Refrigerator and control method thereof

Abstract

The application provides a refrigerator and a control method thereof. The refrigerator is internally provided with a processing space for processing foodstuffs. The processing space is provided with multiple processing modes for the foodstuffs. The control method comprises the following steps: obtaining external characteristic information of the foodstuffs stored in the processing space; determining an expected processing mode of the refrigerator for the foodstuffs according to the external characteristic information of the foodstuffs, wherein the expected processing mode is determined from the multiple processing modes; and running the expected processing mode to adjust the internal environment of the processing space. By using the above method, the refrigerator determines how to process the foodstuffs based on the external characteristics of the foodstuffs, which is beneficial to improving the reliability of the refrigerator during operation, reducing or avoiding the refrigerator processing the foodstuffs in an incorrect processing mode, and selecting different processing modes in the same processing space to process different foodstuffs, which is beneficial to improving the intelligent degree of the refrigerator and making the processing space have multiple foodstuff processing functions, thereby improving the utilization rate of the processing space.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to refrigeration equipment, and more particularly to refrigerators and their control methods. Background Technology

[0002] With advancements in technology and improvements in living standards, people expect refrigerators to have a variety of functions to assist them in handling food, such as preserving, aging, defrosting, or purifying it. Refrigerators with only low-temperature preservation functions can no longer meet the needs of many users.

[0003] The inventors recognized that when a refrigerator has multiple functions for processing food, how to enable the refrigerator to accurately determine which method to use for processing food, improve the reliability of the refrigerator's operation, and reduce or avoid the refrigerator processing food in the wrong way has become a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved by those skilled in the art.

[0004] The information disclosed in this background section is only intended to enhance the understanding of the background technology of this application, and therefore may include prior art that is not known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0005] One object of the present invention is to overcome at least one technical defect in the prior art and to provide a refrigerator and a method for controlling the refrigerator thereto.

[0006] A further objective of this invention is to enable the refrigerator to accurately determine the appropriate method for processing food, thereby improving the reliability and intelligence of the refrigerator's operation.

[0007] Another further objective of this invention is to simplify the data processing of the refrigerator and reduce control costs.

[0008] Another objective of this invention is to reduce or avoid the problem of food waste caused by improper selection of food processing mode due to user misoperation.

[0009] Another further objective of the present invention is to improve the accuracy of refrigerator verification for selected processing modes and to avoid the influence of invalid data on the verification process.

[0010] In particular, according to one aspect of the present invention, a control method for a refrigerator is provided, wherein the refrigerator has a processing space for processing food, the processing space has multiple preset processing modes for the food, and the control method includes: acquiring external characteristic information of the food stored in the processing space; determining a desired processing mode for the food by the refrigerator based on the external characteristic information of the food, the desired processing mode being determined from multiple processing modes; and running the desired processing mode to adjust the internal environment of the processing space, thereby starting to process the food.

[0011] Optionally, before the step of acquiring the visible characteristic information of the food stored in the processing space, the method further includes: acquiring the refrigerator's selected processing mode for the food, wherein the selected processing mode is chosen by the user from multiple processing modes; and

[0012] The steps for determining the refrigerator's expected processing mode for food based on the food's visible characteristics include: determining whether the food's visible characteristics meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode; if they do, then determining the expected processing mode as the selected processing mode.

[0013] Optionally, there are multiple explicit feature information of the ingredients; and the step of determining whether the explicit feature information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode includes: obtaining associated feature information related to the selected processing mode, wherein the associated feature information is determined from multiple explicit feature information; determining whether the associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode; if it does, then determining that the explicit feature information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0014] Optionally, the step of determining whether the associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode includes: determining whether each associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode in turn; if all meet the requirements, then determining that the associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0015] Optionally, the step of sequentially determining whether each associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode includes: obtaining the priority order of multiple associated feature information; and sequentially determining whether each associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode according to the priority order.

