CN107036371A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

A refrigerator (1) according to an embodiment of the present invention has: a refrigerator main body (11) with an open front surface; heat-insulating doors (21, 22) attached to the front opening of the refrigerator main body (11); 11), and a door opening device (54, 55) that makes the door (21, 22) forcibly open the door; a control operation part (50) that is arranged on the door (22) to change the cooling control content of the refrigerator ); the door-opening operation part (51, 52) that is used to operate the door-opening action of the door-opening device (54, 55) that is arranged on the door (21, 22); is input from the control operation part and the door-opening operation part (51, 52) The control unit (56) performs the corresponding cooling control and door opening control by operating the signal. The part that provides the door opening operation input to the door opening operation part (51, 52) is a part of the front panel (21A, 22A) of the door, and is continuously integrated with the front panel (21A, 22A). Different operation methods are adopted for the operation of the control operation part (50) and the operation of the door opening operation parts (51, 52).

Description

refrigerator

This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with the application number 201480030279.6, the application date is June 25, 2014, and the invention name is refrigerator.

technical field

The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a touch sensor on the front panel of the door front surface.

Background technique

In recent years, refrigerators having a front panel made of glass or plastic as a cosmetic panel have appeared on the door. For such a refrigerator, the operation input unit adopts electrostatic capacitive touch keys and is arranged on the front panel. The corresponding operation signal is transmitted to the refrigerator control unit. It is also desirable that such a refrigerator has a door opening device that detects a user's touch operation on a specific part of the front panel to automatically open the door.

However, in the case of wanting to automatically open the door when touching a specific part of the front panel, the following malfunctions may occur: even if the user accidentally touches the part without intending to open the door or the user is not aware of a part of the body Ground contact with this part will also cause the door to open.

In order to avoid such erroneous operation, it is conceivable to utilize a technique of operating the door opener by a touch detection mechanism, but erroneous operation cannot be avoided.

prior art literature

patent documents

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-257627 (JP2009-257627A)

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 4347234 (JP4347234B)

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-17865 (JP2012-017865A)

Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-17866 (JP2012-017866A)

Contents of the invention

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art described above, and an object thereof is to provide a refrigerator that does not freeze even when the user touches the part for a long time without opening the door or an object touches the part for a long time. Malfunction of opening the door will occur.

The refrigerator of the present invention includes: a refrigerator main body with an open front surface; an insulating door attached to the front opening of the refrigerator main body; and a door opening device attached to the refrigerator main body to forcibly open the door.

Another refrigerator of the present invention has: a refrigerator main body with an open front surface; a heat-insulating door installed on the front opening of the refrigerator main body; a door opening device installed on the refrigerator main body to forcibly open the door; The control operation part on the door is used to change the cooling control content of the refrigerator; the door opening operation part is arranged on the door and is used to operate the door opening action of the door opening device; and the control operation part and the door opening operation part are input The control unit that performs the corresponding cooling control and door opening control through the operation signal. The part that provides the door opening operation input to the door opening operation part is a part of the front panel of the door, and is continuously integrated with the front panel. Different operation methods are adopted for the operation of the control operation part and the operation of the door opening operation part.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a front view of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment in a door-open state.

3 is an enlarged perspective view of a refrigerator compartment portion of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of door opening control of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of door opening control of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram of installation operation of the door-opening operation unit of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an attached state of the door-opening operation unit of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment.

8 is a front view showing a door-opening operation unit and a door-opening operation display unit of a refrigerator according to a seventh embodiment.

9 is a front view showing a door-opening operation unit and a door-opening operation display unit of a refrigerator according to an eighth embodiment.

10( a ) to 10( e ) are explanatory diagrams showing installation examples of the door-opening operation unit of the refrigerator according to the ninth embodiment.

11 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement example of touch detection electrodes in a door-opening operation unit of a refrigerator according to a tenth embodiment.

12 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement example of touch detection electrodes in a door opening operation unit of a refrigerator according to an eleventh embodiment.

13 is an explanatory view showing another arrangement example of the touch detection electrodes of the door-opening operation unit of the refrigerator according to the eleventh embodiment.

14 is a front view showing a door-opening operation unit and a door-opening operation display unit of a refrigerator according to a twelfth embodiment.

Fig. 15 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to a fifteenth embodiment.

Fig. 16 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to a seventeenth embodiment.

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to an eighteenth embodiment.

Fig. 18 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to a sixteenth embodiment.

Fig. 19 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to a fifteenth embodiment.

Fig. 20 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to a twentieth embodiment.

Fig. 21 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to a nineteenth embodiment.

Fig. 22 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to a twenty-second embodiment.

Fig. 23 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to a twenty-fourth embodiment.

Fig. 24 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to a sixteenth embodiment.

25(a) and 25(b) are diagrams showing a refrigerator according to a twenty-fifth embodiment.

Fig. 26 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to a twenty-sixth embodiment.

Fig. 27 is a diagram showing a refrigerator in another embodiment.

Fig. 28 is a diagram showing a refrigerator in another embodiment.

Fig. 29 is a diagram showing a refrigerator according to a twenty-seventh embodiment.

Fig. 30 is a perspective view of a door-open state of the refrigerator according to the twenty-seventh embodiment.

Fig. 31 is an enlarged perspective view of a refrigerator compartment portion of a refrigerator according to a twenty-seventh embodiment.

Fig. 32 is a block diagram of door opening control of a refrigerator according to a twenty-seventh embodiment.

Fig. 33 is a flow chart showing how the left door and the right door of the refrigerator compartment according to the twenty-seventh embodiment are opened automatically instead of manually by the user.

Fig. 34 is a schematic diagram of a cross-section of, for example, a right door of a refrigerator according to a twenty-seventh embodiment.

Fig. 35 is a block diagram of door opening control of a refrigerator according to a twenty-seventh embodiment.

36 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the door opening operation unit having the function of the proximity sensor according to the twenty-seventh embodiment.

Fig. 37 is a front view of a refrigerator according to a twenty-eighth embodiment.

Fig. 38 is a perspective view of a door-open state of the refrigerator according to the twenty-eighth embodiment.

Fig. 39 is an enlarged perspective view of a refrigerator compartment portion of a refrigerator according to a twenty-eighth embodiment.

Fig. 40 is a block diagram of door opening control of a refrigerator according to a twenty-eighth embodiment.

41( a ) to 41 ( d ) are diagrams showing an example in which the door opening operation unit shown in FIGS. 37 to 39 functions as a human body detection mechanism for detecting a refrigerator user's human body.

Fig. 42 is a front view showing a refrigerator according to a twenty-ninth embodiment.

Fig. 43 is a block diagram of door opening control including a human body detection mechanism of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 42 .

Fig. 44 is a cross-sectional view along the front-rear direction showing the upper part of the refrigerator according to the twenty-ninth embodiment.

Fig. 45 is a cross-sectional view along the front-rear direction showing the upper portion of the refrigerator according to the first modified example of the twenty-ninth embodiment.

Fig. 46 is a cross-sectional view along the front-rear direction showing the upper portion of a refrigerator according to a second modified example of the twenty-ninth embodiment.

Fig. 47 is a cross-sectional view along the front-rear direction ni showing an upper portion of a refrigerator according to a third modified example of the twenty-ninth embodiment.

Fig. 48 is a front view showing refrigerator 1 according to the thirtieth embodiment.

Fig. 49 is a plan view of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 48 .

Fig. 50 is a side view of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 48 .

51( a ), 51( b ) show structural examples of the substrate of the door opening operation unit.

FIG. 52 is a diagram showing a proximity sensor and a guard electrode disposed on a substrate of the door-opening operation unit shown in FIG. 51 .

Fig. 53 is an exploded perspective view showing a structural example of a door opening operation unit.

Fig. 54 is a block diagram showing electrical connection of a control unit, a door opening operation unit, a door opening driving unit as a door opening device, and the like.

55( a ) to 55 ( c ) are diagrams showing examples of storage structures of the substrates of the left door and the right door.

Fig. 56 is a front view showing refrigerator 1 according to the thirty-first embodiment.

FIG. 57 is a diagram at line V1-V1 showing a configuration example near the opening operation portion 651 including the proximity sensor 607 of the left door 21 shown in FIG. 56 (or near the opening operation portion 652 including the proximity sensor 608 of the right door 22). Sectional view.

FIG. 58 is a cross-sectional view along line V2-V2 of the control operation unit 650 shown in FIG. 56 .

Fig. 59 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection of a control unit, a control operation unit, a door opening operation unit, and a door opening driving unit as a door opening device.

60(a) to 60(d) show the control of the left door when the proximity sensor of the left door shown in FIG. A diagram showing an example of how the operation unit and the door opening operation unit are lit.

Fig. 61 is a front view showing a refrigerator according to a thirty-second embodiment.

Fig. 62 is a top view of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 61 .

Fig. 63 is a side view of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 61 .

64( a ), 64( b ) show structural examples of the substrate of the door opening operation part shown in FIG. 61 .

FIG. 65 is a diagram showing a proximity sensor and a guard electrode arranged on a substrate of the door opening operation unit shown in FIG. 64 .

Fig. 66 is an exploded perspective view showing a structural example of a door opening operation unit.

Fig. 67 is a block diagram showing electrical connection of a control unit, a door opening operation unit, a door opening driving unit as a door opening device, and the like.

68( a ) to 68( c ) are diagrams showing examples of storage structures of the substrates of the left door and the right door.

Fig. 69 is a front view showing refrigerator 1 according to the thirty-third embodiment.

FIG. 70 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of an operation detection unit on the line ZR-ZR shown in FIG. 69 .

Fig. 71 is a block diagram showing electrical connection of a control unit, an operation detection unit, a door opening drive unit as a door opening device, and the like.

72( a ) and 72 ( b ) are diagrams showing examples in which the user performs proximity operations on the proximity sensor in a predetermined specific order using motions (postures) of the palm, the side of the hand, or the elbow.

73( a ) to 73( d ) are diagrams showing examples in which proximity operations are performed on the proximity sensor in other predetermined specific procedures.

74(a) to 74(d) are diagrams showing other embodiments.

FIG. 75 is a circuit diagram showing the principle of the proximity sensor detecting the touch of a finger.

Fig. 76 is a diagram showing a basic structure of a proximity sensor.

FIG. 77 is a diagram illustrating switching between the proximity mode and the electrostatic touch mode of the proximity sensor.

78(a) and 78(b) are diagrams illustrating changes in the proximity range of the proximity sensor.

detailed description

Embodiments will be described in detail below based on the drawings. In addition, the same or similar symbols are used for the same or similar components.

first embodiment

As shown in FIG.1, FIG.2, the refrigerator 1 of 1st Embodiment has the cabinet 11 which is a refrigerator main body. The housing 11 has, from the upper stage, a refrigerator compartment 12, a vegetable compartment 13, a switch compartment 14 capable of switching the set temperature in the refrigerator, and a freezer compartment 15. In addition, an ice making compartment 16 is provided on the left side of the switch compartment 14 .

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 , in order to cover the front opening of the refrigerator compartment 12, a pair of left and right doors 21 and 22 are installed on the left and right ends by hinges: open and close. Moreover, the vegetable compartment 13, the switching compartment 14, the freezer compartment 15, and the ice making compartment 16 are provided with push-pull type doors 23, 24, 25, 26, respectively. A refrigerating evaporator (not shown) for cooling refrigerating room 12 and vegetable room 13 is arranged on the rear surface of vegetable room 13 . A freezing evaporator (not shown) for cooling switchable chamber 14 , freezing chamber 15 , and ice making chamber 16 is disposed on the rear surface of switchable chamber 14 and freezing chamber 15 . A control unit 56 composed of a microcomputer for controlling the refrigerator 1 is also disposed on the back of the vegetable compartment 13 .

Both the left door 21 and the right door 22 have the following structures: colored and transparent glass front panels 21A, 22A are attached to the openings of the flat inner panels that are open on the front surface, and a vacuum heat insulating material is arranged in the internal cavity. A foamed polyurethane heat insulating material (hereinafter also simply referred to as a polyurethane heat insulating material) or a preformed solid heat insulating material (such as EPC) is disposed in the hollow portion filled with the vacuum heat insulating material. The degree of coloring of the front panels 21A and 22A is the concentration at which fillers such as heat insulating materials on the backs of the front panels 21A and 22A cannot be seen from the outside in a state of being irradiated with external light. And under this concentration, the LED display lamp that transparently displays the name of the operation button, the name of the cooling function, and the cooling intensity described later, and the 7-segment LED display device that transparently displays the changing numerical value such as the temperature value In the lit state, light passes through and can be seen from the front side. In addition, it is not limited to 7-segment LEDs, and LCDs and ELs may be used.

At the right end of the left door 21, that is, the part on the open side that is close to the left end of the right door 22 in the closed state and opposite to it, a rotating isolator 31 is provided, and the rotating isolator 31 is used to hold the door in the closed state. The sealing state with the left end part of the right door 22, that is, the part on the open side. A dew condensation prevention heater for preventing dew condensation is built in the rotating isolator 31 .

On the back side of the front panel 22A of the right door 22 is provided a capacitive control operation unit 50 for operating the refrigerator by touching the surface of the front panel 22A. The control operation part 50 is provided with an infrared light receiving part for detecting the environmental state around the refrigerator, a HOME button, and a device for transparently displaying the name of the operation button, the name of the cooling function, the cooling intensity, etc. upon detecting the touch of the HOME button. LED display lamps, 7-segment LED display devices that transparently display changing values such as temperature values, etc.

On the rear side of the front panel 21A of the left door 21 and the lower side of the front panel 22A of the right door 22, respectively, horizontally elongated door opening operation parts 51 and 52 are provided. Moreover, the door opening operation display part 51A, 52A which shows that it is a door opening operation part and shows a door opening operation direction is provided in the surface of front panel 21A, 22A. Here, a leftward arrow mark is provided on the door-opening operation display portion 51A of the left door 21 for recognizing that the door-opening operation is performed by sliding the finger to the left while the finger is in the touch state. On the door opening operation display portion 52A of the right door 22 is provided a rightward arrow mark for recognizing that the door opening operation is performed by sliding the finger to the right while the finger is in the touch state.

Door opening driving parts 54 and 55 are respectively provided at two positions on the left and right near the front end of the upper surface of the top plate of the box body 11, that is, at positions corresponding to the vicinity of the upper open side ends of the left door 21 and the right door 22, respectively. These door-opening driving parts 54, 55 push forward the moving iron cores 54A, 55A by using electromagnets, and push the upper edges near the opening side ends of the left door 21 and the right door 22 forward, so that each door can be opened automatically. In addition, in order to open the left door 21, if the finger touches the right end of the left door opening operation display part 51A or the arrow mark near the right end and slides the finger to the left, the door opening operation part 51 senses the continuous touch. The touch detection signal is sent to the control unit 56, and when the control unit 56 judges that it is a door opening operation command, it activates the door opening drive unit 54 of the left door 21 to automatically open the left door 21. The details will be described later. On the other hand, in order to open the right door 22, if the finger is slid to the right while touching the left end of the right door opening operation display part 52A or the arrow mark near the left end, the opening operation part 52 senses its continuous movement. Touch to send a touch detection signal to the control unit 56. When the control unit 56 judges that it is a door opening operation command, it activates the door opening drive unit 55 of the right door 22 to automatically open the right door 22.

In addition, the cooling control performed by the control unit 56 of the refrigerator of the first embodiment is general control and is not particularly limited. , the refrigerating room fan, the freezing room fan, and the defrosting heater are connected to the control unit 56 to be controlled.

The arrow marks on the door opening operation display parts 51A, 52A are not limited to this display, as long as it is easy to recognize that if the door opening operation will be performed if the door is touched and slid to the right or left, then the shape and form of the marks There is no limit.

On the left door 21 and the right door 22, handles 61, 62 are respectively provided on the lower end surface parts of the lower side than the door opening operation display parts 51A, 52A, so that fingers can be inserted therein by making the palm face upward, and facing the front side. The operation of pulling enables the left door 21 and the right door 22 to be manually opened individually.

Next, the automatic door opening operation|movement of the refrigerator of 1st Embodiment is demonstrated. As shown in FIG. 4 , at the five arrow marks arranged in the left and right horizontal directions of the door-opening operation display parts 51A and 52A of the door-opening operation parts 51 and 52, respectively, electrostatic capacitors are arranged in parallel so as to face each other across the front panels 21A and 22A. Type touch sensors 51-1 to 51-5, 52-1 to 52-5. These capacitive touch sensors 51 - 1 to 51 - 5 , 52 - 1 to 52 - 5 are set to detect changes in capacitance caused by a user's touch, respectively, and to send touch detection signals to the control unit 56 .

Therefore, when the user opens the right door 22 and touches the arrow mark on the left end with a finger on the part of the door opening operation display part 52A, and slides the finger to the right while touching, the capacitive touch sensors 52-1 to 52 Each of the sensors detecting a change in electrostatic capacitance in - 5 sends touch detection signals to the control unit 56 in the order of touch. Therefore, the control unit 56 judges whether it is a door opening operation according to the logic of the flow chart of FIG. In addition, in the case of the door opening operation of the left door 21, for the door opening operation display part 51A of the left door 21, the operation of sliding the finger to the left while touching the arrow mark on the right end or close to the right end is judged to be the same left. The door opening operation of the door 21.

The door opening judgment logic here is as follows. When at least 3 of the 5 sensors on the left and right have detected touch within a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds or 1 second) and according to the order of arrangement, it is determined that it is a door opening operation, and the corresponding door is automatically opened. Here, the door opening operation of the right door 22 will be described.

When any one of the arrow marks on the door-opening operation display portion 52A of the right door 22 is touched, the corresponding electrostatic capacitive touch sensor on the door-opening operation portion 52 side (usually touches the left end or the arrow mark near the left end, so it is assumed here that The sensor 52 - 1 ) at the left end performs touch detection and sends a touch detection signal to the control unit 56 . The control part 56 receives this signal, and starts the judgment process of a door opening operation (step S0). Then, timing is first started (step S1).

The electrostatic capacitive touch sensors 52-2, 52-3 on the right side and the right side then perform touch detection and send detection signals until the timer counts down. The control unit 56 receives these signals, and the touched sensor moves to the right. The three consecutive ones are determined as the forward sliding operation as the door opening operation direction of the right door 22 from the left to the right. That is, judgments of NO in step S2, YES in step S3, YES in step S4, and YES in step S5 are performed. As a result, the control section 56 judges that it is a regular door opening operation to the right door 22, and outputs a door opening drive command to the door opening drive section 55 of the right door, so that the door opening drive section 55 is actuated to automatically open the right door 22 (step S6) .

In addition, if the sliding is stopped on the way, or the sliding speed is slow, or the length of the sliding is short, it cannot be judged that more than 3 arrow marks are positively touched within a certain period of time (for example, 0.5 seconds or 1 second). Therefore, the judging process of the door opening operation is temporarily suspended, waiting for the next touch detection (branching to YES in step S2, jumping to step S7 and stopping the judging process). In addition, even if the sliding operation is performed from the right end side to the left on the door opening operation display portion 52A, the right door does not open (branch to NO in step S5, jump to step S7 and stop the judgment process).

The same applies to the determination process of the door opening operation of the left door 21 . However, in the case of the left door 21, if the arrow mark on or near the right end of the door opening operation display portion 51A is touched and then slid to the left in the direction opposite to that of the right door 22, it is determined to be a door opening operation. Therefore, even if a sliding operation is performed from the left end or the arrow mark near the left end to the right, the left door will not open.

In addition, in the above-mentioned automatic door opening control, the following procedure is adopted: the control part 56 judges the door opening operation, and drives the door opening driving parts 54, 55. , the electrostatic capacitive touch sensors 51-1～51-5, 52-1～52-5 detect the electrostatic capacitance change caused by the user's touch, and input the touch detection signal to the microcomputer, and the door opening operation parts 51, 52, When it is judged that there is a sliding operation in a certain direction within the specified time, it is finally judged that there is a door opening operation and an instruction signal for opening the left door or opening the right door is sent to the control unit 56, and when the control unit 56 receives the door opening instruction, the door is opened The drive unit 54 or the door opening drive unit 55 drives the door opening.

Next, the method of assembling the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 to the left door 21 and the right door 22, respectively, is demonstrated using FIG.6, FIG.7. In addition, although the door-opening operation part 52 of the right door 22 is described below, the same applies to the door-opening operation part 51 of the left door 21.

First, the door opening operation unit 52 has a structure in which capacitive touch sensors 52 - 1 to 52 - 5 are arranged side by side along the longitudinal direction T on a long and thin substrate 52P that is short in the W direction and long in the T direction. And the opening operation part 52 is provided in the inside of the lower end of the right door 22 so that the longitudinal direction T direction may become a left-right direction, and it will closely adhere to the back surface of the front panel 22A.

Therefore, in the vicinity of the left end of the lower end portion of the right door 22 , an operation unit installation space 64 opened on the lower side is provided. The left-right lateral width of the operating portion installation space 64 is slightly longer than the length of the door-opening operating portion 52 in the longitudinal direction T, so that the opening operating portion 52 can be slid and inserted upward from the opening on the lower surface with its longitudinal direction T in the transverse state. . Then, the door-opening operation part 52 is directly inserted upward from the lower surface opening of the operation part installation space 64 into the operation part installation space 64 with its longitudinal direction T aligned with the left-right direction, and is slid into the operation part installation space 64. fixed at the top. Thereafter, the opening operation portion 52 is temporarily fixed with an adhesive tape or the like in a state where the door opening operation portion 52 is closely bonded to the back surface of the front panel 22A. Then, liquid polyurethane is injected into the inner cavity of the right door 22 as the heat insulating material 22B, foamed and solidified, thereby fixing the door opening operation part 52 in the operation part installation space 64 . The door opening operation part 51 of the left door 21 is also attached by the same procedure.

By adopting such an installation sequence, especially since the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 are arranged and fixed in the operation part installation space 64 in a posture that is long in the horizontal direction T direction and short in the vertical direction W direction, the following state can be avoided: One-end floating in the direction L direction, so that even if the capacitive touch sensor 52-5 on the right is closely bonded to the back of the front panel 22A, the capacitive touch sensor 52-1 on the left will not be tightly bonded to the front panel 22A The back surface of the front panel is fixed in a floating state, or vice versa, even if the capacitive touch sensor 52-1 on the left is closely bonded to the back surface of the front panel 22A, the capacitive touch sensor 52-5 on the right will not be tightly bonded. Bonded to the back of the front panel 22A and fixed in a floating state; as shown in FIG. The state of the back side of 22A is securely fixed.

Other implementations

As the simplest refrigerator door structure, a left-handed or right-handed single door is arranged in front of the refrigerator compartment. As the door structure, the following structure can also be adopted: a colored transparent door is installed on the front surface of the heat-insulating door body The non-conductive front panel is equipped with a control operation part for changing the cooling control content of the refrigerator and a door opening operation part for operating the door opening operation of the door opening device. That is, a configuration in which the configuration of the right door 22 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is provided on one door may be adopted (second embodiment).

In addition, the control operation part 50 and the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 are not limited to capacitive touch sensors, and may be pressure-sensitive sensors, infrared sensors, etc. that do not have unevenness on the surface side of the front panels 21A and 22A, but can be detected by sensing the user's movement. A sensor that is operated to perform a corresponding operation (third embodiment).

In addition, it is preferable to set so as to respond to the operation input for the different operation methods of the control operation part 50 and the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 . For example, it can be set so that: in the case of the control operation part 50, an operation input is accepted by sensing a point touch on the part, while in the case of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52, it is necessary to slide the part in a touched state. It is recognized as a door opening operation input at a certain distance or more (fourth embodiment).

In addition, the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 may not detect operations of touching and sliding with a finger, but operations of touching a plurality of places in a predetermined order or sequentially touching in a predetermined direction (fifth embodiment). In addition, as another modified example, the door opening operation part may be provided not in the lower end part of the door but in the upper end part (sixth embodiment).

Furthermore, as other embodiments, the following modified examples are also possible. As shown in FIG. 8 , in a refrigerator in which the left and right doors 21 and 22 are side-by-side, the door opening operation display parts 51A-1 and 52A-1 of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 are set on the front panels 21A and 22A surfaces. The position of the same height from the ground can be set as follows for the door opening operation display part 51A-1 of the left door 21: if the user slides from the vicinity of the left end to the vicinity of the right end while touching with a finger, the left door 21 can be opened. To open the door, for the door opening operation display part 52A-1 of the right door 22, it can also be set to: if the user slides from the vicinity of the left end to the vicinity of the right end, the right door 22 can be opened while touching with a finger. In addition, in this case, as shown by arrow A1 in FIG. By performing an operation of sliding a finger, the left and right doors 21, 22 can be simultaneously opened (seventh embodiment).

In addition, as shown in FIG. 9 , in a refrigerator in which the left and right doors 21 and 22 are side-by-side, it is also possible to set the door opening operation display parts 51A- 2 and 52A- 2 of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 on each side. The opening ends of the front panels 21A, 22A of the doors 21 , 22 are slid in a direction opposite to the opening side of the doors 21 , 22 to open the doors 21 , 22 respectively. In this case, since the right end of the left door 21 is an open end, the door opening operation display part 51A- 2 performs the display which slides from the right end side to the left. In addition, the left end of the right door 22 is an open end, and the opening operation display part 52A- 2 performs the display which slides rightward from the left end side. With this setting, the user slides his finger in the direction in which the open end of the door is opened due to the door opening operation. Therefore, the user's finger seldom interferes with the open end of the door that starts to open. The opening operation is performed smoothly (eighth embodiment).

In addition, as shown in Figure 10, it can be set to: no matter whether the refrigerator door is a single door or a two-leaf door of the side-opening type, near any one of the four corners of the door (here, the door 22) up, down, left, and right, The door opening operation part 52 is arranged horizontally or vertically, or obliquely toward the corner, and the door opening operation display part 52A-3 is also arranged on the corresponding position of the front panel 22A of the door 22, and in the door opening operation direction is toward the door. In the case of the outside direction, the door opening operation is performed (ninth embodiment).

For example, Fig. 10 (a) provides the following setting example: at the lower end of the open end side of the door 22, the door opening operation part 52 and the door opening operation display part 52A-31 are arranged in the horizontal direction, and the opening operation toward the door 22 The door can be opened by sliding the end side to the left. In the case of this modified example, the door opening operation part 52 and the door opening operation display part 52A-31 can be similarly provided in the upper end part of the open end side of the door 22. As shown in FIG. Fig. 10 (b) has provided the following setting example: at the lower end of the open end side of the door 22, the door opening operation part 52 and the door opening operation display part 52A-32 are arranged in the vertical direction, through the lower end towards the door 22, from above Swipe down to open the door. Fig. 10 (c) has provided following setting example: on the upper end of the open end side of door 22, door opening operation part 52, door opening operation display part 52A-33 are set in vertical direction, by towards the upper end of door 22, from The door can be opened by sliding up and down. Fig. 10 (d) has provided following setting example: at the lower end of the rotary hinge end side of door 22, door opening operation part 52, door opening operation display part 52A-34 are set in the vertical direction, by towards the lower end of door 22, The door can be opened by sliding from top to bottom. In this modified example, the door opening operation part 52 and the door opening operation display part 52A-34 may be provided on the upper end of the door 22 on the side of the rotary hinge, and the door may be opened by sliding from bottom to top. In addition, Fig. 10 (e) has given the following setting example: one corner in the four corners of the door 22, that is, the lower corner of the open end side is provided with the door opening operation part 52 and the door opening operation display part 52A- 35, the door can be opened by performing a sliding operation toward the lower corner of the door 22 from obliquely upward to obliquely downward. In the case of this modified example, it is also possible to set the door-opening operation part 52 and the door-opening operation display part 52A-35 at any one of the other three corners of the four corners of the door 22. The door can be opened by performing a sliding operation diagonally upward or diagonally downward.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 11 , regardless of whether the refrigerator door is a single door or a side-opening two-leaf door, the capacitive touch sensor 52 provided on the door opening operation part 52 provided on the back side of the front panel 22A of the door 22 -1 to 52-5 may be configured such that adjacent sensors partially overlap each other in a direction A3 different from the slide operation direction A2. With this overlapping structure of sensors, there is no lack of touch during the sliding operation, and even if adjacent sensors are touched at the same time, the change in electrostatic capacitance is larger for a sensor with a larger area, and has the effect of not simultaneously detecting (the tenth embodiment) Way).

