CN114183963A - Refrigerator and defrosting method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The application provides a refrigerator and a defrosting method thereof, wherein the refrigerator comprises a storage compartment; refrigeration defrosting system, refrigeration defrosting system includes: the evaporator is internally provided with a pipeline for flowing refrigerant; a heater for heating the evaporator; the switch assembly comprises a first switch piece and a second switch piece, and the first switch piece and the second switch piece are respectively arranged at two ends of the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator; the controller, the controller is connected with heater, first switch spare and second switch spare electricity, and the controller is used for the heater before to the evaporimeter heating, closes first switch spare and second switch spare to the pipeline that makes the evaporimeter correspond forms the heat pipe, so that the frosting on evaporimeter surface melts, this application provides a refrigerator of high-efficient defrosting.

Description

Refrigerator and defrosting method thereof

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of household appliances, in particular to a refrigerator and a defrosting method of the refrigerator.

Background

The air-cooled refrigerator/freezer evaporator is generally arranged in a closed cavity at the back of a compartment, high-temperature air introduced into the compartment through a centrifugal fan carries out forced convection heat transfer, and water vapor contained in the air of the compartment can be frozen and frosted on the surface of the evaporator due to the lower temperature of the evaporator. The existence of frost layer will affect the refrigeration performance, even block the circulation of air, resulting in the reduction of refrigeration efficiency and the increase of power consumption. The importance of timely defrosting a refrigerator/freezer evaporator is not negligible.

It is to be noted that the information disclosed in the above background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present application and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a refrigerator using an efficient defrosting mode and a defrosting method of the refrigerator.

According to an aspect of an embodiment of the present application, there is provided a refrigerator including a storage compartment; refrigeration defrosting system, refrigeration defrosting system includes: the evaporator is internally provided with a pipeline for flowing refrigerant; a heater for heating the evaporator; the switch assembly comprises a first switch piece and a second switch piece, and the first switch piece and the second switch piece are respectively arranged at two ends of the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator; and the controller is electrically connected with the heater, the first switch piece and the second switch piece, and is used for closing the first switch piece and the second switch piece before the heater heats the evaporator so as to enable the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator to form the heat pipe during defrosting.

In some embodiments, based on the foregoing solution, the refrigeration and defrosting system further includes a throttling device, where the throttling device is disposed at a position corresponding to an inlet of the pipeline of the evaporator, and is used for controlling and adjusting an amount of refrigerant entering the pipeline; the first switch member is a throttling device.

In some embodiments, based on the foregoing, the second switching member includes a solenoid valve; when the evaporator is heated, the controller controls the electromagnetic valve to be matched with the throttling device, so that the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator forms a heat pipe, and frost on the surface of the evaporator is melted.

In some embodiments, based on the foregoing, the throttling device is an expansion valve or a capillary tube.

In some embodiments, based on the foregoing, a refrigeration and defrosting system includes a refrigerator having a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber; the refrigeration defrosting system comprises at least two evaporators; one freezing chamber corresponds to one evaporator; the first switch piece and the second switch piece are respectively arranged at two ends of the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator corresponding to the freezing chamber.

In some embodiments, based on the foregoing solution, the refrigeration and defrosting system further includes an accumulator, where the accumulator is disposed at a position where the evaporator corresponds to the outlet of the pipeline; the liquid storage device is provided with a pipeline for the circulation of refrigerant, and the second switch piece is arranged at the position of the liquid storage device corresponding to the outlet of the pipeline.

In some embodiments, based on the foregoing solution, the heater is attached to a surface of an evaporator, the surface of the evaporator has fins, and the heater is attached to the surface of the evaporator, so that the heater heats a pipe wall of a corresponding pipe of the evaporator or the fins.

According to another aspect of embodiments of the present application, there is also provided a refrigerator defrosting method, the method including: responding to a defrosting instruction, and closing a pipeline corresponding to an evaporator of the refrigerator to enable the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator to form a heat pipe; heating an evaporator of the refrigerator until a preset defrosting stopping condition is met; stopping heating, starting a pipeline corresponding to an evaporator of the refrigerator, and finishing defrosting.