[0016] Optionally, the multiple processing modes include a maturation mode for maturing the ingredients and a preservation mode for storing the ingredients at low temperatures; and the multiple external feature information includes packaging status information for indicating the packaging status of the ingredients, type information for indicating the type of ingredients and / or weight information for indicating the weight of the ingredients.

[0017] Optionally, when the selected processing mode is aging mode, the associated feature information related to the selected processing mode includes the packaging status information of the food ingredients; and

[0018] The steps for determining whether the packaging status information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode include: determining whether the packaging status of the ingredients is a packaged state with packaging materials; if not, determining that the packaging status information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0019] Optionally, when the selected processing mode is maturation mode, the associated feature information related to the selected processing mode also includes information about the type of ingredients; and

[0020] If the packaging status information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, the step of determining whether the type of ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode includes: determining whether the type of ingredients is at least one of the types in the aged product type information database, which pre-stores multiple types of ingredients suitable for aging processing; if so, then determining that the type information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0021] Optionally, the step of determining the refrigerator's expected processing mode for the food based on the food's visible characteristics further includes: if it is determined that the food's visible characteristics do not meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, determining the expected processing mode as a preservation mode for low-temperature storage of the food, and outputting a prompt signal to prompt the user to reset the processing mode.

[0022] According to another aspect of the present invention, a refrigerator is also provided, the interior of which is provided with a processing space for processing food, and the refrigerator includes: a processor and a memory, the memory storing a machine-executable program, which, when executed by the processor, is used to implement the control method according to any one of the above.

[0023] The refrigerator and its control method of the present invention acquire the external characteristic information of the food stored in the processing space, and then determine the expected processing mode of the refrigerator for the food based on the external characteristic information of the food. This allows the refrigerator to determine which method should be used to process the food based on its own external characteristics, which helps to improve the reliability of the refrigerator operation process, reduce or avoid the refrigerator processing food in the wrong way, and allow different processing modes to be selected for different food in the same processing space. This helps to improve the intelligence of the refrigerator and enables the processing space to have multiple food processing functions, thereby improving the utilization rate of the processing space.

[0024] Furthermore, the refrigerator and its control method of the present invention, since the external characteristic information of the food is easy to obtain and can reflect the processing requirements of the food, can use the external characteristic information of the food to determine the expected processing mode of the refrigerator for the food, which can improve the reliability of the refrigerator operation, simplify the data processing process of the refrigerator, and reduce the control cost.

[0025] Furthermore, the refrigerator and its control method of the present invention can verify the selected processing mode by the user for the food stored in the processing space, and determine whether the external characteristic information of the food meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode. If the verification is successful, the selected processing mode selected by the user can be used as the expected processing mode. This can reduce or avoid the problem of food waste caused by improper selection of food processing mode due to user misoperation.

[0026] Furthermore, the refrigerator and its control method of the present invention, in the process of determining whether the external characteristic information of food meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, obtains the associated characteristic information related to the selected processing mode, and only determines whether the associated characteristic information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, thereby determining that the external characteristic information of food meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode. This can improve the accuracy of the verification of the selected processing mode and avoid the influence of invalid data on the verification process, thereby simplifying the control logic of the refrigerator.

[0027] The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0028] The following sections will describe some specific embodiments of the invention in a detailed manner by way of example and not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts or portions. Those skilled in the art should understand that these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:

[0029] Figure 1 This is a schematic block diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 This is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 This is a schematic structural diagram of a aging container for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a refrigerator control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 5 This is a control flowchart of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 6 This is a control flowchart of a refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0035] Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The various embodiments provided are intended to explain the invention and not to limit it. In fact, various modifications and variations to the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For example, a feature illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used with another embodiment to produce yet another embodiment. Therefore, the invention is intended to cover such modifications and variations within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0036] The following reference Figures 1 to 6 The present invention describes a refrigerator 10 and its control method according to embodiments thereof. Unless otherwise expressly specified, when a feature “includes or includes” one or more of the features it covers, this indicates that other features are not excluded and may be further included, unless otherwise specifically described.

