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EP-4008983-B1 - SMART HOME CONTROLLER REFRIGERATOR AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR

EP4008983B1EP 4008983 B1EP4008983 B1EP 4008983B1EP-4008983-B1

Inventors

  • KIM, SANG OH
  • YUN, JUNSANG
  • MIN, DUL LAE

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20170607

Claims (13)

  1. A smart home controller refrigerator, comprising: one or more storage spaces; and one or more doors (101, 102, 103, 104) for controlling an opening and a closing of the one or more storage spaces; a control unit (300) comprising a control protocol communication unit (320) configured to receive, according to a control protocol, control information for controlling a home appliance (10) in home from an external server (200) or a portable device (250); a storage unit (310) configured to store the control information; an operation protocol communication unit (330) configured to generate an operation signal calculated from the control information; and a signal transmitting unit (341, 342, 349) arranged on the one or more doors (101, 102, 103, 104) and configured to transmit the operation signal, using an operation protocol, to the home appliance (10); wherein the control protocol is a protocol for relatively long distance compared to the operation protocol; characterized in that : the operation protocol comprises infrared communication; and wherein the control information comprises schedule information, and wherein the control unit (300) is configured to control the operation protocol communication unit (330) and the signal transmitting unit (341, 342, 349) such that the operation signal corresponding to the control signal is transmitted to the home appliance (10) at a time set in the schedule information.
  2. The smart home controller refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the control information comprises information configured to turn on or off the home appliance (10), or to schedule an ON or OFF point of the home appliance (10), or to control an operation of the home appliance (10).
  3. The smart home controller refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising: an infrared light emitting unit (441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446) and an infrared light receiving unit (1441, 1451) that is configured to sense an external touch are arranged in the interface unit (110), and wherein the infrared light emitting unit (441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446) is the signal transmitting unit that is configured to transmit an infrared signal for controlling the home appliance (10) according to the operation protocol.
  4. The smart home controller refrigerator of claim 3, wherein two or more infrared light emitting units (441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446) are arranged in the interface unit (110), and wherein the infrared light emitting units (441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446) transmit the infrared signal in a different direction from each other
  5. The smart home controller refrigerator of claim 3, wherein, when the infrared light emitting unit (441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446) is configured to transmit the infrared signal according to the operation protocol, the control unit (300) is configured to control the infrared light receiving unit (441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446) not to sense the infrared signal or to control the infrared light receiving unit (1441, 1451) not to process the infrared signal.
  6. The smart home controller refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the control protocol communication unit (320) is configured to transmit control result information that comprises a result of a generation and a transmission of the operation signal to the external server (200) or the portable device (250).
  7. A system comprising: a smart home controller refrigerator of any one of the preceding claims; and a home appliance, wherein: the home appliance is one of a hood (1801), an air purifier (1802), a TV (1803), a lamp (1804) and an air conditioner (1805), or the home appliance is a curtain control device (1806), wherein the curtain control device (1806) is configured to move a curtain or is configured to unfold a curtain.
  8. A method for controlling a home appliance (10) through a smart home controller refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the method comprising: transmitting (S721, S727), in accordance with the control protocol, control information to the control unit (300) of the smart home controller refrigerator (100) through the external server (200) by the portable device (250), wherein control information controls generation of the operation signal necessary for operating the home appliance (10) in home; and receiving (S741, S747) control result information corresponding to the control information from the control unit (300) of the smart home controller refrigerator (100) or the external server (200), by using the control protocol, by the portable device (250); wherein the control information comprises information that turns on or off the home appliance (10), or schedules ON or OFF time of the home appliance (10), or controls an operation of the home appliance (10), and wherein the operation signal is a signal generated by applying the operation protocol distinguished from the control protocol, wherein the operation protocol is infrared communication.
  9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of receiving the control result information from the external server (200) by the portable device (250) comprises receiving the control result information of the refrigerator (100) stored in the external server (200) in real time or at a predetermined time interval.
  10. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein: the home appliance is one of a hood (1801), an air purifier (1802), a TV (1803), a lamp (1804) and an air conditioner (1805), or the home appliance is a curtain control device (1806), wherein the curtain control device (1806) is configured to move a curtain or is configured to unfold a curtain.
  11. A method for controlling a smart home controller refrigerator by a control unit (300) of the smart home controller refrigerator (100), wherein the smart home controller refrigerator (100) is according to any one of the claims 1 to 6, the method comprising: controlling the control protocol communication unit (320) to receive the control information that controls generation of the operation signal necessary for operating the home appliance (10) in home from the external server (200) or the portable device (250) by the control unit (300); storing the received control information in the storage unit (310) by the control unit (300); controlling the operation protocol communication unit (320) to generate the operation signal calculated from the control information by the control unit (300); and transmitting the operation signal to the home appliance (10) by the signal transmitting unit (341, 342, 349) by a control of the control unit (300).
  12. The method of claim 11, wherein the control information comprises information that turns on or off the home appliance (10), or schedules an ON or OFF point of the home appliance (10), or controls an operation of the home appliance (10).
  13. The method of claim 11, further comprising: controlling the control protocol communication unit (320) to transmit control result information that comprises a result of a generation and a transmission of the operation signal to the external server (200) or the portable device (250) by the control unit (300).