In some embodiments, based on the foregoing method, prior to responding to the defrosting instruction, the method further comprises: precooling a storage compartment of the refrigerator, wherein the storage compartment comprises a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber; and when the temperature of the storage compartment is detected to meet the preset defrosting condition, a defrosting instruction is sent.

In some embodiments, based on the foregoing method, after heating the evaporator of the refrigerator, the method further comprises: recording a first time length after heating begins; and if the first time length meets the first preset time length, stopping heating.

The refrigerator that this application embodiment provided has following beneficial effect:

before the heater heats the evaporator of the refrigerator, the first switch piece and the second switch piece at two ends of a pipeline for the refrigerant to flow in the evaporator are closed so as to seal the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator, the refrigerant retained in the evaporator and the closed pipeline of the evaporator form a heat pipe, and when the evaporator is heated, the heat energy of the heater is quickly transferred to each part of the pipeline through the heat pipe effect, so that quick defrosting is realized.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the application.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the application. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the application, and that for a person skilled in the art, other drawings can be derived from them without inventive effort. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a refrigeration and defrosting system according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of steps of a refrigerator defrosting method according to some exemplary embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of steps of a refrigerator defrosting method according to further exemplary embodiments of the present application;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of a defrosting method for a refrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, like numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of the systems and methods of the present application as detailed in the appended claims.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a thorough understanding of embodiments of the application. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the subject matter of the present application can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, devices, steps, and so forth. In other instances, well-known methods, devices, implementations, or operations have not been shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the application.

The block diagrams shown in the figures are functional entities only and do not necessarily correspond to physically separate entities. I.e. these functional entities may be implemented in the form of software, or in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different networks and/or processor means and/or microcontroller means.

The flow charts shown in the drawings are merely illustrative and do not necessarily include all of the contents and operations/steps, nor do they necessarily have to be performed in the order described. For example, some operations/steps may be decomposed, and some operations/steps may be combined or partially combined, so that the actual execution sequence may be changed according to the actual situation.

In the correlation technique of this application, the refrigerator defrosting mode is the electrical heating defrosting, when defrosting, needs to consume extra electric power and heats the evaporimeter, melts the frost on its surface into liquid water, discharges outside the case through the drain pipe again. By arranging an electric heater in the compartment where the evaporator is located, for example, in the lower, side, or semi-enclosed form of the evaporator, the heater heats the air surrounding the evaporator, which in turn transfers heat to the evaporator to melt the frost on the surface of the evaporator. The defrosting mode has the following disadvantages: (1) the defrosting can be realized only by consuming larger electric energy, the defrosting time is longer, the temperature in the refrigerator is increased quickly, and the food storage is not facilitated. (2) If the electric heating time is too long, after defrosting is finished, the compressor needs to additionally work to lower the temperature of the evaporator, the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, and the defrosting mode greatly increases the power consumption of the whole refrigerator.

The application provides a refrigerator defrosting in an energy-saving and efficient mode. The refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present application may be a household refrigerator, a freezer, a commercial freezer, and other various refrigerator products, and is not limited herein.

First, the refrigeration principle of the refrigerator is as follows: a refrigeration system of a refrigerator generally includes a compressor, a condenser, a throttle device, a dry filter, an evaporator, and an accumulator. When a refrigerating demand of the refrigerating chamber and/or the freezing chamber of the refrigerator is received, the compressor is controlled to be started, so that the refrigerant circulates in the refrigerating cycle system, and the refrigerating chamber and/or the freezing chamber of the refrigerator is refrigerated. The compressor is used for compressing a refrigerant to change the refrigerant from low-pressure gas containing heat into high-temperature high-pressure gas, the high-temperature high-pressure gas passes through a condenser and is changed into low-temperature high-pressure liquid after heat release, the low-temperature high-pressure liquid passes through a drying filter, a molecular sieve is arranged in the drying filter and is used for absorbing moisture in the refrigerant to prevent corrosion or blockage caused by the moisture, then the high-pressure liquid refrigerant passes through a throttling device for throttling and reducing pressure to be changed into low-temperature low-pressure liquid, the low-pressure liquid refrigerant absorbs heat around an evaporator in the evaporator and is evaporated, and the low-pressure liquid refrigerant is changed into low-pressure gas to return to the compressor. The accumulator is arranged at the position of the outlet of the corresponding pipeline of the evaporator to ensure that the refrigerant is in a gas state when flowing into the compressor.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a defrosting system according to some embodiments of the present application, and as shown in fig. 1, the defrosting system provided by the present application at least includes an evaporator 100, an accumulator located at an outlet position of a corresponding pipeline of the evaporator 100, a switch assembly, a throttling device 102, a compressor 103, and a heater for heating defrosting frost to the evaporator.

