletion instruction from user U specifying the deletion target" refers to a deletion instruction that can uniquely identify the inventory registration R1 of the deletion target from the multiple inventory registrations RS. The deletion instruction from user U specifying the deletion target is a deletion instruction such as "delete the XX with the purchase date of XX month XX day" or "delete the oldest XX", which can distinguish the multiple inventory registrations RS from each other.

[0137] On the other hand, when there are multiple inventory registrations RS related to ingredients with the same name, and when a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 with an unclear deletion target is received for this ingredient, one or more inventory registrations R1 among the multiple inventory registrations RS are deleted based on a preset priority order. For example, when the registration management unit 422 receives a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 with an unclear deletion target, the inventory registration R1 with the highest priority in the above priority order among the multiple inventory registrations R1 is deleted.

[0138] Here, ingredients with the same name are an example of "ingredients in the same category". Ingredients in the same category are not limited to ingredients with the same name, but can also include multiple ingredients that are preset to be in the same category. For example, "tomatoes" and "cherry tomatoes" can be preset to be ingredients in the same category in advance. In addition, the classification can be preset not based on individual ingredients, but in units of groups of ingredients. For example, when "salmon", "tuna", "sea bream", etc. are set as ingredients in the same category of "fish", and a deletion instruction from user U of "delete fish" is received, one or more inventory registrations R1 related to "fish" (such as the inventory registrations R1 of "salmon", "tuna", "sea bream") can also be deleted based on the above priority order (such as the order of the purchase date from the oldest to the newest). "Classification" can also be referred to as "category". Hereinafter, an example of setting a classification for each ingredient with the same name will be described.

[0139] In the present embodiment, the above priority order is the order of the purchase date of the ingredients from the oldest to the newest. However, the priority order can also be the order of the expiration date of ingestion from the earliest to the latest instead of the above example. The order of the expiration date of ingestion from the earliest to the latest is the order in which the expiration date of ingestion arrives earlier.

[0140] Figure 13 It is a diagram showing a control example related to the deletion of the inventory registration R1. In Figure 13In the example shown, as multiple inventory registrations RS related to "pork", there is an inventory registration R1 with a "purchase date: May 31st" and an inventory registration R1 with a "purchase date: June 2nd". In this case, when receiving a deletion instruction from user U to "delete pork" (for example, a deletion instruction based on speech), the registration management department 422 deletes the inventory registration R1 with a "purchase date: May 31st" based on the order of the purchase date of the ingredients from the oldest to the newest, that is, the priority order, and maintains the inventory registration R1 with a "purchase date: June 2nd" as it is.

[0141] Here, sometimes the inventory quantities of multiple inventory registrations RS are different from each other. When multiple inventory registrations RS related to a certain ingredient include a first registration and a second registration, where the first registration indicates the existence of a first quantity of the above ingredient, and the second registration has a lower priority in the above priority order compared to the first registration and the second registration indicates the existence of a second quantity of the above ingredient that is more than the first quantity, in the case of receiving a deletion instruction to delete an amount of the above ingredient that is more than the first quantity and the deletion target is not clear regarding the above ingredient, the registration management department 422 deletes the first registration and maintains the second registration as it is at the second quantity. In this case, the response control department 423 can also report to user U the situation of maintaining the second registration as it is at the second quantity.

[0142] Figure 14 It is a diagram showing another control example related to the deletion of inventory registration. In Figure 14 In the example shown, as multiple inventory registrations RS related to "pork", there is an inventory registration R1 with a "purchase date: May 31st, inventory quantity: 200 grams" and an inventory registration R1 with a "purchase date: June 2nd, inventory quantity: 300 grams". In this case, when receiving a deletion instruction from user U to "delete 300 grams of pork" (for example, a deletion instruction based on speech), the registration management department 422 deletes the inventory registration R1 with a "purchase date: May 31st, inventory quantity: 200 grams" and maintains the inventory registration R1 with a "purchase date: June 2nd, inventory quantity: 300 grams" as it is.

[0143] Furthermore, in the same situation as above, when the registration management department 422 of the present embodiment receives a deletion instruction to delete an amount of the above ingredient that is more than the second quantity and the deletion target is not clear regarding the above ingredient, it deletes the first registration and maintains the second registration as it is at the second quantity. That is, compared with Figure 14Similar to the example shown, in the case of inventory registration R1 with "Purchase Date: May 31st, Inventory Quantity: 200 grams" and inventory registration R1 with "Purchase Date: June 2nd, Inventory Quantity: 300 grams" as multiple inventory registrations RS related to "pork", when receiving a deletion instruction from user U to "delete 400 grams of pork" (for example, a deletion instruction based on speech), the registration management department 422 deletes the inventory registration R1 with "Purchase Date: May 31st, Inventory Quantity: 200 grams" and maintains the inventory registration R1 with "Purchase Date: June 2nd, Inventory Quantity: 300 grams" as it is.

[0144] By performing this process, in the case where user U erroneously indicates a larger quantity of the inventory registration R1 to be deleted, it is possible to prevent the inventory registration R1 that is not the deletion target from disappearing unexpectedly. On the other hand, when the quantity of the deletion instruction is correct (when wanting to delete the inventory registration R1 with a newer purchase date as well), although the inventory quantity of the inventory registration R1 with a newer purchase date does not decrease appropriately, this inventory registration R1 remains in the inventory list DB521 and is in a state where user U can easily confirm it. Therefore, user U can easily correct the inventory quantity of the inventory registration R1 with a newer purchase date to the correct quantity by issuing an additional deletion instruction.

[0145] In the present embodiment, when a part or all of the multiple inventory registrations RS related to the ingredient to be deleted are inventory registrations related to the freezer 11E, and when receiving a deletion instruction for an inventory registration R1 with an unclear deletion target regarding this ingredient, the response control unit 423 outputs a question indicating which inventory registration R1 to delete from the reporting unit (the voice dialogue device 200, the display device 30 of the refrigerator 100, or the display device 310 of the terminal device 300).

[0146] In the present embodiment, when the above-mentioned question is output, the response control unit 423 causes the above-mentioned question to be output as sound from the voice dialogue device 200 by sending a prescribed control signal to the first server device 410. In this case, the response control unit 423 attaches different identification information to a plurality of inventory registrations RS related to the food material to be deleted and outputs them as sound. This identification information is, for example, different numbers or different letters, but is not limited to the above examples as long as it is information that can be responded to with a short speech and is easily distinguishable (easily recognizable) information. The registration management unit 422 determines the inventory registration R1 to be deleted based on an instruction brought about by a voice input of the user U that designates the above-mentioned identification information accepted by the instruction reception unit 421. On the other hand, when the instruction reception unit 421 accepts an instruction based on a voice input that designates a food material name in addition to the instruction based on the voice input that designates the above-mentioned identification information, the registration management unit 422 does not use the instruction based on the voice input that designates the above-mentioned food material name for the determination of the inventory registration R1 to be deleted, or uses it for the determination of the inventory registration R1 to be deleted with a reduced weight compared to the above-mentioned identification information. This identification information can also be managed as a part of each inventory registration R1 in correspondence with information indicating a food material (food material information) in the inventory list DB521, for example.

