1. A storage device, comprising:

the device comprises a shell, a first cover, a second cover and a first cover, wherein a storage space for storing particles is defined in the shell;

a detection unit disposed within the housing, the detection unit including a light source configured to emit light to illuminate the particulate matter and a sensor configured to receive light passing through the particulate matter to obtain a transmittance; and

a control unit configured to determine freshness of the particulate matter based on the transmittance.

2. The storage device of claim 1,

the detection unit is provided with a box body;

the light source is arranged at the lower part of the box body;

the sensor is arranged at the upper part of the box body;

the side of the box body is provided with an opening, and a part of the particles enter the detection unit through the opening.

3. The storage device of claim 2,

the detection unit is movably arranged at the lower part of the shell;

the opening is arranged at the middle upper part of the side surface of the box body and faces towards one side of the inside of the storage space.

4. The storage device of claim 1,

the number of the detection units is two, and the detection units are symmetrically arranged on the left side and the right side of the shell;

the control unit is configured to determine the freshness of the particulate matter based on the transmittances obtained by the two detection units.

5. The storage device of claim 1, further comprising:

and the display unit is arranged above the shell and used for displaying the freshness of the particles.

6. The storage device of claim 1, further comprising:

nursing unit, set up in the outside of casing, configure into with the storing space intercommunication, in order to be in the storing space forms and does benefit to the fresh-keeping vacuum atmosphere or the gaseous atmosphere of particulate matter.

7. The storage device of claim 6,

the care unit comprises: the vacuum pump through the exhaust line with storage space links to each other, and the configuration is right storage space evacuation, with storage space forms and does benefit to the fresh-keeping vacuum atmosphere of particulate matter.

8. The storage device of claim 6,

the care unit comprises: and the inert gas tank is connected with the storage space through a gas transmission pipeline and is configured to fill inert gas into the storage space so as to form a gas atmosphere favorable for keeping the particulate matters fresh in the storage space.

9. The storage device of claim 1,

the particulate matter is translucent grain.

10. A refrigerator having a storage apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

Background

Granular solid food materials purchased by users at present, such as rice, beans and other particles, are usually stored in a refrigerating chamber of a refrigerator, and the freshness retention time of the particles can be prolonged by placing the particles in a particle distributor or a drawer of the refrigerating chamber. But the freshness of the particulate matter inevitably decreases after a long period of storage. For example, rice has problems of discoloration, increased acidity, and growth of mold. The freshness of the particles in the prior art can not be accurately evaluated, and can only be judged according to the user experience, so that the problem that the particles are not fresh for the user to eat or the edible particles are discarded is caused.

Disclosure of Invention

One object of the present invention is to provide a storage device capable of accurately judging the freshness of particulate matter.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a storage device with easy and quick determination of freshness of particulate matter.

It is another further object of the present invention to provide a storage device with an extended freshness retention of particulate matter.

In particular, the present invention provides a storage device comprising:

the device comprises a shell, a first cover, a second cover and a first cover, wherein a storage space for storing particles is defined in the shell;

the detection unit is arranged in the shell and comprises a light source and a sensor, the light source is configured to emit light to irradiate the particles, and the sensor is configured to receive the light passing through the particles to obtain transmittance; and

a control unit configured to determine freshness of the particulate matter based on the transmittance.

Optionally, the detection unit has a cartridge;

the light source is arranged at the lower part of the box body;

the sensor is arranged at the upper part of the box body;

the side of box body is provided with the opening, and partly in the particulate matter gets into the detecting element through the opening.

Optionally, the detection unit is movably arranged at the lower part of the shell;

the opening is arranged at the middle upper part of the side surface of the box body and is arranged towards one side of the inside of the storage space.

Optionally, the number of the detection units is two, and the detection units are symmetrically arranged on the left side and the right side of the shell;

the control unit is configured to determine the freshness of the particulate matter based on the transmittances obtained by the two detection units.

Optionally, the storage device further comprises: and the display unit is arranged above the shell and used for displaying the freshness of the particles.

Optionally, the storage device further comprises: nursing unit sets up in the outside of casing, configures into and communicates with the storing space to form the vacuum atmosphere or the gaseous atmosphere that do benefit to the particulate matter fresh-keeping in the storing space.