[0037] Figure 1 This is a schematic block diagram of a refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The refrigerator 10 generally includes a processor 410 and a memory 420, and the interior of the refrigerator 10 is provided with a processing space 131 for processing food.

[0038] Figure 2 This is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The refrigerator 10 of this embodiment may further include a cabinet 100, which forms the shell of the refrigerator 10 and defines a storage compartment for storing food. A processor 410 and a memory 420 may be respectively disposed within the cabinet 100. The processing space 131 may be the internal space of the storage compartment, or it may be a portion of the internal space of the storage compartment.

[0039] The interior of the housing 100 can form multiple storage compartments, such as a refrigerator compartment 110, a freezer compartment 120, and a processing compartment 130, but is not limited thereto. The processing compartment 130 has a processing space 131 for processing food ingredients. The refrigerator compartment 110 and the freezer compartment 120 can provide low-temperature preservation functions, forming a refrigerator space 111 and a freezer space 121 for preserving food ingredients, respectively. The processing space 131 can be used to provide low-temperature preservation functions, or to perform other processing functions different from low-temperature preservation, such as aging, thawing, and / or purification, but is not limited thereto. The refrigerator compartment 110, the freezer compartment 120, and the processing compartment 130 can be arranged side-by-side in any direction (e.g., horizontal or vertical). In some embodiments, the processing compartment 130 can be switched to either the refrigerator compartment 110 or the freezer compartment 120, or the processing compartment 130 can be converted from either the refrigerator compartment 110 or the freezer compartment 120.

[0040] In some alternative embodiments, a processing container may be provided inside the processing chamber 130, and the processing space 131 may refer to the internal space of the processing container. For example, the processing container may be a storage drawer.

[0041] In some alternative embodiments, the refrigerator 10 may further include a refrigeration system, which may be a compression refrigeration system. For example, the refrigeration system generally includes a compressor, a condenser, a throttling device, and an evaporator. The refrigeration system may utilize the refrigerant to absorb heat and undergo a phase change within the evaporator to cool the storage compartment. In this embodiment, the evaporator of the refrigeration system may be in airflow communication with the processing space 131 to provide a heat-exchanging airflow to the processing space 131, thereby regulating the temperature and / or humidity of the processing space 131.

[0042] The number of evaporators can be set according to the number of storage compartments. For example, a refrigerator evaporator can be installed at the rear of the refrigerator compartment 110, a freezer evaporator can be installed at the rear of the freezer compartment 120, and a processing evaporator can be installed at the rear of the processing compartment 130. The refrigerator 10 can be a frost-free refrigerator 10, and each evaporator can be equipped with a corresponding air blower.

[0043] Figure 3 This is a side view of a refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, for the purpose of showing the internal structure of the refrigerator 10. Figure 3Part of the structure is shown in perspective. In this embodiment, the processing space 131 is located within the refrigerator compartment 110, for example, it may be formed within a storage drawer located in the refrigerator compartment 110. The refrigerator compartment 111 and the processing space 131 may share the same evaporator and the same air supply fan, the evaporator may be named the shared evaporator 200, and the air supply fan may be named the shared fan 300. An air supply duct 140 is formed on the rear side of the refrigerator compartment 110. The shared evaporator 200 and the shared fan 300 may be located within the air supply duct 140. The refrigerator compartment 110 may have an air supply port 112 and a return air port 113 communicating with the air supply duct 140, and the processing space 131 may have an air inlet 132 and an air exchange port 134 communicating with the refrigerator compartment 110, and an air outlet 133 communicating with the air supply duct 140. Under the action of the shared fan 300, the airflow in the air supply duct 140 flows through the shared evaporator 200 and forms a heat exchange airflow. Then, it flows into the cold storage compartment 110 through the air supply outlet 112. During the flow through the cold storage compartment 110, part of the heat exchange airflow flows into the processing space 131 through the air inlet 132 and out of the processing space 131 through the air outlet 133, returning to the air supply duct 140. The other part of the heat exchange airflow returns to the air supply duct 140 through the return air outlet 113. An electrically controlled valve can be installed at the air exchange outlet 134. When the humidity in the processing space 131 is too high, the electrically controlled valve can open the air exchange outlet 134, allowing gas exchange between the processing space 131 and the cold storage compartment 110, thereby reducing the humidity in the processing space 131. A processing fan 500 can also be installed in the processing space 131 to promote the formation of an internal circulation airflow within the processing space 131. The processing fan 500 can be set at the rear of the processing space 131. The space where the processing fan 500 is located is connected to other spaces in the processing space 131 used for placing ingredients through the internal air outlet 136 and the internal air return outlet 135.