[0147] Figure 15 FIG. is a diagram showing another control example related to the deletion of the inventory registration R1. In Figure 15 the example shown, as the plurality of inventory registrations RS, there are an inventory registration R1 of "Purchase date: May 31st, Storage room: Freezer" and an inventory registration R1 of "Purchase date: June 2nd, Storage room: Refrigerator". In this case, when the deletion instruction (for example, a deletion instruction based on speech) of the user U of "Delete pork" is accepted, the response control unit 423 outputs from the voice dialogue device 200 the question "Which one should be deleted, the pork with No. 1 and purchase date of May 31st, or the pork with No. 2 and purchase date of June 2nd?" In addition, the response control unit 423 can also output a question with the storage room 11 added from the voice dialogue device 200 as "Which one should be deleted, the pork with No. 1, purchase date of May 31st, in the freezer, or the pork with No. 2, purchase date of June 2nd, in the refrigerator?"

[0148] Then, the instruction reception unit 421 waits for an additional instruction based on the voice of the user U. For example, when there is a voice response of the user U of "Delete No. 1", the instruction reception unit 421 determines the inventory registration R1 of "Purchase date: May 31st, Storage room: Freezer" as the inventory registration R1 to be deleted. In this case, the registration management unit 422 deletes the inventory registration R1 to be deleted determined by the instruction reception unit 421 from the inventory list DB521.

[0149] <6.2 Control Flow>

[0150] Figure 16 It is a flowchart showing the process related to the deletion of the inventory registration R1. First, the instruction reception department 421 is instructed to receive the deletion instruction of the inventory registration R1 from the user U (S101). Next, when the registration management department 422 receives the deletion instruction by the instruction reception department 421, it determines whether the inventory registration R1 corresponding to the deletion instruction object exists in the inventory list DB521 (S102). When the inventory registration R1 corresponding to the deletion instruction object does not exist in the inventory list DB521 (S102: No), the response control department 423 reports to the user U that there is no inventory registration R1 corresponding to the deletion instruction object (S103), and ends the process.

[0151] When the inventory registration R1 corresponding to the deletion instruction object exists in the inventory list DB521 (S102: Yes), the registration management department 422 determines whether there are two or more inventory registrations R1 corresponding to the deletion instruction object in the inventory list DB521 (S104). When there is only one inventory registration R1 corresponding to the deletion instruction object in the inventory list DB521 (S104: No), the registration management department 422 deletes the inventory registration R1 corresponding to the deletion instruction object (S105). In this case, the response control department 423 reports the deleted inventory registration R1 to the user U (S109), and ends the process.

[0152] When there are two or more inventory registrations R1 corresponding to the deletion instruction object in the inventory list DB521 (S104: Yes), the registration management department 422 determines whether it is possible to determine the inventory registration R1 to be deleted based on the instruction of the user U (that is, whether it is a deletion instruction that can uniquely determine the deletion object) (S105). When it is possible to determine the inventory registration R1 to be deleted (S105: Yes), the determined inventory registration R1 is deleted (S107). In this case, the response control department 423 reports the deleted inventory registration R1 to the user U (S109), and ends the process.

[0153] On the other hand, when the registration management department 422 cannot determine the inventory registration R1 to be deleted (S105: No), one inventory registration R1 corresponding to the deletion instruction object is deleted based on the above priority order (S108). In this case, the response control department 423 reports the deleted inventory registration R1 to the user U (S109), and ends the process.

[0154] <6.3 Advantages>

[0155] In the present embodiment, when a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 with an unclear deletion target is received, one or more inventory registrations R1 among the plurality of inventory registrations RS are deleted based on a preset priority order. With this configuration, even when there are multiple inventory registrations R1 for ingredients with the same name, it is possible to suppress asking the user U for a detailed deletion instruction or making multiple inquiries to the user U to delete the inventory registration R1, and the burden on the user U can be reduced. As a result, an improvement in the convenience of the user U can be achieved.

[0156] In the present embodiment, the above-mentioned priority order is the order from the oldest purchase date to the latest purchase date of the ingredients, or the order from the earliest expiration date to the latest expiration date. Ingredients with an old purchase date or ingredients with an approaching expiration date are highly likely to be preferentially used in cooking. Therefore, by preferentially deleting ingredients with an old purchase date or ingredients with an approaching expiration date, it is possible to perform a deletion process that conforms to the intention of the user U with higher accuracy.

[0157] In the present embodiment, when a part or all of the plurality of inventory registrations RS are inventory registrations R1 related to the freezer 11E, a question indicating which inventory registration R1 to delete is output. Even if the ingredients stored in the freezer 11E have an old purchase date, there is a possibility of being used later. Therefore, by asking the user for confirmation, it is possible to perform a deletion process that conforms to the intention of the user U with higher accuracy.

[0158] In the present embodiment, when the above-mentioned question is output, different identification information is attached to the plurality of inventory registrations RS and output as sound, and based on the voice input instruction of the user who designates the above-mentioned identification information, the inventory registration R1 to be deleted is determined. With this configuration, misrecognition in voice input can be reduced. As a result, it is possible to perform a deletion process that conforms to the intention of the user U with higher accuracy.

[0159] In addition, in the above control example, when a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 with an unclear deletion target is received, the inventory registration R1 with the highest priority in the above-mentioned priority order among the plurality of inventory registrations R1 is deleted. Instead of this, when the amount to be deleted indicated in the deletion instruction of the user U is equal to or more than a specified amount, the registration management unit 422 may also delete two or more inventory registrations R1 with relatively high priority in the above-mentioned priority order among the plurality of inventory registrations R1 according to the indicated amount to be deleted.

[0160] <6.4 Variation Example>

[0161] (First Variation Example)

[0162] In the case where a part of the plurality of inventory registrations RS related to the food material to be deleted is the inventory registration R1 related to the freezer compartment 11E in the registration management unit 422 of the first modification example, when a deletion instruction with an unclear deletion target is received for the food material, at least a part of the inventory registration R1 related to the freezer compartment 11E is excluded and one or more inventory registrations R1 in the plurality of inventory registrations RS are deleted. That is, in this modification example, at least a part of the inventory registration R1 related to the freezer compartment 11E is automatically excluded, and the inventory registration R1 of the deletion target is determined from the inventory registration R1 of the food material stored in the storage compartment 11 different from the freezer compartment 11E. With this configuration, when the user U wants to delete the food material stored in the freezer compartment 11E, the deletion process can be performed according to the deletion instruction specifying the storage compartment 11, and when the user wants to delete the food material stored in other storage compartments 11, the deletion process can be performed with a simpler deletion instruction. Thereby, the convenience of the user can be further improved. The meaning of "excluding at least a part" mentioned here is that, for example, if there are inventory registrations R1 related to the freezer compartment 11E that meet specific conditions, they may not be excluded from the candidates for deletion, but whether they are deletion targets is determined based on the same criteria as the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerator compartment 11A. The "inventory registration that meets specific conditions" is the inventory registration R1 in which the food material stored in the freezer compartment 11E conforms to a specific food classification (such as fruits), the inventory registration R1 in which the purchase date of the food material stored in the freezer compartment 11E is older than a specified date, etc., but is not limited to these.