Optionally, the care unit comprises: the vacuum pump links to each other with the storing space through the exhaust line, configures to the storing space evacuation to form the vacuum atmosphere that does benefit to the particulate matter fresh-keeping in the storing space.

Optionally, the care unit comprises: the inert gas tank is connected with the storage space through a gas pipeline and is configured to fill inert gas into the storage space so as to form a gas atmosphere favorable for keeping particulate matters fresh in the storage space.

Optionally, the particulate matter is translucent grain.

The invention also provides a refrigerator with the storage device.

According to the storage device and the refrigerator with the storage device, the detection unit with the light source and the sensor is arranged in the shell, the light source is used for emitting light to irradiate particles, the sensor is used for receiving the light penetrating through the particles to obtain the transmittance, and the control unit is arranged for determining the freshness of the particles based on the transmittance, so that the freshness of the particles in the storage device can be accurately judged, the use experience of a user is improved, and the problem that the user eats particles which are not fresh or the edible particles are discarded is avoided. The storage device can be used as an independent part to be placed in an air-cooled refrigerator, a direct-cooled refrigerator or a freezer, and even can be directly placed in an indoor environment, so that the application range is wide.

Furthermore, the detection unit of the storage device is ingenious in structure, and meanwhile, few particles are needed to be detected, so that the storage device can be used for accurately judging freshness only by detecting a small amount of particles.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Some specific embodiments of the invention will be described in detail hereinafter, by way of illustration and not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar elements or components. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of a detection unit of the storage device shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of a storage device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a part of components of the storage device shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a control method of the storage apparatus shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a detailed flowchart of a control method of the storage apparatus shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerator having the storage apparatus shown in fig. 1.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a storage device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a part of the components of the storage device 100 shown in fig. 1. The storage device 100 of the embodiment of the invention comprises a shell 101. A storage space for storing the particulate matter 600 is defined in the housing 101. In particular, the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention further includes a detection unit 200 and a control unit 300. The detection unit 200 is disposed in the housing 101 and includes a light source 201 and a sensor 202. The light source 201 is configured to emit light to illuminate the particulate matter 600. The sensor 202 is configured to receive light passing through the particulate matter 600 to obtain light transmittance. The control unit 300 is configured to determine the freshness of the particulate matter 600 based on the transmittance of light. According to the storage device 100 provided by the embodiment of the invention, the detection unit 200 provided with the light source 201 and the sensor 202 is arranged in the shell 101, the light source 201 is used for emitting light to irradiate the particulate matters 600, the sensor 202 is used for receiving the light penetrating through the particulate matters 600 to obtain the light transmittance, and the control unit 300 is arranged for determining the freshness of the particulate matters 600 based on the light transmittance, so that the freshness of the particulate matters 600 in the storage device 100 can be accurately judged, the use experience of a user is improved, and the problem that the health is influenced or the edible particulate matters 600 are discarded to cause waste due to the fact that the user excessively eats the stale particulate matters 600 is solved. The storage device 100 of the embodiment of the invention can be used as an independent component to be placed in an air-cooled refrigerator, a direct-cooled refrigerator or an ice chest, and even can be directly placed in an indoor environment, so that the application range is wide.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a control method of the storage apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1. The control method of the storage device 100 of the embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps:

s102: controlling the light source 201 to emit light to irradiate the particles 600;

s104: the control sensor 202 receives light passing through the particulate matter 600 to obtain transmittance;

s106: the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is determined based on the transmittance of light.

