CN108351148B

CN108351148B - Refrigeration device with flexible compartments

Info

Publication number: CN108351148B
Application number: CN201680063537.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: T·比朔夫贝尔格; T·格弗勒; A·米勒; T·埃施纳
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2015-11-04
Filing date: 2016-10-11
Publication date: 2022-02-08
Anticipated expiration: 2036-10-11
Also published as: CN108351148A; WO2017076586A1; EP3371528A1; DE102015221667A1; EP3371528B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a refrigerator, in particular a domestic refrigerator, comprising a flexible compartment (6) which can be operated at different temperatures, an evaporator (11) which is arranged in an evaporator chamber (7) which is separated from the compartment (6). The evaporator (11) is assigned defrosting heating means (16) and ventilation means (18) for driving an air flow between the evaporator chamber (7) and the compartment (6). A control unit (19) is provided for increasing (S1) the setpoint temperature (T) of the flexible compartment (6) during a heating phase (S8-S12)_soll) Then, the ventilation device (18) and the defrosting heating device (16) are operated simultaneously in order to heat the flexible chamber (6).

Description

Refrigeration device with flexible compartments

Technical Field

The invention relates to a refrigerator, in particular a domestic refrigerator, having compartments which can be optionally used as refrigerating compartments or freezing compartments at greatly different nominal temperatures, typically depending on the needs of the user, also referred to as flexible compartments or variable compartments.

Background

When the user wants to switch the variable cell from the freezing operation to the normal refrigerating operation, a long time passes until the new nominal temperature is reached by only the heat flow from the surroundings. As long as the new nominal temperature has not been reached, the use of a variable compartment is risky, since the cold stored contents can be damaged at too low a temperature.

It is therefore proposed in WO 2009/061076 a2 to use a defrost heating device in order to heat the variable cell faster after increasing the rated temperature.

The energy efficiency of the method is primarily problematic in that a single evaporator outside the variable compartment must also cool the other compartments, since when one of the other compartments has a cooling demand, the heating of the variable compartment must be interrupted and the evaporator compartment must be cooled at least down to the nominal temperature of the other compartment and then heated again. It is therefore desirable that the heating of the variable compartment can be carried out completely between the two cooling operating phases.

Disclosure of Invention

The aim of the invention is to accelerate the heating of the cells further and to make them more energy-efficient.

This object is achieved, on the one hand, by a refrigerator, in particular a domestic refrigerator, having a flexible compartment which can be operated at different temperatures, an evaporator which is arranged in an evaporator compartment which is separate from the compartment, a defrost heating device which is assigned to the evaporator, and a ventilation device for driving an air flow between the evaporator compartment and the compartment, wherein a control unit is provided for increasing the setpoint temperature (T) of the flexible compartment during a heating operation phase_soll) The ventilation device and the defrost heating device are then operated simultaneously in order to heat the flexible compartments. The temperature difference between the evaporator chamber and the flexible compartment can thus be kept small and the heat dissipation from the evaporator chamber in the further compartment of the refrigeration appliance can be kept small.

Furthermore, the control unit is preferably provided for controlling the defrosting process before the ventilation device and the defrosting heating device are operated simultaneously. The transfer of water vapor from the evaporator into the flexible cells and the condensation of the vapor in the flexible cells can thereby be largely prevented.

When the defrosting is finished and the control unit detects said defrosting, for example from the measurement of a temperature sensor arranged on the evaporator, the ventilation means can be switched on without switching off the defrosting heating means.

In order to avoid the temperature in the flexible compartment exceeding the increased target value, in the heating operating phase, an on phase, in which the ventilation device and the defrost heating device are in operation, and an off phase, in which the ventilation device and the defrost heating device are not in operation, may be alternated.

In order to achieve the new target temperature in a smooth manner, however, it is expedient if the switch-on phase at the beginning of the heating phase of operation is longer than the switch-on phase at the end of the heating phase of operation.

The change of the setpoint temperature can be carried out manually on a controller of the control unit; however, the control unit can also be provided for raising the setpoint temperature at a predetermined point in time in order to bring the contents of the flexible compartment to the consumption temperature or the processing temperature at a given point in time.

In addition, the object is achieved by a method for operating a refrigeration device having a flexible compartment which can be operated at different temperatures, an evaporator which is arranged in an evaporator compartment which is separate from the compartment, a defrost heater which is assigned to the evaporator, and a ventilation device for driving an air flow between the evaporator compartment and the compartment, having the following steps:

a) increasing the temperature rating of the cell, an

d) The ventilation means and the defrost heating means are operated simultaneously to heat the compartment to the nominal temperature.

Between steps a) and d) the defrost heating device can be operated in step c) without operating the ventilation device in order to defrost the evaporator.

The further compartments may be pre-cooled before step d) and preferably also before step c) in order to maximize the time until the cooling demand in the compartments is achieved.

Drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention result from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the drawing. In the drawings:

figure 1 shows a schematic partial cross-sectional view through a refrigeration appliance according to the invention; and

fig. 2 shows a flow chart of a method for operating a refrigeration device.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a cut through the lower part of a domestic refrigeration appliance. The body 1 and the

doors

2, 3, 4 define the boundaries of a plurality of storage compartments, here freezing compartments 5 and flexible compartments 6 and evaporator compartments 7. The evaporator chamber 7 is here arranged vertically between the

compartments

5, 6 and the rear wall 8 of the body 1; an arrangement on a horizontal partition between two storage compartments is also conceivable.

A horizontal partition 9 between the flexible compartment 6 and a normal refrigeration compartment 10, which is only partially shown, can extend continuously from the

doors

3, 4 as far as the rear wall 8, wherein a separate evaporator is then provided for the normal refrigeration compartment 10. Alternatively, however, the evaporator chamber 7 and the evaporator 11 arranged therein can also be provided for cooling all three

compartments

5, 6, 10, wherein in this case a vertical partition 12 separating the evaporator chamber 7 from the

compartments

5, 6 can extend up to the level of the normal refrigerating compartment 10, and the horizontal partition 9 extends back only up to the vertical partition 12.

Shutters

13, 14 in a vertical dividing wall 12 between the evaporator chamber 7 and the

compartments

5, 6 and possibly 10 adjacent to said dividing wall 12 control the distribution of cold air from the evaporator chamber 7 to the storage compartments.

The evaporator chamber 7 is divided by a wall 15 into a region in which the evaporator 11 and the defrost heating device 16 are arranged and a distribution region 17 to which the

shutters

13, 14 are connected. Ventilation means 18 are mounted on the through-holes of the wall 15 in order to draw air from the storage compartment into the evaporator chamber 7 through passages, not shown, in the wall of the body 1 and to draw it through the evaporator 11 and to pump it back into the storage compartment through the distribution area 17 and the

shutters

13, 14.

The electrical control unit 19 is connected to

temperature sensors

20, 21, 22, 23 in the

storage compartments

5, 6, 10 and on the evaporator 11 and to the compressor 24, the ventilation device 18 and the defrost heater 16 in order to control the latter compressor, ventilation device and defrost heater in accordance with the temperatures measured by the sensors in such a way that the temperatures of the

storage compartments

5, 6, 10 are each maintained within a tolerance range around a setpoint temperature predetermined by the user. A user interface, not shown in fig. 1, of the control unit 19, which is arranged at an easily accessible position on the front of the appliance, may in particular comprise a display element which displays an excessive deviation between the current temperature and the setpoint temperature and which is therefore switched on by the control unit 19 in response to a sufficiently large change in the setpoint temperature and is switched off again when the compartment temperature is adapted to the setpoint temperature.

The flexible cells 6 are characterized by a target temperature T_sollCan be adjusted within a particularly wide range, between the temperature Tf of the freezing compartment 5 and the temperature of the normal refrigerating compartment 10 or even also beyond the latter mentioned range.

After the flexible compartment 6 has been operated as a freezer compartment, the user wants to use the compartment 6 in another way and to increase T for this purpose_sollThe control unit 19 may then implement the method according to the flow chart of fig. 2 below.

When T is reached in step S1_sollIf the increase is effected by user control or automatically by the control unit 19 on the basis of time programming, it is first checked in step S2 that the old setpoint temperature and the new setpoint temperature T are present_sollWhether the difference between Δ T is large enough to activate the heating of the flexible cells 6 or the difference involves only minor corrections. Only in the first case does the method continue to step S3, or in a simplified variant of the method to step S6, and the display element of the user interface is switched on.

In step S3, it is checked whether the compressor 24 is in operation due to a refrigeration requirement present in one of the storage compartments which use the same evaporator 11 as the flexible compartment 6, i.e. which is at least one freezing compartment 5, possibly also the normal refrigerating compartment 10. When so, the method remains on this step until the shut-off limit temperature of the relevant cell is reached.

In step S4The current temperature Tf of the freezing compartment 5 is compared with the shut-off limit temperature Tf_ausIn comparison, the control unit 19 ends the cooling of the freezer compartment 5 in normal operation at the shut-off limit temperature. When the current temperature is higher by the predetermined minimum difference Δ, it makes sense to first switch on (S5) the compressor 24 and cool the freezing compartment 5 in order to keep the time period for subsequently providing for heating the flexible compartment 6 without being disturbed by the refrigeration requirement of the further compartment as long as possible. The preventive cooling can of course also be used for the normal refrigeration compartment 10, when the evaporator 11 is also used for cooling the normal refrigeration compartment.

When it is determined in step S4 that no preventive cooling is required or the

relevant freezing compartment

5 or 10 is cooled down until it reaches its turn-off limit temperature, then the compressor 24 is turned off in step S5 and the defrost heating device 16 is turned on in step S6 to defrost the evaporator 11 in a known manner. For this purpose, the defrost heating device 16 can be operated, for example, for so long that the temperature sensor 24 on the evaporator 11 indicates a temperature above 0 ℃, which can conclude that the evaporator 11 is completely free of ice. The

shutters

13, 14 are closed at the same time.