[0163] (Second modification example)

[0164] In the case where the plurality of inventory registrations RS related to the food material to be deleted are registrations related to storage compartments in the same temperature zone in the registration management unit 422 of the second modification example, when a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 with an unclear deletion target is received for the food material, one or more inventory registrations R1 in the plurality of inventory registrations R1 are deleted based on the priority order of the first criterion, that is, the order from the oldest purchase date to the latest purchase date or the order from the earliest expiration date to the latest expiration date of the above food material. On the other hand, in the case where the plurality of inventory registrations RS related to the food material to be deleted are registrations related to the storage compartments 11 in different temperature zones in the registration management unit 422 of this modification example, when a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 with an unclear deletion target is received for the food material, one or more inventory registrations R1 in the plurality of inventory registrations R1 are deleted according to the priority order based on the second criterion different from the first criterion. These first criterion and second criterion are stored in the storage unit 425 as the food material priority order information 527.

[0165] The second reference above is, for example, a priority order preset according to the type of storage room 11. For example, in the second reference above, the lower the temperature zone of the storage room 11, the lower the priority order. For example, the above priority order decreases in the order of the refrigerating chamber 11A and the freezing chamber 11E. As described above, in this specification, the meaning of "decreasing in the order of X and Y" is that X is higher and Y is lower. That is, when there are different inventory registrations RS related to the refrigerating chamber 11A and the inventory registration R1 related to the freezing chamber 11E among the multiple inventory registrations RS, the registration management unit 422 preferentially deletes the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerating chamber 11A. The food stored in the refrigerating chamber 11A is more likely to be used earlier than the food stored in the freezing chamber 11E. Therefore, according to the above processing, it is sometimes possible to perform the deletion process that conforms to the intention of the user U with higher accuracy.

[0166] In another example, the priority order of the second reference decreases in the order of the fresh-keeping chamber 11B, the refrigerating chamber 11A, and the freezing chamber 11E. The food stored in the fresh-keeping chamber 11B is more likely to be used earlier than the food stored in the refrigerating chamber 11A and the freezing chamber 11E. Therefore, according to the above processing, it is sometimes possible to perform the deletion process that conforms to the intention of the user U with higher accuracy.

[0167] Figure 17 It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the food priority information 527. In Figure 17 In the example shown, the priority order of the second reference decreases in the order of the fresh-keeping chamber 11B, the refrigerating chamber 11A, the vegetable chamber 11C, and the freezing chamber 11E. The vegetables stored in the fresh-keeping chamber 11B and the refrigerating chamber 11A are more likely to be used earlier than the vegetables stored in the vegetable chamber 11C. Therefore, according to the above processing, it is sometimes possible to perform the deletion process that conforms to the intention of the user U with higher accuracy.

[0168] However, the first reference and the second reference in this modification example are not limited to the above examples. In the above modification example, the refrigerating chamber 11A, the vegetable chamber 11C, and the fresh-keeping chamber 11B are respectively divided as storage rooms 11 with different temperature zones. However, when observed from a broader perspective, the refrigerating chamber 11A and the vegetable chamber 11C can also be regarded as storage rooms 11 with the same temperature zone. In this case, even when multiple inventory registrations RS related to the food to be deleted are registrations divided into the refrigerating chamber 11A and the vegetable chamber 11C, when a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 with an unclear deletion target is received for this food, the inventory registration R1 of the food with the oldest purchase date (or the earliest expiration date) among the inventory registrations R1 of the food stored in the refrigerating chamber 11A and the vegetable chamber 11C can be deleted.

[0169] (Third Modification Example)

[0170] When there are multiple inventory registrations RS related to the food material to be deleted in the registration management unit 422 of the third modification example, and when a deletion instruction for the inventory registration R1 with an unclear deletion target is received regarding this food material, regardless of the purchase date and consumption period of the food material, only based on the priority order preset according to the type of the storage room 11, one or more of the multiple inventory registrations R1 are deleted. That is, the registration management unit 422 of the third modification example determines the inventory registration R1 to be deleted only based on the above-mentioned priority order of the second criterion. The details of the priority order in this modification example are the same as those of the priority order of the second criterion in the second modification example.

[0171] (Fourth Modification Example)

[0172] In the fourth modification example, it is an example where the above-mentioned priority order preset according to the type of the storage room 11 varies depending on the food material. That is, when the multiple inventory registrations RS include a first registration with the food material in the first storage room and a second registration with the food material in the second storage room where the temperature zone is lower than the first storage room, when the food material is the first food material, the above-mentioned priority order decreases in the order of the first storage room, the second storage room, and when the food material is the second food material different from the first food material, the above-mentioned priority order decreases in the order of the second storage room, the first storage room.

[0173] In one example, the first storage room is the refrigerating chamber 11A, the second storage room is the chilled food chamber 11B, the first food material is meat or seafood, and the second food material is vegetables. That is, when the inventory registration R1 to be deleted is meat or seafood, the registration management unit 422 preferentially deletes the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerating chamber 11A compared to the inventory registration R1 related to the chilled food chamber 11B. On the other hand, when the inventory registration R1 to be deleted is vegetables, the registration management unit 422 preferentially deletes the inventory registration R1 related to the chilled food chamber 11B compared to the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerating chamber 11A. This is because the meat and seafood stored in the refrigerating chamber 11A are more likely to be used earlier than the meat and seafood stored in the chilled food chamber 11B. On the other hand, most of the vegetables stored in the chilled food chamber 11B are partly processed (for example, cut) vegetables, and are more likely to be used earlier than the vegetables stored in the refrigerating chamber 11A.

[0174] In another example, the first storage compartment is the refrigerating compartment 11A, the chiller compartment 11B, or the vegetable compartment 11C, the second storage compartment is the freezer compartment 11E, the first food ingredient is vegetables, meat, or seafood, and the second food ingredient is fruit. That is, when the inventory registration R1 of the deletion target is vegetables, meat, or seafood, the registration management unit 422 preferentially deletes the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerating compartment 11A, the chiller compartment 11B, or the vegetable compartment 11C compared to the inventory registration R1 related to the freezer compartment 11E. On the other hand, when the inventory registration R1 of the deletion target is fruit, the registration management unit 422 preferentially deletes the inventory registration R1 related to the freezer compartment 11E compared to the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerating compartment 11A, the chiller compartment 11B, or the vegetable compartment 11C. This is because the vegetables, meat, and seafood stored in the refrigerating compartment 11A, the chiller compartment 11B, or the vegetable compartment 11C are more likely to be used earlier than the vegetables, meat, and seafood stored in the freezer compartment 11E. On the other hand, the fruit stored in the freezer compartment 11E is more likely to be eaten earlier as frozen fruit.

[0175] (Fifth Modification Example)

[0176] In the fifth modification example, when the plurality of inventory registrations RS include the first registration indicating that there is a food ingredient in the chiller compartment 11B and the second registration indicating that there is the above food ingredient in the refrigerating compartment 11A, in the case where the operation mode for cooling the chiller compartment 11B is the first operation mode, the above priority order becomes lower in the order of the chiller compartment 11B and the refrigerating compartment 11A. In the case where the operation mode for cooling the chiller compartment 11B is the second operation mode with a temperature band lower than the first operation mode, the above priority order becomes lower in the order of the refrigerating compartment 11A and the chiller compartment 11B. This is because when the chiller compartment 11B operates in a lower operation mode, the food ingredient stored in the refrigerating compartment 11A is more likely to be used earlier than the food ingredient stored in the chiller compartment 11B.