The control unit 300 comprises a processor 301 and a memory 302, wherein a computer program 320 is stored in the memory 302, and the computer program 320 is used for realizing the control method of the storage device 100 when being executed by the processor 301. The light source 201 may be, for example, a conventional LED light source or other light source that does not impair the quality of the particulate matter 600. The transmittance can be obtained by directly measuring with the existing instrument or by calculating after acquiring certain parameters of the light. For example, the transmittance can be obtained by first measuring the illumination intensity of the light passing through the particulate matter 600 by the sensor 202 and then calculating the ratio of the illumination intensity to the illumination intensity of the light measured by the sensor 202 without the particulate matter 600. The sensor 202 may include an illuminometer and a data processing module, wherein the data processing module of the sensor 202 may be provided separately or integrated in the control unit 300. Considering that the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention determines the freshness based on the transmittance of light, the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is particularly suitable for translucent grains 600, such as rice, which ages and changes greatly in transmittance as the storage time increases, and when the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is used to store rice, the freshness of the rice can be accurately determined based on the transmittance of light.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of the detection unit 200 of the storage device 100 shown in fig. 1. In some embodiments, the detection unit 200 of the storage device 100 of the present invention has a box 203; the light source 201 is arranged at the lower part of the box body 203; the sensor 202 is arranged on the upper part of the box body 203; the side of the box 203 is provided with an opening 230, and a part of the particulate matter 600 enters the detection unit 200 through the opening 230. The detection unit 200 of the storage device 100 of the embodiment of the invention has the advantages that the light source 201 is arranged at the lower part of the box body 203, the sensor 202 is arranged at the upper part of the box body 203, the opening 230 is arranged at the side surface of the box body 203, so that a part of the particulate matters 600 enter the detection unit 200 through the opening 230, the structure is ingenious, meanwhile, fewer particulate matters 600 are required for detection, and the storage device 100 can obtain accurate freshness judgment only by detecting a small amount of particulate matters 600. For example, when the particulate matter 600 is rice, the detection can be accomplished by placing about 5-10g of rice in the detection cell 200.

Referring to fig. 1, in some embodiments, the detection unit 200 of the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is movably disposed at a lower portion of the housing 101; the opening 230 is opened at the middle upper portion of the side surface of the box 203 and is disposed toward the inner side of the storage space. To the same batch of particulate matter 600 put into the storage space, the user is usually used to take the particulate matter 600 from top to bottom, so the evaluation on the freshness of the particulate matter 600 mainly aims at the particulate matter 600 at the bottom layer, and the detection unit 200 is arranged at the lower part of the shell 101 to better accord with the taking rule of the particulate matter 600; the movable arrangement of the detecting unit 200 can facilitate the particles 600 to be detected in the detecting unit 200 to be poured out of the detecting unit 200 from the opening 230 of the detecting unit 200, so that the particles 600 in the detecting unit 200 can be conveniently renewed when the next batch of particles 600 is renewed; the opening 230 is arranged at the middle upper part of the side surface of the box body 203, so that the stability of the particulate matters 600 to be detected can be ensured as much as possible, the particulate matters 600 to be detected can be prevented from sliding out of the detection unit 200, and the front freshness judgment and the rear freshness judgment of the same batch of particulate matters 600 are more consistent.

With continued reference to fig. 1, in some embodiments, the number of the detection units 200 of the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is two, and the detection units are symmetrically disposed on the left and right sides of the housing 101; the control unit 300 is configured to determine the freshness of the particulate matter 600 based on the transmittances of the two detection units 200. Compared with the arrangement of one detection unit 200, the arrangement of two symmetrical detection units 200 can make the determination of the transmittance more accurate, and further make the judgment of the freshness of the particulate matters 600 more accurate.

The storage device 100 of the embodiment of the present invention further includes: and a display unit 400 disposed above the housing 101 for displaying freshness of the particulate matter 600. Can make the user learn directly perceivedly the freshness of particulate matter 600 through setting up display element 400, set up display element 400 in the top of casing 101 more accords with user's use habit simultaneously. The freshness of the particulate matter 600 can be substantially comprised of stale, first freshness, and second freshness, wherein the freshness of the particulate matter 600 corresponding to the second freshness is higher than the freshness of the particulate matter 600 corresponding to the first freshness. Correspondingly, the display unit 400 may display characters, such as "not fresh", "edible", and "fresh", and may also display colors, such as "red", "gray", and "green". Wherein red can indicate that the particulate matter 600 is stale, gray can indicate that the particulate matter 600 is at a first freshness, and green can indicate that the particulate matter 600 is at a second freshness. It is to be understood that the freshness of the particulate matter 600 can be further subdivided, including, for example, stale, first freshness, second freshness, third freshness … …, and the like, and is not particularly limited herein.