In addition, as shown in Fig. 12 and Fig. 13, regardless of whether the refrigerator door is a single door or a two-leaf door of the side-opening type, the door-opening operation part 52 assembled on the door (here also the door 22) detects due to the sliding operation. The door-opening operation can be that a plurality of sliding detection touch sensors are arranged in a circular shape or arranged up and down, left and right in a matrix, and a sliding operation such as a certain pattern is drawn on their plurality of electrodes to detect the door-opening operation (No. 11 implementation).

In the example of FIG. 12 , a plurality of sliding detection touch sensors 52 - 1 to 52 - 8 of the door opening operation unit 52 assembled on the door 22 are arranged in an annular shape. For such a door opening operation unit 52 , three or more When adjacent touch sensors are touched continuously in a circular manner, the door will be opened. Therefore, regardless of the sliding operation of any one of the arrows A4 to A6 or the sliding operation in the opposite direction to these arrows, the door opening operation can be performed. Moreover, in the example of FIG. 13 , a plurality of electrodes 5211-5244 for sliding detection of the door-opening operation part 52 assembled on the door 22 are arranged in a matrix up and down, left and right. For such a door-opening operation part 52, arrows A7-A13 As shown, when more than three adjacent electrodes above, below, or obliquely above, obliquely below are touched continuously, the door-opening action is performed.

In addition, as shown in Figure 14, regardless of whether the refrigerator door is a single door or a two-leaf door of the side-opening type (the side-opening type is shown here.), the door opening operation parts 51, 52 of the doors 21, 22 are all constituted as : Detects the door opening operation performed by sliding operation towards a specified direction. For the left door 21, the door opening detection is performed when sliding from the left to the right from its rotating hinge side to the open end side. For the right door 22 , door opening detection is performed when sliding from its rotating hinge side toward the open end side, and vice versa from right to left. In this case, the opening operation display parts 51A and 52A are respectively formed with arrow marks facing the opening end in order to indicate the sliding operation direction (twelfth embodiment). The door opening operation performed by the sliding operation toward the open end, in particular, the user usually comes from the outside of the refrigerator to the center of the refrigerator to perform the door opening operation, and the direction of the moving route is consistent with the direction of the sliding operation, which has the effect of facilitating the door opening operation .

In addition, as another modified example, the following configurations are also possible. A human body detection mechanism (such as an infrared sensor, a camera for identifying people, etc.) for detecting a person standing in front of the refrigerator door is installed on the door. After the human body detection mechanism detects a person, the control unit performs control to make the door opening operation effective. Thereby, the refrigerator door can be prevented from opening accidentally by water, static electricity, etc. (thirteenth embodiment).

In addition, the door opening operation parts 51, 52 of the refrigerator compartment doors 21, 22 may be provided on the sliding doors 23, 24 of the vegetable compartment 13, the switching compartment 14, etc., instead of the rotary open doors 21, 52 in front of the refrigerator compartment 12 22 (fourteenth embodiment). In addition, in this case, the harness is connected to the control unit 56 along the slide rail of the sliding door.

In addition, the refrigerator 1 of embodiment may be comprised as demonstrated sequentially below.

15th Embodiment

As shown in FIG. 15, the control operation part (also referred to as the control operation board) 50 can be inserted and accommodated in the storage part 50R along the G direction from the insertion port 50V formed in the door cap (door cap), and the door The cover is a longitudinal side portion of the right door 22, supports the door front panel, and constitutes the left, right, upper, and lower sides of the door. The door opening operation part (also referred to as a touch open switch board) 52 can be inserted into the storage part 52R from the insertion opening 52V of the longitudinal side part of the right door 22 along the G direction and accommodated. Furthermore, the door opening operation part (touch open switch board|substrate) 51 can be inserted and accommodated in the storage part 51R from the insertion opening 51V of the longitudinal side part of the left door 21 along H direction.

As shown in Fig. 15, handles (handles) 61, 62 are arranged on the lower surface portion (bottom) of the left door 21 and the lower surface portion (bottom) of the right door 22, respectively, and the handles 61, 62 and the door opening operation parts 51, 52 They are arranged at the lower corner of the left door 21 and the lower corner of the right door 22, respectively, and are arranged on different sides of the door. In addition, the opening operation parts 51, 52 and the handles 61, 62 may be located at different positions in the vertical direction.

19 described later, the right door 22 is composed of, for example, a front panel 22A as a glass plate, an inner panel 22K, and a door cover 72 , and an insertion port 50V may be provided in the door cover 72 . Furthermore, the accommodating portion 50R may be provided so as to extend from the door cover 72 in the direction of the front panel 22A continuously from the insertion port 50V, and the substrate may be inserted into the accommodating portion 50R.

In addition, the space between the outer front panel 22A, the inner panel 22K, and the door cover 72 of the storage portion 50R is preferably filled with a foam heat insulating material such as polyurethane or a vacuum heat insulating material for heat insulation.

Moreover, the inserted control operation part 50 and the door opening operation part 51 may also be tightly bonded to the front panel 22A by an elastic mechanism that presses them to the front panel 22A from behind after insertion, but in the case of a board with a long lateral width (The door opening operation part 51 etc.) may be adhere|attached directly to the back surface of 22 A of front panels with an adhesive material. In this way, operational sensitivity can be improved.

LED51M, 52M can be used for opening operation display part 51A, 52A which is an arrow mark which shows the position of door opening operation part 51, 52. Furthermore, as the arrow mark, it may be directly printed on the glass, or it may be printed on a film and provided on the back surface of the glass so that it can be seen by light.

The door opening operation parts 51 and 52 for opening the left door 21 and the right door 22 shown in FIG. 15 use electrostatic switches. For the left door 21 and the right door 22 as the revolving door, since the electrostatic switch can be electrically connected to the control unit on the side of the casing 11 through the electric wiring, it is a revolving door of a refrigerator room with a smaller temperature difference. Electrostatic switches can be used as the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 . Electrostatic switches have poor moisture resistance, so they are used in parts with small temperature differences.

On the other hand, Hall IC switches are used for opening operation unit 71 for opening a sliding door such as sliding door 25 of freezer compartment 15 and opening operation unit 77 for opening sliding door 23 . The sliding door has a structure that can be pulled out from the cabinet 11 (refrigerator main body), and therefore cannot be connected to the control unit on the side of the cabinet 11 using the wiring harness. Therefore, for example, a magnet is arranged on the sliding door as the door opening operation parts 71 and 77, and when the sliding door is pushed in, the position of the magnet changes, and the Hall IC switch can detect the position change of the magnet in a non-contact manner. The control unit can open the sliding door by operating the sliding mechanism that pushes and pulls the sliding door based on the signal from the Hall IC indicating that the position of the magnet has changed.

FIG. 19 shows a horizontal section of the right door 22 shown in FIG. 15 . For example, the right door 22 has a front panel 22A as a glass plate, an inner panel 22K, a reinforcement panel 70 , a door cover 72 , and a base plate 74 of the door opening operation part 52 . Inside the right door 22, a polyurethane member for heat insulation or a vacuum heat insulating material 73 with a thickness of 20 mm is arranged. The gap between the substrate 74 and the glass plate 22A is zero. The door cover 72 covers the end portion of the front panel 22A which is a glass plate. The front panel 22A, which is a glass plate, is tempered glass, and if the end of the glass plate is exposed, a C-face chamfer is provided on the exposed end of the glass plate in order to protect the exposed end of the glass plate.

With this arrangement, even if the end of the front panel 22A may contact other kitchen furniture or walls arranged next to the refrigerator due to the automatic opening of the door by operating the door opening operation portion 52, the end face can be prevented from being broken. In addition, a prevention mechanism may be provided at the end of the front panel 22A for preventing contact and protecting the end by covering the end. Moreover, the board|substrate 74 of the opening operation part 52 is arrange|positioned so that there may be no gap with respect to the inner surface of 22 A of front panels. In addition, although it is a symmetrical shape, the left door 21 also has the same structure. Moreover, the size of the board|substrate of the door opening operation part 52 on either side may differ. For example, the base plate on the side of the larger door can be made larger than the base plate of the smaller door.

Sixteenth embodiment

As shown in FIG. 18 , the door opening operation part 51 is disposed below the position LL of the lower end line of the meat tray top plate inside the left door 21 . That is, Fig. 24 shows a longitudinal section of the main body of the refrigerator. As shown in FIG. 24, in the box body 11, the cold air duct through which the cold air from the cooler passes is located at the back side, and an outlet is provided from the duct toward the door side. As shown in FIG. 24, the cold air flows in the direction of the arrow.

A meat tray 99T is disposed in the housing 11, and a discharge port is provided on the rear side of the meat tray 99T. On the left door 21, the door opening operation part 51 is arrange|positioned below the position LL of the lower end line of the meat tray top plate. As a result, cold air passing through the meat tray 99T does not reach the door opening operation portion 51 in the left door 21 due to the windproof mechanism such as the front wall constituting the front surface of the meat tray. Therefore, cold air does not reach the door-opening operation part 51 (52) in the left door 21, and thus no dew condensation phenomenon caused by the door-opening operation part 51 (52) being cooled will not occur.

As shown in FIG. 24, the upper end of the shelf frame is higher than the upper end of the meat tray 99T so that cold air does not reach the back of the door. Thereby, cold air can be prevented from being directly blown to the door-opening operation part 51 (52) part, in which the heat insulating material is thin in order to accommodate the door-opening operation part 51 (52), and dew condensation is easy to occur. Therefore, there will be no occurrence of sending a signal to the control unit due to dew condensation and operation, thereby preventing the door opening operation unit 51 from operating inadvertently and causing the left door 21 to be opened indiscriminately. These are also the same for the door opening operation part 52 of the right door 22 shown in FIG. 18 .

In addition, 99 T of meat trays can also be used as a refrigerated compartment, it has a door and a sliding container, and it can pull out ahead. The refrigerated room can also be composed of the following airtight space, which can be sealed by a reinforced storage box and door that accommodates the push-pull container, or it can be configured such that the airtight space is sealed by a vacuum pump as a decompression mechanism. The space inside the storage space is decompressed. In this way, it is possible to prevent the cold air ejected from the cold air outlet provided on the back side of the storage box as the meat tray 99T from reaching the door directly, and the cold temperature zone of the outlet can be controlled by the heat insulation layer after the airtight space is decompressed. Insulated to prevent heat transfer. In this case, the discharge port may be covered with a storage case. In addition, the cold air ejected from the outlet provided on the back side of the airtight storage part may also be controlled by a damper as an air volume adjustment mechanism. The temperature sensor detects the drop in temperature and closes the damper so that it is difficult for cold air to reach the door.

In addition, a vacuum heat insulating material disposed behind the base plate having the door opening operation portion 52 and disposed inside the door may be provided between the base plate and the discharge port disposed behind the meat tray 99T to insulate heat so that the Condensation on the substrate. In addition, this substrate is accommodated in the resin storage part with the air layer formed inside the door. In this case, condensation is particularly likely to occur. However, since the cold energy in the refrigerator is isolated by installing a vacuum heat insulating material, Condensation can be prevented to prevent false detection that the door is suddenly opened. Furthermore, by arranging a metal member excellent in heat transfer around the storage part, the heat of the outside air is transferred to the storage part to warm the storage part, thereby preventing dew condensation.

In addition, there may be a vertical partition arranged between the right door and the left door, which is opened and closed in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of one door, and the heat source is accommodated inside the vertical partition. Furthermore, by arranging the substrate and the storage part near the heat source of the refrigerator, heat can be conducted to the substrate and the storage part, and dew condensation can be further prevented. The heat source can be extended in the vertical direction together with the longitudinal partition, and the heat transfer amount can be increased by increasing the heater density at the position of the substrate or the storage part. For this heater density, the heater wires can be arranged in double or bent, and a metal with good thermal conductivity (for example, aluminum) can be arranged from the heater to transfer heat to the substrate side in the longitudinal partition. tors extend to the substrate side.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 18 , the door opening operation part 51 ( 52 ) is installed at a position different from that of the discharge port 79R in the housing 11 , thereby preventing the cold air from the discharge port 79R from reaching the inside of the left door 21 . The door opening operation part 51 (52). Therefore, since the cold air does not reach the door-opening operation part 51 (52) in the left door 21, the dew condensation phenomenon caused by the cooling of the door-opening operation part 51 (52) will not occur. The operation causes a signal to be sent to the control unit, thereby preventing the door opening operation unit 51 (52) from inadvertently operating and causing the left door 21 (right door 22) to be opened indiscriminately.

Seventeenth Embodiment

As shown in FIG. 16 , the control operation unit 50 and the door opening operation unit 51 may be arranged on a single board 99 on the left door 21 . The detection part and the detection signal processing part of the door opening operation part 51 (52) can be comprised with the one board|substrate 99. The detection unit is housed in the housing unit 50R together with the detection signal processing unit. The microcomputer MC can be arranged on the same substrate.

The control operation unit 50 and the door opening operation unit 52 may be arranged on different boards on the right door 22 . The control operation part 50 and the microcomputer MC may be arranged on one substrate 99A, and the door opening operation part 52 may be arranged on the other substrate 99B. Accordingly, by arranging the MC that may cause noise on another substrate, it is possible to prevent a malfunction in which the door is accidentally opened due to false detection by the door opening operation unit 52 . Moreover, in the case where the storage portion 50R has divided different storage portions for respectively storing the substrate 99A and the substrate 99B, it is only necessary to connect the electrical signal lines of the substrate 99B to other storage portions (for example, the storage portion that accommodates the substrate 99A). ) of the control mechanism (MC). Especially when the connector is extended from the storage part of other parts to the storage part of the substrate 99B in advance, and the substrate 99B is stored in the storage part, if the connecting wire of the substrate 99B is connected with the connector, it is easy to assemble and manufacture the door. .

In addition, the microcomputer MC may be arranged on this substrate 99B, or may be arranged on another substrate 99C arranged at another position. Furthermore, the substrate 99 may be vertically long or horizontally long.

As shown in FIG. 18, the control operation part 50 and the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 are directly connected by wires. That is, the control operation unit 50 and the door opening operation units 51 and 52 are connected via the power supply board of the control unit 56 using different wiring harnesses LA and LB. This is done in order to reliably prevent the noise generated by the control operation part 50 from causing the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 to open the door inadvertently.

As shown in FIG. 15, handles (handles) of the sliding doors 23, 24, 25, and 26 may be arranged on the left or right side surfaces of the sliding doors 23, 24, 25, and 26. The handle (grip) is not arranged on the front surface of the sliding door, for example, the opening operation part 77 of the sliding door 23 and the opening operation part 71 of the sliding door 25 are respectively arranged on the front surface. Thereby, since there is no handle (handle) in the front surface part of a sliding door, an external appearance is beautiful.

Eighteenth embodiment

As shown in FIG. 17 , on the right door 22 , the arrangement positions of the control operation unit 50 and the door opening operation unit 52 are different in the left and right lateral directions. That is, the control operation part 50 is located on the right side of the right door 22 and the opening operation part 52 is located on the left side of the right door 22 . Thus, the control operation part 50 is not arranged on the upper side of the door opening operation part 52. Therefore, even if the user touches it with wet hands and water drips from the control operation part 50, the water will not drip to the lower door opening operation. Section 52. And the distance Wb between the storage part of the control operation part 50 and the storage part of the door opening operation part 52 is smaller than the distance Wa between the control operation part 50 and the door opening operation part 52, and distance Wb is the minimum separation distance.

In addition, the control operation part 50 may be arrange|positioned so that the storage part which accommodates the board|substrate of the door-opening operation part 52 may deviate from it in the up-down direction, and may overlap in the left-right direction. The control operation part 50 may also be arrange|positioned so that the board|substrate of the opening operation part 52 may overlap with it in the left-right direction. As long as the capacitive switch SA on each board does not overlap with the door opening operation display part 52A, water does not drip from the capacitive switch SA arranged above to the door opening operation part 52A arranged below. Furthermore, by stacking the accommodating portion and the substrate so that they are stacked in the left-right direction in a small area such as a door, the degree of freedom in layout is increased. In addition, it is also possible to apply the case of arranging the substrates in the same storage portion with respect to arranging the respective substrates so as to overlap in the left-right direction.

The detection sensitivities of the electrodes of the opening operation parts 51 and 52 and the electrodes of the control operation part 50 may be made different when the user operates. For example, by making the detection sensitivity of the electrodes of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 higher than that of the electrodes of the control operation part 50, the operation sensitivity of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 can be improved. The electrodes of the opening operation parts 51 and 52 and the electrodes of the control operation part 50 may be different in capacitance, or may be made different by changing the area of the electrodes. The electrodes of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 may be composed of one electrode instead of arranging a plurality of electrodes.

Different operation methods are used for the operation of the control operation part 50 and the operation of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 . As a different operation method, a long-press operation is performed on the control operation part 50 for, for example, 0.5 second, and a long-press operation is performed on the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 for, for example, one second to detect the operation.

Nineteenth Embodiment

As shown in FIG. 21 , all LEDs of the control operation unit 50 are turned off, and when a switch on the control operation unit 50 is pressed, a plurality of LEDs or all LEDs of the control operation unit 50 are turned on. And, can adopt the following structure: in the lighting process, even if the switch that is controlled to open the door operation part 51,52 therebetween detects the operation is also regarded as invalid, does not accept the user's operation and makes the door opening operation invalid (also may be valid and operational). During lighting, the LEDs of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 are OFF (disconnected) and are not lit. On the contrary, in the process of turning off all the LEDs of the control operation part 50, the switches of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 are valid and can be operated (may also be invalid and cannot be operated). While all the LEDs of the control operation portion 50 are turned off, the LEDs of the door opening operation portions 51 and 52 are ON (turned on) and turned on.

As mentioned above, by making the control switch effective, the door-opening operation parts 51 and 52 are invalidated, thereby having the following effect: when pressing the control operation part 50 with fingers, accidentally hitting the door-opening operation parts 51 and 52 with the elbow This caused the door to open inadvertently.

In addition, in the structure of turning on the LED of the control switch and turning off the LEDs of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52, the following situation may sometimes occur: when the lights are turned on at the same time, for example, a child wants to press the control operation part 50 and the door opening operation part 51 at the same time. , 52 impulsively driven, the door is opened, but, can be solved by the formation of the present invention.

In addition, even if both the control operation part 50 and the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 are enabled and simultaneous pressing is detected, the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 will be disabled by a display or voice, and attention can be called.

As shown in FIG. 17 , the switches SA and SB having different shapes of the control operation unit 50 can be turned on (ON) with the same operation sensitivity and the same operation method at a predetermined time. The switch SA and the switch SB of the same operation mode are located on one side of the substrate. In addition, the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 can also be operated in the same manner as the switch SA, and this configuration can be used in each embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 18, the wire harness of the harness LA of the control operation part 50, the wire harness of the harness LB of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52, and a heater wire are not bundled together. That is, they can be arranged at intervals in the door and approached at the door hinge portion leading to the box. Also, AC wires and DC wires can be bundled separately. Noise can thereby be prevented.

As shown in FIG. 15 , for example, the front panel 22A as a glass plate of the right door 22 shown in FIG. 19 is tempered glass, but a reinforcing plate 70 may be added and an anti-scattering film may be arranged. In order to protect the end of the front panel 22A, a door cover 72 is arranged to cover the end of the front panel 22A.

However, unlike FIG. 19 , when the door cover does not cover the end of the front panel 22A and the end of the glass plate 22A is exposed, a C-face chamfer may be formed as a chamfered surface at the end of the glass plate 22A. Or the R side. The front panel 22A which is a glass plate is tempered glass, but if the end of the glass plate 22A is exposed, in order to protect the end of the glass plate 22A, a C-face chamfer is provided on the glass plate 22A, thereby, even when the glass plate is installed Even when the door is accidentally opened by opening the door operation part, it is also possible to prevent the end from hitting somewhere and causing damage. In addition, although it is a left-right symmetrical shape, the left door 21 also has the same structure.

The door opening operation parts 51 and 52 shown in FIG. 17 need not be malfunctioned. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 19 , a vacuum heat insulating material 73 is arranged. The heat insulating thickness of the vacuum heat insulating material 73 is 20 mm or more, and since it is arranged in a vertical partition, the vacuum heat insulating material 73 does not condense. The heater (not shown) is arrange|positioned near the door opening operation part 51,52, and the vacuum heat insulating material 73 is arrange|positioned at the back of the door opening operation part 51,52. Thereby, the door-opening operation parts 51 and 52 can avoid dew condensation due to the influence of the low-temperature part.

The switches SA and SB of the control operation unit 50 shown in FIG. 17 have a function of adjusting the operation sensitivity, and have a setting mechanism for changing the sensitivity and a predetermined time. Thereby, by using a setting mechanism, it can set so that the operation sensitivity at the time of operating switch SA, SB or door-opening operation display part 51A, 52A differs.

twentieth embodiment

FIG. 20 is a plan view showing, for example, sliding doors 23 and 25 shown in FIG. 15 . For example, sliding doors 23 and 25 shown in FIG. 15 have door opening operation parts 77 and 71, respectively. When the base plate 82 of the door opening operation part 77,71 is configured to be able to be inserted downward into the storage portion 81 from the upper surface portion of the sliding door 23,25 and accommodated, no gap will be generated on the front surface portion of the sliding door 23,25, Therefore, the external appearance is beautiful, and the external appearance of the glass surface of the front surface part of the sliding doors 23 and 25 is good.

The door opening operation parts 77 and 71 shown in FIG. In this way, noise can be prevented from entering the door-opening operation parts 77 and 71 and the door can be prevented from being opened indiscriminately, compared with a case where electrical wiring described later is guided to the door along the metal rail.

In the case of a power supply type in which power is obtained from other parts using wiring harnesses instead of the battery 83 shown in FIG. The opening and closing action can change the wiring length corresponding to the longest distance when the wiring is pulled out.

In this case, noise may be mounted on the electrical wiring along the metal rails that guide the sliding door. Therefore, a noise filter as a noise removal mechanism may be provided to remove noise that enters the door opening operation parts 77, 71 or The noise of the microcomputer instructing the opening operation enters from the door opening operation parts 77 and 71 . In addition, an insulation mechanism (noise elimination mechanism) may be provided around the electric wiring arranged along the metal rail, and the noise may be eliminated by not directly contacting the metal (21st embodiment).

As shown in FIG. 16 , among the sliding doors 23, 24, 25, and 26 having glass plates, for example, the sliding door 25, a door cover of a different material (such as resin) at a position other than the glass front surface portion of the sliding door 25 System) set the push button 95. By pressing the push button 95 made of resin, the sliding door 25 can be opened.

22nd Embodiment

Figure 22 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing the sliding door 23 (24, 25, 26) and the cabinet 11 of the refrigerator, between the sliding door 23 (24, 25, 26) and the cabinet 11 of the refrigerator, a pressing member 120 is arranged. . The pressing member 120 sets a gap DH between the sliding doors 23 ( 24 , 25 , 26 ) and the cabinet 11 of the refrigerator. The user pushes the sliding door 23 ( 24 , 25 , 26 ) in the pressing direction indicated by the arrow against the force of the pressing member 120 , so that the transmitting part 131 of the non-contact distance sensor 130 approaches the receiving part 132 . Thus, the distance sensor 130 detects the distance, and when the detected distance is less than a predetermined distance, the door opening operation part 77 (71) sends a command to the control part, and the sliding door can be opened by the pushing mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 17 , for example, door opening operation parts 101 , 102 , 103 , and 104 for opening the sliding doors 23 , 24 , 25 , and 26 may be provided on the left door 21 . The door opening operation parts 101, 102, 103, 104 are designed according to the arrangement shape of the sliding doors 23, 24, 25, 26. Thereby, a user can grasp visually easily, and can open the sliding door which needs to be opened easily, without changing a posture.

The front surfaces of the left door 21 , the right door 22 , and the sliding doors 23 , 24 , 25 , and 26 may not be provided with any handles (handles), but may be formed completely flat (all flat).

23rd Embodiment

As shown in FIG. 15 , with respect to gaps X and Y between sliding doors 23 , 24 , 25 , and 26 , gap X>gap Y. That is, the gap Y between the sliding door 23 having the opening operation part 77 and the sliding door 25 having the opening operation part 71 is set smaller than the gap X between the sliding doors 24 and 26 without the opening operation part. That is, the gap X between the sliding doors 24 and 26 with the handle 140 and no opening operation part is formed to be larger than the gap Y between the sliding door 23 with the door opening operation part 77 and the sliding door 25 with the door opening operation part 71 in order to be able to put in your hand. big. Furthermore, the sliding door 23 having the opening operation part 77 and the sliding door 25 having the opening operation part 71 may be provided with handles on the left and right side surfaces of the sliding door. In this case, the handle can be formed by providing a recess on the cover supporting the glass plate.

In order to open and close a sliding door with a glass plate, a non-contact distance sensor 130 is used as a mechanism for detecting the amount of displacement of the door shown in FIG. Sliding doors can be opened.

As shown in FIG. 16 , the control operation unit 50 may be disposed on one or both of the left door 21 and the right door 22 .

24th embodiment

As shown in FIG. 23 , a cover 150 serving as a door frame, which is a decorative portion, is arranged on the upper portion of the glass plates (front panels 21A, 22A) of the left door 21 and the right door 22 . The cover 150 has a protrusion 151 protruding from the outside (upper side), and the protrusion 151 comes into contact with the pressing member 162 of the pushing mechanism 160 . The protrusion 151 is provided at a position apart from the front panels 21A, 22A which are glass plates, and when the pushing member 162 of the pushing mechanism 160 pushes the protrusion 151 to open the left door 21 or the right door 22, the front panels 21A, 22A are not stressed. Impact. Ribs 161, 163, 164, 165 are formed inside the cover 150, glass plates (front panels 21A, 22A) are embedded in the ribs 161, 163, and ribs 163, 164 are fixed with a U-shaped reinforcing plate 169. . The inner panel 170 is arranged on the rib 165 . Urethane is embedded between the front panel 21A ( 22A) which is a glass plate and the inner panel 170 for reinforcement.

The above-mentioned embodiments are not limited to refrigerators with side-by-side doors shown in the figures, and may also be applied to refrigerators with single-door doors.

25th embodiment

FIG. 25( a ) shows a plan view of, for example, a sliding door 25 of a refrigerator, and walls 200 are provided on both sides of the sliding door 25 . A recessed handle 201 is provided on the left and right side parts 25S of the sliding door 25 . In FIG. 25( b ), the concave handle 202 is provided on the left and right sides of the sliding door 25 , but the left and right sides are inclined surfaces 25G inclined to the front side. Thereby, even if there are walls 200 on the left and right, since the inclined surface 25G is formed, a gap can be formed, and the user can easily put fingers in the handle 202 . In addition, at this time, the handle 202 may have an easy-to-hold shape as shown on the right side of the figure.

26th Embodiment

FIG. 26 shows examples of sliding doors 210 , 220 , and 230 , and a recessed handle 240 is provided on the upper surface of the sliding door 220 . The sliding door 230 is provided with a door opening operation part 77 on the front surface part. The sliding door 230 is provided with the door opening operation part 77 on the front surface part, Therefore The front surface of the front surface part can use a glass surface. The gap C between the sliding door 230 and the sliding door 220 can be formed smaller than the gap B between the sliding door 210 and the sliding door 220, so that the appearance is beautiful.

In addition, instead of opening the left door 21 or the right door 22 when the user touches the door opening operation part 51 or the door opening operation part 52 of the touch switch type as shown in FIG. The left door 21 or the right door 22 is opened. In addition, the left door 21 or the right door 22 may be opened when a predetermined predetermined time elapses after the user touched the door opening operation part 51 or the door opening operation part 52 with a finger.

That is, the control unit may control to instruct to open the door at a timing different from that when the user presses the door opening operation unit 51, and to instruct to open the door by detecting when the user presses the door opening operation unit 51 instead of when the user leaves the door. Door opening may be instructed after a predetermined time has elapsed since the door opening operation portion 51 was pressed. In addition, it is also possible to instruct to open the door after a predetermined time has elapsed since leaving the door opening operation unit 51 .