[0177] For example, when the operation mode for cooling the chiller compartment 11B is the "normal chilling" operation mode, the registration management unit 422 preferentially deletes the inventory registration R1 related to the chiller compartment 11B compared to the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerating compartment 11A. On the other hand, when the operation mode for cooling the chiller compartment 11B is the "rapid chilling" operation mode, the registration management unit 422 preferentially deletes the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerating compartment 11A compared to the inventory registration R1 related to the chiller compartment 11B.

[0178] In another example, when the operation mode for cooling the fresh food compartment 11B is the "defrost" operation mode, the registration management unit 422 preferentially deletes the inventory registration R1 related to the fresh food compartment 11B compared to the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerating compartment 11A. On the other hand, when the operation mode for cooling the fresh food compartment 11B is the "normal fresh food" operation mode, the registration management unit 422 preferentially deletes the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerating compartment 11A compared to the inventory registration R1 related to the fresh food compartment 11B.

[0179] In yet another example, when the operation mode for cooling the fresh food compartment 11B is the "normal" operation mode, the registration management unit 422 preferentially deletes the inventory registration R1 related to the fresh food compartment 11B compared to the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerating compartment 11A. On the other hand, when the operation mode for cooling the fresh food compartment 11B is the "special fresh food" operation mode, the registration management unit 422 preferentially deletes the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerating compartment 11A compared to the inventory registration R1 related to the fresh food compartment 11B.

[0180] As described above, several modified examples have been explained, but the modified examples are not limited to the above examples. For example, when multiple inventory registrations RS are separated into multiple storage compartments 11, the response control unit 423 may also ask the user U which inventory registration R1 to delete each time. In addition, the registration management unit 422 may also determine the inventory registration R1 to be deleted by limiting it to the storage compartment 11 where the door 20 of the refrigerator 100 is opened based on the detection result of an opening / closing switch (not shown) of the door 20.

[0181] <7. Control Example Related to Error Reporting Order>

[0182] <7.1 Processing Content>

[0183] As described above, the instruction reception unit 421 of the present embodiment can receive an instruction based on a voice input for simultaneously adding or deleting registrations of multiple food ingredients by the user U. The meaning of "simultaneously adding or deleting" in this specification does not mean strict timing coincidence, but adding or deleting indicated in a single speech of the user U. When such an instruction is received, sometimes the processing is normally completed for some of the multiple food ingredients, but the processing fails for some other food ingredients. In this case, the response control unit 423 reports an error to the user U in the following reporting order. The priority order of responses including these error reporting orders is preset and stored in the storage unit 425 as response priority order information 528. The meaning of "normal" in this specification is a state in which no error is reported to the user U.

[0184] Specifically, when the response control unit 423 does not normally receive an instruction from the instruction reception unit 421 regarding the addition or deletion of the registration of some of the multiple food ingredients (i.e., when an error is output regarding the registration of some of the multiple food ingredients), regardless of the speaking order of the multiple food ingredients in the voice input, the response control unit 423 first outputs the processing result related to the food ingredient for which the instruction has been normally received among the multiple food ingredients (i.e., the food ingredient that is not the target of the error), and then outputs the processing result related to the food ingredient for which the instruction has not been normally received among the multiple food ingredients (i.e., the food ingredient that is the target of the error). The "registration" mentioned here is not limited to the inventory registration R1, but also includes the shopping registration R2, the deletion registration R3, the submission registration R4, etc.

[0185] For example, when a deletion instruction of "delete three cabbages and one tomato" is received, if there is only one cabbage, the response control unit 423, like "One tomato has been deleted. There is only one cabbage. All have been deleted.", even for the response to the food ingredient indicated first among one statement, the response related to the food ingredient accompanied by an error is output later.

[0186] As described above, the registration management unit 422 manages the maximum registration quantity of the food ingredients that can be registered in each inventory registration R1 as 999 portions and the maximum number of registration items of the inventory registration R1 as 100 pieces. When the response control unit 423 simultaneously generates a first error related to the maximum registration quantity of the food ingredients and a second error related to the maximum number of registration items of the inventory registration R1 in the process of processing an instruction to simultaneously add the registration of multiple food ingredients, the first error is output first, and then the second error is output. The first error is an error that occurs when trying to add an inventory registration R1 with a quantity exceeding the maximum registration quantity. The second error is an error that occurs when trying to further add an inventory registration R1 in a state where the maximum number of registration items of the inventory registration R1 has been registered. The meaning of "simultaneously generate" in this specification is not strictly at the same moment, but rather multiple errors occur for the indicated content in a single statement of the user U.

[0187] Here, as described above, when the registration management unit 422 of the present embodiment generates the first error, for the food material for which the first error has occurred, registration is performed with a specified quantity equal to or less than the maximum registration quantity. That is, as described above, when an additional instruction for inventory registration R1 such as "add 1500 grams of beef to the refrigerating chamber" is received, the registration management unit 422 adds the inventory registration R1 with the quantity of the food material to be added being the maximum registration quantity (999 grams). The specified quantity is not limited to the maximum registration quantity and may also be a quantity less than it. As described above, when an additional instruction for inventory registration R1 such as "add 1500 cabbages to the refrigerating chamber" is received, the inventory registration R1 may also be added with a specified quantity (for example, 20 in the case of cabbages) preset according to the food material.

[0188] Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the first error and the second error are simultaneously generated in the process related to the instruction to register multiple food materials simultaneously, for the food material for which the first error has occurred, registration is performed with the specified quantity (for example, the maximum registration quantity), and for the food material for which the second error has occurred, the inventory registration R1 is not registered. Then, the response control unit 423 outputs the fact that the first food material has been registered with the specified quantity (for example, the maximum registration quantity) together with the first error first, and outputs the second error later.

[0189] For example, when an instruction such as "add 1500 grams of beef and add one cabbage" is received, and there are already 99 pieces of inventory registration R1 at that moment, the response control unit 423 answers as follows: "The maximum quantity that can be registered is 999. 999 grams of beef have been added. The maximum number of registered food materials is 100. Please delete the food material."

[0190] Furthermore, when the registration management unit 422 of the present embodiment generates the first error for the first food material among the multiple food materials, processes the second food material among the multiple food materials normally, and generates the second error related to the third food material among the multiple food materials, the registration management unit 422 registers the first food material with the specified quantity (for example, the maximum registration quantity), registers the second food material normally, and does not register the third food material. Then, the response control unit 423 outputs the fact that the second food material has been processed normally first, then outputs the fact that the first food material has been registered with the specified quantity (for example, the maximum registration quantity) together with the first error, and outputs the second error related to the third food material later.

[0191] For example, when an instruction of "add 1500 grams of beef, add three eggs, and add one cabbage" is received, and there are 98 pieces of inventory registration R1 at that moment, the response control unit 423 responds as follows: "Three eggs have been added. The maximum registrable quantity is 999. 999 grams of beef have been added. The maximum number of registered ingredients is 100. Please delete an ingredient."

[0192] In the present embodiment, when an error occurs in three or more of the multiple ingredients, the registration management unit 422 does not process all of the multiple ingredients. Then, the response control unit 423 outputs a response that generally indicates that the processing for the multiple ingredients has failed. In this case, the response control unit 423 does not output individual content regarding the three or more ingredients (error content for each of the three or more ingredients).