The storage device 100 of the embodiment of the present invention further includes: nursing unit 500, set up in the outside of casing 101, configure to based on the new freshness and the storing space intercommunication of particulate matter 600 to form the vacuum atmosphere or the gaseous atmosphere that do benefit to particulate matter 600 fresh-keeping in storing space. The retention time of freshness of the particulate matter 600 can be extended by providing the care unit 500. Referring to fig. 1, in some embodiments, a nursing unit 500 of the storage device 100 of the present invention includes a vacuum pump 501 connected to the storage space via a suction line 510, and configured to evacuate the storage space to form a vacuum atmosphere in the storage space that facilitates preservation of the particulate matter 600. Through to storing space evacuation, can improve storing space's vacuum, and then the retention time of the new freshness of extension particulate matter 600. Fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of a storage device 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention. In other embodiments, the nursing unit 500 of the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes: the inert gas tank 502 is connected with the storage space through a gas pipeline 520 and is configured to fill inert gas into the storage space so as to form a gas atmosphere favorable for keeping the particulate matters 600 fresh in the storage space. An on-off valve 530 is provided on the gas line 520 to control the flow of the inert gas.

Determining the freshness of the particulate matter 600 based on the transmittance of the control unit 300 of the storage device 100 of the embodiment of the present invention may include various implementations. For example, the measured transmittance is compared to a preset value to determine the freshness of the particulate matter 600. As another example, multiple measured transmittances can be compared to determine freshness of the particulate matter 600. As another example, the freshness of the particulate matter 600 can be determined based on a trend of change in the transmittance measured multiple times. The control method of the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail herein by taking the example of comparing the transmittance with a predetermined value to determine the freshness of the particulate matter 600.

In some embodiments, in the control method of the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the step of determining the freshness of the particulate matter 600 based on the transmittance of light includes:

judging whether the transmittance is less than a first preset transmittance threshold value;

if so, the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is determined to be stale.

The control method of the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention first determines whether the transmittance is less than a first predetermined transmittance threshold, which considers that the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is in a long-term edible state before the freshness reaches the freshness, and that the freshness is in a state of being fresh or edible, and that the freshness of the particulate matter 600 reaches the freshness, the particulate matter 600 is considered to be in a state of being deteriorated in quality and being not suitable for long-term eating or even being inedible, so as to avoid affecting the physical health of the user. Different types of particles 600 respectively have corresponding first preset light transmission thresholds, and the names of the types of the particles 600 and the corresponding first preset light transmission thresholds are stored in the sensor 202 or the control unit 300. The user selects the type name of the particulate matter 600 after placing the particulate matter 600 into the storage device 100, thereby determining the first preset light transmission threshold value at that time. Or, a type detection unit is further disposed in the storage device 100, and is configured to identify the type of the particulate matter 600 placed in the storage device 100 through image recognition or other prior art, and then determine a corresponding first preset light transmittance threshold value based on the identification result. The first preset light transmittance threshold may be obtained by, during manufacturing of the storage device 100, placing completely stale particulate matter 600 (for example, particulate matter 600 with a shelf life being over) into the detection unit 200 to obtain a measured illumination intensity, calculating a ratio of the measured illumination intensity to an illumination intensity of light measured by the sensor 202 when no particulate matter 600 is placed, and using the ratio as the first preset light transmittance threshold, or setting the first preset light transmittance threshold to be slightly higher than the ratio, or further selecting a plurality of different brands of the same type of particulate matter 600, repeating the foregoing steps for a plurality of times, and averaging the obtained ratios to use the average value as the first preset light transmittance threshold, and the like.

In the control method of the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, when it is determined that the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is not fresh, the storage device 100 is controlled to send out the reminding message. The reminding message may be sent by setting the display unit 400 to a light flashing mode, or by setting a sound-emitting unit on the storage device 100 to send a reminding sound. By setting the storage device 100 to send out the reminding information when the particulate matter 600 is not fresh, the user can be reminded to process the non-fresh particulate matter 600 in time.

In the control method of the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the transmittance is greater than or equal to the first preset transmittance threshold, the nursing unit 500 is controlled to act, so as to form a vacuum atmosphere or a gas atmosphere in the storage space, which is favorable for keeping the particulate matter 600 fresh. Through control nursing unit 500 action when transmittance is more than or equal to first preset printing opacity threshold value in order to form the vacuum atmosphere or the gaseous atmosphere that do benefit to the particulate matter 600 fresh-keeping in storing space, can prolong the freshness retention time of particulate matter 600. When nursing unit 500 includes vacuum pump 501, when the transmittance is greater than or equal to first preset light transmission threshold value, control vacuum pump 501 and open, to the storing space evacuation to form the vacuum atmosphere that does benefit to particulate matter 600 fresh-keeping in the storing space. When the nursing unit 500 comprises the inert gas tank 502, when the light transmittance is greater than or equal to the first preset light transmittance threshold value, the inert gas tank 502 is controlled to be opened, and inert gas is filled into the storage space, so that a gas atmosphere favorable for keeping the particulate matters 600 fresh is formed in the storage space.