The control unit controls the door opening after the touch sensor detects the touch operation and fails to detect it during the door opening control, or is configured to perform the door opening control after the touch sensor detects the touch operation after a predetermined period of time. After a certain time (for example, within 1 second, preferably 0.3 seconds), the door opening control is performed.

By adopting such a structure, compared with the situation where the left door 21 or the right door 22 is opened immediately when the user touches the door-opening operation portion 51 or the door-opening operation portion 52 with a finger, it is possible to suppress the risk of touching the door-opening operation portion 51 or the door-opening operation portion 52. The hand hits the left door 21 or the right door 22 which is opened.

Especially, when the user presses the door-opening operation part 51 or the door-opening operation part 52 with fingers for a long time, the hand touching the door-opening operation part 51 or the door-opening operation part 52 will bump into the left door 21 or the right door 22 that is opened, but As mentioned above, by making the left door 21 or the right door 22 open when the user touches the door opening operation part 51 or the door opening operation part 52 with a finger after a predetermined specified time has elapsed, it is possible to prevent the touching hand from colliding with the opened left door. Door 21 or right door 22.

In addition, as for the structure of the said door, in detail, the following structures may be sufficient.

Fig. 27 is a schematic diagram showing an exploded perspective view of only one of the side-by-side doors of the refrigerator compartment 12 of the refrigerator 1 shown in Fig. 1 . The left door 21 and the right door 22 of the side-by-side door of the refrigerating room 12 of the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. The structure of 25 is basically the same as that of the door shown in FIG. 27, and it demonstrates using the door 103b as a representative structure example.

The door 103b of the refrigerator compartment 12 shown in FIG. 27 has the glass plate 121 of an outer surface, and the glass plate 121 is provided so that the front surface of the door 103b may be fully covered. In FIG. 27 , the side where the glass plate 121 is provided is the front side of the door 103b, and the rear side opposite to the glass plate 121 is the rear side of the door 103b toward the inside of the refrigerator compartment 12 .

An upper door cover 134 , a lower door cover 133 , a left door cover 135 , and a right door cover 137 are respectively provided on the upper, lower, left, and right outer peripheral portions of the glass plate 121 . These four door covers up, down, left, and right hold and fix the up, down, left, and right side surfaces of the glass plate 121 from the up, down, left, and right outer sides. The upper door cover 134 , lower door cover 133 , left door cover 135 , and right door cover 137 are fixed to the four sides of the glass plate 121 and function as decorative parts for decorating the four sides of the glass plate 121 . .

As shown in FIG. 27 , the door 103 b is assembled as a whole or integrally by attaching a door inside structure 125 constituting an inner panel of the door to the door cover inside the glass plate 121 . A gasket 127 , which is a rectangular sealing mechanism for sealing the door and the box, is provided on the inner side of the door inner side structure 125 facing the interior of the refrigerator compartment 12 . Moreover, the space between the glass plate 121, the door cover, and the door inside structure 125 is filled with a foam heat insulating material made of foam polyurethane or the like to improve heat insulation performance, and the foam heat insulating material is bonded to the glass plate 121. The inner surface is used to fix the glass plate 121, so that the glass plate 121 will not fall off and will not bend. Paint is applied to the glass plate 121, and a scatter prevention plate for preventing the glass from breaking and scattering is provided on the back side thereof, and a protective member for preventing the scatter prevention plate from coming into contact with urethane may be provided.

Next, a structural example of the relationship between the substrate having the capacitive switch and the gate will be described with reference to FIG. 28 .

Fig. 28 is a diagram of doors (doors 21, 22, etc.) with electrostatic capacitive switches (corresponding to switches SA, SB, door opening operation display portions 51A, 52A, etc.) that constitute the above-mentioned control operation portion 50, door opening operation portions 51, 52. Schematic representation of the cross-sectional view.

The left side door cover 135 shown in FIG. 28 is a decorative part arranged on the left side of the door 103b in the up-down direction (the vertical direction perpendicular to FIG. 28 ), and the right side door cover 137 is arranged on the right side of the door 103b in the up-down direction. side decoration. The up-down direction of the door 103b is the Z direction shown in FIG. 28 .

As shown in FIG. 28 , one end (left end) 155 of the glass plate 121 is not fully covered by the left door cover 135 , but is a substantially exposed end in a state exposed from the left door cover 135 . On the other hand, the other end part (right end part) 121f of the glass plate 121 is covered by the clamping part 137a, and it becomes an unexposed end part by this.

An R surface 156 is formed on the front side portion of the side surface 152 of the one end portion 155 of the glass plate 121 , and does not have a right-angled shape. This R surface 156 is, for example, a 1/4 circular R surface. For example, the R surface 156 may be formed to have rounded corners by cutting a part of the one end portion 155 and then grinding it, and the R surface 156 may be formed continuously in the Z direction.

As shown in FIG. 28 , the side surface 152 of the one end portion 155 of the glass plate 121 does not protrude outward compared with the side surface 153 of the left door cover 135 . Thereby, since the side surface 152 of the glass plate 121 does not protrude from the side surface 153 of the left door cover 135, the side surface 152 of the glass plate 121 can be protected.

As shown in FIG. 28 , a substrate insertion portion 154 is provided on a side surface 153 of the left door cover 135 . The substrate insertion portion 154 is a through hole provided for inserting the substrate 110 into the storage member 105 from the outside of the left door cover 135 . On the board 110 is mounted a communication means 106 that transmits information on the capacitive switch 101 and the refrigerator to the outside, or receives other information from the outside. The storage member 105 is respectively fixed to the inner surface 121M of the glass plate 121 and the inner surface 135M of the left door cover 135 . The storage member 105 is a member that constitutes a storage portion capable of storing the substrate 110 . Furthermore, a cover is provided on the board insertion part 154, and by closing with the cover, it can be configured so that the accommodating part can be hermetically sealed.

As described above, it is possible to prevent dew condensation by arranging metal such as aluminum having excellent thermal conductivity around the housing portion or arranging reinforcing metal inside.

The substrate 110 is held in close contact with the inner surface 121M by being pressed against the inner surface 121M of the glass plate 121 from the storage member 105 side using an elastic mechanism 103 such as a spring. The base plate 110 is fixed at a position P1 of the left door cover 135 that is different from the support portion P2. Thereby, the board|substrate 110 which has the capacitive switch 101 can avoid the support part P2 of the left door cover 135, and can be fixed to the inner surface 121M of the glass plate 121 in close contact. Therefore, the capacitive switch 101 can be arranged so as to be pressed against the inner surface 121M of the glass plate 121 without a gap, so that the user can reliably turn on and off the capacitive switch 101 from the surface of the glass plate 121 ( ON/OFF) operation.

In addition, as a method of pressing the capacitive switch 101 against the inner surface 121M of the glass plate 121 without gaps, it is also possible to provide a guide mechanism for moving the substrate 110 from the rear to the front instead of an elastic mechanism. The pressing is performed by providing an inclination so that the storage portion becomes narrow toward the insertion direction of the substrate, or by inserting and guiding a protrusion provided on the substrate 110 into a guide groove provided in the storage portion.

In addition, the substrate may be configured in a support container that supports the substrate, and an LED as a light emitting mechanism may be disposed in the support container so that the LED emits light from the back surface of the substrate.

Furthermore, the capacitive switch 101 may be formed integrally by arranging electrodes on the surface of the LED substrate arranged on the back, or may be provided on another substrate different from the substrate on which the LEDs are arranged. In this substrate, electrodes of capacitive switches may be provided on an elastic film-like transparent film. In this way, the LED can be arranged on the back surface of the transparent electrode, and light can be emitted from the back surface side of the electrode.

27th embodiment

29 is a front view of a refrigerator 1 according to a twenty-seventh embodiment, FIG. 30 is a perspective view of the refrigerator 1 with the door opened, and FIG. 31 is an enlarged perspective view of the refrigerator compartment 12 of the refrigerator 1 .

As shown in FIGS. 29 and 30, in the refrigerator 1 of the twenty-seventh embodiment, the cabinet 11 as the main body of the refrigerator consists of a refrigerator compartment 12, a vegetable compartment 13, and a switching compartment 14 capable of switching the set temperature in the refrigerator from the upper layer. , Freezer 15 constitutes. Furthermore, an ice making compartment 16 is provided on the left side of the switch compartment 14 .

As shown in FIGS. 29 to 31 , in order to cover the front opening of the refrigerating compartment 12, a pair of left and right doors 21 and 22 are mounted on the left and right ends by hinges so that they can be opened in half. close. Push-pull doors 23, 24, 25, 26 are respectively arranged on the vegetable compartment 13, the switching compartment 14, the freezing compartment 15, and the ice-making compartment 16.

Both the left door 21 and the right door 22 have the following structures: colored transparent glass front panels 21A, 22A are installed in the openings of the flat inner panels with open front surfaces, and vacuum heat insulating materials are arranged in the internal hollows. A polyurethane heat insulating material or a solid heat insulating material is disposed in the cavity filled with the vacuum heat insulating material. The degree of coloring of the front panels 21A and 22A is the concentration at which the filler such as the heat insulating material on the back side of the front panels 21A and 22A cannot be seen from the outside in a state of being irradiated with external light. In addition, the coloring degree of the front panels 21A and 22A is also the 7-segment LED display lamps for transparently displaying the name of the operation button, the name of the cooling function, the cooling intensity, etc. to be described later, and the transparent display for changing numerical values such as the temperature value. The concentration at which light passes through and can be seen from the front side in the lit state of the LED display device.

On the rear side of the front panel 22A of the right door 22, a capacitive control operation unit 50 for operating the refrigerator by touch operation from the surface of the front panel 22A is provided. The control operation part 50 is provided with an infrared light receiving part for detecting the environmental state around the refrigerator, a HOME button, and an LED for transparently displaying the name of the operation button, the name of the cooling function, the cooling intensity, etc. by detecting the touch of the HOME button. Display lamps, 7-segment LED display devices that transparently display changing values such as temperature values, etc.

On the rear side near the lower side of the front panel 21A of the left door 21 and the front panel 22A of the right door 22, door opening operation parts 51 and 52 that are elongated in the left and right horizontal directions are provided, respectively. And the door opening operation display part 51A, 52A which shows that it is a door opening operation part and shows a door opening operation direction is provided in the surface of front panel 21A, 22A. Here, the door-opening operation display portion 51A of the left door 21 is provided with a leftward arrow mark for recognizing that the door-opening operation is performed by sliding the finger to the left while the finger is in the touch state. The door-opening operation display portion 52A of the right door 22 is provided with a rightward arrow mark for recognizing that the door-opening operation is performed by sliding the finger to the right while being touched by the finger.

In the left and right 2 positions near the front end of the upper surface of the top plate of the casing 11, at respective positions corresponding to the opening side ends of the respective upper sides of the left door 21 and the right door 22, door opening drive parts 54, 55 are respectively provided. . These door-opening driving parts 54, 55 push out the moving iron cores 54A, 55A forward by utilizing the electromagnet, and can push out the upper edge near the respective opening side ends of the left door 21 and the right door 22 forward, so that each door is automatically opened. . In addition, in order to open the left door 21, if the finger is slid to the left while touching the right end of the left door opening operation display part 51A or the arrow mark near the right end, the door opening operation part 51 senses the continuous touch, and The touch detection signal is sent to the control unit 56, and if the control unit 56 determines that it is a door opening operation command, the door opening driving unit 54 of the left door 21 is activated to automatically open the left door 21. On the other hand, in order to open the right door 22, if the finger is slid to the right while touching the left end of the right door opening operation display part 52A or the arrow mark near the left end, the door opening operation part 52 senses the continuous touch, And the touch detection signal is sent to the control unit 56, if it is judged by the control unit 56 that it is a door-opening operation command, the door-opening drive unit 55 of the right door 22 is activated to make the right door 22 open automatically.

In addition, the cooling control performed by the control unit 56 of the refrigerator according to the twenty-seventh embodiment is general control and is not particularly limited. A compartment fan, a freezer compartment fan, and a defrosting heater are connected to and controlled by the control unit 56 .

The arrow marks on the door opening operation display parts 51A and 52A are not limited to this display, as long as the arrow marks are easily recognized as the door opening operation when touched and slid to the right or left, the shape and form of the marks are not limited.

On the left door 21 and the right door 22, handles 61, 62 are provided on the lower end faces of the door opening operation display parts 51A, 52A, respectively. And the operation of pulling toward the front can manually open the left door 21 and the right door 22 respectively individually.

Next, the automatic door opening operation of the refrigerator according to the twenty-seventh embodiment will be described. FIG. 32 is a block diagram of door opening control of the refrigerator 1 . As shown in FIG. 32 , on the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 , the five arrow marks arranged in the left and right lateral directions of the door opening operation display parts 51A and 52A are respectively arranged with electrostatic capacitors in such a manner as to sandwich the front panels 21A and 22A. Type touch sensors 51-1 to 51-5, 52-1 to 52-5. These capacitive touch sensors 51 - 1 to 51 - 5 , 52 - 1 to 52 - 5 are respectively set to detect a change in capacitance caused by a user's touch and to transmit a touch detection signal to the control unit 56 .

Therefore, when the user wants to open the right door 22 and touches the arrow mark on the left end with a finger on the part of the door opening operation display part 52A, and slides the finger to the right while touching, the capacitive touch sensors 52-1 to 52- The sensors in 5 that detect changes in electrostatic capacitance transmit touch detection signals to the control unit 56 in the order of touch. Therefore, the control part 56 judges whether it is a door opening operation, and if it judges that it is normal door opening operation, it outputs a door opening drive signal to the door opening drive part 55 of the right door, and makes the right door 22 open automatically. In addition, in the case of the door opening operation of the left door 21, on the door opening operation display part 51A of the left door 21, for the operation of sliding the finger to the left while touching the arrow mark on the right end or near the right end, the left The same judgment is performed for the door opening operation of the door 21 .

The logic of door opening judgment here is as follows. At least 3 sensors in each of the 5 sensors on the left and right are within a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds or 1 second), and in the case of detecting a touch according to the order of arrangement, it is judged that it is a door opening operation, and the corresponding door is automatically opened. Here, the door opening operation of the right door 22 will be described.

When any one of the arrow marks on the door opening operation display portion 52A of the right door 22 is touched, the corresponding electrostatic capacitive touch sensor on the door opening operation portion 52 side (usually due to the left end or the arrow marks near the left end being touched, it is assumed here that The sensor 52 - 1 ) at the left end detects a touch and sends a touch detection signal to the control unit 56 . Control section 56 receives this signal, and starts the judging process of door-opening operation, and as a result, control section 56 judges as the normal door-opening operation to right door 22, and outputs the door-opening drive instruction to the door-opening drive section 55 of right door, makes the door open. The drive unit 55 operates to automatically open the right door 22 . The same applies to the determination process of the door opening operation of the left door 21 . However, in the case of the left door 21 , in the opposite direction to the right door 22 , when the arrow mark on or near the right end of the door opening operation display unit 51A is touched and then slid to the left, it is determined to be a door opening operation.

Next, two voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2, human body detection sensor HS, and illuminance sensor LS as voice recognition means will be described with reference to FIGS. 29 to 31 .

As shown in FIGS. 29 to 30 , a voice recognition sensor NS1, a human body detection sensor HS, and an illuminance sensor LS are arranged on the upper surface of the cabinet 11 of the refrigerator 1 . The other voice recognition sensor NS2 is arranged, for example, at a lower portion of the right door 22 at a distance from one voice recognition sensor NS1. As these speech recognition sensors NS1 and NS2, for example, condenser microphones can be used, and there is no particular limitation.

As shown in FIGS. 30 and 31 , the upper voice recognition sensor NS1 is disposed on the upper surface of the cabinet 11 of the refrigerator 1, and the lower voice recognition sensor NS2 is disposed, for example, in the lower end of the right door 22, but it is not limited thereto. Alternatively, only one of the two voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2 may be provided.

As the human body detection sensor HS shown in FIG. 31 , for example, an infrared sensor can be used. The upper voice recognition sensor NS1, human body detection sensor HS, and illuminance sensor LS shown in FIG. 31 are housed in storage boxes CS1, CS2, and CS3, respectively. Thus, the speech recognition sensor NS1, the human body detection sensor HS, and the illuminance sensor LS can be arranged overlappingly on the upper surface of the box 11, or arranged in parallel, and can be protected from dust. The storage boxes C1, C2, and C3 are arranged, for example, at positions between the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 on the upper surface of the box body 11, but the arrangement positions of the sensors are not limited thereto.

In addition, these sensors may be housed in the housings of the door-opening drive units 54 and 55, or may be housed in housings for covering hinges that are fulcrums for opening and closing the doors.

Fig. 32 is a block diagram of door opening control of the refrigerator. The flowchart of Fig. 33 shows the case where the left door 21 and the right door 22 of the refrigerator compartment are automatically opened.

As shown in FIG. 32 , the two voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2 , the human body detection sensor HS, and the illuminance sensor LS are electrically connected to the control unit 56 . Thereby, when two voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2 receive voice, the voice signal can be sent to the control part 56. FIG. The detection signal of the human body detection sensor HS can be sent to the control unit 56 . The illuminance signal of the illuminance sensor LS can be sent to the control unit 56 .

By providing the two voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2 in this way, the user speaks by voice as shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. In addition to the user holding the handle (grip) to open the door, it can be automatically opened by different detection (operation) methods of detecting sound, voice, etc., which will be described later.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 32 , a storage unit 300 and a relational input registration unit 305 are connected to the control unit 56 . In the association input registration mechanism 305, the user can input "the name of food, etc. as storage objects", such as "the name of the storage shelf of the left door 21", "the name of the storage shelf of the right door 22", " The name of the storage part in the refrigerator of the refrigerator 1" and the like are registered. "The name of the food etc. which are storage things" is "milk", "egg", "butter", "juice", "wasabi", "tofu" etc., for example. "Names of the storage parts in the refrigerator 1" are, for example, the refrigerator compartment 12, the vegetable compartment 13, the switch compartment 14, the freezer compartment 15, the ice compartment 16, and the like as shown in FIG. 29 .

The control unit 56 shown in FIG. 32 stores in the storage unit 300 related information that the above-mentioned "name of food, etc. as storage items" is placed in "the name of the storage location in the refrigerator 1". As an example, in the storage unit 300, the user can set (store) such as "milk", "eggs" and "butter" on the storage shelf on the left door 21 side, and in step S12, on the right door 22 side Set (store) such as "juice", "wasabi" and "tofu" on the storage shelf.

Here, the case where the user automatically opens the left door 21 and the right door 22 by voice will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 33 , in step S11, the user operates, for example, a keyboard, a touch panel, etc. of the association input registration mechanism 305 in advance, and inputs, for example, "milk", "egg", etc. in association with the storage shelf on the left door 21 side. "Butter" is registered, and registration is performed by inputting, for example, "juice", "wasabi", and "tofu" into the storage shelf on the right door 22 side. Thus, the control unit 56 shown in FIG. 32 sets (stores) “milk”, “eggs” and “butter” in the storage unit 300 shown in FIG. In step S12, for example, "juice", "wasabi", and "tofu" are set (stored) in the storage shelf on the right door 22 side.

In step S13 of FIG. 33 , the approach of the user to the refrigerator is detected by, for example, the human body detection sensor HS or the illuminance sensor LS, and a detection signal is sent from the human body detection sensor HS to the control unit 56, or from the illuminance sensor LS to the control unit. Section 56 sends an illuminance signal. Therefore, in the control unit 56, the trigger of the start of the voice recognition function of the control unit 56 is caused by the detection signal or the illuminance signal, that is, the timing for displaying the voice recognition function is generated in the control unit 56, whereby the voice recognition function of the control unit 56 The function starts working.

In this way, the voice recognition function is triggered when the human body detection sensor HS detects a user approaching the refrigerator, when a detection signal is sent from the human body detection sensor HS to the control unit 56, or when the illuminance sensor LS detects a user approaching the refrigerator. When the lighting in the kitchen where the refrigerator is placed is turned on, an illuminance signal is sent from the illuminance sensor LS to the control unit 56 .

Next, in step S14 of FIG. 33, when the user utters at least one of “milk”, “egg” and “butter” by voice, the voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2 shown in FIG. 32 receive the voice and Since the voice signal is sent to the control unit 56, the control unit 56 recognizes the voice. Thus, in step S15, the control unit 56 outputs a door opening drive command to the door opening drive unit 54 of the left door 21 shown in FIG. The door opening drive unit 54 is operated. Therefore, in step S16, the storage shelf of the left door 21 can be opened automatically by the operation|movement of the door opening drive part 54. FIG.

Similarly, in step S14, when the user utters at least one of "juice", "wasabi" and "tofu" by voice, the voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2 shown in FIG. Since the voice signal is transmitted, the control unit 56 recognizes the voice. Thus, in step S17, the control unit 56 outputs a door-opening drive command to the door-opening drive unit 55 of the right door 22 storing at least one of “juice”, “wasabi” and “tofu” to operate the door-opening drive unit 55. . Therefore, in step S18 , the storage shelf of the right door 22 can be automatically opened by the operation of the door opening drive unit 55 .

In the storage unit 300, for example, the storage shelf on the left door 21 side where "milk" has been put in is registered in advance in association with each other. "Milk", then the left door 21 can be opened automatically. Thereby, the person who does not know the part in the refrigerator which puts "milk" does not open the right door 22 which does not put "milk" by mistake. Therefore, the number of times of opening and closing of the door is reduced, and the energy-saving effect is improved.

In addition, when a water storage tank for ice making is installed in the refrigerator, the door on the side where the water storage tank is placed, such as the left door 21, will open when the user speaks, for example, "water storage", and the user can Store the water storage tank in a predetermined storage position of the water storage tank in the refrigerator while holding the water storage tank. Thereby, even when the user holds the water tank with both hands and both hands are full, the left door 21 , for example, which is to be opened to accommodate the water tank can be automatically opened without using the handle 61 shown in FIG. 29 .

Also, the push-pull doors 23, 24, 25, and 26 shown in FIG. 29 can be opened automatically by voice similarly to the left door 21 and the right door 22 by providing door opening drive parts respectively.

In this way, unlike the manual operation in which the user grasps the handle to manually open the left door 21, the right door 22, and the push-pull doors 23, 24, 25, and 26, the door can be opened automatically, so for example, when the user holds the door with both hands, It is very convenient for cases such as food.

In addition, when voices for opening different doors are recognized at the same time, it is possible to prevent the doors from colliding with the user by staggering the opening timings of these different doors to open them.

In addition, in step S13 shown in FIG. 33, as an example of providing a trigger for the start of voice recognition to the control unit 56, the voice recognition sensor NS1, NS2 recognizes the language (word) uttered by the user from the voice The voice signals of the sensors NS1, NS2 are recognized. As the predetermined language (word) uttered by the user, for example, "open sesame quickly" or the like can be used. That is, as a preferable example of providing the control unit 56 with a trigger for starting voice recognition, words such as "Open Sesame" and "Open Sesame Quickly" that do not appear in normal conversation are desirable.

That is, when the example of the trigger provided to the control unit 56 for starting speech recognition is a human voice, in order to prevent the use of words that appear in the content of normal conversations, the problem that the control unit 56 may start the speech recognition operation may be caused. , preferably using words that do not occur in normal conversation. This can prevent the control unit 56 from erroneously starting the speech recognition operation. The voice that provides the trigger for the start of voice recognition to the control unit 56 can be set to the noise generated by the refrigerator, such as the sound of the compressor, the warning sound when the door is opened, the opening and closing sound of the door, and the vacuum cleaner used in the room. Or the sound of the music playing in the room is different. In addition, when the sound to be recognized is set to non-speech sound, if it is set to recognize the sound of clapping hands multiple times (for example, twice), it is different from the sound produced by the refrigerator, so there will be no erroneous switching.

Next, an arrangement example of the voice recognition sensor NS2 arranged under the right door 22 shown in FIG. 30 will be described with reference to FIG. 34 . FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram of a cross section of, for example, the right door 22 .

As shown in FIG. 34 , the voice recognition sensor NS2 is, for example, a condenser microphone, and is disposed under the right door 22 . This speech recognition sensor NS2 is arranged in the storage member 105 . The storage member 105 is respectively fixed to the inner surface 121M of the glass plate 121 and the inner surface 135M of the left door cover 135 . The storage member 105 is a member that constitutes a storage portion capable of storing the substrate 110 . The hole portion 154 is provided, for example, in a lower portion of the left door cover 135 of the right door 22 . A voice or the like generated by the user reaches the voice recognition sensor NS2 through the hole portion 154 . The hole portion 154 may be composed of a single hole or may be composed of a plurality of holes. Accordingly, the voice recognition sensor NS2 can be arranged to be built in the lower portion of the right door 22 and can reliably pick up external voices and the like through the hole portion 154 . In addition, this speech recognition sensor NS2 may be mounted on the board|substrate 110, and may have the cover which covers the hole part 154, and may form a small hole in a cover.

As shown in FIG. 32 , the control unit 56 is connected to the light emitting unit 330 , the sound generation unit 340 , and the speech generation unit 350 . The light emitting unit 330, the sound generating unit 340, and the voice generating unit 350 are means for notifying the user that the door will be opened in order to warn the user when the door is opened by the sound (voice) detected by the voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2. .

The light emitting unit 330 is, for example, an LED light emitting unit, and the sound generating unit 340 is, for example, a buzzer. The voice generator 350 is, for example, a speaker. As mentioned above, at least one of the voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2 shown in FIG. 32 detects the voice of the user, and the control unit 56 issues an instruction to open, for example, the left door 21 or the right door 22. The light emitting unit 330 emits light in “red”, or makes the sound generating unit 340 generate an alarm sound, or makes the sound generating unit 350 notify the user of warning content such as “the door will be opened” by voice. Thereby, the user can be notified that the door will be opened by at least one of light, sound, and voice, so that the user can be prevented from accidentally being hit by the door.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 32 , the human body detection sensor HS is connected to the control unit 56 . When the human body detection sensor HS detects that a user approaches the refrigerator, it sends a detection signal to the control unit 56 to notify that a person has been detected. In this way, when the control unit 56 detects that the user is approaching the refrigerator, the control unit 56 as shown in FIG. 32 can ask the user the question “Do you want to open the door?” through voice guidance through the voice generator 350 . In this case, when the user answers, for example, “YES”, this “YES” is recognized by the voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2 , and a voice signal is notified to the control unit 56 . Thereby, the control part 56 can open the right door 22 by outputting a door opening drive command to the door opening drive part 55 of the right door 22, for example. Similarly, the control part 56 can open the left door 21 by outputting a door opening drive command to the door opening drive part 54 of the left door 21, for example.

In addition, the left door 21 and the right door 22 can have different opening speeds. The left door 21 and the right door 22 are driven by the door opening driving parts 54 and 55, and the opening speed is generally set to be gradually slowed down so that the doors are not opened suddenly.

As shown in FIG. 35 , a height measurement sensor 410 is connected to the control unit 56 . The height measurement sensor 410 can measure the approximate height of the user using, for example, an optical sensor such as an optical coupler. For example, the height measuring sensor 410 only needs to be able to distinguish whether the measured height value of the user has reached the left door 21 and the right door 22 on the upper floor side or has not reached the value. Accordingly, the control unit 56 can make the opening speeds of the left door 21 and the right door 22 on the upper stage side different based on the height value of the user measured by the height measurement sensor 410 .

For example, when the height value of the user measured by the height measurement sensor 410 reaches the value of the left door 21 and the right door 22 on the upper side, the control unit 56 further slows down the operation of the door opening drive units 54, 55 to open the door. The driving units 54 and 55 open the left door 21 and the right door 22 on the upper stage side at a speed slower than the respective normal opening speeds.

Thereby, it is possible to prevent the left door 21 and the right door 22 from colliding with the user's head or body. In addition, when the height value of the user measured by the height measurement sensor 410 is a value that does not reach the left door 21 and the right door 22 on the upper side, the door opening drive parts 54 and 55 make the left door 21 and the right door on the upper side 22 each open with a usual opening speed.