[0193] For example, when an instruction of "delete 200 grams of pork, delete 200 grams of beef, and delete two carrots" is received, and the deletion of the inventory registration R1 of "pork", "beef", and "carrot" fails due to one of the reasons (B1) to (B5) above, the response control unit 423 responds as follows: "All processes have failed. Please try to give separate instructions."

[0194] However, when the multiple ingredients include four or more ingredients, an error occurs in three or more of them, but one or more of the other ingredients can be processed normally, it is also possible that the registration management unit 422 processes the one or more of the other ingredients normally, and the response control unit 423 reports to the user U that the one or more of the other ingredients have been processed normally.

[0195] <7.2 Control Flow>

[0196] Figure 18 It is a flowchart showing the processing related to the instruction of the user U for registering or deleting multiple ingredients simultaneously. First, the instruction reception unit 421 receives the instruction of the user U (S201). Next, the registration management unit 422 starts the processing of adding or deleting the registration based on the instruction of the instruction reception unit 421 (S202).

[0197] Next, the registration management unit 422 determines whether an error has occurred in three or more of the multiple ingredients (S203). When an error has occurred in three or more of the ingredients (S203: Yes), the response control unit 423 outputs a response that generally indicates that the processing for the multiple ingredients has failed (S204), and ends the processing.

[0198] When the registration management unit 422 has not made an error for three or more of the above ingredients (including the case where there are originally two or fewer target ingredients) (S203: No), it determines whether there is an instruction that has been processed normally for the instruction of user U to register multiple ingredients simultaneously or delete them (S205). When the registration management unit 422 has an instruction that has been processed normally (S205: Yes), it assigns the identifier "i" to the instruction that has been processed normally (S206) and proceeds to S207. On the other hand, when the registration management unit 422 has no instruction that has been processed normally (S205: No), it proceeds to S207.

[0199] Next, the registration management unit 422 determines whether there is an instruction that has generated a first error for the instruction of user U to register multiple ingredients simultaneously or delete them (S207). When the registration management unit 422 has an instruction that has generated a first error (S207: Yes), it assigns the identifier "j" to the instruction that has generated the first error (S208) and proceeds to S209. On the other hand, when the registration management unit 422 has no instruction that has generated a first error (S207: No), it proceeds to S209.

[0200] Next, the registration management unit 422 determines whether there is an instruction that has generated a second error for the instruction of user U to register multiple ingredients simultaneously or delete them (S209). When the registration management unit 422 has an instruction that has generated a second error (S209: Yes), it assigns the identifier "k" to the instruction that has generated the second error (S210) and proceeds to S211. On the other hand, when the registration management unit 422 has no instruction that has generated a second error (S209: No), it proceeds to S211.

[0201] Next, the response control unit 423 rearranges the response order for the instructions in the order of the identifiers "i", "j", and "k" (S211). Next, the response control unit 423 outputs a response to the processing result of the instruction of user U based on the response order rearranged in S211 (S212).

[0202] <7.3 Advantages>

[0203] As a comparative example, consider an ingredient management system that only responds with a failed process for the instruction of user U. If such a response is made, there may be a situation where user U is made unhappy and the processing for user U becomes cumbersome. As a result, there may be a situation where the convenience of user U is reduced.

[0204] Therefore, when the instructions related to a part of multiple ingredients in the ingredient management system of this embodiment are not processed normally, regardless of the speaking order of the multiple ingredients in the voice input, the processing results related to the ingredients for which the instructions have been processed normally among the multiple ingredients are output first, and the processing results related to the ingredients for which the instructions have not been processed normally among the multiple ingredients are output later. According to this configuration, compared with the above comparative example, it is possible to reduce the discomfort of the user U in the case of processing failure and promote smooth subsequent processing. Thus, the convenience of the user U can be improved.

[0205] In this embodiment, when a first error related to the maximum registration quantity of ingredients and a second error related to the maximum number of registration items of ingredient registration occur simultaneously, the response control unit 423 outputs the first error first and the second error later. According to this configuration, by outputting the second error, which requires more attention from the user U than the first error, later, it is easy to strongly attract the user U's attention to the second error (easy to remain in the user U's consciousness). Thus, the convenience of the user U can be further improved.

[0206] Here, when errors occur for all of three or more ingredients, if all the error contents are output, the response becomes long, and it is difficult to attract the user U's attention to the details of the response. Therefore, in this embodiment, when errors occur for three or more ingredients, the response control unit 423 outputs a response that generally indicates that the processing has failed for three or more ingredients. According to this configuration, compared with the case of outputting all errors, the response can be shortened. Thus, the convenience of the user U can be further improved.

[0207] <7.4 Variation Example>

[0208] (First Variation Example)

[0209] When the response control unit 423 of the first variation example receives an instruction from the user U to simultaneously add or delete the registration of multiple ingredients, and when errors occur for two or more ingredients included in the multiple ingredients, it outputs a response that generally indicates that the processing has failed for the multiple ingredients. In this case, the response control unit 423 does not output the individual contents regarding the two or more ingredients (the error contents for each of the two or more ingredients). Thus, compared with the case of outputting all errors, the response can be shortened. Thus, sometimes the convenience of the user U can be further improved.

[0210] (Second Variation Example)

[0211] When the registration management unit 422 of the second modification example fails to normally recognize the instruction related to the first food ingredient among the multiple food ingredients through the instruction reception unit 421, and at the same time, the first error related to the second food ingredient among the multiple food ingredients and the second error related to the third food ingredient among the multiple food ingredients occur, the registration for the first food ingredient is not performed, the registration for the second food ingredient is performed with the specified quantity (e.g., the maximum registration quantity), and the registration for the third food ingredient is not performed. Then, the response control unit 423 outputs the fact that the registration for the second food ingredient has been performed with the specified quantity (e.g., the maximum registration quantity) together with the first error first, then outputs the second error related to the third food ingredient, and outputs the third error indicating that the first food ingredient has not been normally recognized later.

[0212] For example, when an instruction of "add three eggs, add 1500 grams of beef, add one cabbage" is received, and at that moment, there are 99 pieces of inventory registration R1 and the instruction related to "eggs" is not normally recognized, the response control unit 423 answers as "The maximum quantity that can be registered is 999. 999 grams of beef have been added. The maximum number of registered food ingredients is 100. Please delete the food ingredient. The first instruction could not be recognized."

[0213] (Third modification example)

[0214] The third modification example is an example where the analysis result of the voice of the user U and the likelihood information indicating the likelihood of the recognition result of each instruction for the user U are sent from the first server device 410 to the instruction reception unit 421 of the second server device 420.

[0215] When the registration management unit 422 of the third modification example receives an instruction from the user U to register or delete multiple food ingredients simultaneously, and the likelihood of the recognition result of the instruction related to the first food ingredient among the multiple food ingredients is less than a preset threshold, and at the same time, the first error related to the second food ingredient among the multiple food ingredients and the second error related to the third food ingredient among the multiple food ingredients occur, the first food ingredient is registered with the inferred food ingredient (the food ingredient with the highest likelihood), the second food ingredient is registered with the specified quantity (e.g., the maximum registration quantity), and the third food ingredient is not registered. Then, the response control unit 423 outputs the fact that the registration for the second food ingredient has been performed with the specified quantity (e.g., the maximum registration quantity) together with the first error first, then outputs the second error related to the third food ingredient, and outputs the fact that the first food ingredient has been registered with the inferred food ingredient later.

