US 10,119,751 B2Granted

Door in door refrigerator having illuminated see-through feature and control method therefor

AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.

InventorKwanghyun Choi

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A refrigerator includes a cabinet forming a storage space, a main door that opens and closes the storage space while defining an opening part that is in communication with the storage space, a sub-door mounted to the main door and configured to open and close the opening part, the sub-door including a panel assembly for allowing selective viewing of an inside of the opening part, a detection device for detecting an operation of a user, a lighting unit inside the refrigerator that turns on based on user operation to allow selective viewing of the inner side of the opening part, and a display unit inside the refrigerator at a position corresponding to the panel assembly that becomes visible and displays an operation state of the refrigerator when the lighting unit turns on.

Claims26

Dependent claims

A refrigerator comprising:

a cabinet defining a storage chamber therein;
a lighting device arranged inside the storage chamber and configured to illuminate an interior of the storage chamber;
and
a door connected to the cabinet and configured to open and close the storage chamber, the door comprising:
a door frame having an opening defined therethrough;
a panel assembly configured to close the opening defined through the door frame, the panel assembly comprising:
a front panel;
an insulating panel arranged on a rear side of the front panel;
and
a spacer configured to maintain a space between the front panel and the insulating panel,
a display unit adjacent to the opening of the door frame and on a rear side of the panel assembly in a state in which the panel assembly closes the opening defined through the door frame, the display unit comprising a manipulation button and a display configured to show state information;
and
a sensor that is provided in the panel assembly of the door and that is configured to detect an operation of a user;
and
at least one processor configured to control at least one of the lighting device inside the storage chamber or the display unit by:
activating the lighting device and the display unit based on a determination that the operation of the user is detected by the sensor of the panel assembly in a state in which the door is closed,
wherein in a state in which the lighting device and the display unit are activated, the interior of the storage chamber and the state information of the display are visible through the panel assembly of the door from an outside of the refrigerator.

14 more elements

A refrigerator comprising:

a cabinet defining a storage chamber therein;
a lighting device arranged inside the storage chamber and configured to illuminate an interior of the storage chamber;
a first door connected to the cabinet and configured to open and close the storage chamber, the first door comprising a first door frame having a first opening defined therethrough;
a second door configured to open and close the first opening defined through the first door frame, the second door comprising:
a second door frame having a second opening defined therethrough that corresponds to the first opening of the first door frame;
and
a panel assembly configured to cover the second opening defined through the second door frame, and through which, in a state in which the first door and the second door are closed and the lighting device is activated, the interior of the storage chamber is visible through both the first opening and the second opening from an outside of the refrigerator,
wherein the panel assembly of the second door comprises:
a front panel that defines a front surface of the second door;
an insulating panel that is arranged on a rear side of the front panel;
and
a spacer configured to maintain a space between the front panel and the insulating panel of the panel assembly of the second door;
a display unit mounted in the first opening of the first door and arranged on a rear side of the panel assembly of the second door in state in which the second door is closed, the display unit comprising a control button and a display configured to show state information;
a sensor arranged in the panel assembly of the second door and configured to detect an operation of a user;
and
at least one processor configured to control at least one of the lighting device inside the storage chamber or the display unit by:
activating the lighting device and the display unit based on a determination that the operation of the user is detected by the sensor of the panel assembly in a state in which the first door and the second door are closed,
wherein in a state in which the lighting device and the display unit are activated, the interior of the storage chamber and the state information of the display are visible through the panel assembly of the second door from an outside of the refrigerator.

15 more elements

A refrigerator comprising:

a cabinet defining a storage chamber therein;
a lighting device arranged in the storage chamber and configured to illuminate an interior of the storage chamber;
a door connected to the cabinet and configured to open and close the storage chamber, the door having an opening defined therethrough,
wherein the door comprises a panel assembly configured to close the opening defined through the door, the panel assembly comprising:
a front panel;
an insulating panel arranged on a rear side of the front panel;
and
a spacer configured to maintain a space between the front panel and the insulating panel of the panel assembly of the door;
a display unit mounted in the opening defined through the door and arranged on a rear side of the panel assembly of the door in a state in which the panel assembly closes the opening defined through the door, the display unit comprising a control button and a display configured to show state information;
a sensor arranged adjacent to the front panel of the panel assembly, and configured to detect whether a user contacts the front panel;
and
at least one processor configured to control at least one of the lighting device or the display unit according to a detection result of the sensor by:
activating the lighting device and the display unit in a state in which the door is closed, and based on the sensor detecting a first signal indicating that the user contacts the front panel;
and
deactivating the lighting device and the display unit in a state in which the lighting device is activated, and based on the sensor detecting a second signal indicating that the user contacts the front panel,
wherein in a state in which both the lighting device and the display unit are activated, the interior of the storage chamber and the state information of the display are visible through the panel assembly of the door from an outside of the refrigerator.

13 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/399,161Filed 5 Jan 2017
Priority: KR 10-2016-00012925 Jan 2016
Published: US 2017/0191745 A16 Jul 2017
Granted: 6 Nov 2018
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification34 codes

F25D 27/005
Lighting arrangements: combined with control means
A47F 3/0434
Details: glass or transparent panels
B29C 44/18
Incorporating or moulding on preformed parts, e.g. inserts or reinforcements: filling preformed cavities
F21V 3/00
Globes

Family

US 2017/0191745 A1Pre-grant publication · published 6 Jul 2017
US 10,119,751 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

Open elsewhere

Building an agent or pulling many patents? Use the API or MCP server instead of scraping pages. Get an API key