When the control unit 56 shown in FIG. 32 or FIG. 35 uses the voice generating unit 350 to inform the user of the warning content such as "the right door will be opened", when the user wants to confirm the warning content again, This can be done as follows. When the user utters the repetitive prompting content such as “again” or “repeat”, the voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2 send the voice signal of the repetitive prompting content such as “again” or “repeat” to the control unit 56 . The control unit 56 uses the voice generation unit 350 to notify the user at least once again of the warning content of "the right door will be opened" based on the voice signals from the voice recognition sensors NS1 and NS2. Thereby, even if a user misses the content of the warning issued from the refrigerator side, he can easily confirm again.

In addition, when the user opens the right door 22 of the refrigerator compartment on the upper stage to view the interior of the refrigerator, the control unit 56 does not accept an operation to automatically open the left door 21 which is another door, for example. Thus, when the user opens the right door 22 to observe the inside of the refrigerator, and the user mutters, for example, "the milk must be taken out", the left door 21 on the side where "milk" is placed can be prevented from being automatically opened by mistake, It is possible to reliably prevent the left door 21 from hitting the user's face, for example.

Similarly, when the user opens the right door 22 of the refrigerator compartment on the upper floor and observes the inside of the refrigerator, and mumbles that "vegetables must also be taken out", the door of the vegetable compartment where the "vegetables" are placed can be prevented from automatically popping out by mistake. hit the user's lower abdomen or knees, etc.

In addition, in addition to invalidating the reception as described above, it may be set so that when a certain door is opened, the opening speed of other doors is slower than the normal speed.

In addition, when the refrigerator makes noise (compressor sound, buzzer sound) and voice recognition becomes difficult to recognize, an instruction voice to the user such as "Please say it again" may be emitted from the speaker.

As shown in FIG. 35 , a proximity sensor 400 is connected to the control unit 56 . The proximity sensor 400 is disposed, for example, on the left door 21 and the right door 22. When the user approaches the left door 21 or the right door 22, the door opening operation parts 51, 52 and the control operation part 50 of the touch switch use, for example, LED lamps. To glow. Thereby, even if the place where a refrigerator is placed is a dark place, a user can visually confirm the position of the opening operation part 51, 52, and the control operation part 50. FIG.

In addition, the function of the proximity sensor and the functions of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 may be combined. In this case, as shown in FIG. 35 , it is not necessary to separately provide a proximity sensor 400 .

Fig. 36 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the door opening operation unit having the function of the proximity sensor. In this case, as shown in FIG. 36 , in step S21, the control unit 56 of FIG. 35 improves and maintains the sensitivity of the electrostatic switches of the door opening operation units 51 and 52 that also serve as proximity sensors through software, thereby maintaining Function as a proximity sensor.

Next, in step S22 of FIG. 36 , when the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 serving as proximity sensors detect the approach of the user's fingers, in step S23, according to the instruction of the control part 56, the door opening operation of the proximity sensor is also performed. The parts 51, 52 emit light, and the sensitivity of the door opening operation parts 51, 52 which also serve as proximity sensors is reduced to the original state, whereby the door opening operation parts 51, 52 which also serve as proximity sensors only function as door opening operation parts. Here, if the sensitivity of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 also serving as proximity sensors is not reduced, the touch input to the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 serving as proximity sensors will be sensed before the touch input, and accurate input cannot be performed.

In this way, the door opening operation parts 51, 52 which also serve as proximity sensors sense the approach of the user's fingers, and the door opening operation parts 51, 52 which also serve as proximity sensors emit light. 52, and the user can be notified that the door-opening operation parts 51, 52, which also serve as proximity sensors, can be used for input. There is no need to provide an additional proximity sensor, so the number of parts can be reduced.

On the contrary, before the door-opening operation parts 51, 52 which also serve as proximity sensors emit light, the control part 56 makes it impossible to use the door-opening operation parts 51, 52 which also serve as proximity sensors for input, regardless of whether the user is unconsciously inputting, it is possible to prevent the user from Misinput when the finger touches double as the door-opening operation part 51,52 of proximity sensor.

28th Embodiment

Fig. 37 is a front view of refrigerator 1 according to the twenty-eighth embodiment. FIG. 38 is a perspective view of the refrigerator 1 in a door-open state. FIG. 39 is an enlarged perspective view of a refrigerator compartment portion of the refrigerator 1 .

As shown in FIGS. 37 and 38 , refrigerator 1 according to the twenty-eighth embodiment has cabinet 11 as a refrigerator main body. Housing 11 has, from the upper stage, refrigerator compartment 12 , vegetable compartment 13 , switching compartment 14 capable of switching the set temperature in the refrigerator, and freezing compartment 15 . In addition, an ice making compartment 16 is provided on the left side of the switch compartment 14 .

As shown in FIGS. 37 to 39 , in order to cover the front opening of the refrigerator compartment 12 , a pair of left and right doors 21 and 22 are installed on the left and right ends by hinges so as to open in half. close.

In addition, push-pull doors 23, 24, 25, 26 are provided on the vegetable compartment 13, the switching compartment 14, the freezing compartment 15, and the ice-making compartment 16, respectively.

And, on the back side of the vegetable compartment 13, although not shown, a refrigerating evaporator for cooling the refrigerating compartment 12 and the vegetable compartment 13 is arranged, and on the back side of the switch compartment 14 and the freezing compartment 15, similarly, although not shown, An evaporator for freezing for cooling the switching chamber 14, the freezing chamber 15, and the ice making chamber 16 is arranged.

And, as shown in FIGS. 37 and 38 , a control unit 56 composed of a microcomputer for controlling the refrigerator 1 is disposed on the back surface of the vegetable compartment 13 .

As shown in FIG. 37 , the left door 21 and the right door 22 have the following structures: colored and transparent glass front panels 21A, 22A are installed in the opening of the flat inner panel with the front surface open, and a vacuum is arranged in the internal cavity. As for the heat insulating material, a polyurethane heat insulating material or a solid heat insulating material is disposed in a cavity that is not filled with the vacuum heat insulating material.

The degree of coloration of the glass front panels 21A, 22A is the concentration at which the filler such as a heat insulating material on the back side of the front panels 21A, 22A cannot be seen from the outside in a state of being irradiated with external light. In addition, the degree of coloring of the glass front panels 21A and 22A is still the following concentration: for example, the LED display lamps for transparent display of the name of the operation key of the control operation part 50, the name of the cooling function, the cooling intensity, etc., and the temperature value etc. In the lighted state of the 7-segment LED display device that displays numerical values through-beam, light can pass through and be seen from the front side.

As shown in FIG. 38 , at the right end of the left door 21 , that is, in the closed state, a portion on the open side that is close to the left end of the right door 22 and opposite, is provided with a handle for holding the left end of the right door 22 in the closed state. The rotating isolator 31 is in a sealed state at the part, that is, the part on the open side. A dew condensation prevention heater for preventing dew condensation is built in the rotating isolator 31 .

On the rear side of the front panel 22A of the right door 22, there is provided a capacitive control operation unit 50 for operating the refrigerator by touch operation from the surface of the front panel 22A. The control operation part 50 is provided with: an infrared light receiving part for detecting the environmental state around the refrigerator, a HOME button, and a device for detecting the touch of the HOME button and transparently displaying the name of the operation button, the name of the cooling function, the cooling intensity, etc. LED display lamps, 7-segment LED display devices that transparently display changing values such as temperature values, etc. The control operation unit 50 is arranged, for example, on the right door 22 in order to perform an operation to change the cooling control content of the refrigerator 1 . The HOME button of the control operation unit 50 is a menu button that can instruct the control unit 56 of the refrigerator 1 to perform various operations when the user (user) touches it with a finger.

As shown in FIG. 37 , on the back sides near the lower sides of the front panel 21A of the left door 21 and the front panel 22A of the right door 22 , elongated door opening operation parts 51 and 52 are respectively provided along the left and right lateral directions. The door opening operation parts 51 and 52 are also referred to as door opening buttons. On the surfaces of the front panels 21A and 22A, door opening operation display sections 51B and 52B that indicate the direction of the door opening operation are provided. A leftward arrow mark is provided on the door opening operation display portion 51B of the left door 21 , and the leftward arrow mark recognizes that the user performs the door opening operation by sliding the finger to the left while touching it. The door opening operation display part 52B of the right door 22 is provided with a rightward arrow mark that recognizes that the user slides the finger to the right while touching the door to perform the door opening operation.

As shown in FIGS. 37 and 38 , the door-opening drive parts 54 and 55 are respectively arranged at two positions on the left and right near the front end of the upper surface of the top plate of the box body 11, that is, at the upper opening side ends of the left door 21 and the right door 22. nearby corresponding locations.

These door-opening driving parts 54, 55 push out the moving iron cores 54B, 55B forward by utilizing electromagnets, and can push out the upper edges near the opening side ends of the left door 21 and the right door 22 forward, so that the left door 21 and the right door can be pushed forward. 22 are automatically opened respectively. In order to open the left door 21, when the finger slides to the left while touching the right end of the left door opening operation display part 51B or the arrow mark near the right end, the door opening operation part 51 senses the continuous touch and sends a touch detection signal sent to the control unit 56. Thereafter, when the control unit 56 determines that it is a door opening operation command, it operates the door opening drive unit 54 of the left door 21 to automatically open the left door 21 .

Similarly, in order to open the right door 22, when the finger slides to the right while touching the left end of the right door opening operation display part 52B or the arrow mark near the left end, the door opening operation part 52 senses the continuous touch, and the touch The detection signal is sent to the control unit 56 . Then, when the control unit 56 determines that it is a door opening operation command, it operates the door opening driving unit 55 of the right door 22 to automatically open the right door 22 .

As shown in FIG. 37 , a control operation unit 50 for changing the cooling control content of the refrigerator 1 is provided, for example, on the right door 12 , and the user operates the control operation unit 50 to change the cooling control content of the refrigerator 1 .

For the right door 12, the door opening operation part 52 is arranged below the control operation part 50, and the door opening operation part 52 is not arranged directly below the control operation part 50, but is arranged at a position opposite to the control operation part 50. Positions staggered left and right. In other words, for the right door 22, the door opening operation part 52 is disposed below the control operation part 50 with the menu button, but the door opening operation part 52 is relatively different from the control operation part 50 with the menu button. The positions are shifted to the right along the arrow QR direction and arranged in different positions.

Thus, when the user touches the menu button of the control operation unit 50 with a finger, even if the user's finger is wet with water and the water drips from the finger, the water dripped from the finger will not adhere to the surface. The door opening operation part 52. Therefore, the electrostatic touch-type door opening operation part 52 will not react due to the water dripping from the finger, and it can be prevented that the control part 56 will cause the control part 56 to make the right door 22 open regardless of whether the user touches it with the finger or not. The door-opening drive unit 55 operates such a malfunction. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the door 22 from being automatically opened indiscriminately.

In addition, when a menu key (menu key) of the control operation unit 50 is pressed, other operation keys of the control operation unit 50 may emit light to enable the operation of the operation key. Even in this case, since the door-opening operation part 52 (door-opening switch) is in a different position (staggered position) relative to the control operation part 50, even if the user touches the control operation part 50 with a finger, the operation is effective due to light emission. Water dripping from fingers does not adhere to the door-opening operation part 52 for other operation buttons. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the door 22 from being automatically opened indiscriminately.

In addition, when only the menu buttons (menu keys) of the door opening operation part 52 and the control operation part 50 are printed on the glass front panel 22A, and other elements of the control operation part 50 except the menu keys are adopted to be turned on by LED lighting. The appearance of the right door 22 of the refrigerator 1 becomes clear when the structure of the refrigerator 1 is configured.

In addition, the cooling control performed by the control unit 56 of the refrigerator of the twenty-eighth embodiment is general control and is not particularly limited. , a refrigerating room fan, a freezing room fan, and a defrosting heater are connected to the control unit 56 to be controlled.

The arrow marks on the door-opening operation display parts 51B and 52B shown in FIGS. 37 and 39 are not limited to this display, as long as they can be easily recognized that if they are touched and slid to the right or left, the door-opening operation will be performed. Then, the shape and form of the mark are not limited.

As shown in FIG. 37 , handles 61 and 62 are provided on the left door 21 and the right door 22 . The handles 61, 62 are provided on the lower end surface portions of the door opening operation display parts 51B, 52B, and the left door 21, the right The doors 22 are individually opened manually.

Next, an automatic door opening operation of the refrigerator according to the twenty-eighth embodiment will be described.

FIG. 40 is a block diagram of door opening control of the refrigerator 1 . As shown in FIG. 40, the opening operation parts 51 and 52 have the opening operation display parts 51B and 52B, respectively. The door opening operation display parts 51B and 52B each have five arrow marks arranged in a row along the left and right lateral directions. Capacitive touch sensors 51 - 1 to 51 - 5 , 52 - 1 to 52 - 5 are provided on the door opening operation display parts 51B and 52B, respectively. These capacitive touch sensors 51 - 1 to 51 - 5 , 52 - 1 to 52 - 5 are set to detect changes in capacitance caused by a user's touch, respectively, and to send touch detection signals to the control unit 56 .

Therefore, when the user wants to open the right door 22 and touches the arrow mark on the left end with a finger on the door opening operation display portion 52B, and slides the finger to the right while touching, the capacitive touch sensors 52-1 to 52 The sensor in - 5 that detects a change in electrostatic capacitance transmits touch detection signals to the control unit 56 in the order of touch. Then, the control unit 56 determines whether it is a door opening operation, and if it is determined to be a normal door opening operation, it outputs a door opening drive signal to the door opening drive unit 55 of the right door to automatically open the right door 22 . In addition, in the case of the door opening operation of the left door 21, the control unit 56 similarly judges the operation of sliding the finger to the left while touching the right end of the door opening operation display part 51B of the left door 21 or the arrow mark near the right end. Door opening operation of the left door 21.

41 shows an example in which the door opening operation part 51 of the left door 21 and the door opening operation part 52 of the right door 22 shown in FIGS.

The door opening operation unit 51 and the door opening operation unit 52 transmit a human body detection signal to the control unit 56 after detecting the user's human body. Thus, the control unit 56 enables the input of the operation signal from the door opening operation unit 51 to perform the corresponding door opening control of the left door 21, and enables the input of the operation signal from the door opening operation unit 52 to perform the corresponding opening control of the right door 22. Door opening control.

For example, in the case of the door opening operation unit 52 as a human body detection mechanism, the control unit 56 turns on the display of the door opening operation unit 52 after the door opening operation unit 52 detects the user's human body. The control unit 56 can switch the display by lighting the door opening operation unit 52 according to the manner of the door opening operation of the right door 22 .

As already described, the door opening operation unit 52 as the human body detection mechanism is an electrostatic switch. When the electrostatic switch detects the user's human body, the control unit 56 can perform detection by switching to increase the sensitivity of the electrostatic switch. The door-opening operation portion 52 as the human body detection mechanism is: a proximity sensor that detects it when the human body approaches, and the control portion 56 switches the sensitivity of the door-opening operation portion 52 as the proximity sensor, so that the door-opening operation portion 52 functions as a contact sensor, and While validating the opening operation of the right door 22, the control unit 56 actually performs the opening operation of the right door 22 when it is detected that the user touches the door opening operation portion 52 as a touch sensor with a finger.

As described above, by switching the sensitivity of the door opening operation part 52, the door opening operation part 52 functions as a contact sensor instead of a proximity sensor. This will be described in more detail below with reference to an example in FIG. 41 .

In Fig. 41 (a), in order to make the door opening operation part 52 as an electrostatic switch function as a "proximity sensor", the control part 56 acts as a "proximity sensor" by setting the sensitivity of the door opening operation part 52 to "high". " function "valid". Therefore, the control unit 56 “invalidates” the opening (door opening operation) of the right door 22 which is the original function of the door opening operation unit 52 . And the control part 56 makes the lighting display of the door opening operation part 52 into an OFF state as shown by a dotted line.

Next, in FIG. 41( b ), when the user brings the finger HT close to the door opening operation part 52 as the "proximity sensor", the door opening operation part 52 functions as the "proximity sensor" to detect the approach of the hand. When the door opening operation part 52 detects the approach of a hand, the control part 56 sets the sensitivity as a "proximity sensor" of the door opening operation part 52 so that it may switch from "high" to "low". Therefore, the control unit 56 makes the door opening operation unit 52 function as a “touch sensor” which is an original function, and therefore, the opening operation (door opening operation) of the right door 22 by touching the door opening operation unit 52 with a finger is “valid”. And the control part 56 changes the lighting display of the door opening operation part 52 from a closed state to an open state as shown by a solid line, and lights up the door opening operation part 52 by LED, for example.

Next, in FIG. 41( c), when the user makes the finger HT directly touch (touch) the door opening operation part 52 as the "touch sensor", the control part 56 maintains the sensitivity of the door opening operation part 52 as the "touch sensor", that is, The "low" state acts as a "touch sensor" directly. Then, the control unit 56 keeps the opening (door opening operation) of the right door 22 which is the original function of the door opening operation unit 52 “valid”. And the control part 56 makes the lighting display of the door-opening operation part 52 into an open state as shown in realization, and lights up the door-opening operation part 52 by LED, for example.

Afterwards, in FIG. 41( d), when the control unit 56 recognizes that the user's finger HT is out of the state of directly contacting (touching) the door opening operation unit 52 functioning as a “touch sensor (touch sensor), the control unit 56 makes The input of the operation signal from the door opening operation part 52 becomes effective, and the door opening driving part 55 is operated, thereby performing corresponding door opening control of the right door 22. Thereby, the right door 22 can be opened automatically.

Thus, in the state where the user directly touches (touches) the door opening operation part 52, for example, when the user wants to approach the refrigerator 1, in order to prevent false detection of the door opening instruction, the control part 56 can judge that the direct contact (touch) ) is valid or invalid.

In addition, the lighting display of the door-opening operation part 52 is an open state as shown by the solid line, and the door-opening operation part 52 can be turned on by, for example, an LED. Visibility of the door opening operation part 52 by lighting display.

In addition, when the control unit 56 recognizes that the user's finger HT is out of the state of directly contacting (touching) the door opening operation unit 52 functioning as a “touch sensor (touch sensor), the control unit 56 makes the operation signal from the door opening operation unit 52 The input of the right door 22 is effective, and the corresponding door opening control of the right door 22 is carried out. Accordingly, after the user's hand is separated from the door opening operation part 52 of the right door 22, the right door 22 is actually opened, so the opening action of the right door 22 can prevent injury. user finger.

As a method of lighting and displaying the door opening operation parts 51 and 52, it is only necessary to arrange them forward from the gaps of the capacitive touch sensors (electrodes) 51-1 to 51-5, 52-1 to 52-5 shown in FIG. 40, for example. Light emitting elements such as LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) for performing display may be used. Moreover, it is also possible to form the removed parts of characters, marks, etc. in the electrostatic capacitive touch sensors (electrodes) 51-1 to 51-5, 52-1 to 52-5, and the light of the light-emitting element passes through the removed parts from the back surface of the electrodes to the surface. front light. Alternatively, light from the light-emitting element may be irradiated forward from the back surface of the electrode using a light guide plate.

The opening operation of the right door 22 described in FIG. 41 can also be performed in the same manner as the following opening operation of the left door 21 using the door opening operation unit 51 arranged on the left door 21 of FIG. 37 .

The colors of the lighting displays of the left and right door opening operation parts 51 and 52 may be the same color or may be different colors.

When the left door 21 and the right door 22 are slowly opened and when they are opened quickly, the colors of the lighting displays of the left and right door opening operation parts 51 and 52 may be displayed in different colors.

When only one of the left door 21 and the right door 22 is opened, or when the left door 21 and the right door 22 are opened simultaneously, the colors of the lighting displays of the left and right door opening operation parts 51 and 52 may be changed. In particular, in the case where the user operates only one of the door opening operation parts 51, 52 to open both the left door 21 and the right door 22, it may be different from the case where only one of the left door 21 and the right door 22 is opened. Different, using a different display color.

In this case, for example, when the sensitivity of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 is set to "high" to make the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 function as "proximity sensors", when it is detected that the human body has approached for a predetermined time or more, the Way, make left door 21 and right door 22 open simultaneously, not just only make one side in left door 21 and right door 22 open. In addition, when the mode is changed so that the left door 21 and the right door 22 are opened simultaneously, the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 may be lit and displayed at the same time, or the colors of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 may be different. The lighting method of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 such as the blinking display of the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 can be changed arbitrarily.

In the refrigerator 1 according to the twenty-eighth embodiment, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection during the touch operation by the user (user), so that the erroneous operation of opening the door does not occur.

29th Embodiment

Fig. 42 is a front view showing refrigerator 1 according to the twenty-ninth embodiment. Fig. 43 is a block diagram of door opening control including a human body detection mechanism of the refrigerator 1 shown in Fig. 42 .

The human body detection mechanism 500 has, for example, the remote detection sensor 100 and the door opening operation part 52 which also functions as a proximity sensor. The remote detection sensor 100 and the door opening operation part 52 which also functions as a proximity sensor are arranged on the right door 22, for example. The remote detection sensor 100 is located on the upper part of the door opening operation part 52 which also functions as a proximity sensor.

The remote detection sensor 100 is, for example, an infrared sensor for detecting a human body when the user's human body is located far from the refrigerator 1 . And the door opening operation part 52 which also functions as a proximity sensor is a static electricity detection sensor which detects a human body when a user's human body approaches the refrigerator 1. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 43, the remote detection sensor 100 and the door opening operation part 52 which also functions as a proximity sensor (static detection sensor) are connected to the control part 56. As shown in FIG. The switching mechanism 104 is preferably connected to the control unit 56 . The switching mechanism 104 is operated by the user, and a selection signal is sent from the switching mechanism 104 to the control unit 56. Thus, in order to detect a human body, the user can choose to use the remote detection sensor 100 and the door opening function that also functions as a proximity sensor (static detection sensor). Any one of the operation parts 52 is used to detect the human body.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 43, although the opening operation part 52 which also functions as a proximity sensor is a static electricity detection sensor, it may have the sensitivity adjustment mechanism 199 which changes and adjusts the sensitivity of this static electricity detection sensor arbitrarily. The sensitivity adjustment mechanism 199 is connected to the control unit 56 , and a sensitivity adjustment signal is sent to the control unit 56 when the user operates the sensitivity adjustment mechanism 199 . Thereby, the control part 56 can adjust the sensitivity of the door opening operation part 52 which is a static electricity detection sensor from "high" to "low".

As a method of changing the sensitivity of the door opening operation part 52 which is a static electricity detection sensor, the static electricity detection sensor has a cycle in which charge and discharge of electrostatic capacitance (capacitor capacitance) are repeated, for example, tens of times per second. It utilizes that the capacitance of the capacitor changes when the user brings his finger close to or touches the door opening operation portion 52 as the static electricity detection sensor. Accordingly, when the user brings a finger close to or touches the door-opening operation portion 52 , the charge-discharge cycle changes. The control unit 56 detects the degree of change in the charge-discharge cycle, and by setting a threshold in advance as a reference, the control unit 56 can determine whether the user approaches or touches the door opening operation unit 52 with a finger.

In addition, when detecting that the user has released the finger from the door-opening operation part 52, the control part 56 can also perform it by judging that it returns to a normal state from the time of the charge-discharge cycle change.

As mentioned above, a user can change and adjust the sensitivity of the door opening operation part 52 which is a static electricity detection sensor. If the refrigerator 1 is installed behind a kitchen sink, for example, the remote detection sensor 100 will always detect a human body when the user is near the sink. In this case, by the user operating the switching mechanism 104, a selection signal is sent from the switching mechanism 104 to the control portion 56, and the door opening operation portion 52, which also functions as a proximity sensor, can be selected as a human body detection mechanism instead of remote detection. sensor 100. Thereby, only when the user is near the water tank, the door opening operation part 52 does not detect a human body. Furthermore, only when the user's finger approaches door-opening operation portion 52 functioning as an approach sensor of refrigerator 1 , door-opening operation portion 52 can detect a human body. Thereby, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection when the user is relatively far away from refrigerator 1 .

Since the remote detection sensor 100 is used, on the back of the glass front panel 22A shown in FIG. print.

The refrigerator 1 of the twenty-ninth embodiment can prevent erroneous detection in the middle of a user's (user) touch operation, and can prevent erroneous operation of opening the door.

A speech recognition mechanism is provided on a case disposed on the top plate of the refrigerator 1, and a hole for speech transmission is provided on the case. The housing of the control board is disposed at the same height as the housing of the solenoid or below it. The control board is placed in the recessed part of the rear part of the top wall, and the support part of the board is buried in polyurethane. The solenoid is also buried in it. The vacuum heat insulating material is bent and arranged at a distance from the embedded parts, arranged to cover the underside of the solenoid and the underside of the substrate, and covers the whole after being bent. In addition, the top lighting is configured as a urethane recess buried in the top. Vacuum insulation is placed at a distance from overhead lighting.

The vacuum heat insulating material is arranged in contact with the inner wall of the top, and the LED is arranged outside the top wall. And, it is arranged at the position of the bent portion of the inner wall.

The vacuum insulation material is divided and arranged under the solenoid and the substrate so as to overlap. There is a gap between the LED and the vacuum heat insulating material, and the vacuum heat insulating material under the substrate is in contact with the inner wall.

The bent portion of the top wall is inclined, and the LED is embedded in the inclined portion without being in contact with the vacuum heat insulating material.

Fig. 44 is a cross-sectional view in the front-rear direction showing the upper portion of the refrigerator 1 having the above-described configuration.

As shown in FIG. 44 , a case 700 is disposed on the top 11A of the box (main body) 11 . A concave portion 11C is provided in the rear portion 11B of the top portion 11A, and the housing 700 is disposed in the concave portion 11C. The housing 700 has, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the control board 710 is arranged obliquely in the inner space of the housing 700 . The control board 710 is arranged obliquely so that the front side of the control board 710 is directed upwards rather than the rear side. A voice recognition mechanism 720 is mounted on the front side of the control board 710 .

The voice recognition means 720 is, for example, a microphone. The front portion of the housing 700 has a hole 700H to allow speech to propagate to the speech recognition mechanism 720 . Thus, no matter whether the voice recognition mechanism 720 is arranged in the casing 700 or not, for example, the voice uttered by the user can be reliably transmitted to the voice recognition mechanism 720 through the hole 700H of the casing 700. Therefore, it is possible to recognize the user's voice, sound.

As shown in FIG. 44, the door opening drive part 54 (55) is provided in the front side of 11 A of ceilings. This door-opening drive part 54 (55) is preferably a solenoid, and the door-opening drive part 54 (55) has a housing 762 and a freely expandable rod 761, respectively. The door-opening drive unit 54 (55) is driven to extend the rod 761, whereby the door-opening drive unit 54 (55) presses the inside of the left door 21 (or the right door 22) to open it.

The height of the housing 700 is the same as the height of the housing 762 of the door-opening driving part 54 (55), or the height of the housing 700 is lower than the height of the housing 762 of the door-opening driving part 54 (55) by a height difference DF. Thereby, even if casing 700 is arrange|positioned at 11 A of ceilings, the whole height of a refrigerator will not be higher than casing 762 of door-opening drive part 54 (55).

As shown in FIG. 44 , the control board 710 has a plurality of support portions 711 , and is supported by embedding in a heat insulating material 730 such as polyurethane in an inclined state using the support portions 711 . Accordingly, the control board 710 is supported in a non-movable manner by the heat insulating material 730 . Moreover, the door-opening drive part 54 (55) has some support part 763, and is supported by embedding in the heat insulating material 730 using this support part 763. Thereby, the door-opening drive part 54 (55) is supported so that it cannot move by the heat insulating material 730. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 44, heat insulating material 730, such as polyurethane, and vacuum heat insulating material 740 are arrange|positioned so that it may overlap inside 11 A of roof parts. The vacuum heat insulating material 740 is located on the lower side of the heat insulating material 730, and it arrange|positions so that the middle part of the vacuum heat insulating material 740 is bent at substantially right angles. In this way, since the halfway portion of the vacuum heat insulating material 740 is bent at a substantially right angle, the vacuum heat insulating material 740 can be arranged so as to cover the lower region of the door opening drive unit 54 (55) and the lower portion of the control board 710. The side region portion, and the vacuum heat insulating material 740 is spaced from the support portion 763 of the door opening driving portion 54 (55) and the support portion 711 of the control substrate 710 .