The switch assembly includes a first switch and a second switch 101, the first switch and the second switch are respectively disposed at two ends of a pipeline corresponding to the evaporator, specifically, the reservoir is located at an outlet of the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator, the second switch 101 is disposed at an outlet of the pipeline corresponding to the compressor 103, the first switch can be located between the throttling device 102 and the evaporator, the throttling device 102 is generally an expansion valve or a capillary tube, wherein the expansion valve can be controlled to be opened and closed, and the capillary tube can be regarded as a state in which the flow path is not smooth due to its large resistance, or as a state in which the flow path is approximately closed. Therefore, the first switch member may be provided separately, or an expansion valve or a capillary tube existing in the refrigeration and defrosting system may be used. Before the heater heats, the second switch piece and the first switch piece are closed, and the corresponding pipeline of the evaporator is closed to form a closed heat pipe. Therefore, when the heater heats the evaporator, the refrigerant of the evaporator is heated to be in a gas state, so that heat energy is rapidly transferred to each part in the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator, frosting is melted from inside to outside, and when the frosting is melted to a certain stage, the frosting falls off, so that rapid defrosting is realized, energy conservation is realized, obvious temperature rise cannot be generated in a storage room of the refrigerator, and food preservation is facilitated.

It should be noted that the heat pipe is a component that makes full use of the principle of heat conduction and the rapid heat transfer property of the refrigerant medium, and has a heat pipe effect. The principle of heat pipe effect is the heat transfer, and when the heater heated the heat pipe, the heating region formed the difference in temperature with other unheated regions, and when there was the difference in temperature, then can necessarily appear heat and locate to transmit to low temperature from high temperature, the inside negative pressure state that is of heat pipe, inside has liquid, also is the heat-conducting agent, generally called the refrigerant in the refrigerator, its boiling point is low, volatilizees easily, and the heat pipe surface generally has the fin to accelerate the radiating efficiency. Specifically, when the heater heats, liquid in the heating area is heated and volatilized, vapor flows to the unheated area under the action of pressure, the vapor releases energy in the unheated area and is condensed into liquid again, and therefore the heat generated by the heater is rapidly transferred to all positions of the heat pipe.

When the pipeline both ends that the evaporimeter corresponds are sealed through switch module, the evaporimeter will form a heat pipe, the heater can laminate on the surface of evaporimeter, compare in traditional arranging the evaporimeter lower part in, the side, or the heater of semi-enclosed formula, the heater of this application is because of can hugging closely in the evaporimeter surface, it gives off the invalid heat energy in the air less, thereby only need less heat energy can be with heat transfer in the evaporimeter everywhere, the realization only needs to consume less electric energy can accomplish the purpose that the refrigerator defrosted fast, thereby the energy consumption of defrosting has been reduced, the temperature rise of the storage compartment of refrigerator during the defrosting period is reduced, and then food fresh-keeping is favorable to.

Further, on the basis of the foregoing embodiment, the first switching member may be the above-described throttling device. The throttle device of the refrigerator can be an expansion valve or a capillary tube. The capillary tube can be regarded as closed due to small inner diameter of the pipeline, large resistance and unsmooth flow path. When heating, if the throttling device is an expansion valve, the second switch part and the expansion valve are closed, if the throttling device is a capillary tube, the second switch part is closed, so that the expansion valve or the capillary tube is matched with the second switch machine, and when heating and defrosting, two ends of a pipeline corresponding to an evaporator of the refrigerator are closed to form the heat pipe.

Further, on the basis of the foregoing embodiment, the second switching member may be a solenoid valve. The electromagnetic valve is electrically connected with a controller of the refrigerator, and when a defrosting instruction is received, the electromagnetic valve is controlled to be closed, and one end of the evaporator is closed. Therefore, the electromagnetic valve is matched with the throttling device, and two ends of a pipeline corresponding to the evaporator of the refrigerator are closed to form the heat pipe.

