Patent Application
20220031071
The present disclosure relates to an external detection see-through door and an external detection see-through cabinet having the same, and more particularly, to an external detection see-through door, which becomes see-through to allow the interior to be visible when a specific external condition is detected, and a cabinet having the same.
Generally, clothes or household items such as dishes are stored in storage boxes having a door, such as a closet or a cabinet. Such storage boxes generally have a door through which light is not transmitted to block sunlight or to improve the aesthetics of the interior. For this reason, there is no way to check an internal condition thereof other than a method of opening the door to check the interior, or it is difficult to know the internal condition unless a special device is used, and thus there is a problem in that it is inconvenient. Opaque doors may also be adopted for buildings to ensure security or the like, but, in some cases, it may be necessary to check whether there is a person on the other side of the door without opening the door.
The present disclosure is directed to providing an external detection see-through door, which becomes see-through in a case in which a specific external condition such as an approach of a person or a change in lighting is detected, and a cabinet having the same.
Objectives of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned objectives, and other unmentioned objectives should be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains from the description below.
One embodiment of the present disclosure provides an external detection see-through door of a cabinet that stores objects. The external detection see-through door includes a transmission window, a sensor configured to detect a specific external condition in front of the transmission window, a light emitting module configured to increase an amount of emitted light according to a signal from the sensor, which has detected the specific external condition, to increase an amount of light that is reflected from inside the cabinet and heads toward the transmission window, and an optical film that is provided on the transmission window and has a light transmittance that prevents the cabinet from being see-through from the outside before the sensor detects the specific condition and allows the cabinet to be see-through from the outside due to light that is reflected from inside the cabinet and transmitted through the transmission window and the optical film due to the light emitting module increasing the amount of emitted light according to the signal from the sensor that has detected the specific external condition.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the sensor may include at least one of a light sensor configured to detect a change in light due to an external object in front of the transmission window and a touch sensor configured to detect the external object due to a touch by the external object.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the external detection see-through door may include a switch configured to turn a power supply to the sensor or the light emitting module on and off or turn the sensor on and off to turn a see-through function on and off.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmission window may include an external transmission window and an internal transmission window that are opposite to each other, the light emitting module may be provided on an edge of the door to emit light between the external transmission window and the internal transmission window, and the optical film may be provided only on the external transmission window among the external transmission window and the internal transmission window and may include one or more reflective films.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmission window may include an external transmission window and an internal transmission window that are opposite to each other, the light emitting module may be provided on an edge of the door to emit light between the external transmission window and the internal transmission window, and the optical film may include an external optical film provided on the external transmission window and an internal optical film that is provided on the internal transmission window and has a light transmittance higher than that of the external optical film.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmission window may include an external transmission window and an internal transmission window that are opposite to each other, and the light emitting module may include a light emitting element provided on an edge of the door to emit light according to a signal from the sensor and a light guide member configured to guide and diffuse the light from the light emitting element to between the external transmission window and the internal transmission window.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, total light transmittance due to the one or more reflective films of the optical film provided on the external transmission window may be in a range of 1% to 15%.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the external optical film may include one or more first reflective films, the internal optical film may include one or more second reflective films, total light transmittance due to the one or more first reflective films may be in a range of 1% to 15%, and total light transmittance due to the one or more second reflective films may be 50% or higher.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, at least one of the external optical film and the internal optical film may be a reflective polarizing film.
Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides an external detection see-through cabinet that stores objects. The external detection see-through cabinet includes a cabinet body configured to store objects and an external detection see-through door installed on the cabinet body. The external detection see-through door includes a transmission window, a sensor configured to detect a specific external condition in front of the transmission window, a light emitting module configured to increase an amount of emitted light according to a signal from the sensor, which has detected the specific external condition, to increase an amount of light that is reflected from inside the cabinet and heads toward the transmission window, and an optical film that is provided on the transmission window and has a light transmittance that prevents the cabinet from being see-through from the outside before the sensor detects the specific condition and allows the cabinet to be see-through from the outside due to light that is reflected from inside the cabinet and transmitted through the transmission window and the optical film due to the light emitting module increasing the amount of emitted light according to the signal from the sensor that has detected the specific external condition.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, since an external detection see-through door and a cabinet having the same become see-through when a specific external condition is detected, objects inside the cabinet can be checked without opening the door, and thus it is convenient to use.
The advantageous effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above and should be understood as including all the advantageous effects that may be inferred from configurations of the disclosure that are described in the detailed description or claims of the present disclosure.
Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure may be implemented in various different forms and thus is not limited to embodiments described herein. Also, parts unrelated to the description have been omitted to clearly describe the present disclosure, and like elements are denoted by like reference numerals throughout the specification.
Throughout the specification, when a certain part is mentioned as being “connected to (linked to, in contact with, coupled to)” another part, this not only includes a case in which the certain part is “directly connected” to the other part but also includes a case in which the certain part is “indirectly connected” to the other part while another member is disposed therebetween. Also, when a certain part is mentioned as “including” a certain element, unless particularly stated otherwise, this indicates that the certain part may further include another element instead of excluding another element.