The top lighting 750 of the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 44 has, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamp, and is arranged in a concave portion 733 embedded in a heat insulating material 730 such as polyurethane on the top. Therefore, the top lighting 750 does not protrude downward from the top inner wall 755 . The vacuum insulation 740 is separated from the top lighting 750 by an inner wall 755 .

Next, a modified example of the twenty-ninth embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 45 to 47. The parts of the refrigerator of the modified example of the twenty-ninth embodiment shown in FIGS. When the parts are substantially the same, the same symbols are used to describe them.

45 to 47 are cross-sectional views along the front-rear direction showing an upper portion of a refrigerator according to another modified example, similarly to FIG. 44 .

First, in the refrigerator 1 of the first modified example shown in FIG. Expose it to the refrigerator. In addition, the top lighting 750 is disposed on the bent portion 757 of the inner wall 755 of the top.

In addition, since the bent portion of the inner wall 755 of the top is located on the front side with respect to the bent portion of the concave portion 11C of the top 11A of the box body (main body) 11, it is possible to make a difference between the bent portion of the outer wall of the box and the inner wall 755. Since a space is formed in the gap in the front-back direction of the bent portion, a vacuum heat insulating material can be arranged in the up-down direction therebetween. Therefore, the bent portion of the vacuum heat insulating material 740 in the middle can be arranged in this space. Moreover, the vacuum heat insulating material arrange|positioned in the up-down direction may be the divided material. Moreover, you may make the vacuum heat insulating material arrange|positioned along this up-down direction thinner than the vacuum heat insulating material extended in the front-back direction of other places. In this way, the space between the bent portion of the outer wall of the box and the bent portion of the inner wall 755 in the front-rear direction can be reduced, so the bent portion of the inner wall 755 can be retreated to the rear, and the capacity in the refrigerator can be increased.

In addition, the distance between the corner on the front side of the bottom of the concave portion 11C of the bent portion of the outer wall and the corner on the upper side (the side of the concave portion 11C) of the bent portion of the inner wall 755 is larger than that of the other top 11A that does not have a bent portion. The thickness dimension is small, so if only the polyurethane heat insulating material is used, the heat insulating property may be deteriorated. However, the heat insulating property can be greatly improved by adopting the structure including the above-mentioned vacuum heat insulating material.

In the refrigerator 1 of the second modified example shown in FIG. 46 , the vacuum heat insulating material 770 is divided into a plurality of parts, and the vacuum heat insulating material 770 is divided into a first part 771 and a second part 772 . The first part 771 covers the lower region of the door opening driver 54 ( 55 ), and the second part 772 covers the lower region of the control board 710 . The LED lamp 750a of the top lighting 750 is spaced from the first part 771 of the vacuum heat insulating material 770, and the second part 772 of the vacuum heat insulating material 770 on the control board 710 side is in contact with the inner wall part 776.

Moreover, the vacuum heat insulating material of the 1st part 771 and the 2nd part 772 is arrange|positioned so that it may overlap in the front-back direction. This is a structure in which the bent portion of the inner wall 755 of the top is located on the front side with respect to the bent portion of the concave portion 11C of the top 11A of the box (main body) 11, and the bent portion of the outer wall of the box and the inner wall 755 Spaces are formed in the gaps in the front-back direction of the bent parts, so they can be overlapped.

In addition, the dimension between the corner on the front side of the bottom of the concave portion 11C of the bent portion of the outer wall and the corner on the upper side (the concave portion 11C side) of the bent portion of the inner wall 755 is smaller than that of other tops not having the bent portion. The thickness dimension of 11A is small, and it is sometimes difficult to flow polyurethane as a foam insulation material during manufacture. Therefore, by not arranging a vacuum insulation material in between, a space for polyurethane flow can be secured, and polyurethane can be reliably filled and the filling speed can be increased. .

In the refrigerator 1 of the third modified example shown in FIG. 47, the bent portion 780 of the top inner wall 755 is formed obliquely. The top lighting 750 is formed in, for example, a right triangle shape corresponding to the shape of the inclined bent portion 780 , and the top lighting 750 is arranged so as to be embedded in the bent portion 780 . The vacuum heat insulating material 740 is not divided, but is an integral body. Thus, the LED lamp 750a of the top lighting 750 is arrange|positioned in the bending part 780, and the top lighting 750 does not contact the vacuum heat insulating material 740, but there exists a gap.

In the twenty-ninth embodiment, the door opener may be operated by the user continuing to touch the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 shown in FIG. 1 with fingers for a certain period of time or longer.

For example, the remote detection sensor 100 shown in FIG. 42 is an infrared sensor for detecting a human body when the human body of the user (user) is located far away from the refrigerator 1. Infrared rays from the detection sensor pass through the hole (opening) formed by removing the printed paint on the front panel in front of the door, and an infrared-transmitting member of the same color as the printed paint can be pasted on the hole (opening). In addition, paint removal can be made less conspicuous by applying paint or the like so as to form a large number of small holes (openings) on this site. In addition, thereby, the remote detection sensor which is an infrared sensor arranged on the back surface of the glass plate can be made difficult to see from the front. Furthermore, the paint may be a paint that transmits infrared rays, or may have a semitransparent mechanism that transmits infrared wavelength light by sputtering, etching, etc., and makes it difficult to transmit part of visible light. In this case, a mechanism that transmits a color with a long wavelength can be used as the semitransparent mechanism. For example, when it is configured to transmit a red wavelength (for example, 620-750nm) longer than a blue wavelength (450-495nm), it is easy to transmit a wavelength of infrared rays (for example, 760-830nm or more) that is longer than this wavelength. Pass. Moreover, in this case, the color of the display mechanism located near the infrared sensor can also be displayed through the semi-transparent light by using the light-emitting mechanism (green, yellow, red light-emitting diode, etc.) of a color with a long wavelength. Mechanism that enables the user to identify, and it is difficult to identify the infrared sensor, the parts inside the door.

In addition, the remote detection sensor which is an infrared sensor may be arrange|positioned on a board|substrate, and may be inserted together with the control operation part 50 or the door opening operation part 51,52. In this case, a part of the electrodes of the control operation part 50 or the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 may be cut out, or a slit may be provided so that infrared rays can be transmitted from the back side of the electrodes to the door side. In this way, the remote detection sensor can easily detect the operating user. Furthermore, the remote detection sensor may be provided between the control operation part 50 and the door opening operation parts 51 and 52 of the touch open SW.

30th Embodiment

Fig. 48 is a front view showing refrigerator 1 according to the thirtieth embodiment. Fig. 49 is a plan view of the refrigerator 1 shown in Fig. 48, and Fig. 50 is a side view of the refrigerator 1 shown in Fig. 48 .

As shown in FIGS. 48 to 50 , a pair of left door 21 and right door 22 cover the front opening of refrigerator compartment 12 of refrigerator 1 . Therefore, the left door 21 and the right door 22 are attached to the upper and lower sides of the left end portion and the right end portion of the cabinet 11 which is the main body of the refrigerator, respectively, by hinge portions so as to open and close in a split style.

Both the left door 21 and the right door 22 are heat insulating structural members: colored and transparent glass front panels 21A, 22A are attached to the opening of the flat inner panel with the front surface open, and a vacuum heat insulating material is arranged in the internal cavity. , A foamed polyurethane heat insulating material (hereinafter referred to simply as a polyurethane heat insulating material) or a preformed solid heat insulating material (such as EPC) is disposed in the cavity that is not filled with the vacuum heat insulating material.

As shown in FIGS. 48 to 50 , the door opening operation parts 551 and 552 are respectively provided in the vicinity of the bottom of the front panel 21A of the left door 21 and the front panel 22A of the right door 22 . The door opening drive parts 54, 55 are respectively provided at the left and right parts near the front end of the upper surface of the top plate of the box body 11, and are provided at positions corresponding to the opening side ends of the upper sides of the left door 21 and the right door 22.

These door opening driving units 54 and 55 are door opening devices for forcibly opening the left door 21 and the right door 22 respectively. The door-opening driving parts 54, 55 push out the moving iron cores 54A, 55A to the front by utilizing the electromagnet, and push out the upper edge near the respective opening side ends of the left door 21 and the right door 22 to the front, so that the left door 21 and the right door can be opened. 22 Mandatory automatic opening.

One door opening operation part 551 is arranged at the lower right position of the left door 21 , and the other door opening operation part 552 is arranged at the lower left position of the right door 22 . The door opening operation part 551 is arranged inside the glass front panel 21A of the left door 21 , and the door opening operation part 552 is arranged inside the glass front panel 22A of the right door 22 .

FIG. 51 shows a configuration example of a substrate 553 of the door opening operation unit 551 shown in FIG. 48 . FIG. 52 is a diagram showing proximity sensor 560 and guard electrode 570 disposed on substrate 553 of door opening operation unit 551 shown in FIG. 51 . FIG. 53 is an exploded perspective view showing a structural example of the door opening operation unit 551 .

The door-opening operation part 551 and the door-opening operation part 552 shown in FIG. 48 have the same structure, however, they may have a left-right symmetrical shape, or may have a left-right identical shape. Fig. 51 has shown the shape example of the substrate 553 of the door-opening operation part 551, but, the door-opening operation part 552 and the door-opening operation part 551 are substantially the same shape, therefore, with reference to Fig. 51～Fig. Explain for representatives.

First, referring to FIG. 53 , door opening operation unit 551 has substrate assembly 500M, plastic storage space member 585 called an open box for accommodating substrate assembly 500M, and plastic cover member 590 . On the back surface 585R of the storage space member 585 made of plastic, for example, aluminum foil, which is a metal body, is preferably stuck. A metal body 591 such as aluminum foil is pasted on the inner surface of the plastic lid member 590 . Accordingly, electromagnetic waves generated on the main body side of the refrigerator 1 do not affect the board assembly 500M side.

The substrate assembly 500M has a plastic shielding plate 599, a substrate 553, an operation signboard 597, and an LED substrate 598 on which LEDs 557 for display are mounted. The substrate 553 is an electrostatic touch switch substrate, and is supported and fixed on the front side of the shielding plate 599 . An operation sign plate 597 is disposed on the front side of the base plate 553 . On the back side of the shielding plate 599, a display LED substrate 598 is supported and fixed. A plurality of LEDs 577 are mounted on the LED substrate 598 . The shielding plate 599 functions as an indication mechanism that supports the two substrates 553 and the LED substrate 598 , and a spacing mechanism that separates the LED lights.

Left and right slits 574 and 575 (transmitting means) are formed at positions corresponding to the base plate 553 and the operation sign plate 597 . The slots 574 , 575 are located between the proximity sensor 560 and the mid-area portion 589 . This substrate assembly 500M is accommodated in the storage space member 585 through the rectangular opening portion 586 of the storage space member 585 . The opening portion 586 of the storage space member 585 is covered with a cover member 590 .

As shown in Figure 51 (a) and Figure 52, the substrate 553 of the door opening operation part 551 is a vertically long rectangle or square, and the substrate 553 has a surface 553A shown in Figure 51 (a) and a back surface shown in Figure 51 (b) 553B. A mounting portion 571 of electronic components, a placement portion 572 of a proximity sensor 560 and a guard electrode 570 are provided on the substrate 553 . 51( a ) and 52 , required electronic components, connector components, and the like are mounted so as to protrude toward the back and be accommodated in recesses of a shielding plate 599 as a spacer. Moreover, by forming the metal electric connection part 571b in the state which does not protrude and is substantially flat on the surface of the board|substrate 553, the board|substrate 553 can be brought into contact with the back surface of a glass door.

Furthermore, by covering with the operation plate 597 that shields the substrate 553 as a cover mechanism, it is possible to prevent malfunctions when the user touches the electrical connection portion 571b and noise when static electricity accumulates on the glass door. In addition, the operation sign board 597 may be a colored board or a vapor-deposited board.

Proximity sensor 560 as the first electrode, guard electrode 570 as the third electrode, and intermediate region 589 as the second electrode are arranged on the arrangement portion 572 on the surface 553A side shown in FIG. 51( a ). The middle area portion 589 is disposed between the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 . Proximity sensor 560, guard electrode 570, and intermediate region portion 589 are metal electrodes, however, electrically insulated from each other. The middle region portion 589 as the second electrode assists the proximity sensor 560 and functions as a proximity sensor. The guard electrode 570 changes the effective detection range of the proximity sensor 560 .

In addition, as shown in FIG. 51( b ), on the rear surface 553B corresponding to the arrangement portion 572 of the substrate 553 , a mesh ground pattern 573 as a fourth electrode is arranged. Therefore, the ground pattern 573 prevents noise from the main body of the refrigerator from affecting the electromagnetic field generated by the proximity sensor 560 and the electromagnetic field generated by the guard electrode 570 .

As shown in FIG. 51( a ) and FIG. 52 , a through hole 560C is formed at the center of the proximity sensor 560 , but a lead pattern 560H is connected to the through hole 560C as shown in FIG. 51( b ). When the user presses (touches) the proximity sensor 560 with a finger, the center of the proximity sensor 560 is usually targeted, so the through hole 560C is formed at the center of the proximity sensor 560 .

The reason why the through hole 560C is formed in the approximate center of the proximity sensor 560 is as follows. That is, in the proximity sensor 560 , the central region where the through hole 560C is formed has the highest switching sensitivity compared to other regions. Accordingly, when the user's finger presses the center of the proximity switch 560 having the through hole 560C, the finger can be brought into contact with the most sensitive point.

The proximity sensor 560 shown in FIG. 51 and FIG. 52 is an electrode for electrostatic touch (contact), and is used in the front (front surface) direction of the left door 21 and the right door 22 shown in FIG. 49 and FIG. For example, a capacitive detection mechanism that detects the approach of a human body or an object at a distance of about 100 mm. The proximity sensor 560 detects the approach of a finger when a part of the user's body, specifically a finger, approaches. Proximity sensor 560 is a capacitive touch sensor, but may be an interactive capacitive touch sensor or a self capacitive touch sensor.

For the mutual capacitance method, it consists of one transmitting electrode and one receiving electrode, and when an electric current is supplied to the transmitting electrode, an electromagnetic field is generated, and the electromagnetic field is received by the receiving electrode. For example, when a finger of a human body approaches the detection area of the proximity sensor 560 , part of the electromagnetic field is absorbed and received by the receiving electrodes, so that the detected energy decreases, and thus the proximity sensor 560 can detect the approach of the finger.

For the self-capacitance method, one electrode (proximity sensor 560 ) having stray capacitance is required. The stray capacitance of an electrode (proximity sensor 560 ) is affected by the parasitic capacitance between the electrode (proximity sensor 560 ) and the conductor (finger of the human body) around it. When a human finger approaches the proximity sensor 560 , the value of the stray capacitance increases due to the influence of the parasitic capacitance. By measuring the increased stray capacitance, the proximity sensor 560 can detect the approach of the finger.

As shown in FIGS. 51 and 52 , proximity sensor 560 is, for example, a switch formed in a vertically long rectangular shape, and slits 574 and 575 are formed so as to surround proximity sensor 560 . As shown in FIG. 52, the board|substrate 598 covers this slit 574,575 from the back surface, and LED577 functioning as an illumination device is arrange|positioned at intervals.

Of these, among the plurality of LEDs 577 , four LEDs 577 corresponding to the four corners 576R of the slits 574 and 575 are arranged at positions outside the slit 576 deviated from the inside of the slit 576 .

As shown in FIG. 52 , one end of the proximity sensor 560 is connected to the placement portion 572 via a connection portion 560A, and the other end of the proximity sensor 560 is connected to the placement portion 572 via a connection portion 560B. A through hole 560C for electrical connection is formed in the center portion of the proximity sensor 560 . Through hole 560C is thus formed in the central portion of proximity sensor 560 . As already described, the region of proximity sensor 560 in which through hole 560C is provided has higher detection sensitivity than other regions. Since the area portion where the user's finger approaches and contacts is the central portion of the proximity sensor 560 , the through hole 560C is provided at the central portion of the proximity sensor 560 . The proximity sensor 560 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape by forming electrodes in the region 572a of the slits 574 and 575 in the arrangement portion of the substrate in the dotted line region. In addition, the slits 574 and 575 do not surround the entire proximity sensor 560 but are formed in a U-shape. This results in a configuration in which the inner side and the outer side are connected by forming a bridge 572ab connected to the peripheral portion 572b around the slit, and the substrate is held as one substrate without being divided.

The guard electrode 570 shown in FIGS. 51 and 52 is formed in a rectangular frame shape around the proximity sensor 560 and the middle area portion 589 in the arrangement portion 572 . The guard electrode 570 is a metal body and is composed of a pair of short-side electrode portions 570A and a pair of long-side electrode portions 570B. The guard electrode 570 generates an electromagnetic field in a direction opposite to that generated by the proximity sensor 560 .

Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 49 and 50 , the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 is suppressed from spreading due to the electromagnetic field in the opposite direction generated by the guard electrode 570 . Therefore, the expansion of the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 is suppressed by the electromagnetic field generated by the guard electrode 570, and the guard electrode 570 functions as an effective range change mechanism of the detection range that changes the detection range of the human body. effective range.

The guard electrode 570 changes the effective range of the detection range of the proximity sensor 560 by narrowing the detection range of the proximity sensor 560 when detecting the approach of a human body such as a finger. Specifically, the guard electrode 570 changes the effective range of the detection range of the proximity sensor 560. As a result, as shown in FIG. frontal direction. Similarly, the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 of the door opening operation part 552 of the right door 22 is guided only in the front front direction of the proximity sensor 560 .

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 49 , the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 is narrowed so as not to spread in the X direction which is the left-right direction.

And, as shown in FIG. 50 , electromagnetic field 560P generated by proximity sensor 560 of door opening operation portion 551 of left door 21 is guided only in the front front direction of proximity sensor 560 . Similarly, the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 of the door opening operation part 552 of the right door 22 is guided only in the front front direction of the proximity sensor 560 . Therefore, in FIG. 50 , the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 is narrowed so as not to expand in the Z direction which is the up and down direction.

That is, the electromagnetic field 560P of the proximity sensor 560 shown in FIG. 49 and FIG. 50 shows the effective range of the detection range of the human body, and the effective range of the detection range of the human body corresponds to a range in a different direction from the front of the proximity sensor 560 (up and down, Left and right extended range) different ranges. That is, the effective range of the detection range of the human body takes at least the user's operation direction of the proximity sensor 560 as the effective range, and the range in the direction different from the operation direction is changed by narrowing or the like, thereby limiting the effective range. A range other than at least a part of a range in a direction different from the front (at least a part of a range extending up and down, left and right, and rearward, etc.).

Fig. 54 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection of the control unit 556, the door opening operation units 551, 552, the door opening driving units 54, 55 as door opening devices, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 54, the control part 556 is electrically connected to the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 of the door-opening operation part 551,552, the door-opening drive part 54,55, and LED577 which is several lighting devices.

The control unit 556 keeps the proximity sensor 560 in the "high sensitivity" state. When the finger enters the electromagnetic field 560P shown in FIGS. 49 and 50 as the detection area of the proximity sensor 560 , the control unit 556 of FIG.

Then, when the control unit 556 in FIG. 54 receives the signal SG from the proximity sensor 560, it determines that the finger has approached the proximity sensor 560, stops the power supply to the guard electrode 570, and simultaneously changes the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 from "high sensitivity" to "high sensitivity". Change to "Low Sensitivity" to reduce sensitivity. And, when the control unit 556 receives the signal SG from the proximity sensor 560, the control unit 556 turns on the LED 577 to illuminate the vicinity of the proximity switch 560, whereby the position of the proximity switch 560 is floated by lighting, allowing the user to The position of the proximity switch 560 can be confirmed visually.

In addition, as an effect of lighting the LED 577, since the LED 577 performs a lighting display, the user can confirm the operation part, and there is no need to print the operation position of the operation part on the front panel 21A (or 22A) which is a glass plate.

In addition, when the finger touches the proximity sensor 560 and touches the proximity sensor 560 , the proximity sensor 560 functions as a touch switch, and the proximity sensor 560 sends a touch signal SH indicating that the finger touches the proximity sensor 560 to the control unit 556 . Thus, the control unit 556 enables the proximity sensor 560 to function as a touch sensor to enable the opening operation of the left door 21 , for example, and the control unit 56 can operate the door opening driving unit 54 to actually perform the opening operation of the left door 21 . The above operation sequence is also the same for the right door 22 .

Thereby, the user can open the left door 21 or the right door 22 by visually confirming the position of the proximity switch 560 disposed inside the glass surface of the left door 21 or the right door 22 while visually checking the position by the illumination of the LED 577 .

As described above, the control unit 556 makes the proximity sensor 560 function as a touch sensor by switching the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 from "high sensitivity" when a finger approaches to "low sensitivity". When the finger approaches the proximity sensor 560, the control unit 556 makes the electrostatic switch 560 function as a "proximity sensor". Effective. Therefore, the control unit 556 does not make the proximity sensor 560 function as a “contact sensor”, so the proximity sensor 560 “invalidates” the opening (door opening operation) of the left door 21 and the right door 22 which are the original functions of the door opening operation parts 551 and 552. .

As described above, when the user's finger is brought close to the proximity sensor 560 and the finger enters the electromagnetic field 560P which is the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 , the proximity sensor 560 notifies the control unit 556 of the proximity of the finger. Then, when the approach of the finger is notified from the proximity sensor 560 to the control unit 556 , the control unit 556 switches the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 from “high” to “low”. Furthermore, the control unit 556 turns the lighting display of the proximity sensor 560 from the off state to the on state, and the position of the proximity sensor 560 can be clearly indicated by the LED 577 . Therefore, the user can reliably touch the proximity sensor 560 with a finger while visually confirming the position of the proximity sensor 560 . The control unit 556 makes the proximity sensor 560 function as a "touch sensor" as an original function, so that the opening operation (door opening operation) of the left door 21 or the right door 22 becomes "valid" by touching the proximity sensor 560 with a finger.

The opening operation (door opening operation) of the left door 21 described above is the same as the opening operation (door opening operation) of the right door 22, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in Figure 51 and Figure 52, guard electrode 570 is arranged around proximity sensor 560, thus, as the electromagnetic field 560P of the effective range of the human body detection range of proximity sensor 560, in the front direction (front direction) of left door 21 and right door 22 direction) and detect the approach of human hands and fingers within a range of, for example, about 100 mm. At this time, the electromagnetic field 560P, which is the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560, is limited by the arrangement of the guard electrode 570 so as not to expand in the up-down direction and the left-right direction.

As shown in FIG. 49, the expansion of the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 is limited for the left and right directions (X direction), thereby, as shown in FIG. 49, when the left door 21 is to be opened along the trajectory shown by the arrow 21M On the other hand, when a finger approaches the proximity sensor 560 of the left door 21, the proximity sensor 560 of the closed right door 22 cannot detect the finger. Similarly, when the right door 22 is opened along the trajectory indicated by the arrow 22M and the finger is approached to the proximity sensor 560 of the right door 22, the proximity sensor 560 of the closed left door 21 can prevent the finger from being detected.

Therefore, the electromagnetic field 560P, which is the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 of the right door 22, does not enter the trajectory when the left door 21, which is the moving mechanism, is opened. Similarly, the electromagnetic field 560P within the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 of the left door 21 will not enter the trajectory when the right door 22 as the moving mechanism is opened.

Thus, when the left door 21 or the right door 22 is opened, the proximity sensor 560 of the closed right door 22 or the left door 21 can be prevented from inadvertently detecting the user's finger or the left door 21. Or right door 22.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 50, by restricting the expansion of the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 in the up and down direction (Z direction), when the push-pull door 23 as a moving mechanism is pulled out in the direction of the arrow, as the left The electromagnetic field 560P in the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 of the door 21 and the electromagnetic field 560P in the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 of the right door 22 will not enter the trajectory when the push-pull door 23 is opened.

This prevents the proximity sensor 560 of the left door 21 and the proximity sensor 560 of the right door 22 from inadvertently detecting the user's finger or the sliding door 23 when the sliding door 23 is opened.

Regarding the size of the guard electrode 570 shown in FIGS. 51 and 52 , the vertical and horizontal dimensions may be, for example, 30 mm×30 mm or more. By setting the size of the guard electrode 570 in this way, when the user wants to open the left door 21 or the right door 22 by touching the proximity sensor 560 with, for example, an elbow instead of a finger, it is possible to prevent the elbow from touching the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode at the same time. 570 sides. Thus, the user can open the left door 21 or the right door 22 with fingers or elbows.

Next, an example of the storage structure of the base plate 553 of the left door 21 and the right door 22 will be described with reference to FIG. 55 . FIG. 55 is a diagram showing an example of a storage structure of the base plate 553 of the left door 21 and the right door 22 . Fig. 55 (a) is a front view of the left door 21 and the right door 22, and Fig. 55 (b) shows the inside end surface 21T of the left door 21 (the inside end surface 22T of the right door 22) showing the storage structure of the substrate 553. ) perspective view of the structure. FIG. 55( c ) is a diagram showing an example of a cover member 590 .

As shown in FIG. 55( a ), when the left door 21 and the right door 22 are closed, the inner end surface 21T of the left door 21 and the inner end surface 22T of the right door 22 are closed toward each other. The rectangular opening portion 586 of the storage space member 585 is located in each inner end surface portion 21T, and the storage space member 585 of the board assembly 500M is located inside the left door 21 and the right door 22 . The substrate assembly 500M is inserted into the storage space member 585 from the opening 586 to be stored.

The opening portion 586 is closed by the cover member 590 after the substrate assembly 500M is accommodated. A metal body 591 such as an aluminum foil strip or an iron plate is disposed on the inner surface of the cover member 590 . The metal body 591 restricts the electromagnetic field generated by the proximity sensor 560 as the effective range of the detection range of the human body, and is a changing mechanism for changing the effective range of the detection range of the proximity sensor 560 . The metal body 591 serving as an effective range changing mechanism of the detection range is disposed between the left door 21 and the right door 22 serving as adjacent moving mechanisms.

By arranging the metal body 591 on the cover member 590 in this way, the metal body 591 blocks the electromagnetic field between the left door 21 and the right door 22 . Therefore, the electromagnetic field of the proximity sensor 560 of the left door 21 and the electromagnetic field of the guard electrode 570 will not affect the electromagnetic field of the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 of the right door 22 . Furthermore, the electromagnetic field from the proximity sensor 560 of the right door 22 and the electromagnetic field of the guard electrode 570 will not affect the electromagnetic field of the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 of the left door 21 .

Next, an operation example when the user opens, for example, the left door 21 will be described with reference to FIGS. 48 to 50 and 54 .

When the user makes his finger close to the proximity sensor 560 on the left door 21 side shown in FIGS. 49 and 50 , thereby entering the electromagnetic field 560P shown in FIGS. 49 and 50 as the effective range of the human body detection range, the proximity sensor in a high sensitivity state 560 detects that a finger approaches the proximity sensor 560 . As a result, control unit 556 in FIG. 54 receives signal SG indicating that the finger has approached proximity sensor 560 .

Then, the control unit 556 in FIG. 54 stops the energization of the guard electrode 570 based on the signal SG from the proximity sensor 560, and the control unit 556 lowers the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 from "high sensitivity" to "low sensitivity". And the control part 556 illuminates the proximity switch 560 by turning on the LED577, and clearly shows the position of the proximity switch 560, so that a user can visually confirm the position of the proximity switch 560.

Moreover, when the finger touches the proximity sensor 560, the low-sensitivity proximity sensor 560 functions as a touch switch (touch switch) for opening the left door 21, and sends a contact signal that the finger touches the proximity sensor 560 to the control unit 556 of FIG. 54 . Signal SH. Accordingly, the control unit 556 enables the opening operation of the left door 21, and the control unit 556 operates the door opening drive unit 54, so that the left door 21 can be opened.