[0216] For example, when an instruction such as "Add three eggs, add 1500 grams of beef, add one cabbage" is received, if there are 98 pieces of inventory registration R1 at that time and the likelihood of the recognition result in the instruction related to "egg" is less than a preset threshold, the response control unit 423 responds as follows: "The maximum quantity that can be registered is 999. 999 grams of beef have been added. The maximum number of registered food ingredients is 100. Please delete a food ingredient. Is the first food ingredient an egg? Three eggs have been added." According to this response, the response related to the food ingredient registered by inference comes last, so it is easy to strongly attract the attention of the user U to the food ingredient registered by inference (it is easy to remain in the consciousness of the user U). Therefore, when the food ingredient registered by inference is incorrect, the possibility that the user U will not forget to make a correction can be increased.

[0217] As described above, several modification examples have been explained, but the modification examples are not limited to the above examples. For example, when an instruction from the user U to add or delete the registration of multiple food ingredients simultaneously is received and the instruction related to a part of the multiple food ingredients cannot be recognized, the response control unit 423 can output a response indicating the meaning that cannot be recognized or a question to the user U for the content of the instruction that cannot be recognized. In this case, the response indicating the meaning that cannot be recognized and the question to the user U are output at the end of the above error reporting order (for example, after the reporting of the first error and the second error).

[0218] <8. Control example in the case of multiple refrigerators>

[0219] <8.1 Processing content>

[0220] As described above, when there are multiple refrigerators 100 (for example, refrigerator 100A and refrigerator 100B) in the same residence, the setting unit 424 sets a refrigerator 100 that becomes the object of the instruction for food ingredient management from among the multiple refrigerators 100 based on the instruction received by the instruction reception unit 421. The so-called "refrigerator that becomes the object of the instruction for food ingredient management" is not limited to the case where a refrigerator 100 newly becomes the object of the instruction for food ingredient management, and also includes the case where the refrigerator 100 that becomes the object of the instruction for food ingredient management is changed from one refrigerator 100 to another refrigerator 100.

[0221] Here, the so-called "object of instruction for food ingredient management" is, for example, the refrigerator 100 that becomes the object of addition, deletion, or confirmation of the inventory registration R1 when there is an instruction (such as addition, deletion, or confirmation of the inventory registration R1 in the inventory list DB521) in the voice operation of the voice dialogue device 200 regarding food ingredient management and the voice of the user U who does not specify the refrigerator 100. In another view, the so-called "object of instruction for food ingredient management" is, for example, the refrigerator 100 on which operations for food ingredient management can be performed on the home page of food ingredient management that is first displayed after the APP is started during the operation of the display device 310 of the terminal device 300. In other words, the so-called "object of instruction for food ingredient management" is the refrigerator 100 with the highest priority for food ingredient management among the multiple refrigerators 100 in the same residence.

[0222] In the present embodiment, the setting unit 424 sets the refrigerator 100 that becomes the object of food ingredient management from among the multiple refrigerators 100 based on the instruction of the voice input of the user U received by the instruction reception unit 421. In the present embodiment, when the response control unit 423 outputs information indicating the multiple refrigerators 100 that can be set as the object of food ingredient management, it outputs the information in voice after attaching different identification information to the multiple refrigerators 100. This identification information is, for example, different numbers or different letters, but as long as it is information that can be responded to with a short speech or information that is easy to distinguish (easy-to-identify information), it is not limited to the above examples. Then, the setting unit 424 sets the refrigerator 100 that becomes the object of food ingredient management based on the instruction of the voice input of the user U that designates the above identification information.

[0223] In the present embodiment, the setting unit 424 can receive the registration of an arbitrary name (nickname) for each of the multiple refrigerators 100 through the instruction reception unit 421. The arbitrary name is, for example, a name by which the user U can distinguish the multiple refrigerators 100, such as "father's refrigerator", "mother's refrigerator", or "big refrigerator", "small refrigerator", or "kitchen refrigerator", "living room refrigerator", etc.

[0224] Figure 19FIG. is an example showing the content of the refrigerator registration information 529. In the refrigerator registration information 529, a user ID capable of identifying the user U, a refrigerator ID capable of identifying the refrigerator 100, an arbitrary name registered for the refrigerator 100, and information indicating whether any refrigerator 100 is set as an object of foodstuff management are associated with each other. In the present specification, "a plurality of refrigerators 100 within the same dwelling" or "a plurality of refrigerators 100 that can be set as an object of foodstuff management" means, for example, a plurality of refrigerators 100 registered in association with the same user U (the same user ID). Instead, "a plurality of refrigerators 100 within the same dwelling" or "a plurality of refrigerators 100 that can be set as an object of foodstuff management" may also be a plurality of refrigerators 100 that communicate with the server 400 via the same router R.

[0225] In the present embodiment, when setting the refrigerator 100 as an object of an instruction for foodstuff management (for example, in the case of a new setting or a change), the response control unit 423 outputs, as a combination (set), the above-mentioned name attached to the plurality of refrigerators 100 and the above-mentioned identification information (for example, a number or a letter) by voice. Then, the setting unit 424 sets the refrigerator 100 as an object of foodstuff management according to an instruction based on a voice input of the user U designating the above-mentioned identification information. On the other hand, in addition to an instruction based on a voice input designating the above-mentioned identification information, the setting unit 424 also, when an instruction based on a voice input designating the above-mentioned name is received by the instruction reception unit 421, does not use the instruction based on the voice input designating the above-mentioned name to determine the refrigerator 100 as an object of foodstuff management, or uses it with a reduced weight compared to the above-mentioned identification information.

[0226] For example, when Figure 19 the refrigerator registration information 529 as shown is registered, when an instruction of a voice input of the user U indicating switching of the refrigerator 100 such as "change the refrigerator for foodstuff management", "switch the refrigerator", or "want to change to a different refrigerator" is received by the instruction reception unit 421, the response control unit 423 outputs, from the voice dialogue device 200, a question "There are No. 1, mother's refrigerator, and No. 2, father's refrigerator. Which one do you want to use for the foodstuff management function? Please inform by number." Then, the instruction reception unit 421 waits, for example, for an additional instruction based on the voice of the user U. For example, when there is an answer of the voice of the user U such as "No. 1", the setting unit 424 determines the refrigerator 100 with "ID: 100214" as the refrigerator 100 as an object of an instruction for foodstuff management. Then, the setting unit 424 updates the refrigerator registration information 529 based on the information indicating the determined refrigerator 100, thereby switching the refrigerator 100 as an object of an instruction for foodstuff management.

[0227] In the present embodiment, the setting unit 424 maintains the settings related to the target of the instruction for food material management until an instruction from the user U to change the refrigerator 100 that is the target of the instruction for food material management is received by the instruction reception unit 421. That is, once the refrigerator 100 that is the target of the instruction for food material management is set, the target of the instruction for food material management is fixed to the same refrigerator 100 even after the operation of the voice dialogue device 200 or the terminal device 300 is completed, until an additional instruction to delete or change the registration of the refrigerator 100 that is the target of the instruction for food material management is received.