[0044] The memory 420 and processor 410 can form at least a portion of the main control board of the refrigerator 10. The memory 420 stores a machine-executable program 421, which, when executed by the processor 410, is used to implement the control method of the refrigerator 10 according to any of the following embodiments. The processor 410 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a digital processing unit (DSP), etc. The memory 420 is used to store the program executed by the processor 410. The memory 420 can be any medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 420 can also be a combination of various types of memory. Since the machine-executable program 421, when executed by the processor 410, implements the various processes of the following method embodiments and achieves the same technical effects, it will not be described again here to avoid repetition.

[0045] This invention also provides a control method for a refrigerator 10. The refrigerator 10 has a processing space 131 for processing food. The processing space 131 has multiple preset processing modes for food, such as a preservation mode for low-temperature storage of food, a aging mode for aging food, a defrosting mode for defrosting food, and / or a purification mode for purifying food, etc. Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a control method for a refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control method generally includes the following steps:

[0046] Step S402: Obtain the external characteristic information of the food stored in the processing space 131, such as whether there is packaging, weight, type, size, shape and / or color. External characteristic information refers to the external characteristics of the food itself, which can be obtained without analyzing the food's composition or other internal characteristics.

[0047] Step S404: Determine the expected processing mode of the food by the refrigerator 10 based on the visible characteristics of the food. The expected processing mode is selected from multiple processing modes. The expected processing mode can refer to the processing mode that meets the current processing requirements of the food.

[0048] Step S406: Run the expected processing mode to adjust the internal environment of the processing space 131, thereby starting the processing of ingredients.

[0049] Each processing mode has its own set of operating parameters, such as the target temperature, target humidity, airflow speed, and / or concentration of sterilizing particles in the processing space 131. Once the expected processing mode is determined, the operating parameters corresponding to the expected processing mode can be obtained, and then the internal environment of the processing space 131 can be adjusted according to the operating parameters corresponding to the expected processing mode.

[0050] Using the above method, by acquiring the external characteristic information of the food stored in the processing space 131, and then determining the expected processing mode of the refrigerator 10 for the food based on the external characteristic information of the food, the refrigerator 10 can determine which method should be used to process the food based on its own external characteristics. This helps to improve the reliability of the refrigerator 10's operation, reduce or avoid the refrigerator 10 processing food in the wrong way, and different processing modes can be selected in the same processing space 131 to process different foods. This helps to improve the intelligence level of the refrigerator 10, and enables the processing space 131 to have multiple food processing functions, thereby improving the utilization rate of the processing space 131.

[0051] Since the external characteristics of food are easy to obtain and can reflect the processing requirements of food, using the external characteristics of food to determine the expected processing mode of the refrigerator 10 for food can improve the reliability of the refrigerator 10 during operation, simplify the data processing process of the refrigerator 10, and reduce control costs.

[0052] For example, after detecting the presence of food in the processing space 131 and the processing space 131 being closed, the refrigerator 10 can begin the step of acquiring the visible characteristic information of the food stored in the processing space 131. In some embodiments, the visible characteristic information of the food may include packaging status information indicating the packaging status of the food, type information indicating the type of food, and / or weight information indicating the weight of the food. In the step of acquiring the visible characteristic information of the food stored in the processing space 131, image information of the food can be acquired, and then the packaging status information and type information of the food can be determined based on the image information. For example, an image acquisition device (e.g., a camera) can be installed in the processing space 131 to acquire image information of the food. By comparing the acquired image information with a pre-established database, the packaging status information and type information of the food can be acquired respectively. Furthermore, a weight sensor for detecting the weight of the food can also be installed in the processing space 131. In the step of acquiring the visible characteristic information of the food stored in the processing space 131, the detection result of the weight sensor can also be acquired, thereby determining the weight information of the food.