In addition, the operation example when the user opens the right door 22 is the same as the operation example when the user opens the left door 21 described above, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

In this manner, when the user touches the proximity sensor 560 functioning as a contact sensor with a finger, the control unit 556 can automatically open the left door 21 or the right door 22 .

When the user only touches the proximity sensor 560, the control unit 556 makes the proximity sensor 560 function as a touch sensor (contact sensor), and performs the opening operation of the left door 21 by enabling the opening operation of the left door 21 . The same applies to the right door 22 .

When the user accidentally touches both the proximity sensor 560 and the protective electrode 570 shown in FIG. Accordingly, the door opening operation of the left door 21 is not performed. Accordingly, when the user's elbow touches both the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 accidentally, the control unit 556 disables the opening operation of the left door 21 and prohibits the opening operation of the left door 21 . And, even if water droplets adhere to both the proximity sensor 560 and the protective electrode 570 shown in FIGS. Invalid", the door opening operation of the left door 21 is not performed either. The prohibition of the above-mentioned door opening operation is the same for the right door 22 .

In addition, for example, when the user's elbow touches both the guard electrode 570 and the intermediate region portion 589 shown in FIG. 54 and FIG. The same applies to the right door 22 .

As described above, the two-fold type left door 21 and right door 22 having glass front panels 21A, 22A each have an electrostatic touch type contact sensor serving as a proximity sensor that detects the approach of a finger or the like of a human body. 560. As shown in FIG. 51 , on the substrate 553 , around the proximity sensor 560 serving as an electrode for electrostatic touch, the guard electrode 570 is disposed so as to surround the proximity sensor 560 at a distance from the proximity sensor 560 .

The guard electrode 570 is an effective range change mechanism for changing the detection range of the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 when a human body approaches. The guard electrode 570 generates an electromagnetic field in a direction opposite to the electromagnetic field generated when the proximity sensor 560 detects the approach of a human body.

Thus, the guard electrode 570 limits the electromagnetic field generated when the proximity sensor 560 detects the proximity of the human body in the up-down direction and the left-right direction. As shown in FIGS. . Therefore, the electromagnetic field 560P (proximity detection range) generated by the proximity sensor 560 is limited only in the front front direction of the proximity sensor 560 .

Therefore, in the case of a side-by-side refrigerator with the left door 21 and the right door 22, for example, the opening and closing of the left door 21 can prevent false detection by the proximity sensor 560 of the right door 22, and the opening and closing of the right door 22 can Misdetection by the proximity sensor 560 of the left door 21 can be prevented.

In addition, in the case of a single-door refrigerator instead of a side-by-side refrigerator, when a human body or an object comes to the side of the refrigerator, the proximity sensor of the door can prevent the human body or object from being inadvertently and erroneously detected.

Thirty-first embodiment

Fig. 56 is a front view showing refrigerator 1 according to the thirty-first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 56 , a pair of left door 21 and right door 22 cover the front opening of refrigerator compartment 12 of refrigerator 1 in an openable and closable manner. Therefore, the left door 21 and the right door 22 are attached to the upper and lower sides of the left end portion and the right end portion of the cabinet 11 which is the main body of the refrigerator, respectively, by hinge portions so as to open and close in a split style.

Both the left door 21 and the right door 22 are thermally insulating structural members in which colored and transparent glass front panels 21A and 22A are attached to the opening of the flat inner panel with the front surface open, and a vacuum heat insulating material is placed in the internal cavity. , A foamed polyurethane heat insulating material (hereinafter referred to simply as a polyurethane heat insulating material) or a preformed solid heat insulating material (such as EPC) is disposed in the cavity that is not filled with the vacuum heat insulating material.

As shown in FIG. 56 , a pair of door opening operation parts 651 and 652 are respectively provided in the vicinity of the lower sides of the front panel 21A of the left door 21 and the front panel 22A of the right door 22 on the back side. The door opening operation parts 651 and 652 can be touch-operated from the surface of the front panel 21A with a user's finger. The door opening operation part 651 has a capacitive proximity sensor 607 and an electrode 633 of a capacitive touch key. The door opening operation part 652 has a capacitive proximity sensor 608 and an electrode 633 of a capacitive touch key. The proximity sensor 607 is disposed above the electrode 633 of the touch key, and the proximity sensor 608 is disposed above the electrode 633 of the touch key.

Also, on the back side of the front panel 21A of the left door 21 is provided a capacitive control operation unit 650 for operating the refrigerator by touching the front panel 21A with a user's finger.

The control operation part 650 is provided with: an infrared light receiving part for detecting, for example, the environmental state around the refrigerator, a control button (control switch) 650CS, and a HOME button (HOME switch) 650HS; LED display lights for transparent display of operation button names, cooling function names, cooling strength, etc., 7-segment LED display devices for transparent display of changing values such as temperature values, etc.

As shown in FIG. 56, the door-opening drive parts 54, 55 are respectively provided at the left and right parts near the front end of the upper surface of the top plate of the box body 11, and are positions corresponding to the vicinity of the open side ends of the upper sides of the left door 21 and the right door 22. .

These door opening drive units 54 and 55 are door opening devices for forcibly opening the left door 21 and the right door 22 , respectively. The door-opening driving parts 54, 55 push out the moving iron cores 54A, 55A to the front through the electromagnet, thereby pushing out the upper edge near the respective opening side ends of the left door 21 and the right door 22 to the front, so that the left door 21 and the right door can be opened. The door 22 is forced to open automatically.

As shown in FIG. 56 , a door opening operation part 651 including a proximity sensor 607 is arranged at the lower right position of the left door 21 , and a door opening operation part 652 including another proximity sensor 608 is arranged at the lower left position of the right door 22 . Door opening operation unit 651 including proximity sensor 607 is arranged inside glass front panel 21A of left door 21 , and door opening operation unit 652 including proximity sensor 608 is arranged inside glass front panel 22A of right door 22 .

Fig. 57 shows the V1-V1 line of the left door 21 shown in Fig. 56 near the door opening operation part 651 including the proximity sensor 607 (or near the door opening operation part 652 including the proximity sensor 608 of the right door 22). Sectional view. The structural example of the vicinity of the door opening operation part 652 shown in FIG. 56 is the same as the structural example of the vicinity of the door opening operation part 651 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 57 , a masking sheet 621 is arranged by printing or the like on the inner surface side of the glass front panels 21A, 22A. This sheet 621 is arranged to prevent the inside from being seen through the front panels 21A and 22A.

As shown in FIG. 57 , on the inner surface side of the front panels 21A and 22A, the first substrate 631 and the second substrate 632 are arranged in parallel with the front panels 21A and 22A with a gap therebetween.

On the back of the first substrate 631 disposed on the front side, a proximity sensor 607 (or a proximity sensor 608) and a connector 629 are disposed, and on the surface of the first substrate 631, a plurality of capacitive touch keys (electrodes) are disposed. )633. A plurality of through-holes 634 are formed on the first substrate 631 , and each hole 634 is disposed at a rear position corresponding to the touch key 633 . The proximity sensors 607 and 608 are microcomputers having a proximity sensor function.

As shown in FIG. 57 , a plurality of LEDs 635 and connectors 636 are arranged on the surface of the second substrate 632 arranged behind the first substrate 631 . The connector 636 of the second board 632 is connected to the connector 629 of the first board 631 through the relay harness 628 .

Each LED635 is arrange|positioned at the position which opposes each hole 634 of the 1st board|substrate 631. As shown in FIG. Accordingly, the illumination light LLT generated by each LED 635 can pass through each hole 634 to illuminate the touch key 633 from behind to the front panel 21A ( 22A) side. Thus, the user can visually confirm the position of the proximity sensor 607 ( 608 ) and the positions of the touch keys 633 through the front panel 21A (or the front panel 22A) and the sheet 621 .

FIG. 58 is a cross-sectional view along line V2-V2 of the control operation unit 650 shown in FIG. 56 .

As shown in FIG. 58 , a masking sheet 621 is arranged by printing or the like on the inner surface side of the glass front panel 21A. This sheet 621 is arranged to prevent the inside from being seen through the front panel 21A. Inside the front panel 21A, an operation sign plate 661 , a diffusion film 662 , a transparent electrode 663 , and a substrate 664 are arranged. From the front panel 21A toward the substrate 664 , the operation sign plate 661 , the diffusion film 662 , and the transparent electrode 663 are arranged in parallel at intervals in this order. The diffusion film 662 diffuses the illumination light LLS generated by the plurality of LEDs 665 mounted on the substrate 664 toward the front panel 21A.

On the surface of the board|substrate 664, several LED665, the shielding board 666 for light guides, and the connector 667 of a flexible printed circuit board are mounted. The connector 667 is connected to the transparent electrode 663 via the flexible printed circuit board 668 . Each LED 665 is arranged between two adjacent shielding plates 666, and the illumination light LLS of each LED 665 is irradiated to the transparent electrode 663 side under the action of the shielding plate 666, and after passing through the transparent electrode 663, it is illuminated by the diffusion film 662. Diffuse the lower front panel 21A. Thereby, the user can visually confirm the electrode position of the transparent electrode 663 through the front panel 21A and the sheet 621 .

Fig. 59 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection of the control unit 656, the control operation unit 650, the door opening operation units 651, 652, and the door opening drive units 54, 55 as door opening devices.

As shown in FIG. 59 , the control unit 656 is electrically connected to the control operation unit 650 , the first board 631 and the second board 632 , and the door opening drive units 54 and 55 .

In the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 56, when the user opens the left door 21 (or right door 22) of the refrigerator 1, if it is a dark environment, it is difficult to recognize the proximity sensor 607 (608) of the door opening operation parts 651, 652. ) and the position of the touch button 633. In this way, in order to improve the operation of the door opening operation parts 651, 652 that are difficult to perform, as shown in Figure 57, on the back side of the touch button 633 of the door opening operation parts 651, 652 and the back side of the proximity sensor 607 (608), a device for providing lighting is mounted. Light's LED635 as lighting mechanism.

Therefore, when the user tries to touch the touch buttons 633 of the door opening operation parts 651 and 652 with a finger, the capacitive proximity sensor 607 (or the proximity sensor 608 ) detects the approach of a person. The control unit 656 receives a signal notifying that a person is approaching from the proximity sensor 607 (or the proximity sensor 608 ), and the lighting LED 635 lights up according to an instruction from the control unit 656 .

Thus, even in a dark environment, the user can recognize the position of the proximity sensor 607 (608) of the door opening operation parts 651, 652 and the position of the touch button 633, and can easily operate the touch buttons of the door opening operation parts 651, 652. 633, the left door 21 (or the right door 22) can be opened.

In addition, when the proximity sensor 607 (or the proximity sensor 608) detects the approach of a person, the control unit 656 receives a signal notifying the approach of the person from the proximity sensor 607 (or the proximity sensor 608). Therefore, the control operation unit 650 shown in FIG. 58 The LED 665 for illumination is turned on according to the instruction|command of the control part 656.

Accordingly, even in a dark environment, the user can recognize the position of the control operation unit 650 and easily operate the control operation unit 650 .

When the user wants to touch the touch buttons 633 of the door opening operation parts 651 and 652 in a non-contact manner with fingers from the glass front panels 21A and 22A, it is preferable that the control part 656 of FIG. 59 can turn on the LED 635. The brightness of the lamp hours is divided into several levels.

That is, when the proximity sensor 607 (or the proximity sensor 608 ) detects the approach of a person, the control unit 656 in FIG. 59 lightens the LED 635 slightly. Then, when the user touches the touch buttons 633 of the door opening operation parts 651 and 652 in a non-contact manner with fingers, and the door opening operation of the left door 21 (or right door 22) is established, the control part 656 of FIG. The LED635 is fully lit to increase the amount of light.

After that, the user releases the finger from the touch button 633, and the control unit 656 operates the door opening driving unit 54 (or the door opening driving unit 55) to open the left door 21 (the right door 22).

Thus, when the user touches the touch buttons 633 of the door opening operation parts 651 and 652 with fingers and the door opening operation of the left door 21 (or the right door 22) is established, the LED 635 changes from dimly lit to fully lit. To increase the amount of light, the user can visually confirm the establishment of the door opening operation by changing the amount of light, that is, preferably increasing the amount of light.

For example, the user operates the control operation unit 650 shown in FIG. 59 in order to change the content of the cooling control. The control part 656 can be set so that the operation start time (lighting timing) of turning on the LED665 of the control operation part 650 shown in FIG. The timing (lighting timing) is delayed by a predetermined delay time, that is, the two are different. That is, the timing of the light emission form of LED665 of the control operation part 650 and the timing of the light emission form of LED635 of the door opening operation part 651,652 can be changed.

For example, the lighting timing of the LED635 of the door opening operation part 651,652 can be made earlier than the lighting timing of the LED665 of the control operation part 650. However, it is conversely possible to make the lighting timing of the LED665 of the control operation part 650 earlier than the lighting timing of the LED635 of the door opening operation part 651,652.

Accordingly, when the proximity sensor 607 (or the proximity sensor 608 ) detects the approach of a person, not only the LEDs 635 of the opening operation parts 651 and 652 but also the LED 665 of the control operation part 650 can be turned on.

As shown in Figure 56, on the left door 21 and the right door 22, the positions of the proximity sensors 607, 608 are disposed lower than the position of the control operation part 650, and the proximity sensors 607, 608 are respectively disposed on the door opening operation part 651, 652 near the touch button 633.

Thereby, after the user brings the finger close to the proximity sensor 607 (or the proximity sensor 608) and touches the proximity sensor 607 (or the proximity sensor 608), the finger is directly moved down slightly, and the touch of the door opening operation parts 651, 652 can be contacted. Control button 633, so it is easy for the user to operate.

Next, FIG. 60 shows that after the proximity sensor 607 of the left door 21 shown in FIG. 56 detects the approach of the user's finger, when the finger touches the touch button 633 of the door opening operation part 651, the control of the left door 21 An example of a situation where the operation unit 650 and the door opening operation unit 651 are turned on.

In FIG. 60( a ), the user's finger is not completely close to the proximity sensor 607 . In this state, in order to make the proximity sensor 607, which is an electrostatic switch, function as a "proximity sensor", the control unit 656 sets the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 607 to "high" to increase the sensitivity. sensor" function "active".

In this case, the control unit 656 “invalidates” the opening (door opening operation) of the left door 21 which is the function of the touch key 633 of the door opening operation unit 651 . And the control part 656 makes the lighting display of the control operation part 650 and the lighting display of the door opening operation part 651 into "OFF state" as shown by a dotted line. And the operation (door opening operation) function of the control switch (control key) 650CS and the HOME switch (HOME key) 650HS of the control operation part 650 is "invalid".

Next, FIG. 60( b ) shows a state where the finger HT approaches the proximity sensor 607 . In this state, the proximity sensor 607 detects the approach of the finger HT, so the control unit 656 switches the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 607 as a "proximity sensor" from "high" to "low" to reduce the sensitivity and weaken the function of the proximity sensor. .

Therefore, the control unit 656 activates the touch button 633 of the door opening operation unit 651, and therefore, the function of the opening operation (door opening operation) of the left door 21 performed by touching the touch button 633 from the surface of the front panel with the finger HT changes from "invalid". into "effective".

And the control part 656 makes the lighting display of the control operation part 650 and the lighting display of the door opening operation part 651 of the proximity sensor 607 become "on state" as shown by the solid line, LED635 shown in FIG. 57 and FIG. The shown LED665 lights up slightly, for example. That is, LED 665 shown in FIG. 58 is lighted slightly to illuminate the control operation portion 650 from behind, and LED 635 shown in FIG. 57 is lit to illuminate the door opening operation portion 651 from behind.

Preferably, the lighting display time is a predetermined lighting time, for example, 10 seconds. If the finger HT does not touch the touch button 633 of the door opening operation part 651 during the 10 seconds, the LEDs 635 and 665 can be turned off again.

Among them, the control unit 656 can be set so that the operation start time (lighting timing) of turning on the LED 665 of the control operation unit 650 shown in FIG. The start time (lighting timing) is delayed by a predetermined delay time, that is, the two are different. That is, the control part 656 can change the timing of the light emission form of the LED665 of the control operation part 650, and the timing of the light emission form of the LED635 of the door opening operation part 651.

For example, the lighting timing of the LED635 of the door opening operation part 651 can be made earlier than the lighting timing of the LED665 of the control operation part 650. However, it is conversely possible to make the lighting timing of the LED665 of the control operation part 650 earlier than the lighting timing of the LED635 of the door opening operation part 651. By making the lighting timing different in this way, it is possible to display the position of the control operation part 650 and the position of the door opening operation part 651 so as to be distinguished for the user.

Next, the operation functions of the control switch 650CS and the HOME switch 650HS of the control operation unit 650 are turned on and changed from "disabled" to "validated".

Next, in FIG.60(c), the state which touched the touch key 633 of the door opening operation part 651 with the finger HT is shown. In this state, the control unit 656 maintains the "low" state which is the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 607 as a "touch sensor". The control unit 656 maintains the function of the opening operation (door opening operation) of the left door 21 as the function of the touch button 633 of the door opening operation unit 651 to be “valid”.

Next, the operation functions of the control button (control switch) 650CS and the HOME button (HOME switch) 650HS of the control operation unit 650 are turned on and become "valid", so that they can be operated.

Then, the control unit 656 keeps the lighting display of the control operation unit 650 and the lighting display of the door opening operation unit 651 of the proximity sensor 607 in the “on state” as indicated by the solid line.

In this case, it is preferable to slightly light up the light quantity of the lighting display of the control operation part 650 of FIG. However, when the finger HT in FIG. 60(c) touches, the light quantity of the lighting display of the control operation part 650 and the light quantity of the lighting display of the door opening operation part 651 are increased from the slight lighting, so as to be performed by a larger light quantity. The full light to shine.

Thus, when the user touches the touch button 633 of the door opening operation unit 651 with a finger and the door opening operation of the left door 21 is established, the LED 635 is turned from slightly lit to fully lit to increase the amount of light. Therefore, the user can Visually confirm that the door opening operation has been established by increasing the amount of lighting. In addition, the user can more reliably recognize the display of the control operation unit 650 and the display of the door opening operation unit 651, and the energy-saving effect of power consumption can be improved.

As described above, when the finger HT is brought close to the proximity sensor 607 as shown in FIG. 60( b ), and when the finger HT is brought into contact with the touch key 633 as shown in FIG. In order to perform the lighting of the control operation part 650 and the lighting of the door opening operation part 651, the light quantity at the time of lighting can be changed and increased as mentioned above.

Thereafter, in FIG. 60( d ), a state in which the user's finger HT is separated from the touch button 633 of the door opening operation unit 52 is shown. In this state, the control unit 656 enables the input of the operation signal from the touch button 633 of the door opening operation unit 651 to operate the door opening driving unit 54 , thereby performing the corresponding door opening control of the left door 21 . Thereby, the left door 21 can be opened automatically.

Then, the control unit 656 keeps the lighting display of the control operation unit 650 and the lighting display of the door opening operation unit 651 of the proximity sensor 607 in the “on state” as indicated by the solid line. Then, the operation functions of the control switch 650CS and the HOME switch 650HS of the control operation unit 650 are turned off and changed from "valid" to "disabled".

As described above, the opening operation of the right door 22 using the door opening operation unit 652 of the right door 22 shown in FIG. 56 can be performed similarly to the opening operation of the left door 21 described with reference to FIG. 60 .

In addition, when the left door 21 is opened by the touch button 633 of the door opening operation part 651 of the left door 21, the function of the touch button 633 of the door opening operation part 652 of the right door 22 can be switched, and the switch function of the door opening operation part 652 is invalid. And can not open right door 22. The same is true in the opposite case.

When the user wants to touch and operate the touch buttons 633 of the door opening operation parts 651 and 652 with fingers in a non-contact manner, it is preferable that the control part 656 in FIG. 59 can change the lighting color when the LED 635 is turned on. That is, when the proximity sensor 607 (or the proximity sensor 608 ) detects the approach of a person, the control unit 656 in FIG. 59 lights up the LED 635 in blue, for example, which is the first light emission color. Then, when the user touches the touch buttons 633 of the door opening operation parts 651 and 652 with fingers and the door opening operation of the left door 21 (or right door 22) is established, the control part 656 of FIG. 2 Luminous colors such as red lights.

Afterwards, when the user releases the finger from the touch button 633, the control unit 656 operates the door opening drive unit 54 (or the door opening drive unit 55) to open the left door 21 (the right door 22).

Thus, when the user touches the touch buttons 633 of the door opening operation parts 651 and 652 with fingers and the door opening operation of the left door 21 (or right door 22) is established, the LED 635 changes from blue to red. Therefore, the user can visually confirm that the door opening operation has been established by changing the lighting color. In addition, the types of the first luminescent color and the second luminescent color can be arbitrarily selected.

In addition, when the finger HT is brought close to the proximity sensor 607 as shown in FIG. Under certain circumstances, LED635, 665 can also be made to always light up. The user can visually confirm that the door opening operation has been established.

In addition, the left door 21 and the right door 22 shown in FIG. 56 are set in a split type. When the left door 21 is opening, the control part 656 can also make the touch button 633 of the door opening operation part 652 of the right door 22 LED635 is always on. Similarly, when the right door 22 is being opened, the control unit 656 may always light up the LED 635 of the touch button 633 of the door opening operation unit 651 of the left door 21 . Thereby, even in a dark environment, the user can visually confirm the position of the door opening operation part of the right door 22 on the unopened side (or the left door 21 on the unopened side), and can easily operate the door opening operation part. .

The contents described in each of the above-mentioned embodiments can be applied to home appliances other than refrigerators, such as laundry appliances, cooking appliances, etc., and are also effective as inventions of operation parts.

32nd embodiment

Fig. 61 is a front view showing refrigerator 1 according to the thirty-second embodiment. FIG. 62 is a plan view showing refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 61 , and FIG. 63 is a side view showing refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 61 .

As shown in FIGS. 61 to 63 , a pair of left door 21 and right door 22 cover the front opening of refrigerator compartment 12 of refrigerator 1 . Therefore, the left door 21 and the right door 22 are attached to the upper and lower sides of the left end portion and the right end portion of the cabinet 11 which is the main body of the refrigerator, respectively, by hinge portions so as to open and close in a split style.

Both the left door 21 and the right door 22 are heat insulating structural members: colored and transparent glass front panels 21A, 22A are attached to the opening of the flat inner panel with the front surface open, and a vacuum heat insulating material is arranged in the internal cavity. , Arrange foamed polyurethane insulation material (hereinafter referred to simply as polyurethane insulation material) or preformed solid insulation material (such as EPC) in the cavity that is not filled by the vacuum insulation material.

As shown in FIGS. 61 to 63 , the door opening operation parts 551 and 552 are respectively provided in the vicinity of the bottom of the front panel 21A of the left door 21 and the front panel 22A of the right door 22 . The door-opening drive parts 54 and 55 are respectively arranged at the left and right parts near the front end of the upper surface of the top plate of the box body 11 , and are arranged at positions corresponding to the upper open side ends of the left door 21 and the right door 22 .

These door opening driving units 54 and 55 are door opening devices for forcibly opening the left door 21 and the right door 22 respectively. The door-opening driving parts 54, 55 push out the moving iron core 54A, 55A forward by using the electromagnet, and the upper edge near the open side end of the left door 21 and the right door 22 is pushed forward, so that the left door 21 and the right door can be opened. 22 Mandatory automatic opening.

As shown in FIG. 61 , one door opening operation part 551 is arranged at the lower right position of the left door 21 , and the other door opening operation part 552 is arranged at the lower left position of the right door 22 . The door opening operation part 551 is arranged inside the glass front panel 21A of the left door 21 , and the door opening operation part 552 is arranged inside the glass front panel 22A of the right door 22 .

Also, inside the front panel 21A of the left door 21 is provided a capacitive control operation unit 650 for operating the refrigerator by touch operation with a user's finger from the surface of the front panel 21A. The control operation unit 650 is disposed above the door opening operation unit 551 on the left door 21 .

The control operation unit 650 is provided with an infrared light receiving unit for detecting, for example, the environmental state around the refrigerator, a control button (control switch) 650CS, and a HOME button (HOME switch) 650HS, which detects a touch of the HOME button 650HS and LED display lamps for transparent display of operation key names, cooling function names, cooling strength, etc., 7-segment LED display devices for transparent display of changing numerical values such as temperature values, etc.

FIG. 64 shows a configuration example of a substrate 553 of the door opening operation unit 551 shown in FIG. 61 . FIG. 65 is a diagram showing proximity sensor 560 and guard electrode 570 disposed on substrate 553 of door opening operation unit 551 shown in FIG. 64 . FIG. 66 is an exploded perspective view showing a structural example of the door opening operation unit 551 .

The door-opening operation part 551 and the door-opening operation part 552 shown in FIG. 61 have the same structure, however, it is a left-right symmetrical shape. Fig. 64 has shown the shape example of the substrate 553 of the door-opening operation part 551, but, the door-opening operation part 552 and the door-opening operation part 551 are substantially the same shape, therefore, with reference to Fig. 64～Fig. 553 for the representative to explain.

First, referring to FIG. 66 , door opening operation unit 551 has substrate assembly 500M, plastic storage space member 585 called an open box for accommodating substrate assembly 500M, and plastic cover member 590 . On the back surface 585R of the storage space member 585 made of plastic, it is preferable to stick, for example, aluminum foil as a metal body. A metal body 591 such as aluminum foil is attached to the inner surface of the plastic lid member 590 . Accordingly, the electromagnet generated on the main body side of the refrigerator 1 does not affect the board assembly 500M side.

The substrate assembly 500M has a plastic shielding plate 599, a substrate 553, an operation signboard 597, and an LED substrate 598 on which LEDs 557 for display are mounted. The substrate 553 is an electrostatic touch switch substrate, and is fixed to the front side of the shielding plate 599 . An operation sign plate 597 is disposed on the front side of the base plate 553 . A display LED board 598 is fixed to the back side of the shielding plate 599 . A plurality of LEDs 577 are mounted on the LED substrate 598 .

Left and right slits 574 and 575 are formed at positions corresponding to the operation plate 597 on the base plate 553 . This substrate assembly 500M is accommodated in the storage space member 585 through the opening portion 586 which is a rectangular insertion opening of the storage space member 585 . The opening portion 586 of the storage space member 585 is covered with a cover member 590 .

As shown in Figure 64 (a) and Figure 65, the base plate 553 of the door opening operation part 551 is rectangular or square, and the base plate 553 has the surface 553A shown in Figure 64 (a) and the back side 553B shown in Figure 64 (b). A mounting portion 571 of electronic components and a placement portion 572 of the proximity sensor 560 and the protective electrode 570 are provided on the substrate 553 . The base plate 553 of the door opening operation part 551 shown in FIG. 1 and the base plate 553 of the door opening operation part 552 are preferably bilaterally symmetrical, and can be made into common components.

The mounting part 571 of the electronic component on the back surface 553B side shown in FIG.64(b) has the 1st step part 553M and the 2nd step part 553N in a lower end part. The lower end portion of the electronic component mounting portion 571 on the rear surface 553B side is formed in a stepped shape.

In addition, electronic components such as two connector components CC1 and CC2 , an unshown microcomputer, and the like are mounted on the electronic component mounting portion 571 on the rear surface 553B side. The connector member CC1 is arranged on the first stepped portion 553M, and the connector member CC2 is arranged on the second stepped portion 553N.

That is, the connector component CC1 and the connector component CC2 are not arranged side by side in the horizontal direction, and the position where the connector component CC1 is mounted on the back surface 553B of the substrate 553 is relative to the position where the connector component CC2 is mounted on the rear surface 553B of the substrate 553. , at a lower position in the Z direction (vertical direction). The connector member CC1 is arranged along the first stepped portion 553M, and the connector member CC2 is arranged along the second stepped portion 553N.

Accordingly, since the positions of the connector components CC1 and CC2 are shifted in the vertical direction, it is easy to attach and detach the connector components CC1 and CC2 using a tool when removing or attaching the connector components CC1 and CC2 at the time of maintenance.