In the control method of the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the transmittance is greater than or equal to the first preset transmittance threshold, it is determined whether the transmittance is less than a second preset transmittance threshold, where the second preset transmittance threshold is greater than the first preset transmittance threshold;

if so, determining the freshness of the particulate matter 600 to be a first freshness;

if not, the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is determined to be a second freshness, wherein the second freshness is higher than the first freshness.

According to the control method of the storage device 100, the first preset light transmission threshold value and the second preset light transmission threshold value are set, so that the freshness of the particles 600 is divided into three levels, namely, freshness, the first freshness and the second freshness, and the particles 600 have three qualities of freshness, edibility and freshness correspondingly, so that the confirmation of the freshness of the particles 600 is more consistent with the actual requirements of users, meanwhile, the control steps are not too complicated, and the freshness judgment speed is increased. As mentioned above, taking rice as an example, the first predetermined light transmission threshold may be 0.01-0.1, such as 0.05, 0.08, 0.1, and the second predetermined light transmission threshold may be 0.3-0.4, such as 0.3, 0.35, 0.4.

In some embodiments, in the control method of the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is determined to be the first freshness, the nursing unit 500 is controlled to operate for the first preset time period at first preset intervals; when the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is determined to be a second freshness, controlling the nursing unit 500 to operate for a first preset time period at intervals of a second preset interval; wherein the second preset interval time is longer than the first preset interval time. The parameters of the actions of the care unit 500 may include a length of run time, an interval time, etc., and the run time and/or the interval time of the care unit 500 may be the same or different for different freshness degrees. In the invention, the operation time of the nursing unit 500 corresponding to the second freshness and the operation time of the nursing unit 500 corresponding to the first freshness are both set as the first preset time, the interval time of the nursing unit 500 corresponding to the second freshness adopts the second preset interval time, and the interval time of the nursing unit 500 corresponding to the first freshness adopts the first preset interval time, so that the control logic is matched with the current freshness of the particles 600, and the method is simple and easy to realize. The first preset time period of the nursing unit 500 may be 5-20min, for example 5min, 7min, 10min, 20 min; the first predetermined interval may be 3-5 days, e.g., 3 days, 4 days, 5 days; the second predetermined interval may be 5-7 days, such as 5.5 days, 6 days, 7 days. For the vacuum pump 501, the first preset time period is the starting time of the vacuum pump 501. For example, the vacuum pump 501 is controlled to operate for 10min every 3 days when the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is determined to be the first freshness degree, and the vacuum pump 501 is controlled to operate for 10min every 7 days when the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is determined to be the second freshness degree. For the inert gas tank 502, the first preset time period may be determined by dividing the amount of the inert gas filled into the storage device 100 by the inflation speed of the inert gas tank 502 by 10% -20% of the total volume of the storage space, for example, assuming that the total volume of the storage space is 2000mL, the inflation speed is 20mL/min, and the first preset time period is 10min-20 min. For example, the inert gas tank 502 is controlled to be opened for 10min every 3 days when the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is determined to be the first freshness, and the inert gas tank 502 is controlled to be opened for 10min every 7 days when the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is determined to be the second freshness.

The following is a detailed description of a control method of the storage device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6 is a detailed flowchart of a control method of the storage apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1. After a user puts the particles 600 into the storage device 100, a part of the particles 600 in the lower part of the storage space enter the detection unit 200 through the opening 230. The control method of the storage device 100 comprises the following steps:

s202: controlling the light source 201 to emit light to irradiate the particles 600;

s204: the control sensor 202 receives light passing through the particulate matter 600 to obtain transmittance;

s206: judging whether the transmittance is less than a first preset transmittance threshold value;

s208: when the judgment result of step S206 is yes, the freshness of the particulate matter 600 is determined to be stale.