[0053] In some embodiments, in the step of determining the expected processing mode of the food by the refrigerator 10 based on the visible feature information of the food, each processing mode is provided with visible feature information of the food suitable for processing under that processing mode. By matching the collected visible feature information of the current food with the visible feature information of the food corresponding to each processing mode, the processing mode corresponding to the visible feature information of the food can be determined as the expected processing mode.

[0054] Using the above method, the refrigerator 10 can automatically determine the expected processing mode suitable for processing the current food from multiple processing modes without user setting. The degree of automation of the refrigerator 10 is improved, and the data processing and data analysis caused by human-computer interaction are reduced or avoided, thus reducing the user's workload.

[0055] In some optional embodiments, before obtaining the visible characteristic information of the food stored in the processing space 131, the method further includes obtaining the selected processing mode of the refrigerator 10 for the food. The selected processing mode is chosen by the user from multiple processing modes. The selected processing mode of the refrigerator 10 for the food refers to the processing mode selected by the processing space 131 when processing the food. The step of determining the expected processing mode of the refrigerator 10 for the food based on the visible characteristic information of the food includes: determining whether the visible characteristic information of the food meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode; if it does, the expected processing mode is determined to be the selected processing mode. That is, the user can first select the selected processing mode for processing the food, and then the refrigerator 10 can verify whether the selected processing mode selected by the user meets the current processing requirements of the food, thereby determining the final expected processing mode.

[0056] Using the above method, by obtaining the selected processing mode chosen by the user for the ingredients stored in the processing space 131, and judging whether the external characteristic information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, the selected processing mode chosen by the user can be verified. If the verification is successful, the selected processing mode chosen by the user can be used as the expected processing mode. This can reduce or avoid the problem of improper selection of ingredient processing mode and waste of ingredients due to user misoperation.

[0057] The visible feature information of the ingredient can be one. Of course, in some further embodiments, the visible feature information of the ingredient can be multiple. The step of determining whether the visible feature information of the ingredient meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode includes: obtaining associated feature information related to the selected processing mode; determining the associated feature information from multiple visible feature information; determining whether the associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode; if it does, then determining that the visible feature information of the ingredient meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode. The selected processing mode is any one of multiple processing modes. The associated feature information is one or more of the multiple visible feature information.

[0058] For example, when the selected processing mode is aging mode, the associated feature information may include the packaging status and type information of the food, etc. When the selected processing mode is preservation mode, the associated feature information may include the packaging status, type information, and weight information of the food, etc.

[0059] In the process of determining whether the visible feature information of the food meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, the associated feature information related to the selected processing mode is obtained, and only the associated feature information is judged to meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode. This determines that the visible feature information of the food meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, which can improve the accuracy of the verification of the selected processing mode and avoid the influence of invalid data on the verification process, thereby simplifying the control logic of the refrigerator 10.

[0060] In some further embodiments, especially when there are multiple associated feature information related to the selected processing mode, the step of determining whether the associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode includes: sequentially determining whether each associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode; if all meet, then determining that the associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0061] For example, each processing mode is associated with a set of feature values ​​for various related feature information, which are used to describe the processing requirements of the processing mode. When the feature values ​​of various related feature information of the ingredient match (e.g., are consistent) with the feature values ​​of various related feature information of the processing mode, it is determined that the related feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode; otherwise, it is determined that the related feature information does not meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0062] The steps for sequentially determining whether each associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode include: obtaining the priority order of multiple associated feature information, and sequentially determining whether each associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode according to the priority order.