[0228] <8.2 Example in the case of setting a new refrigerator>

[0229] <8.2.1 One example in the case of setting a new refrigerator>

[0230] When the number of refrigerators 100 that can be set as the target of the instruction for food material management increases, the response control unit 423 outputs a question indicating which refrigerator 100 is to be set as the target of the instruction for food material management. For example, the response control unit 423 outputs the question "The refrigerator 100 registered in the APP has been changed. There are refrigerator No. 1, mother's refrigerator, refrigerator No. 2, father's refrigerator, and refrigerator No. 3, living room refrigerator. Which one is to be used for the food material management function? Please inform by the number." Then, the setting unit 424 sets the refrigerator 100 that is the target of the instruction for food material management based on the answer of the user U to the above question.

[0231] <8.2.2 Modified example in the case of setting a new refrigerator>

[0232] In the modified example, when the number of refrigerators 100 that can be set as the target of the instruction for food material management increases, the setting unit 424 automatically sets the last newly registered refrigerator 100 as the target of the instruction for food material management. In another modified example, when the number of refrigerators 100 that can be set as the target of the instruction for food material management increases, when the last newly registered refrigerator 100 is newer and / or has a larger capacity than the refrigerator 100 that is being set as the target of the instruction for food material management, the setting unit 424 automatically sets the last newly registered refrigerator 100 as the target of the instruction for food material management. The comparison of the newness and oldness or the capacity of the multiple refrigerators 100 can be performed based on the refrigerator ID registered in the refrigerator registration information 529 and the product information (not shown). On the other hand, for example, when the last newly registered refrigerator 100 is older or has a smaller capacity than the refrigerator 100 that is being set as the target of the instruction for food material management, the setting unit 424 may not set the last newly registered refrigerator 100 as the target of the instruction for food material management.

[0233] <8.3 Example in the case of the refrigerator being discarded>

[0234] <Example 1 in the case where the refrigerator is discarded>

[0235] When the setting unit 424 registers the first refrigerator (e.g., refrigerator 100A) and the second refrigerator (e.g., refrigerator 100B) as the refrigerators 100 that can be set as the instruction target for ingredient management, and in the case where the registration of the first refrigerator that is being set as the instruction target for ingredient management is deleted (e.g., when it is deleted from the refrigerator registration information 529), the inventory registration of the ingredients related to the first refrigerator is changed to the inventory registration related to the second refrigerator. In this case, the setting unit 424 changes the inventory registration R1 of the first refrigerator to the inventory registration R1 of the second refrigerator while maintaining the information of the storage room 11 indicating that each inventory registration R1 is associated. That is, the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerator compartment 11A of the first refrigerator is changed to the inventory registration R1 related to the refrigerator compartment 11A of the second refrigerator, and the inventory registration R1 related to the freezer compartment 11E of the first refrigerator is changed to the inventory registration R1 related to the freezer compartment 11E of the second refrigerator.

[0236] For example, when registering Figure 19 the refrigerator registration information 529 as shown, the following case is taken as an example for explanation: As the instruction target for ingredient management, "Father's refrigerator 100" is set. As the inventory registration R1 related to "Father's refrigerator 100", there is an inventory registration R1 of "200 grams of pork" for the refrigerator compartment 11A and an inventory registration R1 of "2 ice creams" for the freezer compartment 11E. In this case, when the registration of "Father's refrigerator 100" is deleted, as the inventory registration R1 related to "Mother's refrigerator 100", an inventory registration R1 of "200 grams of pork" is added for the refrigerator compartment 11A, and an inventory registration R1 of "2 ice creams" is added for the freezer compartment 11E.

[0237] <Another example in the case where the refrigerator is discarded>

[0238] Among a plurality of refrigerators 100 that can be set as an instruction target for food ingredient management, including a first refrigerator (e.g., refrigerator 100A), a second refrigerator (e.g., refrigerator 100B), and a third refrigerator (e.g., refrigerator 100C), when the second refrigerator is set as the instruction target for food ingredient management and the registration of the second refrigerator is deleted, the response control unit 423 outputs a question indicating which refrigerator 100 among the first refrigerator and the third refrigerator should be set as the instruction target for food ingredient management. For example, when there are "mother's refrigerator", "father's refrigerator", and "living room refrigerator" and the registration of the "father's refrigerator" that is set as the instruction target for food ingredient management is deleted, the response control unit 423 outputs the question "The refrigerator 100 registered in the APP has been changed. There are No. 1, mother's refrigerator, and No. 2, living room refrigerator. Which one should be used for the food ingredient management function? Please inform by number." Then, the setting unit 424 sets the refrigerator 100 that is the instruction target for food ingredient management based on the user U's answer to the above question.

[0239] <8.4 Control Flow>

[0240] Figure 20 It is a flowchart showing the processing when the number of refrigerators 100 that can be set as the object of food ingredient management is changed. When the number of refrigerators 100 that can be set as the object of food ingredient management is changed, the response control unit 423 determines whether the number of the changed refrigerators 100 is 1 or 2 or more (S301). When the number of the changed refrigerators 100 is 1 (S301: 1 unit), the response control unit 423 reads out the name of the refrigerator 100 that can be used at that time (S302). For example, the response control unit 423 outputs a response such as "The currently available one is the father's refrigerator".

[0241] On the other hand, when the number of the changed refrigerators 100 is 2 or more (S301: 2 or more), the response control unit 423 outputs a question indicating which refrigerator 100 should be set as the instruction target for food ingredient management (S303). Next, the instruction reception unit 421 receives the user U's answer to the above question (S304). Next, the setting unit 424 sets the refrigerator 100 that becomes the object of food ingredient management based on the user U's answer received by the instruction reception unit 421 (S305). Next, the response control unit 423 reads out the refrigerator 100 that is set as the object of food ingredient management (S306). Thus, a series of processing ends.

[0242] <8.5 Advantages>

[0243] In the present embodiment, when there are multiple refrigerators 100 in the same dwelling, based on the instruction received by the instruction reception unit 421, a refrigerator 100 to be the target of the instruction for food ingredient management is set from among the multiple refrigerators 100. With this configuration, when there are multiple refrigerators 100, the food ingredient management function can be assigned to any one of the refrigerators 100. Thus, compared with the case where the food ingredient management functions of the multiple refrigerators 100 are managed separately, the management burden on the user U can be reduced. Thereby, an improvement in the convenience for the user U can be achieved.

[0244] In the present embodiment, when the response control unit 423 outputs information indicating the multiple refrigerators 100 that can be set as the targets of food ingredient management, different identification information is attached to the multiple refrigerators 100 and output by voice. Then, the setting unit 424 sets the refrigerator 100 to be the target of food ingredient management according to an instruction based on the voice of the user U designating the above-mentioned identification information. With this configuration, misrecognition in voice input can be reduced. Thus, deletion processing conforming to the intention of the user U can be performed with higher accuracy.

[0245] According to at least one of the embodiments described above, when the food ingredient management system receives a deletion instruction for inventory registration where the deletion target is unclear for a certain food ingredient, one or more of the multiple inventory registrations are deleted based on a preset priority order. With this configuration, an improvement in the convenience of using the food ingredient management system can be achieved.

