Refrigerator

Abstract

A refrigerator including a main body having storage spaces and doors to selectively close the storage spaces, and a control panel with a display configured to input/output control information on the main body and a plurality of buttons, the refrigerator comprising: a brightness adjusting unit configured to adjust a brightness of the display to avoid a unnecessary power consumption occurred by the main body; and a power amount display unit configured to display an amount of power supplied to the main body and electric charges therefor on the display. By providing the display on the control panel to display an amount of power consumed and electric charges therefor, a user can easily recognize the amount of power consumed and the electric charges therefor due to the use of the refrigerator. Also, the brightness of the display can be adjusted by the user's selection, so as to enable the reduction of the amount of power consumed.

1 . A refrigerator including a main body having storage spaces and doors configured to selectively close the storage spaces, and a control panel with a display configured to input or output control information on the main body and a plurality of buttons, the refrigerator comprising:
 a brightness adjusting unit configured to adjust a brightness of the display to avoid a unnecessary power consumption occurred by the main body; and   a power amount display unit configured to display an amount of power supplied to the main body and electric charges therefor on the display.   
   
   
       2 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the brightness of the display is adjusted by turning on or off a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) disposed at a rear surface of the display. 
   
   
       3 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the power amount display unit comprises:
 a watt-hour meter configured to measure the amount of power supplied to the main body; and   a central controller configured to calculate electric charges for a duration inputted from the outside based on the amount of power measured by the watt-hour meter and display the calculated electric charges on the control panel.   
   
   
       4 . The refrigerator of  claim 3 , wherein the central controller comprises a memory configured to store a currently utilized electric charge table and the amount of power consumed by the main body, measured by the watt-hour meter. 
   
   
       5 . A refrigerator comprising:
 a main body having a case with storage spaces formed therein and doors for selectively closing the storage spaces;   a control panel disposed on any of the doors and having a display and a plurality of buttons; and   a brightness adjusting unit disposed in the main body and configured to adjust the brightness of the display.   
   
   
       6 . The refrigerator of  claim 5 , the brightness adjusting unit is implemented as a toggle switch which controls a current supply by changing locations of plural contact points. 
   
   
       7 . The refrigerator of  claim 5 , wherein the brightness of the display is adjusted in a multi-step manner by manipulating the brightness adjusting unit. 
   
   
       8 . The refrigerator of  claim 5 , wherein the brightness of the display is adjusted by changing the number of light emitting diodes lighted up by manipulating the brightness adjusting unit, a plurality of the light emitting diodes disposed at the rear surface of the display. 
   
   
       9 . The refrigerator of  claim 8 , wherein the brightness of the display is adjusted by:
 a first step of lighting up all of the plurality of light emitting diodes;   a second step of lighting up half of the plurality of light emitting diodes; and   a third step of turning off all of the plurality of light emitting diodes.   
   
   
       10 . The refrigerator of  claim 9 , wherein at the second step, the light emitting diodes which are lighted up are uniformly disposed at the rear surface of the display. 
   
   
       11 . A refrigerator comprising:
 a main body having a case with storage spaces formed therein and doors for selectively closing the storage spaces;   a control panel disposed on any of the doors and configured to input or output control information on the main body;   a watt-hour meter configured to measure an amount of power supplied to the main body; and   a central controller configured to calculate electric charges for a duration inputted from the outside based on the amount of power measured by the watt-hour meter and display the calculated electric charges on the control panel.   
   
   
       12 . The refrigerator of  claim 11 , wherein the duration inputted from the outside is either a certain duration in the past or a duration from a certain time point in the past to the present. 
   
   
       13 . The refrigerator of  claim 11 , wherein the central controller is provided together with a control unit which controls the control panel. 
   
   
       14 . The refrigerator of  claim 11 , wherein the control panel comprises:
 a display configured to display a control screen; and   a plurality of buttons configured to set a screen displayed on the display.   
   
   
       15 . The refrigerator of  claim 11 , wherein the central controller comprises a memory configured to store a currently utilized electric charge table and the amount of power consumed by the main body, measured by the watt-hour meter. 
   
   
       16 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the display is implemented as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device. 
   
   
       17 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of buttons comprise:
 a menu button to allow a list of functions manipulated by a user to be displayed on the display;   up and down navigation buttons to allow the list of functions displayed to be changed or allow date to be set;   a confirmation button to allow data set by the menu button and the up and down navigation button to be stored;   a clear button to allow the stored data to be initialized; and   an electric charge checking button to allow the amount of power and electric charges therefor to be displayed on the display.