[0063] For example, when the selected processing mode is the ripening mode, the associated feature information related to the selected processing mode can include the packaging status information and category information of the ingredients, with packaging status information having a higher priority than category information. In determining whether each associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, the packaging status information can be checked first, followed by the category information. If the packaging status information does not meet the requirements, it can be directly determined that the associated feature information does not meet the requirements, without needing to check the category information. For example, the feature value for a packaged state can be preset to 1, the feature value for an unpackaged state can be preset to 0, and so on.

[0064] When pre-setting the priority order of multiple associated feature information related to a certain processing mode, the associated feature information that is significantly different from other processing modes or whose feature values ​​are completely different can be set as the highest priority.

[0065] Using the above method, the various associated feature information of the ingredients are checked sequentially according to the preset priority order. On the one hand, this can improve the accuracy of the check process, and on the other hand, it can quickly determine whether the associated feature information of the ingredients does not meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, thus achieving high check efficiency.

[0066] In some optional embodiments, multiple processing modes include a maturation mode for maturing the food and a preservation mode for low-temperature storage of the food. Furthermore, multiple external feature information includes packaging status information for indicating the packaging status of the food, type information for indicating the type of food, and / or weight information for indicating the weight of the food.

[0067] When the selected processing mode is the maturation mode, the associated feature information includes the packaging status information of the ingredients. The step of determining whether the packaging status information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode includes: determining whether the packaging status of the ingredients is a packaged state with packaging materials; if not, then the packaging status information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode. If the packaging status of the ingredients is a packaged state with packaging materials, then the packaging status information of the ingredients does not meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0068] For example, when food is stored in plastic bags, paper bags, sealed boxes, or other packaging materials, it can be determined that the food is in a packaged state. If the food is not stored in any packaging, it can be determined that the food is in an unpackaged state.

[0069] Using the above method, it is possible to determine whether the food meets the processing requirements of the aging mode based on the packaging status information. This can reduce or avoid the phenomenon that food with packaging is directly subjected to the user's aging instructions, which may lead to the food inside the packaging deteriorating or even the packaging decomposing into harmful substances that contaminate the food.

[0070] In some further embodiments, when the selected processing mode is a aging mode, the associated feature information related to the selected processing mode also includes the type information of the ingredients. Furthermore, if the packaging status information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, the step of determining whether the type of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode further includes: determining whether the type of the ingredients is at least one of the types in an aging product type information database, which pre-stores multiple types of ingredients suitable for aging processing; if so, then it is determined that the type information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode. If the type of the ingredients is not any of those in the aging product type information database, then it is determined that the type information of the ingredients does not meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0071] For example, the types of food suitable for aging can be pre-stored in the aging product type information database, including beef, lamb, pork, tuna, etc., and users can set them according to their daily habits.

[0072] In some further embodiments, when the selected processing mode is a ripening mode, the associated feature information related to the selected processing mode also includes the weight information of the ingredients. Furthermore, if it is determined that the type of ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, the step of determining whether the weight of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode includes: determining whether the weight of the ingredients is within a preset weight range; if so, then determining that the weight information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode. If the weight of the ingredients falls outside the preset weight range, then determining that the weight information of the ingredients does not meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0073] Using the above method, the packaging status information, type information, and weight information of the ingredients are sequentially judged to see if they meet the processing requirements of the maturation mode. Only ingredients that pass the layer-by-layer verification are maturated in the processing space 131, which can improve the success rate of the maturation process.

[0074] In some optional embodiments, the step of determining the expected processing mode of the food by the refrigerator 10 based on the visible characteristics of the food further includes: if it is determined that the visible characteristics of the food do not meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, determining that the expected processing mode is a preservation mode for low-temperature storage of the food, such as a refrigeration preservation mode, a freezing preservation mode, or a soft-freezing preservation mode. At this time, the refrigerator 10 may also output a prompt signal to prompt the user to reset the processing mode. In some embodiments, if it is determined that the visible characteristics of the food do not meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, the refrigerator may first output a prompt signal to prompt the user to reset the processing mode. If no feedback signal is received from the user within a preset time, the refrigerator may automatically determine that the expected processing mode is a preservation mode for low-temperature storage of the food, such as a refrigeration preservation mode, a freezing preservation mode, or a soft-freezing preservation mode, and run the expected processing mode.