When it is determined in step S7 that the conditions for ending defrosting are satisfied, however, the defrosting heating means 16 remains in operation, and the ventilation means 18 is in operation and the shutter 14 is opened, so that the air heated at this time at the defrosting heating means 16 or the evaporator 11 heated thereby is blown into the flexible compartment 6.

The defrost heating device 16 must be operated beforehand to bring the flexible compartment 6 to the new nominal temperature T_sollCan be evaluated in advance on the basis of the power of the defrost heater 16, the heat capacity of the flexible compartment 6 and the difference between the old and the new nominal temperature, and a predetermined fraction of this time period is determined as the duration t1 of the first on-phase of the defrost heater 16 and the ventilation device 18.

When it is determined in step S9 that the period of time has passed the first on phase, then the defrost heating device 16 and the ventilation device 18 are switched off in step S10 in order to achieve a temperature balance between the different regions of the flexible compartment 6 in the following off phase of duration t'.

When a new target temperature is reached, as evidenced in the shutdown phase (S12), the method is ended and the display element of the user interface is turned off. If this does not occur, a new on-phase is entered (S13) when the end of the off-phase is reached in step S11, which on-phase however has a shorter duration t2 than t 1. When it is determined in step S14 that the on-phase is finished, the ventilation device and the defrost heating device are turned off again, and the method returns to step S11. Thus, the off-phases and the short on-phases alternate with each other until T is reached_soll。

Ideally, it should not happen that a cooling demand occurs in the storage compartment during this time, since the method of fig. 2 is interrupted for cooling the compartment, the evaporator must be cooled down and then heated again in order to continue heating the flexible compartment 6. If the interruption is necessary, the method can then be restarted in a step S2, so that the difference Δ T between the current temperature and the setpoint temperature at the restart time point is less than Δ T_minIn the meantime, the reheating of the evaporator chamber is stopped and the further heating of the compartment 6 is taken care of by the inflow of ambient heat through the walls of the compartment.

List of reference numerals

1 main body

2 door

3 door

4 door

5 freezing compartment

6 Flexible cellular compartments

7 evaporator chamber

8 rear wall

9 horizontal partition wall

10 Normal refrigeration Compartment

11 evaporator

12 vertical partition wall

13 flashboard

14 gate

15 wall

16 defrosting heating device

17 distribution area

18 ventilating device

19 control unit

20 temperature sensor

21 temperature sensor

22 temperature sensor

23 temperature sensor

24 compressor.

Claims

1. A refrigerator having a flexible compartment (6) which can be operated at different temperatures and which can optionally be used as a refrigerator compartment or freezer compartment, an evaporator (11) which is arranged in an evaporator compartment (7) which is separate from the compartment (6), a defrost heating device (16) which is assigned to the evaporator (11) and a ventilation device (18) for driving an air flow between the evaporator compartment (7) and the compartment (6), wherein a control unit (19) is provided for increasing (S8-S12) the setpoint temperature (T1) of the flexible compartment (6) in a heating operating phase (S8-S12) for the flexible compartment (6)_soll) -thereafter simultaneously operating the ventilation device (18) and the defrost heating device (16) in order to heat the flexible compartment (6), characterized in that in a heating operation phase (S8-S12), an on phase (S8-S10, S13-S15) in which the ventilation device (18) and the defrost heating device (16) are in operation, alternates with an off phase (S15-S13) in which the ventilation device (18) and the defrost heating device (16) are not in operation.

2. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is arranged to control a defrost process (S6, S7) before simultaneously operating the ventilation device (18) and the defrost heating device (16).

3. A cold appliance according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the on-phase (S8-S10) at the beginning of the heating operation phase (S8-S12) is longer than the on-phase (S13-S15) at the end of the heating operation phase (S8-S12).

4. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the control unit (19) is provided for raising the setpoint temperature at a predetermined point in time.

5. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a display element is provided for displaying the end of the heating phase.

6. A refrigerator appliance according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it has at least one further compartment (5) which can be cooled by the evaporator (11).

7. A refrigerator appliance as claimed in claim 1 or 2, which is a domestic refrigerator appliance.

8. A method for operating a refrigeration device having flexible compartments (6) which can be operated at different temperatures and which can be used optionally as refrigerating or freezing compartments, an evaporator (11) which is arranged in an evaporator compartment (7) which is separate from the compartments (6), defrost heating means (16) which are assigned to the evaporator (11) and ventilation means (18) for driving an air flow between the evaporator compartment (7) and the compartments (6), having the following steps:

a) increasing (S1) the nominal temperature (T) of the cell (6)_soll) And are and

d) in the heating operation phases (S8-S12) for the flexible cell (6), ON phases (S8-S10, S13-S15) are alternated with OFF phases (S15-S13) in order to heat the cell (6) to the nominal temperature (T) of the cell (6)_soll) -in the on phase the ventilation device (18) and the defrost heating device (16) are in operation, -in the off phase the ventilation device (18) and the defrost heating device (16) are not in operation.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein step c) is performed after step a) and before step d): defrosting (S6, S7) the evaporator (11) by operating the defrost heating device (16) without operating the ventilation device (18).

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein step b) is performed after step a) and before step d): the further compartment (5) is pre-cooled (S5).