Further, in one embodiment, the refrigerator is provided with a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber, wherein the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber are respectively provided with corresponding evaporators for respectively cooling the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber, switch components can be arranged at two ends of a pipeline of the evaporator corresponding to the refrigerating chamber, or the switch components can not be arranged, if the switch components are not arranged, air in a chamber where the evaporator corresponding to the refrigerating chamber is located can be controlled through an air door to exchange heat with air in the refrigerating chamber with higher relative temperature, and accordingly frosting on the surface of the evaporator corresponding to the refrigerating chamber is melted. Because of the unable pipeline both ends that can correspond at the evaporimeter that the freezer corresponds that frost can set up the switch module through indoor air cycle defrosting of room that the freezer corresponds to the evaporimeter that corresponds to the freezer realizes changing the frost fast, thereby realizes changing the frost energy-conservation high-efficiently.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of steps of a defrosting method for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present application. The steps of the refrigerator defrosting method may include at least the following steps S210 to S230.

Step S210, responding to a defrosting instruction, and closing a pipeline corresponding to an evaporator of the refrigerator to enable the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator to form a heat pipe;

step S220, heating an evaporator of the refrigerator until a preset defrosting stop condition is met;

step S230, stopping heating and turning on a pipeline corresponding to an evaporator of the refrigerator to finish defrosting.

Specifically, in one embodiment, a sensor may be disposed on a surface of the evaporator, and configured to detect a temperature of the surface of the evaporator, and when the temperature of the surface of the evaporator meets a preset defrosting condition, a controller of the refrigerator sends a defrosting command, and then controls to close the switch assembly, so as to close a corresponding pipeline of the evaporator, so as to form the heat pipe.

Further, another sensor may be provided in the refrigerating chamber and/or the freezing chamber to detect the temperature of the refrigerating chamber and/or the freezing chamber, and when the evaporator is heated, if the temperature of the refrigerating chamber and/or the freezing chamber is greatly deviated from the corresponding set temperature, the heating is stopped.

When the preset defrosting condition is met, the heater is started, the switch assemblies at two ends of the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator are closed, so that the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator is closed, the heat pipe is formed, the heat energy generated by heating the heater is rapidly transferred to each part of the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator by utilizing the heat pipe effect, and the frost layer attached to the evaporator is rapidly melted and falls off.

Whether the preset defrosting stop condition is met or not can be determined by shooting an image of a frost layer on the surface of the evaporator through infrared rays, determining whether the preset defrosting stop condition is met or not according to the image, determining whether the preset defrosting stop condition is met or not through the temperature detected by a sensor arranged on the evaporator, and determining whether the preset defrosting stop condition is met or not through detecting the thickness of the frost layer, wherein the preset defrosting stop condition is not limited here.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of steps of a refrigerator defrosting method according to some exemplary embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 3, before responding to the defrosting instruction at step S210, the refrigerator defrosting method may further include the following two steps:

step S310, precooling a storage compartment of a refrigerator, wherein the storage compartment comprises a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber;

step S320, when it is detected that the temperature of the storage compartment meets a preset defrosting condition, a defrosting command is issued.

Specifically, before the heater is turned on for defrosting, the storage compartment of the refrigerator can be pre-cooled, and when the temperature of the storage compartment is detected to meet the temperature set by the preset defrosting condition, defrosting is performed again. Thereby providing guarantee for no obvious temperature rise of the storage compartment in the heating process.

In order to prevent the storage compartment of the refrigerator from being heated for too long time, which causes obvious temperature rise and is not beneficial to food preservation, in another embodiment, after the evaporator of the refrigerator is heated, the following steps can be further included: recording a first time length after heating begins; and if the first time length meets a first preset time length, stopping heating.

The first time length is the longest heating time length that the storage chamber of the refrigerator does not have obvious temperature rise, if the condition that the preset defrosting stopping condition cannot be met in time due to the fact that the frost layer of the refrigerator is too thick occurs, defrosting is stopped after the heater heats the storage chamber for the first preset time length, and therefore the obvious temperature rise of the storage chamber caused by the fact that the working time of the heater is too long can be prevented.