In addition, since the positions of the connector parts CC1 and CC2 are shifted in the vertical direction, water caused by dew condensation can easily flow down from between the connector parts CC1 and CC2. Therefore, water caused by dew condensation can be prevented from remaining in the The parts of the connector parts CC1 and CC2. In addition, since the connector members CC1 and CC2 are spaced from the back surface of the board, even if water remains in the storage portion, the connector members CC1 and CC2 are not wetted by water.

In addition, two connector components CC1 , CC2 , electronic components not shown, etc. are mounted on the electronic component mounting portion 571 on the back surface 553B side of the substrate 553 , and no electronic components are mounted on the front surface 553A of the substrate 553 . Examples of electronic components include noise removal capacitors, signal processing capacitors, transistors, microcomputers, and the like. Since the electronic components are thus arranged on the front surface 553A of the substrate 553 and also on the back surface 553B side, as shown in FIG. Surface 553A is tightly bonded.

In addition, two connector components CC1, CC2 are disposed on the electronic component mounting portion 571 on the back surface 553B side of the substrate 553, and by separating the connector components CC1, CC2, the proximity sensor 560, and the protective electrode 570, it is prevented from being connected. Noise from the detector components CC1 , CC2 affects the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 .

Proximity sensor 560 as a first electrode, guard electrode 570 as a third electrode, and intermediate region portion 589 as a second electrode are disposed on disposition portion 572 on the surface 553A side of substrate 533 shown in FIG. 64( a ). The proximity sensor 560 is located at the center of the arrangement portion 572 , and the guard electrode 570 is located at the outermost side of the arrangement portion 572 . The middle area portion 589 is disposed between the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 . Proximity sensor 560, guard electrode 570, and intermediate region portion 589 are metal electrodes, however, electrically insulated from each other. The middle region portion 589 as the second electrode assists the proximity sensor 560 and functions as a proximity sensor. The guard electrode 570 changes the effective detection range of the proximity sensor 560 . Proximity sensor 560 is not composed of a plurality of electrodes, but is composed of one rectangular electrode. Accordingly, it is possible to employ a shape that is easy for the user to perform a touch operation with a finger.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 64( b ), a mesh ground pattern 573 as a fourth electrode is arranged on the back surface 553B of the substrate 553 corresponding to the arrangement portion 572 . Accordingly, the ground pattern 573 prevents noise from the main body of the refrigerator from affecting the electromagnetic field generated by the proximity sensor 560 and the electromagnetic field generated by the guard electrode 570 .

As shown in FIGS. 64( a ) and 65 , a through hole 560C is formed at the center of the proximity sensor 560 . Conductive pattern 560H is connected to this via hole 560C as shown in FIG. 64( b ). The conductive pattern 560H is partially connected to the via hole 560C through the connecting portion 560A. Conductive pattern 560H is arranged so as to pass through the back side portion of connection portion 560A which is a portion other than slits 574 and 575 . This connecting portion 560A will be described later.

When the user presses (touches) the proximity sensor 560 with a finger, the center of the proximity sensor 560 is usually targeted. Therefore, the through hole 560C is formed at the center of the proximity sensor 560 .

The reason why the through hole 560C is formed at the central position of the proximity sensor 560 is as follows. That is, for the proximity sensor 560 , the central region where the through hole 560C is formed has the highest switching sensitivity compared to other regions. Therefore, by pressing the center of the proximity switch 560 having the through hole 560C with the user's finger, the finger can be brought into contact with the most sensitive point.

The proximity sensor 560 shown in FIG. 64 and FIG. 65 is an electrode for electrostatic touch (contact), and is used in the front (front surface) direction of the left door 21 and the right door 22 shown in FIG. 62 and FIG. Capacitive detection mechanism that detects the approach of a human body or object at a distance of 100mm. The proximity sensor 560 detects the approach of a finger when a part of the user's body, for example, a finger approaches. The proximity sensor 560 is an electrostatic capacitive touch sensor, and an interactive capacitive touch sensor or a self-capacitive touch sensor can be used.

In the mutual capacitance method, it consists of one transmitting electrode and one receiving electrode, and when an electric current is supplied to the transmitting electrode, an electromagnetic field is generated, and the electromagnetic field is received by the receiving electrode. For example, when a finger of a human body approaches the detection area of the proximity sensor 560 , part of the electromagnetic field is absorbed and received by the receiving electrode, and the amount of detected energy decreases, so that the proximity sensor 560 can detect the approach of the finger.

For the self-capacitance method, one electrode (proximity sensor 560 ) having stray capacitance is required. The stray capacitance of an electrode (proximity sensor 560 ) is affected by the parasitic capacitance between the electrode (proximity sensor 560 ) and its surrounding conductors (fingers of the human body). When a human finger approaches the proximity sensor 560 , the value of the stray capacitance increases due to the influence of the parasitic capacitance. By measuring the increased stray capacitance, the proximity sensor 560 can detect the approach of the finger.

As shown in FIGS. 64 and 65 , proximity sensor 560 is, for example, a vertically long rectangular switch, and slits 574 and 575 are formed around proximity sensor 560 so as to surround the electrodes. That is, the slits 574 and 575 are formed along the Z direction so as to surround the proximity sensor 560 . Thus, by providing the slits 574 and 575, the position of the proximity sensor 560 can be easily known. As shown in FIG. 65 , the slits 574 and 575 are covered with, for example, a transparent film 576 , and a plurality of LEDs 577 which are light-emitting elements functioning as lighting devices are formed at intervals on the transparent film 576 .

However, as shown in FIG. 65 , among the plurality of LEDs 577 , four LEDs 577 corresponding to the four corners 576R of the slits 574 and 575 are arranged at positions outside the slits 574 and 575 . By providing in this way, the illumination light by four LED577 corresponding to four corner part 576R is irradiated so that the slits 574 and 575 may not be affected.

As shown in FIG. 65 , one end of the proximity sensor 560 is connected to the placement portion 572 via the connection portion 560A, and the other end of the proximity sensor 560 is connected to the placement portion 572 via the connection portion 560B. These connecting portions 560A and 560B are connected so as to connect the proximity sensor 560 and the intermediate region portion 589 which is the surrounding portion thereof, and are also referred to as “bridges”. Connection parts 560A, 560B are provided in the position other than the said location where LED577 is arrange|positioned so that it may avoid. Thereby, connection part 560A, 560B does not obstruct the illumination light of LED577.

A through hole 560C for electrical connection is formed in the center portion of the proximity sensor 560 . Through-hole 560C is thus formed in the central portion of proximity sensor 560 . As already described, the region of proximity sensor 560 in which through-hole 560C is provided has higher detection sensitivity than other regions. The portion of the area where the user's finger approaches and contacts is the central portion of the proximity sensor 560 , and therefore, the through hole 560C is provided at the central portion of the proximity sensor 560 .

Next, the guard electrode 570 shown in FIGS. 64 and 65 will be described.

The guard electrode 570 is formed in a rectangular frame shape around the proximity sensor 560 and the middle area portion 589 in the arrangement portion 572 . The guard electrode 570 is a metal body and is composed of a pair of short-side electrode portions 570A and a pair of long-side electrode portions 570B. The guard electrode 570 generates an electromagnetic field in a direction opposite to that generated by the proximity sensor 560 .

Thereby, as shown in FIGS. 62 and 63 , the spread of the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 is suppressed by the electromagnetic field in the opposite direction generated by the guard electrode 570 . Therefore, the guard electrode 570 functions as an effective range change mechanism that changes the detection range of the effective range of the human body detection range by suppressing the spread of the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 by the electromagnetic field generated by the guard electrode 570 .

The guard electrode 570 changes the effective range of the detection range of the proximity sensor 560 by narrowing the detection range of the proximity sensor 560 when detecting the approach of a human body such as a finger. Specifically, as a result of changing the effective range of the detection range of the proximity sensor 560 by the guard electrode 570, as shown in FIG. frontal direction. Similarly, the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 of the door opening operation portion 552 of the right door 22 is guided only in the front front direction of the proximity sensor 560 .

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 62 , the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 is narrowed so as not to expand in the left and right directions, that is, the X direction.

And, as shown in FIG. 63 , the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 of the door opening operation portion 551 of the left door 21 is guided only in the front front direction of the proximity sensor 560 . Similarly, the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 of the door opening operation portion 552 of the right door 22 is guided only in the front front direction of the proximity sensor 560 . Therefore, in FIG. 63 , the electromagnetic field 560P generated by the proximity sensor 560 is narrowed so as not to expand in the vertical direction, that is, the Z direction.

That is, the electromagnetic field 560P of the proximity sensor 560 shown in FIG. 62 and FIG. 63 shows the effective range of the detection range of the human body, and the effective range of the detection range of the human body corresponds to a range in a direction different from the front of the proximity sensor 560 (in front of the proximity sensor 560). Up and down, left and right expansion range) different ranges.

Next, FIG. 67 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection of the control unit 556, the door opening operation units 551, 552, the door opening drive units 54, 55 as door opening devices, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 67, the control part 556 is electrically connected to the proximity sensor 560 of the door opening operation part 551,552, the guard electrode 570, the door opening drive part 54,55, and several LED577 as an illumination device.

Under the control of the control unit 556, the proximity sensor 560 is kept in the "high sensitivity" state. When the finger enters the electromagnetic field 560P shown in FIG. 62 and FIG. 63 as the detection area of the proximity sensor 560 , the control unit 556 of FIG.

Moreover, when the control unit 556 of FIG. 67 receives the signal SG from the proximity sensor 560, it determines that the finger has approached the proximity sensor 560, stops the power supply to the guard electrode 570, and changes the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 from "high sensitivity" to "high sensitivity". " to "Low Sensitivity" to reduce the sensitivity. And, when the control unit 556 receives the signal SG from the proximity sensor 560, the control unit 556 illuminates the vicinity of the proximity switch 560 by turning on the LED 577, and the position of the proximity switch 560 is floated by the illumination so that the user can The position of the proximity switch 560 is visually confirmed.

Then, when the finger touches the proximity sensor 560 from the state of approaching the proximity sensor 560 , the proximity sensor 560 functions as a touch switch, and the proximity sensor 560 sends a touch signal SH indicating that the finger touched the proximity sensor 560 to the control unit 556 . Thus, the control unit 556 enables the proximity sensor 560 to function as a touch sensor to enable the opening operation of the left door 21 , for example, and the control unit 56 can operate the door opening driving unit 54 to actually perform the opening operation of the left door 21 . For the right door 22, the above operation sequence is also the same.

Thereby, the user can open the left door 21 or the right door 22 by touching the position of the proximity switch 560 arranged inside the glass surface of the left door 21 or the right door 22 while visually checking the position by the illumination by the LED 577 .

As described above, the control unit 556 makes the proximity sensor 560 function as a touch sensor by switching the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 from "high sensitivity" when a finger approaches to "low sensitivity". When the finger approaches the proximity sensor 560, the control unit 556 sets the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 to “high” in order to make the electrostatic switch 560 function as a “proximity sensor”. efficient". Therefore, the control unit 556 does not make the proximity sensor 560 function as a “touch sensor”, and therefore, the proximity sensor 560 makes the opening (door opening operation) of the left door 21 and the right door 22 of the door opening operation parts 551, 552 as the original function “invalid.” ".

As described above, when the user's finger is brought close to the proximity sensor 560 and the finger enters the electromagnetic field 560P which is the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 , the proximity sensor 560 notifies the control unit 556 of the finger's approach. Then, when the approach of the finger is notified from the proximity sensor 560 to the control unit 556 , the control unit 556 sets so that the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 is switched from “high” to “low”. Furthermore, the control unit 556 turns the lighting display of the proximity sensor 560 from the off state to the on state, so that the position of the proximity sensor 560 can be clearly indicated by the LED 577 . Therefore, the user can reliably touch the proximity sensor 560 with a finger while visually confirming the position of the proximity sensor 560 . The control unit 556 makes the proximity sensor 560 function as a "touch sensor" which is its original function, so that the opening operation (door opening operation) of the left door 21 or the right door 22 becomes "valid" by touching the proximity sensor 560 with a finger.

The opening operation (door opening operation) of the left door 21 described above is the same as the opening operation (door opening operation) of the right door 22, and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in Figure 64 and Figure 65, the guard electrode 570 is arranged around the proximity sensor 560, thus, the electromagnetic field 560P as the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 is in the front direction (front direction) of the left door 21 and the right door 22. direction) to detect the approach of a human hand or finger within a range of, for example, about 100 mm. At this time, the electromagnetic field 560P which is the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 is restricted by disposing the guard electrode 570 so as not to expand in the up-down direction and the left-right direction.

By limiting the expansion of the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 in the left and right direction (X direction) as shown in FIG. 62, as shown in FIG. When a finger is brought close to the proximity sensor 560 of the left door 21, the proximity sensor 560 of the closed right door 22 can prevent the finger from being detected. Similarly, when the right door 22 is opened along the trajectory indicated by the arrow 22K and the finger approaches the proximity sensor 560 of the right door 22, the proximity sensor 560 of the closed left door 21 can prevent the finger from being detected.

Therefore, the electromagnetic field 560P, which is the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 of the right door 22, does not enter the trajectory when the left door 21, which is the moving mechanism, is opened. Likewise, the electromagnetic field 560P, which is the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 of the left door 21, does not enter the trajectory when the right door 22, which is the moving mechanism, is opened.

Thus, it can be prevented that when the left door 21 or the right door 22 is opened, the proximity sensor 560 of the closed right door 22 or the left door 21 on the closed side does not accidentally detect the user's finger or the left door 21 or the right hand. door 22.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 63, by restricting the expansion of the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 in the up and down direction (Z direction), when the sliding door 23 as a moving mechanism is pulled out along the direction of the arrow, as the left door The electromagnetic field 560P in the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 of 21 and the electromagnetic field 560P in the effective range of the human body detection range of the proximity sensor 560 of the right door 22 will not enter the trajectory when the sliding door 23 is opened.

Accordingly, when the sliding door 23 is opened, the proximity sensor 560 of the left door 21 and the proximity sensor 560 of the right door 22 can prevent the user's finger or the sliding door 23 from being inadvertently and erroneously detected.

The guard electrode 570 shown in FIG. 64( a ) and FIG. 65 is a metal body as described above, and is composed of a pair of short-side electrode portions 570A and a pair of long-side electrode portions 570B. For example, when moisture adheres to the front panel 21A of the left door 21 shown in FIG. The control unit 556 indicated by 67 disables the door opening operation of the door opening driving units (door opening devices) 54 and 55 by the proximity sensor 560 .

Specifically, for example, when the user wipes the surface of the front panel 21A of the left door 21 or the surface of the front panel 22A of the right door 22 with a wet cloth, if the protection electrode 570 detects moisture, the proximity sensor 560 senses the wet cloth and Even so, the control unit 556 shown in FIG. 67 can make the left door 21 or the right door 22 open by making the door opening action of the door opening driving parts (door opening devices) 54, 55 caused by the proximity sensor 560 "invalid". Will not open randomly. As a result, the left door 21 or the right door 22 is prevented from being accidentally opened.

In addition, when the user touches the protection electrode 570 with a finger and then touches the proximity sensor 560 , the control unit 556 disables the door opening operation of the door opening drive units (door opening devices) 54 and 55 by the proximity sensor 560 . Furthermore, when the user touches the proximity sensor 560 while touching the guard electrode 570 with a finger, the control unit 556 disables the door opening operation of the door opening drive units (door openers) 54 and 55 by the proximity sensor 560 .

Thus, it is prevented that the left door 21 or the right door 22 is accidentally opened when the protective electrode 570 detects a human body by mistake.

As shown in FIG. 61 , a control operation unit 650 is provided inside the front panel 21A of the left door 21 , and a door opening operation unit 551 is provided below the control operation unit 650 . Therefore, short side electrode portion 570A of guard electrode 570 of door opening operation unit 551 is arranged at a position between control operation unit 650 and proximity sensor 560 of door opening operation unit 551 . This short-side electrode portion 570A is also shown in FIGS. 64 and 65 .

Thus, for example, when the user wipes the control operation portion 650 on the surface of the front panel 21A of the left door 21 with a wet cloth, the water drips along the front panel 21A and reaches the protective electrode 570 . In this case, when the short-side electrode portion 570A of the guard electrode 570 detects moisture, the proximity sensor 560 senses a wet cloth and turns on. Even so, the control unit 556 shown in FIG. The resulting door-opening action of the door-opening drive unit (door-opening device) 54 is "ineffective", so that the left door 21 will not be opened indiscriminately. Thereby, the left door 21 is prevented from being accidentally opened.

In addition, the interval HF of the horizontal electrode gap and the interval RF of the vertical electrode gap of the guard electrode 570 shown in FIG. 65 are larger than the width MF of the finger HT of the human body. The interval HF of the horizontal electrode gap and the interval RF of the longitudinal electrode gap of the guard electrode 570 can preferably be selected within the range of 15 mm to 75 mm. Thereby, when the user brings the finger HT close to the proximity sensor 560 and touches it, it is possible to prevent the finger HT from inadvertently touching the protection electrode 570 .

In addition, the interval HF between the horizontal electrode gaps and the interval RF between the vertical electrode gaps of the guard electrode 570 are of such a size that the guard electrode 570 will not come into contact with the bent elbow of the human body. The distance HF between the horizontal electrode gaps and the distance RF between the vertical electrode gaps of these guard electrodes 570 can be selected within the range of 30 mm to 75 mm, for example. By setting the size of the protective electrode 570 in this way, even if the user holds a pot or a plate with both hands and wants to open the left door 21 or the right door 22 by touching the proximity sensor 560 with a bent elbow instead of a finger, The elbow is prevented from touching both the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 at the same time. Thus, the user can open the left door 21 or the right door 22 with fingers or elbows.

Next, a storage structure example of the base plate 553 of the left door 21 and the right door 22 will be described with reference to FIG. 68 . FIG. 68 is a diagram showing an example of a storage structure of the base plate 553 of the left door 21 and the right door 22 . 68( a ) is a front view of the left door 21 and the right door 22 , and FIG. 68( b ) shows the structure of the inner end surface 21T of the left door 21 (the inner end surface 22T of the right door 22 ) showing the storage structure of the base plate 553. stereogram. FIG. 68( c ) is a diagram showing an example of the cover member 590 .

As shown in FIG. 68( a ), when the left door 21 and the right door 22 are closed, the inner end surface 21T of the left door 21 and the inner end surface 22T of the right door 22 face each other. The rectangular opening portion 586 of the storage space member 585 is located in each inner end surface portion 21T, and the storage space member 585 of the board assembly 500M is located inside the left door 21 and the right door 22 . The substrate assembly 500M is housed so as to be inserted into the storage space member 585 from the opening 586 .

However, when the substrate assembly 500M is inserted into the storage space member 585 and stored in this way, as shown in FIG. The mounting portion 571 side of the electronic component is inserted into the opening portion 586 and reaches the back side of the storage space member 585 .

In this way, the proximity sensor 560 and the protective electrode 570 are disposed on the surface of the substrate 553, and the electronic component mounting portion 571 is provided on the back surface of the substrate 553. When the substrate 553 is held in the left door 21, the electronic component mounting portion 571 is located The side opposite to the disposition portion 572 of the substrate 553 located on the side of the opening portion 586 serving as the insertion port.

Thus, when the substrate assembly 500M is inserted into the storage space member 585 and stored, the operator can visually confirm the positions of the first step portion 553M and the second step portion 553N of the electronic component mounting portion 571 , Since the substrate assembly 500M is inserted into the storage space member 585 while being inserted, it is possible to prevent the substrate assembly 500M from being erroneously inserted in the insertion direction.

The opening portion 586 is closed by the cover member 590 after the substrate assembly 500M is accommodated. A metal body 591 such as an aluminum foil strip or an iron plate is disposed on the inner surface of the cover member 590 . The metal body 591 restricts the electromagnetic field generated by the proximity sensor 560 as the effective range of the detection range of the human body, and is a changing mechanism for changing the effective range of the detection range of the proximity sensor 560 . The metal body 591 serving as an effective range changing mechanism of the detection range is disposed between the left door 21 and the right door 22 serving as adjacent moving mechanisms.

By arranging the metal body 591 on the cover member 590 in this way, the metal body 591 blocks the electromagnetic field between the left door 21 and the right door 22 . Therefore, the electromagnetic field of the proximity sensor 560 of the left door 21 and the electromagnetic field of the guard electrode 570 do not affect the electromagnetic field side of the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 of the right door 22 . In addition, the electromagnetic field from the proximity sensor 560 of the right door 22 and the electromagnetic field of the guard electrode 570 do not affect the electromagnetic field side of the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 of the left door 21 .

Next, an operation example when the user opens, for example, the left door 21 will be described with reference to FIGS. 61 to 63 and 67 .

When the user makes his finger close to the proximity sensor 560 on the left door 21 side shown in FIGS. 62 and 63, and enters the electromagnetic field 560P shown in FIGS. The sensor 560 detects that a finger approaches the proximity sensor 560 . As a result, control unit 556 in FIG. 67 receives signal SG indicating that the finger has approached proximity sensor 560 .

Then, the control unit 556 in FIG. 67 stops the energization of the guard electrode 570 based on the signal SG from the proximity sensor 560, and the control unit 556 lowers the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 from "high sensitivity" to "low sensitivity". Furthermore, the control unit 556 can illuminate the proximity switch 560 by turning on the LED 577 , so that the position of the proximity switch 560 can be clearly indicated, and the user can visually confirm the position of the proximity switch 560 .

Then, when the finger touches the proximity sensor 560, the low-sensitivity proximity sensor 560 functions as a touch switch (touch switch) for opening the left door 21, and the contact signal SH that the finger touches the proximity sensor 560 is sent to the control system of FIG. Section 556. Accordingly, the control unit 556 enables the door opening operation of the left door 21 , and the control unit 556 operates the door opening driving unit 54 , so that the left door 21 can be opened.

In addition, the operation example when the user opens the right door 22 is the same as the operation example in the case of opening the left door 21 described above, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

In this way, when the user touches the proximity sensor 560 functioning as a contact sensor with a finger, the control unit 556 can automatically open the left door 21 or the right door 22 .

When the user only touches the proximity sensor 560 , the control unit 556 makes the proximity sensor 560 function as a touch sensor (contact sensor) to enable the opening operation of the left door 21 to perform the opening operation of the left door 21 . The same applies to the right door 22 .

When the user inadvertently touches both the proximity sensor 560 and the protective electrode 570 shown in FIG. Therefore, the door opening operation of the left door 21 is not performed. Accordingly, when the user's elbow touches both the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 accidentally, the control unit 556 disables the opening operation of the left door 21 and prohibits the opening operation of the left door 21 .

And, even if both the proximity sensor 560 and the guard electrode 570 shown in FIG. The operation is "invalid", whereby the door opening operation of the left door 21 is not performed. The prohibition of the above-mentioned door opening operation is the same for the right door 22 .

In addition, in the case of a single-door refrigerator instead of a side-by-side refrigerator, when a human body or an object comes to the side of the refrigerator, it is possible to prevent the door proximity sensor from inadvertently detecting the human body or object.

In addition, the "proximity detection mode" in which the proximity sensor 560 detects the approach of the user's finger HT shown in FIG. switch.

As shown in FIG. 64 , the proximity sensor 560 as the first electrode and the intermediate region portion 589 as the second electrode are connected to the microcomputer 599C of the control unit 556 .

Examples of the switching mode include: when switching from the above-mentioned "proximity detection mode" to the "electrostatic touch mode" and when switching from the "electrostatic touch mode" to the "proximity detection mode".

When switching from the "proximity detection mode" to the "electrostatic touch mode", after the proximity sensor 560 detects the approach of the finger HT, the microcomputer 599C cuts off the proximity sensor 560 as the first electrode and the inside of the middle region 589 as the second electrode. connected, only the proximity sensor 560 functions as an electrostatic touch sensor in "electrostatic touch mode".

On the contrary, when switching from the "electrostatic touch mode" to the "proximity detection mode", the finger HT detaches from the proximity sensor 560, and when a predetermined time elapses from the "electrostatic touch mode", for example, 10 seconds, or when the door is reset from opening or closing, The microcomputer 599C performs internal connection between the proximity sensor 560 as the first electrode and the intermediate region portion 589 as the second electrode.

Next, Fig. 74(a), 74(b) shows an example of the case where the proximity sensor 560 as the first electrode shown in Figs. In the case of the door 21, switching between the proximity sensor 560 as the first electrode and the middle region portion 589 as the second electrode is performed, and the control operation part 650 and the proximity sensor 560 of the left door 21 are turned on. The same applies to the door 22 on the right side.

In FIG. 74( a ), the user's finger is not completely close to the proximity sensor 560 . In this state, in order to make the proximity sensor 560 which is an electrostatic switch function as a “proximity sensor”, the control unit 556 turns on the proximity sensor 560 and sets the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 to “high” to increase the sensitivity. Thus, the function as a "proximity sensor" is "valid". Then, the control unit 556 turns on the middle region 589 to set the sensitivity of the middle region 589 to "high" to increase the sensitivity, whereby the function as a "proximity sensor" is "valid".

In this case, the control unit 556 “invalidates” the opening (door opening operation) of the left door 21 which is the function of the touch key 633 of the door opening operation unit 651 . Then, the control unit 556 controls the lighting display of the operation unit 650 and the lighting display of the proximity sensor 560 to be “OFF state”. Then, the operation (door opening operation) function of the control switch (control button) 650CS and the HOME switch (HOME button) 650HS of the control operation unit 650 is "invalid".

Next, a state where the finger HT approaches the proximity sensor 560 is shown in FIG. 74( b ). In this state, the proximity sensor 560 detects the approach of the finger HT, so the control unit 556 turns the proximity sensor 560 on, and switches the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 as a "proximity sensor" from "high" to "low". Lowering the sensitivity reduces the functionality of the proximity sensor and disconnects the middle region portion 589 .

Therefore, the control unit 556 causes the proximity sensor 560 to function as a touch sensor. Therefore, the finger HT touches the proximity sensor 560 functioning as a touch sensor from the surface of the front panel, and the opened operation (door opening operation) function of the left door 21 thus activated From "invalid" to "valid".

Then, the control unit 556 turns the LED lighting display of the control operation unit 650 and the LED lighting display of the proximity sensor 560 into an “ON state”, and performs, for example, slight lighting as both LED lighting states. That is, the LED 665 shown in FIG. 58 lights up slightly, thus, the control operation part 650 is illuminated and emits light from behind, and the LED 577 shown in FIG. The sensor function proximity sensor 560 illuminates and emits light. In this case, it is preferable that the lighting display time be a predetermined lighting time, for example, 10 seconds. During the 10 seconds, when the finger HT does not touch the proximity sensor 560 functioning as a touch sensor, it may be Make LED635, 577 light off again.

Among them, the control unit 556 can be set so that the operation start time (lighting timing) of turning on the LED 665 of the control operation unit 650 shown in FIG. The time (lighting timing) is delayed by a predetermined delay time, that is, the two are made different. That is, the control unit 556 can change the timing of controlling the light emitting mode of the LED 665 of the operation unit 650 and the timing of the light emitting mode of the LED 577 of the proximity sensor 560 . For example, the lighting timing of LED 577 of proximity sensor 560 may be earlier than the lighting timing of LED 665 of control operation unit 650 . However, conversely, the lighting timing of the LED 665 of the control operation unit 650 may be earlier than the lighting timing of the LED 577 of the proximity sensor 560 . By making the lighting timings different in this way, the position of the control operation unit 650 , the positions of the proximity sensor 560 and the intermediate region portion 589 can be displayed separately for the user.

Then, the operation functions of the control switch 650CS and the HOME switch 650HS of the control operation unit 650 are turned on and changed from "disabled" to "validated".

Next, FIG. 74(c) shows a state where the finger HT touches the proximity sensor 560 functioning as a touch sensor. In this state, the control unit 556 maintains the "low" state which is the sensitivity of the proximity sensor 560 as a "touch sensor". The control unit 556 keeps the function of the proximity sensor 560 functioning as a touch sensor, that is, the function of opening operation (door opening operation) of the left door 21 "valid". In addition, the control unit 556 changes the light emission mode from dim lighting to normal lighting as the lighting state of the lighting display of the LED of the proximity sensor 560 .

