Patent Publication Number: US-2021195143-A1

Title: Smart Refrigerator

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to smart refrigerators and, more particularly, to a smart refrigerator capable of allowing users to see food therein without the users&#39; opening refrigerator doors. 
     Description of the Prior Art 
     Refrigerators are domestic appliances for storing foods at a low temperature to prevent the foods from decaying. To inspect the foods stored in the refrigerators, users have to open refrigerator doors. However, opening the refrigerator doors inevitably releases cool air otherwise kept in the refrigerators and thus reduces the freshness of the foods stored therein, not to mention that additional electric power is consumed to restore the low internal temperature of the refrigerators. 
     Therefore, it is imperative to provide a refrigerator capable of allowing users to see food therein without the users&#39; opening refrigerator doors. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an objective of the present invention to provide a smart refrigerator capable of allowing users to see food therein without the users&#39; opening refrigerator doors. 
     In order to achieve the above and other objectives, a smart refrigerator of the present invention is electrically connected to a smartphone. The smart refrigerator includes a body, at least one vibration sensor, at least one camera, a network interface card and a central processing unit. The body includes at least one refrigerator door and a storage space. The at least one vibration sensor is connected to the body. The at least one camera is disposed in the body and adapted to capture an image of foods inside the storage space. The network interface card is disposed in the body and electrically connected to the smartphone. The central processing unit is disposed in the body and electrically connected to the vibration sensor, the camera and the network interface card. The network interface card sends the image to the smartphone when the at least one vibration sensor senses a vibration of the at least one refrigerator door. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, the network interface card sends the image to the smartphone when the network interface card receives an image transfer request from the smartphone. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one vibration sensor is positioned on the at least one refrigerator door. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one camera is positioned on the at least one refrigerator door. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a smart refrigerator and a smartphone according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view of an image displayed on the smartphone according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the smart refrigerator and the smartphone according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Please Refer to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3  about a smart refrigerator in an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a smart refrigerator and a smartphone according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is a schematic view of an image displayed on the smartphone according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the smart refrigerator and the smartphone according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 , a smart refrigerator  1  for storing foods therein at a low temperature is provided in an embodiment of the present invention, and the smart refrigerator  1  enables users to see the foods therein without the users&#39; opening refrigerator doors. The smart refrigerator  1  is electrically connected to a smartphone  100  by a network. The smartphone  100  has a screen  110 . The screen  110  displays an image to be watched by the user. The smart refrigerator  1  includes a body  10 , three vibration sensors  20 , three cameras  30 , a network interface card  40  and a central processing unit  50 . 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the body  10  is a cuboid casing which includes three refrigerator doors  11  and a storage space  12 . The three refrigerator doors  11  close the storage space  12  to prevent cool air from leaking out of the smart refrigerator  1 , The storage space  12  stores foods. However, the refrigerator doors  11  are not necessarily in the number of three, and thus their number is subject to changes as needed. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the three vibration sensors  20  are connected to the three refrigerator doors  11  of the body  10 , respectively. The vibration sensors  20  sense whether their respective refrigerator doors  11  are shut with force and thereby vibrate. However, the vibration sensors  20  are not necessarily in the number of three, and thus their number may vary with the number of the refrigerator doors  11 . 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the three cameras  30  are disposed in the body  10  and positioned on the three refrigerator doors  11 , respectively. The cameras  30  capture images of foods stored inside the storage space  12 . The images thus captured include; for example; images indicative of the preservation state, quantity and types of foods stored inside the storage space  12 . However, the cameras  30  are not necessarily in the number of three, and thus their number is subject to changes as needed. The cameras  30  are not necessarily restricted to be positioned on the refrigerator doors  11 ; in a variant embodiment; the cameras  30  are disposed at any position inside the body  10 . 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the network interface card  40  is disposed in the body  10  and electrically connected to the smartphone  100 , The images captured of the foods stored inside the storage space  12  by the cameras  30  are transmitted by the network interface card  40  to the smartphone  100 ; thereby allowing users of the smartphone  100  to watch the images captured of the foods stored inside the storage space  12 . 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the central processing unit  50  is disposed in the body  10  and electrically connected to the three vibration sensors  20 , the three cameras  30  and the network interface card  40 . The central processing unit  50  controls and coordinates the operation of the three vibration sensors  20 , the three cameras  30  and the network interface card  40 . 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, when any one of the vibration sensors  20  senses a vibration of the refrigerator door  11  connected to the vibration sensor  20 , the vibration sensor  20  which senses the vibration sends a vibration sensing message to the central processing unit  50 . Then, the central processing unit  50  controls the camera  30  on the refrigerator door  11  which the vibration sensor  20  is connected to. The images of the foods in the storage space  12  captured by the camera  30  are sent to the network interface card  40 . After that, the central processing unit  50  controllably causes the network interface card  40  to transmit the images captured by the camera  30  to the smartphone  100 . Consequently, the users watch the images displayed on the screen  110  of the smartphone  100  to gain insight into the preservation state, quantity and types of foods stored inside the storage space  12 . Therefore, the users can gain insight into the preservation state, quantity and types of foods stored in the smart refrigerator  1  without opening the refrigerator doors  11 . 
     Furthermore, the mechanism for controllably causing the smart refrigerator  1  to send the captured images is not limited to the aforesaid embodiment. In a variant embodiment, the smartphone  100  is installed with software for controlling the smart refrigerator  1 . The software generates an image transfer request and causes the smartphone  100  to send the image transfer request to the smart refrigerator  1 . When the network interface card  40  receives the image transfer request from the smartphone  100 , the central processing unit  50  controllably causes the cameras  30  to send the captured images to the network interface card  40 . Next, the central processing unit  50  controllably causes the network interface card  40  to send the images captured by the cameras  30  to the smartphone  100 . Therefore, the users can watch the images captured of the foods in the storage space  12  on the screen  110  of the smartphone  100 . 
     The images captured of the foods stored in the smart refrigerator  1  are displayed on a smartphone and watched by the users; consequently, the users can gain insight into the preservation state, quantity and types of foods stored in the smart refrigerator  1  without opening the refrigerator doors thereof, so as to preclude leakage of cool air, reduction of food freshness, and extra power consumption.