The present invention relates to a refrigerator and, more specifically, a refrigerator which enables a user to easily open a door thereof. The present invention relates to a refrigerator and method for controlling the same, which can prevent a door thereof from opening by itself due to a malfunction. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a refrigerator may comprise: a cabinet having a storage chamber; a door for closing or opening the storage chamber; a sensor provided to sense whether a user is within or out of a sensing distance, to enable discrimination between sensing-on and sensing-off; a door opening device provided to automatically open the door; and a control unit for determining an operation condition of the door opening device on the basis of a time interval from the sensing-on to the sensing-off and a duration for which the sensing-on continues in the sensor, so as to control the operation of the door opening device.

A network system includes a refrigerator, a terminal, and a server that is capable of communicating with the refrigerator and the terminal and that provides, to the terminal, at least information based on an opening/closing operation of a door of the refrigerator. When the refrigerator starts an eco-mode, the server restricts an operation related to the watching service.

A knock detection device includes a proximity sensor, at least one sound sensor, and a signal processing unit. The proximity sensor and the sound sensor are respectively electrically connected to the signal processing unit. The signal processing unit receives and/or processes the signal of the sound sensor according to the signal of the proximity sensor. A household appliance includes the knock detection device. The knock detection device is disposed inside the household appliance on the back side of a panel provided for knocking by a user.

Proposed is a refrigerator. According to the refrigerator, a storage space (121) may be defined in a cabinet (100), and a machine room (201) may be arranged under the storage space (121). To implement a cooling system, a compressor (610), a condenser (620), and a heat dissipation fan (611) may be included in the machine room (201). In addition, a control module (700) may be provided in the machine room (201) to face an outlet (225b) of the machine room (201). The control module (700) may be installed at a position close to the entrance of the machine room (201) and may be separated frontward from the machine room (201), and thus accessibility to the control module (700) can be enhanced.

In all freezers and refrigerators all have integral plastic inner frame and the refrigerator door mezzanine both are filled with injection-type Styrofoam to keep cold. The plastic inner frames and Styrofoam are both environmentally unfriendly and difficult to recycle and wasteful a lot of energy.

A refrigerator appliance is provided including a cabinet defining a chilled chamber, a door rotatably hinged to the cabinet to provide selective access to the chilled chamber, and an inventory management system mounted within the chilled chamber for monitoring objects positioned within the chilled chamber. The inventory management system may include a noncontact scanning device, such as a three-dimensional light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor, a camera assembly, and/or one or more weight sensors that work together to detect, identify, and locate objects positioned within the chilled chamber.

Provided is a refrigerator for a vehicle. The refrigerator for the vehicle may include a cavity or compartment accommodating a product, a machine room disposed at a side of the cavity, a compressor accommodated in the machine room to compress a refrigerant, a condensation module or assembly accommodated in the machine room to condense the refrigerant, an evaporation module or assembly accommodated in the cavity to evaporate the refrigerant and thereby to cool the cavity, a machine room cover defining an inner space of the machine room, and a controller mounted on an outer surface of the machine room cover.

Provided is a sensor package in a refrigerator configured to provide information related to refrigerated food. The sensor package may include a body having a mark classified by a type of food allocated to the sensor package and indicating the type of food of a food to which the sensor package is coupled, a battery, an operation switch, a memory configured to store food information corresponding to the type of food corresponding to the mark, a sensor communication module that communicates with a display provided in the refrigerator, a sensing module that senses state information associated with the food, and a sensor control module that controls the sensor communication module to initiate communication between the sensor package and the display of the refrigerator based on the state information sensed by the sensing module.

A refrigerator comprises a storage compartment configured to store food, a temperature detector configured to detect an internal temperature of the storage compartment, a cooler configured to supply cool air to the storage compartment, a microphone configured to receive a speech, a display configured to display information, at least one processor configured to be electrically connected to the temperature detector, the microphone, and the display; and a memory configured to be electrically connected to the at least one processor. The memory stores at least one instructions configured to, when a first speech including a food name is recognized via the microphone, allow the processor to display a food list, which comprises food information corresponding to the food name and an identification mark identifying the food information, on the display, and configured to, when a second speech referring to the identification mark is recognized via the microphone, allow the processor to display food purchase information corresponding to the identification mark, on the display.

A variable ice dispenser for a refrigerator utilizes a variable control suitable for varying the rate of ice dispensing by the dispenser. In some instances, the variable control includes a variable control actuator that is movable between a range of positions including a home position, and movement of the variable control actuator in a first direction from the home position causes the variable ice dispenser to dispense cubed ice while movement of the variable control actuator in a second direction from the home position causes the variable ice dispenser to dispense crushed ice. Further, in some instances, the variable control may also selectively activate the ice dispenser such that the variable control actuator controls the ice dispensing rate while the variable ice dispenser is activated. In addition, in some instances, a variable control may also include a secondary control that switches between ice and water dispensing modes.