[0075] In other words, when the external characteristics of the food fail to pass the verification and the selected processing mode cannot be executed, the refrigerator 10 can automatically run the preservation mode, keeping the food in a low-temperature environment to wait for processing. This helps to slow down the rate of quality change of the food, preserve the texture of the food, and thus provide users with more time to react.

[0076] In some optional embodiments, the refrigerator 10 can achieve higher technical effects through further optimization and configuration of the above steps. The following describes the control method of the refrigerator 10 in this embodiment in detail with the introduction of two optional execution processes. This embodiment is only an example of the execution process. In specific implementation, the execution order and operating conditions of some steps can be modified according to specific implementation requirements.

[0077] Figure 5 This is a control flowchart of a refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control flow generally includes the following steps:

[0078] Step S502: Obtain the selected processing mode for food by the refrigerator 10. The selected processing mode is selected by the user from multiple processing modes.

[0079] Step S504: Obtain the associated feature information related to the selected processing mode. The associated feature information is determined from multiple explicit feature information.

[0080] Step S506: Obtain the priority order of multiple associated feature information.

[0081] Step S508: Determine whether each associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode in order of priority. If yes, proceed to step S510; otherwise, proceed to step S514.

[0082] Step S510: Determine that the visible characteristics of the ingredients meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0083] Step S512: Determine the expected processing mode as the selected processing mode.

[0084] Step S514: Determine the expected processing mode as a preservation mode for low-temperature storage of food ingredients.

[0085] Step S516: Run the expected processing mode to adjust the internal environment of the processing space 131, thereby starting the processing of ingredients.

[0086] Figure 6 This is a control flowchart of a refrigerator 10 according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, two processing modes are preset: a aging mode and a preservation mode. The control flow generally includes the following steps:

[0087] Step S602: Obtain the selected processing mode for food by the refrigerator 10. The selected processing mode is selected by the user from multiple processing modes.

[0088] Step S604: Determine whether the selected processing mode is a mature mode. If yes, proceed to step S606; otherwise, proceed to step S626.

[0089] Step S606: Obtain the associated feature information related to the maturation mode. The associated feature information is determined from multiple explicit feature information. The associated feature information includes packaging status information for indicating the packaging status of the food, type information for indicating the type of food, and weight information for indicating the weight of the food.

[0090] Step S608: Obtain the priority order of multiple associated feature information. In this step, the priority order of the aforementioned associated feature information is: packaging status information > category information > weight information.

[0091] Step S610: Determine whether the packaging status of the food is a packaged state with packaging. If not, proceed to step S612; if yes, proceed to step S632.

[0092] Step S612: Determine that the packaging status information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0093] Step S614: Determine whether the type of ingredient is at least one of the types of ingredients in the maturation product type information database. The maturation product type information database pre-stores multiple types of ingredients suitable for maturation processing. If yes, proceed to step S616; otherwise, proceed to step S632.

[0094] Step S616: Determine that the type of ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0095] Step S618: Determine whether the weight of the ingredients is within the preset weight range. If yes, proceed to step S620; otherwise, proceed to step S632.

[0096] Step S620: Determine that the weight information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0097] Step S622: Determine that the visible characteristic information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

[0098] Step S624: Determine the expected processing mode as the maturation mode. After step S624, execute the following step S634, which is not shown in the flowchart.

[0099] Step S626: Determine whether the selected processing mode is the preservation mode. If yes, proceed to step S628; otherwise, proceed to step S602.

[0100] Step S628: Output an information confirmation signal to prompt the user to confirm the selected processing mode.

[0101] Step S630: Receive confirmation instruction from the user regarding the information confirmation signal.

[0102] Step S632: Determine the expected processing mode as a preservation mode for low-temperature storage of food ingredients.