Terms used in the present specification are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. A singular expression includes a plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In the present specification, terms such as “include” or “have” should be understood as specifying that features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof are present and not as precluding the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof in advance.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
In the present embodiment, the sensor 20 may be installed on an edge of an outer side surface of the door 30 but may also be installed on another portion of the door 30 or installed on the cabinet body 10. The sensor 20 may detect a specific condition, e.g., an approach of a person, a specific movement of a person, or a change in illuminance, outside the cabinet. The sensor 20 that has detected the specific external condition may transmit a signal to the light emitting module 40 via a wire or wirelessly. The transmission windows 51 and 55 may be made of, for example, transparent glass or resin (e.g., polycarbonate). According to the signal from the sensor 20 that has detected the specific condition outside the cabinet, the light emitting module 40 emits light or increases an amount of emitted light to increase an amount of light that is reflected from inside the cabinet and heads toward the transmission windows 51 and 55. This will be further described below. The optical film 70 is provided on the transmission window 51 and has a light transmittance in a predetermined range. For example, the light transmittance of the optical film 70 is selected so that, when the light emitting module 40 is turned off, the cabinet is not see-through from the outside under a normal sunlight or lighting condition. Also, the light transmittance of the optical film 70 is selected so that, when the light emitting module 40 emits light, light that is output from the light emitting module 40, reflected from the optical film 70 or the transmission windows 51 and 55, and irradiated into the cabinet is reflected from inside the cabinet such that the amount of light transmitting through the transmission windows 51 and 55 and the optical film 70 is increased and the cabinet is see-through from the outside. Accordingly, the external detection see-through door 30 blocks sunlight or indoor lighting in ordinary times and becomes see-through when any above-mentioned specific condition outside the cabinet is detected. Therefore, clothes, household items, or the like stored in the cabinet body 10 may be checked without opening the external detection see-through door.
In the present embodiment, the transmission windows 51 and 55 include an external transmission window 51 and an internal transmission window 55 that are opposite to each other. The internal transmission window 55 is provided between the external transmission window 51 and the cabinet body 10. The light emitting module 40 may be provided on, for example, an edge of the door 30 to emit light between the external transmission window 51 and the internal transmission window 55 according to a signal from the sensor 20. The light emitting module 40 may include a light emitting diode (LED).
In the present embodiment, the optical film 70 is provided only on the external transmission window 51 among the external transmission window 51 and the internal transmission window 55. In
The sensor 20 may include at least one of a light sensor configured to detect a change in light and a non-contact type sensor such as a movement sensor configured to detect movement of an object. For example, in a case in which the sensor 20 is a light sensor, when a person approaches the door from in front of the door as illustrated in
The sensor 20 that has detected such specific conditions transmit a signal to the light emitting module 40 via a wire or wirelessly. Here, since a method of transmitting a signal via a wire or wirelessly is a well-known art, further detailed description thereof will be omitted.
The light emitting module 40 outputs light according to a signal from the sensor 20, and the output light is reflected and transmitted as the light travels between the external transmission window 51 and the internal transmission window 55. In the present embodiment, since the optical film 70 is provided on the external transmission window 51 and the light transmittance of the external transmission window 51 is in a range of 1% to 15% as described above, a considerable amount of light is reflected from the optical film 70, transmitted through the internal transmission window 55, and irradiated into the cabinet. Through the process in which the light is reflected from the optical film 70, the light may be irradiated into the cabinet while the light is not biased and uniformity thereof is generally improved. Light reflected from inside the cabinet is emitted to the outside again through the internal transmission window 55, the optical film 70, and the external transmission window 51. Of course, due to the light transmittance of the optical film 70, it is not possible for a large amount of light to be reflected and emitted to the outside, but the absolute amount of light transmitted through the optical film 70 is significantly increased as compared to ordinary times (e.g., when the light emitting module 40 is turned off). For example, referring to the graph illustrated in
The light emitting module 40 may be provided on an edge of the door 30 as illustrated in
In the present embodiment, optical films 70 and 80 include an external optical film 70 provided on the external transmission window 51 and an internal optical film 80 provided on the internal transmission window 55. The external optical film 70 is provided on an inner side surface of the external transmission window 51, and the internal optical film 80 is provided on an outer side surface of the internal transmission window 55. Here, inner and outer sides are defined such that a side closer to the cabinet body 10 is referred to as the inner side. The optical films may also be arranged differently from the above, but the optical films being configured as described above may be more advantageous in protecting the optical films 70 and 80. In the present embodiment, the internal optical film 80 has a light transmittance higher than that of the external optical film 70. The external optical film 70 may include one or more first reflective films, and the internal optical film 80 may include one or more second reflective films. The total light transmittance due to the one or more first reflective films may be preferably in a range of 1% to 15% to be advantageous for securing the above-described opaque/see-through characteristics, and the total light transmittance due to the one or more second reflective films may be preferably 50% or higher. Unlike the reflective films, a method of depositing and coating a reflective material (e.g., aluminum) on the transmission windows 51 and 55 may also be used. Due to the optical films 70 and 80, in ordinary times, the door 30 may look like a mirror and the cabinet is not see-through.
