Refrigerator Camera System to Reduce Door Openings and Food Waste
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators lack the ability to provide users with intuitive and easy access to information about the contents stored inside, leading to inconvenience when purchasing food as users often unknowingly buy already stored items or forget necessary items.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator equipped with a camera that captures images of the storage compartment when the door is open and closed, combining these images to provide a unified view on a display unit, allowing users to visualize the contents without opening the door, and includes sensors to manage the image capture process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a camera system is added to capture and display refrigerator contents, then user convenience and information access are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a camera to capture images of the refrigerator interior and creates a digital copy that can be displayed on external devices (smartphones, tablets, or the refrigerator door display). This allows users to view contents remotely without physically opening the door, solving the contradiction by providing information access through a digital replica rather than direct observation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary (camera and display system) between the user and the refrigerator contents. Instead of directly viewing contents by opening the door, users interact with an intermediate digital representation, which reduces the need for physical door opening while providing comprehensive content information.
2Loss of information
If the refrigerator door is opened frequently to check contents, then user can see what is stored, but energy consumption increases and food quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by capturing images of the refrigerator contents in advance and making them available for remote viewing. Users can check contents before opening the door, thereby avoiding unnecessary door openings that would cause energy loss and temperature fluctuations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback to users about what is stored in the refrigerator through external displays or mobile devices. This feedback loop allows users to make informed decisions about whether to open the door based on whether they already have the item, reducing unnecessary door openings and associated energy losses.
3Measurement precision
If multiple images are captured and combined to show the receptacle, then image accuracy is improved, but processing time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The camera system captures multiple segmented images of the refrigerator interior from different angles or positions and combines them into a comprehensive view. This segmentation approach allows the system to gather complete information about all contents while managing the complexity of image processing through systematic division of the capture task.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a refrigerator. The refrigerator includes a main body having a first storage compartment and a second storage compartment, in which food is stored, a first door configured to open the first storage compartment via pivotal rotation thereof, a second door configured to be moved forward of the second storage compartment to open the second storage compartment, a receptacle configured to be moved along with the second door and received in the second storage compartment, the receptacle serving to store food therein, and a camera installed to the main body to take a picture of the receptacle. The refrigerator further includes a control unit configured to combine a plurality of pictures taken by the camera as the second door is moved and configured to correct the images into an image showing the receptacle.