S210: after determining that the freshness of the particulate matters 600 is stale in step S208, the control display unit 400 displays the word "stale" and controls the storage device 100 to send out a warning message.

S212: when the determination result in the step S206 is negative, it is determined whether the transmittance is less than a second predetermined transmittance threshold, where the second predetermined transmittance threshold is greater than the first predetermined transmittance threshold.

S214: when the judgment result of the step S212 is yes, determining the freshness of the particulate matter 600 as a first freshness;

s216: after determining the freshness of the granules 600 as the first freshness at step S214, the control display unit 400 displays the word "edible" and controls the nursing unit 500 to operate for a first preset time period at first preset intervals. Meanwhile, step S202 is performed again after the second preset time interval. The second predetermined period of time may typically be 10-15 days, for example 10 days, 12 days, 15 days.

S218: when the judgment result of the step S212 is no, determining the freshness of the particulate matter 600 as a second freshness;

s220: after determining the freshness of the particulate matter 600 to be the second freshness in step S218, the display unit 400 is controlled to display the word "fresh" and the nursing unit 500 is controlled to operate for the first preset time period at intervals of the second preset interval. Meanwhile, step S202 is performed again after the second preset time interval.

Taking rice as an example, after a user puts rice into the storage device 100, the user selects and determines that the type name of the particulate matter 600 is rice, the first preset light transmission threshold value is 0.1, the second preset light transmission threshold value is 0.3, and a part of the rice at the lower part of the storage space enters the detection unit 200 through the opening 230. The light source 201 emits light to irradiate the rice entering the detection unit 200, the sensor 202 receives the light passing through the rice and obtains the transmittance of 0.4, the freshness of the rice is determined to be the second freshness, the display unit 400 displays the word "fresh", and the vacuum pump 501 is controlled to operate for 10min every 7 days. After 120 days, the transmittance of the light obtained by the sensing unit 200 was 0.2, and it was determined that the freshness of the rice was the first freshness, the display unit 400 displayed the "edible" word, and the vacuum pump 501 was controlled to operate for 10min every 3 days. After 240 days, the transmittance obtained by the detection unit 200 is 0.08, the freshness of the rice is determined to be stale, the display unit 400 displays the word of 'stale', and the storage device 100 is controlled to send out reminding information.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerator 700 having the storage apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1. The refrigerator 700 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a cabinet 701 and a door 702. At least one storage compartment is defined in the box body 701, and the storage device 100 can be placed in the storage compartment in a removable manner to provide a storage space with adjustable humidity for the refrigerator 700. The door 702 is disposed at a front side of the cabinet 701 and opens and closes one or more storage compartments. The refrigerator 700 may be an air-cooled refrigerator or a direct-cooled refrigerator. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the humidity referred to in the embodiments of the present invention is relative humidity, and the refrigerator 700 according to the present invention includes, but is not limited to, a refrigerator in a general sense, and may further include a freezer-refrigerator, such as a refrigerator cabinet, a freezer, etc.

According to the storage device 100 and the refrigerator 700 with the storage device 100, the detection unit 200 with the light source 201 and the sensor 202 is arranged in the shell 101, the light source 201 is used for emitting light to irradiate the particles 600, the sensor 202 is used for receiving the light passing through the particles 600 to obtain the light transmittance, and the control unit 300 is arranged for determining the freshness of the particles 600 based on the light transmittance, so that the freshness of the particles 600 in the storage device 100 can be accurately judged, the use experience of a user is improved, and the problem that the user eats stale particles 600 or edible particles 600 are discarded is avoided. The storage device 100 of the invention can be used as an independent component to be placed in an air-cooled refrigerator, a direct-cooled refrigerator or a freezer, and even can be directly placed in an indoor environment, so that the application range is wide.

Further, the detection unit 200 of the storage device 100 according to the embodiment of the invention has the advantages that the light source 201 is arranged at the lower part of the box body 203, the sensor 202 is arranged at the upper part of the box body 203, and the opening 230 is arranged at the side surface of the box body 203, so that a part of the particulate matters 600 enter the detection unit 200 through the opening 230, the structure is ingenious, meanwhile, less particulate matters 600 are required for detection, and the storage device 100 can obtain accurate freshness judgment only by detecting a small amount of particulate matters 600.

Thus, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the invention may be directly determined or derived from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be understood and interpreted to cover all such other variations or modifications.