IP Library Granted Patent US 9,784,497
Granted Patent B2
US 9,784,497 · App. 15/015,074 · Granted Oct 10, 2017

Smart refrigerator

Inventors: Jin Wang (Dublin, IE); Hong Gu (Dublin, IE); Li Mei (Dublin, IE)
Assignee: MULTIMEDIA IMAGE SOLUTION LIMITED
F25D29/00G06K9/66H04N5/247F25D2500/06F25D2700/06
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,784,497
App. No.
15/015,074
Granted
Oct 10, 2017
Kind
B2
Abstract

A smart refrigerator has a body having a shelf and a drawer, a door coupled to the body and has a plurality of trays. The shelf has a corresponding camera configured to capture an image of items on the shelf. The drawer has a corresponding camera configured to capture an image of items in the drawer. The trays have a corresponding camera configured to capture an image of items in the trays. The images captured by the cameras are processed to identify the type of the item and the location of the item within the smart refrigerator.

Claims (17)

1. A method of identifying an item in a smart refrigerator, the method comprising:

a camera of the smart refrigerator capturing an image;

the smart refrigerator collecting and transmitting the image captured by the camera to a server;

the server identifying an item in the image;

the server categorizing the item identified;

the server determining the location of the items in the smart refrigerator;

an application program processing types of the items and positions of the items;

a user generating a feedback according to an output of the application program;

the server identifying the location of the user; and

training a neural network according to the location of the user, and the feedback of the user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the camera of the smart refrigerator capturing the image is the camera of the smart refrigerator capturing the image of a shelf, a drawer, or trays of the smart refrigerator.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image is transmitted to the server through the Internet using a wireless connection.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the server simultaneously performs categorizing the item identified and determining the location of the item in the smart refrigerator.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the application program processing the type of the items and the position of the items is an application program accessible to a user through a display panel on the smart refrigerator, a computer, or a mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feedback of the user is a confirmation whether the item has been identified correctly or not.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the camera capturing the image corresponds to a camera pointed at a shelf or a drawer, the camera is an ordinary camera having a 45 degree field of vision.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the camera capturing the image corresponds to a camera pointed at trays on a door of the smart refrigerator, the camera is a camera having mechanical shutter and captures the image of the trays when the door is at a 75 degree angle and at a 90 degree angle relative to a side of the body where the door rests when the door is closed.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 11, 2020
From: MULTIMEDIA IMAGE SOLUTION LIMITED
To: ARCSOFT MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
Reel/Frame 054329/0718 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 3, 2016
From: WANG, JIN; GU, HONG; MEI, LI
To: MULTIMEDIA IMAGE SOLUTION LIMITED
Reel/Frame 037660/0175 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20170219276A1 · Aug 3, 2017