That is, the LED 665 shown in FIG. 58 performs normal lighting, whereby the control operation portion 650 is illuminated and emitted from behind in a brighter manner, and the LED 577 shown in FIG. 52 is normally lit, whereby , the proximity sensor 560 functioning as a touch sensor is illuminated brighter from behind through the slits 574 and 575 to emit light. That is, when the finger HT in FIG. 74(c) touches, the light quantity of the lighted display of the control operation part 650 and the light quantity of the lighted display of the proximity sensor 560 are increased from the dim light to the normal light, so as to be based on a larger light quantity. The performed complete lighting emits light, thereby making the lighting display of the proximity sensor 560 brighter. The control unit 556 also changes the lighting state of the LED of the control operation unit 650 from dim lighting to normal lighting.

Then, the operation functions of the control button (control switch) 650CS and the HOME button (HOME switch) 650HS of the control operation unit 650 are turned on and are "valid", so they can be operated.

Thus, when the user touches the proximity sensor 560 with a finger and the opening operation of the left door 21 is established, the LED 577 changes from slightly lit to fully lit to increase the amount of light. Increase while visually confirming that the door open operation has been established. In addition, the user can more reliably recognize the display of the control operation unit 650 and the display of the LED 577 , and the energy-saving effect of power consumption can be improved.

As described above, when the finger HT approaches the proximity sensor 560 as shown in FIG. 74( b ), when the finger HT touches the touch key 633 shown in FIG. The lighting of the lighting and the lighting of the proximity sensor 560, therefore, it is possible to change and increase the amount of light at the time of turning on the lighting as described above.

After that, in FIG. 74( d ), the state where the user's finger HT is detached from the proximity sensor 560 functioning as a contact sensor is shown. In this state, the control unit 556 enables the input of the operation signal from the proximity sensor 560 to operate the door opening driving unit 54 , thereby performing corresponding door opening control of the left door 21 . Thereby, the left door 21 can be opened automatically. Next, the control unit 556 "disables" the function of the proximity sensor 560 functioning as a touch sensor.

Furthermore, the control unit 556 keeps the lighting display of the control operation unit 650 and the lighting display of the LED 577 at the slits 574 and 575 of the proximity sensor 560 in the “on state” as indicated by the solid line. Then, the operation functions of the control switch 650CS and the HOME switch 650HS of the control operation unit 650 are turned off and changed from "valid" to "disabled".

As described above, similar to the opening operation of the left door 21 described with reference to FIG. 74 , the opening operation of the right door 22 using the door opening operation portion 652 of the right door 22 shown in FIG. 56 can also be performed.

Next, the principle of detecting the contact of a finger by the proximity sensor 560 will be described with reference to FIG. 75 . FIG. 75 is a circuit diagram showing the principle of the proximity sensor 560 detecting the contact of the finger HT.

The contact detection circuit 888 shown in FIG. 75 has: a proximity sensor 560 as a contact sensor (Cx), an adjustment capacitor (Cmod) 889, a clock generation source 890, an IDAC (current output digital-to-analog converter) 891, a latch 892, Timer 893, AND (and) circuit 894, counter 895. The IDAC891 makes the same current return to the proximity sensor (Cx) 560 as a touch sensor and the adjustment capacitor (Cmod) 889 multiple times in a pulsed manner each time, so that the charge is gradually accumulated in the proximity sensor (Cx) 560 as a touch sensor and the adjustment capacitor (Cmod) 889. The charge continues to be accumulated until the proximity sensor 560 as the touch sensor (Cx) and the adjustment capacitor (Cmod) 889 have the same potential, and the counter 895 counts the number of pulses until a predetermined charge is accumulated in the adjustment capacitor (Cmod) 889 .

When the finger HT touches the proximity sensor 560 as the touch sensor (Cx), the electrostatic capacitance of the proximity sensor (Cx) 560 as the touch sensor increases, and therefore, the electric charge that flows to the adjustment capacitor (Cmod) 889 and accumulates decreases. It takes time for the adjustment capacitor (Cmod) 889 to complete accumulation, and therefore, the count number of pulses counted by the counter 895 increases (the slope becomes gentler), and as a result, the displacement of the slope changes. The presence or absence of a finger is determined based on the difference between the displacements of the slope. That is, when the number of pulses counted by the counter 895 exceeds a predetermined threshold from the normal count (base count), the control unit 556 determines that the finger HT has touched the proximity sensor 560 as the contact sensor (Cx).

Next, a method of changing the sensitivity when the finger HT touches the proximity sensor 560 as the touch sensor (Cx) will be described.

As a method of changing the sensitivity, when the current value of IDAC891 is decreased, if the amount of electric charge accumulated in the proximity sensor (Cx) 560 is the same, the time to complete charging becomes longer and smoother. When the level becomes flat, the sensitivity increases when the determination is made with the same threshold.

In the state where the slope is gentle (the current value is small), when the finger is detected from the non-finger state to the state where the finger is touched, the change in the slope is large, and the threshold value is easily exceeded, and the sensitivity increases. In addition, when the slope is not gentle (the current value is large), when the finger is detected from the non-contact state to the finger-contact state, the change in the slope is small, it is difficult to exceed the threshold, and the sensitivity is low.

That is, by reducing the current value compared to the state detected when the entire finger touches the threshold for the first time, even if only the fingertip is touched, it can be detected and the sensitivity can be improved. In addition, although the sensitivity can be improved by reducing the threshold value, since there is a problem that noise is also detected, the sensitivity is changed by the above-mentioned sensitivity changing method.

Next, FIG. 76 is a diagram showing the basic structure of the proximity sensor.

As shown in FIG. 76 , the proximity sensor 560 and the copper ground 569 are located between the coating layer 560R and the dielectric layer 560D, and the capacitance obtained by adding the capacitance CP of the proximity sensor 560 itself and the capacitance CF of the finger HT is the proximity when the finger touches. The electrostatic capacitance CX of the sensor 560 .

When the finger HT electrostatically touches the proximity sensor 560 , a change in the capacitance CX of the proximity sensor 560 when the finger HT touches is detected. In addition, in the operation of detecting the approach of the finger HT to the proximity sensor 560 , a change in the capacitance CP of the proximity sensor 560 itself when the finger approaches is detected. When the finger approaches, the approach distance (sensitivity) is changed by changing the capacitance CP of the proximity sensor 560 itself. When approaching, a slight change in capacitance CP due to the approach of a finger is detected. Capacitance CP is an electric field in a three-dimensional direction. When a finger is placed in the electric field, it slightly changes, thereby changing capacitance CX of the entire proximity sensor, and the finger can be detected by the above detection.

Next, FIG. 77 is a diagram illustrating the switching operation between the proximity mode and the electrostatic touch mode for the proximity sensor 560 functioning as the first electrode, that is, the contact sensor shown in FIG. 74 , and the middle region portion 589 as the second electrode. .

As shown in FIG. 77 , a proximity sensor 560 functioning as a first electrode, that is, a touch sensor, and an intermediate region portion 589 serving as a second electrode are connected to a multiplexer 556R. The multiplexer 556R can internally connect the proximity sensor 560 and the intermediate area portion 589 or disconnect the internal connection according to an instruction from the microcomputer 556M of the control unit 556 .

(1) When switching from proximity mode to electrostatic touch mode

In the case of switching from the proximity mode to the electrostatic touch mode, as shown in FIGS. 74(a) to 74(b), the finger HT approaches the proximity sensor 560. The mode switches to electrostatic touch mode. That is, according to the instruction of the microcomputer 556M of FIG. 77 , the multiplexer 556R makes the proximity sensor 560 and the middle area portion 589 change from the internally connected state to the disconnected state of the internal connection, and cuts off the connection between the proximity sensor 560 and the middle area portion 589. Thus, only the proximity sensor 560 is used as an electrostatic contact sensor, and thus the middle region portion 589 is disconnected and not used.

(2) When switching from electrostatic touch mode to proximity mode

Conversely, when switching from the electrostatic touch mode to the proximity mode is performed, for example, 10 seconds have elapsed from the electrostatic touch mode, or when the door is reset by opening the door or closing the door. In this case, according to the instruction of the microcomputer 556M, the multiplexer 556R returns to the internal connection state from the disconnection state of the internal connection of the proximity sensor 560 and the middle area part 589, and the proximity sensor 560 and the middle area part 589 can be connected. .

Furthermore, refer to FIGS. 48 to 50 . 48 to 50 show modified examples of the proximity detection effective ranges of the proximity sensor 560 as the first electrode and the intermediate region portion 589 as the second electrode.

The proximity detection effective range of the proximity sensor 560 is the range of the small circle HC1 when only the proximity sensor 560 as the first electrode is used. Then, by using the middle region 589 as the second electrode in addition to the proximity sensor 560 , the proximity detection effective range of the proximity sensor 560 can be extended from the small circle HC1 to the large circle HC2 .

However, when the effective range of proximity detection is to be expanded like this, under the effective range of proximity detection of the proximity sensor of the large circle HC2, the adjacent door 21 (or door 22) as a moving mechanism, the door rest placed on the back side of the door The water bottle etc. on the rack will respond to the proximity detection effective range of the proximity sensor 560 and send an instruction to open the door, which may cause the door on the side that does not want to be opened to be accidentally opened.

Therefore, in order to change the proximity detection effective range of the proximity sensor 560, the ground pattern 573 as the fourth electrode shown in FIG. 78 and FIG. 51 (b) and the ground pattern 573 shown in FIG. 51 (a ) shown as the guard electrode 570 as the third electrode.

FIG. 78 is a diagram illustrating changes in the proximity ranges of the proximity sensor 560 and the middle region portion 589 .

As shown in FIG. 78 , as shown in FIG. 51( b ), a mesh ground pattern 573 as a fourth electrode is arranged on the back surface 553B of the substrate 553 corresponding to the arrangement portion 572 . This ground pattern (mesh electrode) 573 covers the substrate 553 on the rear side of the proximity sensor 560 and the middle region portion 589 . By making the ground pattern 573 and the proximity sensor 560 have the same voltage, an electric field is not formed from the proximity sensor 560 and the intermediate region portion 589 to the ground pattern 573 . Thereby, the range of the electric field can be changed, and the range not to be detected by the proximity sensor 560 can be excluded. The electric field from the ground pattern 573 generates an electric field only in the direction of the proximity sensor 560 and the middle area portion 589, cancels the electric field from the proximity sensor 560 and the middle area portion 589 toward the ground pattern 573, and the electric field toward the back surface of the substrate 553 disappears (eliminates).

Thus, as shown in FIG. 78(a), when the ground pattern 573 as the fourth electrode is disposed on the back surface of the substrate 553, the proximity detection range DL1 of the proximity sensor 560 and the middle region portion 589 can be larger than that shown in FIG. 78(b). The proximity detection range DL2. The ground pattern 573 is a mesh metal shielding electrode. Compared with FIG. 78(a) and FIG. 78(b), by disposing the ground pattern 573, in FIG. 78(a), the rear electric field is reduced to the range A shown in FIG. 49 The corresponding amount, or disappear.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 51(a), a frame-shaped guard electrode 570 is disposed on the substrate 553, and the guard electrode 570 surrounds the proximity sensor 560 and the middle region portion 589, thereby reducing the electric field in the left and right directions similar to that shown in FIG. The amount corresponding to range U. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 48 to 50 , the proximity detection effective range of the proximity sensor 560 can be changed from a large circle HC2 to a small shape HC3 , and can be reduced by an amount corresponding to the range V in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 50 .

In this way, the proximity detection effective range of the proximity sensor 560 is shown in the small shape HC3 of FIG. Proximity detection within range. In addition, even if the metal body 591 shown in FIG. 53 is provided, an electric field will act, and it has the function of keeping the proximity detection effective range of the proximity sensor from exceeding the metal body 591, thereby further preventing false detection by the proximity sensor.

33rd Embodiment

Fig. 69 is a front view showing refrigerator 1 according to the thirty-third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 69 , refrigerator 1 has refrigerating compartment 12 , vegetable compartment 13 , switching compartment 14 , freezing compartment 15 , and ice making compartment 16 . A pair of left door 21 and right door 22 cover the front opening of refrigerator compartment 12 . Therefore, the left door 21 and the right door 22 are attached to the upper and lower sides of the left end and the right end of the cabinet 11, which is the main body of the refrigerator, by hinges so as to open and close in a split style. In this example, the width of the right door 22 is larger than the width of the left door 21 .

Both the left door 21 and the right door 22 are heat insulating structural members: colored and transparent glass front panels 21A, 22A are attached to the opening of the flat inner panel with the front surface open, and a vacuum heat insulating material is arranged in the internal cavity. , A foamed polyurethane heat insulating material (hereinafter referred to simply as a polyurethane heat insulating material) or a preformed solid heat insulating material (such as EPC) is disposed in the cavity that is not filled with the vacuum heat insulating material.

As shown in FIG. 69 , one operation detection unit 701 is provided at a lower position of front panel 22A of right door 22 , which is larger in size than left door 21 , for example.

The door-opening drive parts 54 and 55 are respectively arranged at the left and right parts near the front end of the upper surface of the top plate of the box body 11, and are provided at positions corresponding to the upper open side ends of the left door 21 and the right door 22.

These door opening drive units 54 and 55 are door opening and closing devices (door opening devices) for forcibly opening the left door 21 and the right door 22 , respectively. The door-opening driving parts 54, 55 push out the moving iron core 54A, 55A forward by using the electromagnet, and the upper edge near the open side end of the left door 21 and the right door 22 is pushed forward, so that the left door 21 and the right door 22 Mandatory automatic opening.

FIG. 70 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of the operation detection unit 701 on the line ZR-ZR shown in FIG. 69 .

In the operation detection unit 701 shown in FIG. 69 , as shown in FIG. 70 , a masking sheet 721 is arranged by printing or the like on the inner surface side of the glass front panel 22A. This sheet 721 is arranged to prevent the inside from being seen through the front panel 22A.

A first substrate 731 and a second substrate 732 are arranged on the inner surface side of the front panel 22A. The first substrate 731 and the second substrate 732 are arranged parallel to the front panel 22A with a gap therebetween.

For example, four capacitive proximity sensors 711 , 712 , 713 , and 714 as proximity sensors are arranged on the front surface of the first substrate 731 , and a connector 729 is arranged on the back surface thereof. These proximity sensors 711 , 712 , 713 , and 714 are arranged two-dimensionally (on a plane) on, for example, the first substrate 731 inside the right door 22 .

As shown in Figure 69, the proximity sensors 711, 712, 713, and 714 are respectively arranged at the corners of the square, the proximity sensor 711 is arranged at the upper left corner, the proximity sensor 712 is arranged at the upper right corner, and the proximity sensor 713 is arranged At the lower right corner, the proximity sensor 714 is disposed at the lower left corner.

These proximity sensors 711, 712, 713, and 714 can detect the state of fingers, palms (palms, backs of hands), sides of hands, elbows, etc. of a mobile user (human body) in a non-contact manner. As a result, the left door 21 or the right door 22 is opened by driving the door opening drive unit 54 or the door opening drive unit 55 .

Proximity sensors 711, 712, 713, and 714 are electrodes for electrostatic touch (contact), and detect the approach of the user's hands, elbows, etc. in a non-contact manner through the front panel 22A in the direction of the front (front surface) of the right door 22. For example, electrostatic capacitive detection mechanism. The proximity sensors 711 to 714 detect the approach of a part of the user's human body, specifically, for example, a palm (palm, back of hand), side of hand, elbow, or the like. The proximity sensors 711 to 714 are capacitive touch sensors, and either interactive capacitance touch sensors or self-capacitance touch sensors can be used.

As shown in FIG. 70 , a plurality of LEDs 735 and connectors 736 are arranged on the surface of the second substrate 732 . The connector 736 of the second board 732 is connected to the connector 729 of the first board 731 through a relay harness 728 .

Each LED 735 is arranged at a position corresponding to each hole 734 of the first substrate 731 . Accordingly, the light generated by each LED 635 can pass through each hole 734 to illuminate the proximity sensors 711 to 714 from behind. Accordingly, even in a dark environment, the user can visually confirm the positions of the proximity sensors 711 to 714 through the front panel 22A and the sheet 721 .

FIG. 71 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection of the control unit 756, the operation detection unit 701, the door opening drive units 54, 55 as the door opening device, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 71 , the control unit 756 is electrically connected to the operation detection unit 701 , the door opening drive units 54 , 55 , a plurality of LEDs 735 , and the distance measurement mechanism 777 .

In the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 69, when the user opens the left door 21 (or the right door 22) of the refrigerator 1, if the environment is dark, the user performs a non-contact operation by the operation detection part 701 with a finger. It is difficult to see the positions of the proximity sensors 711 to 714 of the operation detection unit 701 during precise operations. In this way, in order to improve the difficulty in operating the proximity sensors 711 to 714 , LEDs 735 are respectively mounted on the back surfaces of the proximity sensors 711 to 714 .

When the proximity sensors 711 to 714 detect the proximity of fingers, palms (palm, back of hand), side of the hand, and elbow in a predetermined order, the control unit 756 receives notifications from the proximity sensors 711, 712, 713, and 714. Therefore, the control unit 756 causes the left door 21 or the right door 22 to open the door through the door opening drive unit 54 or the door opening drive unit 55 as the door opening device.

At this time, the control unit 756 receives a signal notifying that a person is approaching from each of the proximity sensors 711 , 712 , 713 , and 714 , so that the LED 735 can be turned on by an instruction from the control unit 756 .

Thus, even in a dark environment, the user can visually confirm the positions of the proximity sensors 711, 712, 713, 714 of the operation detection unit 701, and can easily operate the proximity sensors 711, 712, 713, 714, and can open the Left door 21 (or right door 22).

As described above, the operation detection unit 701 of the thirty-third embodiment does not detect human operations by contact detection, but opens the left door 21 or the right door 22 by non-contact detection. In the case of opening the door by contact detection, it is necessary to touch the contact detection part with a finger, it is difficult to open the door in a state where the user holds something in his hand, or the door needs to be opened with an elbow. In contrast, the operation detection unit 701 can suppress the user's unintentional door opening action due to the user's motion and changes in the surrounding environment by using a non-contact operation that does not require touching the contact detection portion.

The proximity sensors 711, 712, 713, and 714 of the operation detection unit 701 shown in FIG. 69 and FIG. The so-called posture can open the left door 21 or the right door 22 in a non-contact manner, and through the non-contact operation that does not need to touch the contact detection part, the user's unintentional door opening caused by the user's actions and changes in the surrounding environment can be suppressed. action.

As shown in FIG. 69, the proximity sensors 711, 712, 713, and 714 of the operation detection unit 701 are arranged two-dimensionally in the up-down direction (VT direction) and in the left-right direction (HL direction) at the same intervals, and are preferably arranged in a square. of the 4 corners. The user's hand, elbow, etc. move in a specific order (up-down direction, left-right direction, oblique direction) with respect to each proximity sensor 711, 712, 713, 714 of the operation detection part 701 in a non-contact manner, thereby the control of FIG. 71 The unit 756 recognizes the movement of the finger, the palm, the side of the hand, and the elbow detected by the proximity sensors 711 , 712 , 713 , and 714 . Thus, the control unit 756 functions to open the left door 21 by driving the door opening drive unit 54 of the left door 21 , or to open the right door 22 by driving the door opening drive unit 55 of the right door 22 .

The operation detection unit 701 may be attached to any partition of the right door 22 . In this way, the operation detection unit 701 can be arranged regardless of the presence or absence of a glass front panel, and regardless of the exterior design of the door or various operation displays.

The proximity sensors 711 , 712 , 713 , and 714 of the operation detection unit 701 have a structure provided on one first substrate 731 , and thus are easy to manufacture. Furthermore, the proximity sensors 711 , 712 , 713 , and 714 of the operation detection unit 701 may be provided not on one first substrate 731 but on a plurality of substrates. Accordingly, the degree of freedom in the arrangement of the proximity sensors 711 , 712 , 713 , and 714 of the operation detection unit 701 is further improved.

Next, an example of use of the refrigerator 1 described above will be described.

In the usage examples described below, it is described that the proximity sensors 711 to 714 shown in FIG. For example, when the door opening operation of the left door 21 (or the right door 22) is performed.

In this case, the part of the user's body that can operate the proximity sensors 711 to 714 in a non-contact manner is the palm (palm, back of hand), side of the hand, or elbow.

As described above, when the user uses the palm, the side of the hand, or the elbow to make the proximity sensors 711 to 714 detect them in a predetermined order, the control unit 756 can drive the door opening driving unit 54 of the left door 21 to open the left door. The door 21 or the control unit 756 can drive the door opening driving unit 55 of the right door 22 to open the right door 22 .

FIG. 72 shows an example in which the user performs proximity operations on the proximity sensors 711 to 714 in a predetermined specific order using motions (postures) such as the palm, the side of the hand, or the elbow.

The specific order refers to a path along which the user's palm, side of the hand, or elbow moves closer to at least two of the proximity sensors 711 to 714 , and is predetermined.

The specific sequence shown in Figure 72 (a) is that the user's palm, side of the hand or elbow moves along the first direction DD1 shown by the rightward arrow, and the two proximity sensors 711, 712 detect the human body (palm , the side of the hand or the elbow), and by moving along the second direction (opposite direction) DD2 shown by the leftward arrow different from the first direction DD1, the two proximity sensors 712, 711 sequentially detect the human body (palm, side of hand, or elbow).

In this case, the first direction DD1 and the second direction DD2 constitute the first specific direction F1, and the specific sequence of the first specific direction F1 is to instruct the control unit 756 to open the left door 21 through the door opening drive unit 54, for example. function.

Another specific sequence shown in Figure 72(b) is: the user's palm, side of the hand or elbow moves along the first direction DD1 shown by the rightward arrow, and the two proximity sensors 711, 712 are sequentially The human body (the palm, the side of the hand or the elbow) is detected, and by moving along the third direction DD3 shown by the downward arrow different from the first direction DD1, the two proximity sensors 712, 713 sequentially detect Human body (palm, side of hand or elbow).

In this case, the first direction DD1 and the third direction DD3 constitute the second specific direction F2, and the specific order of the second specific direction F2 instructs the control unit 756 the so-called "one-air freezing" function, that is, instructs: 1 as a storage room such as shown in FIG. 69 in the switching room 14 of the temperature setting in the refrigerator for rapid freezing function. The "all-in-one freezing" function is a function that suppresses cell damage during freezing and maintains good taste through the temperature of -1°C to -5°C in which food moisture is frozen at once.

As described above, when the user performs a proximity operation on at least two of the proximity sensors 711 to 714 in a predetermined specific order with a motion (posture) such as the palm, the side of the hand, or the elbow, as a predetermined function, it is possible to For example, the left door 21 is opened, or the right door 22 is opened.

Accordingly, even if the proximity sensors 711 to 714 are arranged on the left door 21 or the right door 22 , it is possible to prevent the left door 21 or the right door 22 from being opened when the user just passes in front of the refrigerator 1 .

In addition, FIG. 73 is a diagram showing an example in which a proximity operation is performed on a proximity sensor in another predetermined specific order.

As shown in FIG. 73 , when the user uses both hands to hold a plate, pot, etc., and the hands are full, and the fingers of both hands cannot be used to perform proximity operations on the proximity sensors 711 to 714, the user can use the palm (palm, back of hand) , the side of the hand, the elbow, etc., can be detected by the proximity sensors 711 to 714 in a predetermined specific order in a non-contact manner, and a predetermined arbitrary function can be instructed to the control unit 756 .

The direction of movement by moving the palm (palm, back of hand), side of the hand, and elbow can be used in any combination of up-down direction, left-right direction, and oblique direction.

For example, in FIG. 73(a), the combination of the first direction (right) DD1 and the fourth direction (obliquely downward) DD4 is shown, and in FIG. 73(b), the fifth direction (downward) DD5 is shown. Combination with 6th direction (upper) DD6.

In Fig. 73(c), the combination of the 3rd direction (below) DD3 and the 7th direction (upper) DD7 is shown, and in Fig. 73(d), the combination of the 8th direction (right) DD8 and the 7th direction Combination of DD9 in 9 directions (left).

The control unit 756 can perform various functions such as opening the left door 21 or the right door 22 through a combination of postures in these plural directions.

In the illustrated example, the operation detection unit 701 is composed of four proximity sensors 711 , 712 , 713 , and 714 . However, it is not limited thereto, and the operation detection unit 701 may be composed of two proximity sensors, three proximity sensors, or five or more proximity sensors. These proximity sensors can be arranged two-dimensionally (on a plane) on the door.

The refrigerator 1 described above has a side-opening left door 21 and a right door 22 , and front panels 21A and 22A that are glass plates are arranged on the front sides of the left door 21 and the right door 22 . However, it is not limited thereto, and the front surfaces of the left door 21 and the right door 22 may be metal plates such as steel plates instead of glass plates. Moreover, as a refrigerator, you may have one door of a single opening type.

The proximity sensors 711 , 712 , 713 , and 714 of the operation detection unit 701 are capacitive, but not limited thereto, and may employ infrared rays to detect a user's finger in a non-contact manner.

In addition, in the refrigerator, for example, the distance measuring mechanism 777 shown in FIGS. The frame or the isolation part that distinguishes each storage room, etc.

The distance measuring means 777 measures the distance from the refrigerator 1 to the user's body. For example, the distance of the human body measured by the distance measuring means 777 is changed according to the size of the room where the refrigerator is installed. If the refrigerator is installed in a large room, the distance between the refrigerator 1 and the human body will be large, and if the refrigerator is installed in a small room, the distance between the refrigerator 1 and the human body will be small.

Therefore, the distance to the human body measured by the distance measuring mechanism 777 is variable, and the control unit 756 can be configured to be able to change: the range in which the proximity sensors 711, 712, 713, and 714 as non-contact sensors can detect the movement of the human body is effective. . That is, the sensitivity at the time of detection by the proximity sensors 711, 712, 713, and 714 can be adjusted between high sensitivity and medium sensitivity.

The proximity sensors 711 , 712 , 713 , and 714 of the operation detection unit 701 may be embedded in, for example, the right door 22 made of a steel plate having a normal structure without a glass front panel. By adopting such a structure, the operation detection part 701 can be arrange|positioned at the arbitrary position of a door.

The operation detection part 701 may be provided in the polyurethane heat insulating material inside the front panel 22A shown in FIG. 70 . Thereby, the operation detection part 701 can be arrange|positioned at the arbitrary position of a door.

The operation detection unit 701 may be attached to or under a plastic door cover disposed on the edge portion of the right door 22 . Accordingly, the operation detection unit 701 can be arranged regardless of whether there is a glass front panel, the design of the door, or whether various operation display parts are arranged.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are given as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These new embodiments can also be implemented in other various forms, and can be combined with various embodiments, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and their equivalents.

In addition, printing or the like indicating the operation position may be performed based on the display of the LED. The printing is preferably translucent printing through which LED light passes, or the like.

Claims (1)

1. a kind of refrigerator, it is characterised in that have：

Refrigerator main body, the preceding surface of the refrigerator main body is formed with opening,

The door of thermal insulation, the door of the thermal insulation is installed on the preceding surface hole portion of the refrigerator main body,

Door opener, the door opener is installed on the refrigerator main body, the door is carried out door opening action,

Control operation portion, the control operation portion is arranged at the door, the operation of the cooling control content for carrying out change refrigerator,

Opening door operation portion, the opening door operation portion is arranged at the door, is operated for the door opening action to the door opener, And

Control unit, the control unit is enter to the operation signal from the control operation portion and the opening door operation portion, carries out phase The cooling control and control of opening the door answered；

The part for providing the opening door operation portion opening door operation input is a part for the front panel of the door, with the front panel It is continuous integral,

Operation and the operation for the opening door operation portion for the control operation portion are different operating methods,

The opening door operation portion has the multiple operation detection parts for being arranged at the door, from the plurality of operation detection part to the control Portion's output operation detection signal processed, the control unit detects signal to judge for the operation from the multiple operation detection part Whether it is defined operation, is judged as YES opening door operation when being the defined operation, is opened for the door opener Gate control,

The control unit is received after the operation detection signal for 1 operation detection part in the multiple operation detection part, The operation not received within certain time for other operation detection parts in the multiple operation detection part detects signal In the case of, enabling control is not carried out to the door opener.