[0103] Step S634: Run the expected processing mode to adjust the internal environment of the processing space 131, thereby starting the processing of ingredients.

[0104] The refrigerator 10 and its control method of the present invention acquire the external characteristic information of the food stored in the processing space 131, and then determine the expected processing mode of the refrigerator 10 for the food based on the external characteristic information of the food. This allows the refrigerator 10 to determine which method should be used to process the food based on its own external characteristics, which helps to improve the reliability of the refrigerator 10's operation, reduce or avoid the refrigerator 10 processing the food in the wrong way, and allow different processing modes to be selected for different food in the same processing space 131. This helps to improve the intelligence level of the refrigerator 10 and enables the processing space 131 to have multiple food processing functions, thereby improving the utilization rate of the processing space 131.

[0105] Therefore, those skilled in the art should recognize that although numerous exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications conforming to the principles of the present invention can be directly determined or derived from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the scope of the present invention should be understood and construed as covering all such other variations or modifications.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a refrigerator, wherein the refrigerator has an internal processing space for processing food, the processing space having multiple preset processing modes for the food, and the control method comprising: The refrigerator obtains a selected processing mode for the food, wherein the selected processing mode is chosen by the user from a plurality of processing modes; Obtain the visible feature information of the food ingredients stored in the processing space; The expected processing mode of the refrigerator for the food is determined based on the external characteristic information of the food, and the expected processing mode is determined from a plurality of processing modes; as well as Run the intended processing mode to adjust the internal environment of the processing space, thereby beginning the processing of the ingredients; The steps for determining the refrigerator's expected processing mode for the food based on its external characteristics include: Determine whether the visible characteristics of the food ingredient meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode; If the conditions are met, then the expected processing mode is determined to be the selected processing mode; Otherwise, the expected processing mode is determined to be a preservation mode for low-temperature storage of the food, and a prompt signal is output to prompt the user to reset the processing mode.

2. The control method according to claim 1, wherein, The food ingredient has multiple visible feature information; and The steps for determining whether the visible characteristic information of the food ingredient meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode include: Obtain associated feature information related to the selected processing mode, wherein the associated feature information is determined from a plurality of explicit feature information; Determine whether the associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode; If the conditions are met, then the visible characteristic information of the food ingredient is determined to meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

3. The control method according to claim 2, wherein, The steps for determining whether the associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode include: Sequentially determine whether each of the associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode; If all conditions are met, then the associated feature information is determined to meet the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

4. The control method according to claim 3, wherein, The steps of sequentially determining whether each of the associated feature information meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode include: The priority order for acquiring multiple associated feature information; According to the priority order, each of the associated feature information is judged in turn to see if it meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

5. The control method according to claim 2, wherein, The processing modes include a maturation mode for maturing the ingredients and a preservation mode for low-temperature storage of the ingredients; and The various external feature information includes packaging status information for indicating the packaging status of the food, type information for indicating the type of food, and / or weight information for indicating the weight of the food.

6. The control method according to claim 5, wherein, When the selected processing mode is the maturation mode, the associated feature information related to the selected processing mode includes the packaging status information of the food ingredient; and The steps for determining whether the packaging status information of the food ingredient meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode include: Determine whether the packaging status of the food ingredient is that it is in a packaged state with packaging material; If not, then it is determined that the packaging status information of the food ingredient meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

7. The control method according to claim 6, wherein, When the selected processing mode is the aging mode, the associated feature information related to the selected processing mode also includes the type information of the food ingredient; and If the packaging status information of the food ingredient meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode, the step of determining whether the type of the food ingredient meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode includes: Determine whether the type of the ingredient is at least one of the types of matured ingredients in the matured ingredient type information database, which pre-stores multiple types of ingredients suitable for matured processing; If so, then it is determined that the type information of the ingredients meets the processing requirements of the selected processing mode.

8. A refrigerator, the interior of which is provided with a processing space for processing food, and the refrigerator comprises: A processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a machine-executable program, which, when executed by the processor, is used to implement the control method according to any one of claims 1-7.

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