Description

Technical Field This application is a technology with regard to a smart home controller refrigerator and a method that controls the same. Background Art A refrigerator, which is a device for maintaining a temperature of various kinds of stored goods at a low temperature or cooling it, includes a storage compartment formed with one or more separated spaces. The refrigerator has a temperature change section that can be maintained at a maximum in a product production and shipment process, and in this section, a user can adjust a temperature of the refrigerator to set the refrigerator so that a specific control temperature is maintained. On the other hand, the refrigerator is a configuration in which a power supply is always connected in order to maintain an internal temperature. Unlike a general home appliance, a state in which a power supply is supplied is continuously maintained. Therefore, the home appliance such as the refrigerator has an ensured stability of a supply of a power supply compared to other home appliances, and has a property of not being easily turned off or rebooted by the user compared to other home appliances. Accordingly, when the refrigerator operates as a smart home controller that controls the home appliance in consideration of the property of a power supply use of the refrigerator and an area where the refrigerator is arranged, it is possible to control other home appliances stably in terms of a supply of the power supply. However, until now, the refrigerator has focused on a refrigeration or freezing function, and since it is relatively excluded from a process of building a smart home, there have been many limitations in controlling the smart home using a refrigerator. JP 2003 345689 A presents a terminal when sending information to another terminal reads the global IP address of the another terminal out of a database recorded on an HDD of the terminal. Then the terminal sends the information to the read-out address. The other terminal receives the sent information and performs processing for updating information, etc., on the basis of the received information. This technique is applicable to a terminal connected to the Internet. JP 2002 092306 A provides an option article selling method for domestic electric appliance. A marker opens a web site on the Internet with a Web server, and, when a user having purchased the appliance orders an option article on the web site, delivers the option article to the users home from a cooperated store. When the option article is mounted on the appliance, the control contents of the appliance must be changed, so that the Web server transmits the appliance purchased by the user and control software suitable for the option article. Therefore, the appliance can be controlled by the transmitted control software after that, so that the appliance can operate optimally. Disclosure Technical Problem In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, this application provides a smart home controller refrigerator and a method of controlling the same based on a power supply stability that a refrigerator has and an openness of an arrangement location that a refrigerator has. The present specification provides a method of controlling a home appliance in home everywhere through a refrigerator by transmitting an operation signal of a remote control that controls a home appliance in home to a home appliance by a refrigerator, and a refrigerator that implements the same. In the present specification, the refrigerator controls the home appliances with a smart home controller instead of various remote controls of the home appliances, and uses a portable device to control the refrigerator. Technical Solution One or more objects of the present technique are achieved by the invention set out by the features of the independent claim(s). Further embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims. Advantageous Effects When applying this application, it is possible to control a home appliance based on an openness of arrangement of a refrigerator in which a power supply is stably supplied. In addition, when applying this application, control information set in a portable device such as a smart phone may be transmitted to a home appliance as an operating signal through a refrigerator, which is a smart home control unit, so that it is possible to provide a method that controls a home appliance in home everywhere and a refrigerator that implements the same. Further, when applying this application, the refrigerator can control home appliances with a smart home control unit instead of various remote controls of the home appliances, and use a portable device such as a smart phone to control the refrigerator, thereby increasing a convenience of a control An effect of this application is not limited to the effect mentioned above, and those skilled in the art of this application can easily derive various effects of this application in a constitution of this application. Description of Draw