The sensor 20 may have different kinds of sensors (e.g., a light sensor, a movement sensor, a sound sensor) that correspond to a plurality of specific conditions outside the cabinet. Therefore, the sensor 20 may detect an approach of a person, a specific movement of a person, a simple change in an intensity of light over time, a voice of a person, or the like and generate a signal, or a user may set such a detection function. The light emitting module 40 may emit light or increase an amount of emitted light from the original light emitting condition according to the signal from the sensor 20. Of course, the light emitting module 40 may emit different colored lights, and for example, an RGB LED may be used as the light emitting module 40.
When a condition is detected by the sensor 20, as light is output from the light emitting module 40 and repeatedly reflected between the external optical film 70 and the internal optical film 80, light is irradiated into the cabinet through the internal optical film 80 whose light transmittance is higher, the amount of light that is reflected from inside the cabinet, transmitted through the internal optical film 80, and then transmitted through the external optical film 70 is increased such that an illuminance difference between the interior of the cabinet and the outside is decreased, and thus the cabinet may be see-through. Since the light is diffused as the light is repeatedly reflected, formation of shadows of articles stored inside the cabinet may be prevented, and the objects may be seen more clearly.
Meanwhile, the sensor 20 may also directly receive a signal from a user to control the light emitting module 40. For example, the sensor 20 may receive an external signal (e.g., a remote controller signal from a user) and cause the light emitting module 40 to emit light.
Unlike the above-described non-contact type sensor 20, as illustrated in
The external detection see-through door 30 may further include a switch configured to turn a power supply to the sensor 20 or the light emitting module 40 on and off or turn the sensor 20 on and off to turn the see-through function on and off, or the touch pad may have such functions. Although the light emitting module 40 emits light due to the sensor 20 and the cabinet becomes see-through when an external condition is detected, the switch may be used in a case in which it is necessary to set a continuous see-through condition to allow the user to check the interior of the cabinet in ordinary times regardless of whether an external condition is detected.
Also, only a specific user of the external detection see-through cabinet 100 may possess a key that may be approved by the sensor, and the light emitting module 40 may emit light and cause the cabinet to be see-through only when the key approaches the door 30. In this way, security may be ensured. The key may be a separate key, a wearable device in the form of a watch, a key using a smartphone application, a simple barcode, a quick response (QR) code, or may have various other forms.
In the present embodiment, the sensor 20 is provided between the external optical film 70 and the internal optical film 80. Therefore, light from the outside is transmitted through the external optical film 70 and detected by the sensor 20. In ordinary times, predetermined light may be irradiated from the sensor 20 toward the external optical film 70, or the amount of light emitted from the light emitting module 40 may be set to an amount of light that improves a detecting characteristic of the sensor 20 although the cabinet is not see-through, and in this way, the light emitting module 40 may be caused to emit light.
Alternatively, the light transmittance of the external optical film 70 may be adjusted to maintain the opaque characteristic well due to the amount of light from the light emitting module 40 or the sensor 20 in ordinary times and to exhibit the see-through characteristic due to an increase in the amount of light from the light emitting module 40 when a specific external condition is detected.
In the present embodiment, optical films 70 and 80 include an external optical film 70 provided on the external transmission window 51 and an internal optical film 80 provided on the internal transmission window 55. At least one of the external optical film 70 and the internal optical film 80 may be a reflective polarizing film. The reflective polarizing film reflects a portion of incident light and transmits a portion thereof, and the transmitted light is polarized along a polarization axis. In a case in which the reflective polarizing film is used for both the external optical film 70 and the internal optical film 80, as shown in the graph of
In this way, according to the external detection see-through cabinet 100, since the external detection see-through cabinet 100 becomes see-through when an external condition is detected, objects stored in the cabinet may be checked without opening the door. Also, the present disclosure may not only be applied to cabinets but also be applied to doors of general buildings, and in this case, since a user may recognize a person or situation on the other side of the door when approaching the door even without opening the door, it is convenient and also beneficial for safety.
The above-given description of the present disclosure is merely illustrative, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains should understand that the present disclosure may be easily modified in other specific forms without changing the technical idea or essential features of the present disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments described above should be understood as being illustrative, instead of limiting, in all aspects. For example, each element described as a single type may also be embodied in a distributed manner, and likewise, elements described as being distributed may also be embodied in a combined form.
The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims below, and the meaning and scope of the claims and all changes or modified forms derived from their equivalents should be interpreted as belonging to the scope of the present disclosure.
The modes of the disclosure have been described above in the description of the best mode of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2018-0116398 | Sep 2018 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2019/008654 | 7/12/2019 | WO | 00 |
