Home appliance provided with viewing window
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing home appliances face challenges in accurately detecting a user's knock input due to interference from vibrations and high temperatures, leading to inaccurate sensor operation and energy loss through opening doors for visibility, especially in appliances like refrigerators and ovens.
Innovation Solution
A home appliance with a sensor assembly installed on the hinge bracket or rear surface of the front plate, utilizing a 3-axis sensor module to detect vibrations in multiple directions, minimizing attenuation, and correcting for temperature influence, allowing precise detection of knocks and controlling a lamp for visibility without opening the door.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a sound wave sensor is installed on the door to detect knock input, then knock detection function is provided, but the sensor cannot properly distinguish knock from other vibrations and may malfunction due to high temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a vibration sensor as an intermediary device installed on the cabinet body rather than directly on the door. This mediator detects vibrations transmitted through the cabinet structure when the door is knocked, indirectly capturing knock signals while isolating the sensor from harsh door environment (high temperature, direct impact). The vibration sensor acts as a buffer that converts direct door knock detection into indirect structural vibration detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the acoustic sound wave sensor with a vibration sensor that detects mechanical vibrations instead of sound waves. This substitution allows the system to detect knock inputs through structural vibrations transmitted through the cabinet body, which is more reliable in high-temperature environments and better at distinguishing knock patterns from other vibrations through directional sensitivity.
2Loss of energy
If the door is made opaque for safety and aesthetics, then safety and design requirements are met, but users cannot see the interior without opening the door causing energy loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a temperature-dependent visual indication system where the front plate or viewing window changes its optical properties (transparency/color) in response to internal temperature. When the interior is hot, the material becomes opaque or changes color to prevent heat loss and protect users. When cooled, it becomes transparent, allowing visual inspection without opening the door, thus preventing energy loss while maintaining safety.
3Ease of operation
If a viewing window is mounted on the door, then interior visibility is improved, but the sensor cannot detect knock accurately due to heterogeneous media attenuation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from detecting knock signals through the door surface (2D surface detection) to detecting vibrations through the 3D structural pathway of the cabinet body. By installing the vibration sensor on the cabinet interior and detecting structural vibrations transmitted through the frame and panels, the system accesses another dimensional pathway for signal detection that bypasses the attenuation problems of heterogeneous media in the door assembly.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Accurate detection of knocks is achieved, minimizing energy loss and design complexity, enabling user-friendly operation and efficient illumination of the appliance's interior through a viewing window.
Implementation Method 1
a sensor assembly configured to detect a vibration and output a corresponding vibration signal
Data Source
AI summary
According to an implementation of the present disclosure, a home appliance includes a cabinet defining a reception space therein, a front plate disposed at a front part of the reception space and having an opening part, a door configured to open and close the opening part, the door having a viewing window provided at the door, a sensor assembly configured to detect a vibration and output a corresponding vibration signal, a lamp configured to illuminate an inside of the reception space, and a controller configured to operate the lamp based on the vibration signal output by the sensor assembly.