[0246] [Supplementary Note] A supplementary note is made regarding the food ingredient management system related to another aspect.

[0247] A food ingredient management system includes:

[0248] a reception unit that receives an instruction based on a voice input of a user, the instruction being an instruction to simultaneously add or delete the registration of multiple food ingredients; and

[0249] a response control unit that, when an error occurs in the output regarding the registration of some of the multiple food ingredients, regardless of the speaking order of the multiple food ingredients in the voice input, causes the processing results related to the food ingredients that are not the target of the error among the multiple food ingredients to be output first, and causes the processing results related to the food ingredients that are the target of the error among the multiple food ingredients to be output later.

[0250] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other ways, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the scope equivalent to the invention described in the claims.

Claims

1. A food ingredient management system for managing food ingredients existing as inventory in a user's residence, comprising: a reception unit that receives an analysis result obtained by analyzing voice data of a user's utterance, and when the analysis result indicates an instruction to simultaneously add multiple food ingredient inventory registrations, based on the analysis result, receives the instruction to simultaneously add the multiple food ingredient inventory registrations; The registration management department adds the inventory registration in the database that manages the inventory registration based on the instruction received by the acceptance department; And a response control unit that can output an error related to the inventory registration. The registration management department manages the maximum registration quantity of the ingredients that can be registered in each inventory registration and the maximum number of inventory registrations that can be registered in the database. For each of the multiple ingredients for which the acceptance department receives an instruction to add the inventory registration simultaneously, if the condition related to the maximum registration quantity is not met, it is determined that there is a first error related to the maximum registration quantity, and the inventory registration is performed with a predetermined quantity not exceeding the maximum registration quantity. If the condition related to the maximum number of registrations is not met, it is determined that there is a second error related to the maximum number of registrations. For the multiple ingredients for which the acceptance department receives an instruction to add the inventory registration simultaneously, when the registration management department determines that there are the first error and the second error, regardless of the speaking order of the multiple ingredients in the speech segment, based on the response priority information obtained by presetting the error reporting order, the first error related to the ingredient determined to have the first error is output first, and the second error related to the ingredient determined to have the second error is output later.

2. The ingredient management system according to claim 1, wherein the acceptance department accepts the analysis result obtained by analyzing the voice data of a speech segment of the user, and when the analysis result indicates an instruction to simultaneously delete the inventory of multiple ingredients, based on the analysis result, accepts the instruction to simultaneously delete the inventory of the multiple ingredients. The registration management department, based on the inventory registration registered in the database, for each of the multiple ingredients for which the acceptance department receives an instruction to simultaneously delete the inventory, if there is no inventory registration for this ingredient, it is determined that there is a third error related to the absence of inventory registration; if there is an inventory registration for this ingredient but the registered quantity of the ingredient is less than the quantity of the ingredient in the deletion instruction, it is determined that there is a fourth error related to the insufficient quantity, and the inventory registration is deleted in the state of insufficient quantity of the ingredient. For the multiple ingredients for which the acceptance department receives an instruction to simultaneously delete the inventory, when the registration management department determines that there are the third error and the fourth error, regardless of the speaking order of the multiple ingredients in the speech segment, based on the response priority information obtained by presetting the error reporting order, the fourth error related to the ingredient determined to have the fourth error is output first, and the third error related to the ingredient determined to have the third error is output later.

3. The food ingredient management system according to claim 1 or 2, in a case where the first error occurs for the first food ingredient among the plurality of food ingredients and the second error occurs for the second food ingredient among the plurality of food ingredients, the registration management unit registers the first food ingredient in a prescribed quantity, does not register the second food ingredient, and the response control unit, based on the response priority order information, outputs the fact that the first food ingredient has been registered in the prescribed quantity together with the first error first, and outputs the second error later.

4. The food ingredient management system according to claim 1 or 2, in a case where the first error occurs for the first food ingredient among the plurality of food ingredients, no error occurs for the second food ingredient among the plurality of food ingredients, and the second error occurs for the third food ingredient among the plurality of food ingredients, the registration management unit registers the first food ingredient in a prescribed quantity, registers the second food ingredient based on the instruction, does not register the third food ingredient, and the response control unit, based on the response priority order information, outputs the processing result of the second food ingredient first, then outputs the fact that the first food ingredient has been registered in the prescribed quantity together with the first error, and outputs the second error later.

5. The food ingredient management system according to claim 1 or 2, in a case where the instruction related to the first food ingredient among the plurality of food ingredients is not normally recognized, the first error occurs for the second food ingredient among the plurality of food ingredients, and the second error occurs for the third food ingredient among the plurality of food ingredients, the registration management unit does not register the first food ingredient, registers the second food ingredient in a prescribed quantity, does not register the third food ingredient, and the response control unit, based on the response priority order information, outputs the fact that the second food ingredient has been registered in the prescribed quantity together with the first error first, then outputs the second error, and outputs a third error indicating that the first food ingredient is not normally recognized later.

6. The food ingredient management system according to claim 1 or 2, in a case where the likelihood of the recognition result of the instruction related to the first food ingredient among the plurality of food ingredients is less than a threshold value, the first error occurs for the second food ingredient among the plurality of food ingredients, and the second error occurs for the third food ingredient among the plurality of food ingredients, the registration management unit registers the first food ingredient with the inferred food ingredient, registers the second food ingredient in a prescribed quantity, does not register the third food ingredient, and the response control unit, based on the response priority order information, outputs the fact that the second food ingredient has been registered in the prescribed quantity together with the first error first, then outputs the second error, and outputs the fact that the first food ingredient has been registered with the inferred food ingredient later.

7. The food material management system according to claim 1 or 2, when an error occurs in three or more of the multiple food materials, the response control unit outputs a response that generally indicates that the processing of the multiple food materials has failed.

8. The food material management system according to claim 1, when an error occurs in two or more of the multiple food materials, the response control unit outputs information that generally indicates that the processing of the multiple food materials has failed.

9. A food ingredient management system manages food ingredients existing as inventory in a user's residence, and includes: a reception unit that receives an analysis result obtained by analyzing voice data of a user's utterance, and when the analysis result indicates an instruction to simultaneously delete the inventory of multiple food ingredients, based on the analysis result, receives an instruction to simultaneously delete the inventory of the multiple food ingredients; The registration management unit deletes the inventory in the database that manages the inventory registration of food materials based on the instruction received by the acceptance unit; And a response control unit capable of outputting an error related to the deletion of the inventory. The registration management unit, based on the inventory registration registered in the database, for each of the multiple food materials for which the acceptance unit has received an instruction to simultaneously delete the inventory, determines that there is a first error related to the absence of inventory registration when there is no inventory registration of this food material; When there is an inventory registration of this food material but the registered quantity of the food material is less than the quantity of the food material in the deletion instruction, it is determined that there is a second error related to insufficient quantity, and the inventory registration is deleted in the state of insufficient quantity of the food material. For the multiple food materials for which the acceptance unit has received an instruction to simultaneously delete the inventory, when the registration management unit determines that there are the first error and the second error, regardless of the speech order of the multiple food materials in the speech segment, based on the response priority information obtained by presetting the error reporting order, the second error related to the food material determined to have the second error is output first, and the first error related to the food material determined to have the first error is output later.

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