Based on the above scheme, before step S210, the refrigerator defrosting method according to another embodiment of the present application may further include:

recording the accumulated working time of a compressor of the refrigerator from the last defrosting end;

and if the accumulated working time is greater than the preset time threshold and the compressor is not in a working state, sending a defrosting instruction.

Specifically, the accumulated working time is the sum of the accumulated working times of the compressor after the last defrosting is finished, when the accumulated working time is greater than a preset time threshold and the compressor is not in a working state, a defrosting instruction can be sent out, the preset time threshold can be flexibly determined according to the refrigeration efficiency of the compressor, the humidity of the environment and other factors, and it should be understood that the preset time threshold cannot be set to be too long, otherwise, the heat exchange efficiency of the evaporator is affected.

For ease of understanding, the inventive concepts of the present application are described below with respect to a specific embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a refrigerator defrosting method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4, the method specifically includes the following steps:

step S410, the compressor normally operates for refrigeration;

step S420, judging whether a preset defrosting condition is met, if so, executing step S430, and if not, returning to step S410;

step S430, precooling the storage compartment of the refrigerator before defrosting;

step S440, closing the switch assembly to enable a pipeline corresponding to the refrigerator evaporator to form a closed heat pipe;

step S450, starting a heater to defrost so as to rapidly melt a frost layer on the surface of the evaporator under the heat pipe effect;

step S460, determining whether a preset defrosting stop condition is met, if yes, stopping defrosting, executing step S410, and if not, continuing to execute step S450 to continue heating and defrosting until the preset defrosting stop condition is met.

Therefore, the purpose of rapidly melting the frost layer of the refrigerator by utilizing the heat pipe effect can be realized.

In another exemplary embodiment, the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program is configured to implement the steps of the foregoing refrigerator defrosting method when executed by a processor.

In the description of the present application, the terms "first", second "are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as appropriate.

In the description of the present specification, the description of the term "one embodiment" or the like means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the application. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

The above description is only a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present application, and is not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art can easily make various changes and modifications according to the main concept and spirit of the present application, so that the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (10)

1. A refrigerator, characterized by comprising:

a storage compartment;

the refrigeration and defrosting system comprises an evaporator, a heater and a switch assembly, wherein a pipeline for flowing of refrigerant is arranged in the evaporator, the heater is used for heating the evaporator, the switch assembly comprises a first switch piece and a second switch piece, and the first switch piece and the second switch piece are respectively arranged at two ends of the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator;

and the controller is electrically connected with the heater, the first switch piece and the second switch piece, and is used for controlling the first switch piece and the second switch piece to be closed before the heater heats the evaporator so as to enable a pipeline corresponding to the evaporator to form a heat pipe.

2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the defrosting system further comprises a throttling device disposed at an inlet of the corresponding pipe of the evaporator for controlling and adjusting an amount of refrigerant entering the pipe; the first switch member is the throttle device.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the second switching member includes a solenoid valve; before the evaporator is heated, the controller controls the electromagnetic valve to be matched with the throttling device, so that a pipeline corresponding to the evaporator forms a heat pipe, and frosting on the surface of the evaporator is melted.

4. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the throttling device is an expansion valve or a capillary tube.

5. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the refrigerator has a refrigerating compartment and a freezing compartment; the refrigeration defrosting system comprises at least two evaporators; one of the freezing chambers corresponds to one of the evaporators; the first switch piece and the second switch piece are respectively arranged at two ends of a pipeline corresponding to the evaporator corresponding to the freezing chamber.

6. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the refrigeration and defrosting system further comprises an accumulator disposed at a location of the evaporator corresponding to an outlet of the conduit; the accumulator is provided with a pipeline for the circulation of refrigerant, and the second switch piece is arranged at the position of the outlet of the pipeline corresponding to the accumulator.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the heater is attached to the surface of the evaporator so that the heater heats the tube wall or the fin of the corresponding tube of the evaporator.

8. A refrigerator defrosting method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

responding to a defrosting instruction, and closing a pipeline corresponding to an evaporator of the refrigerator to enable the pipeline corresponding to the evaporator to form a heat pipe;

heating an evaporator of the refrigerator until a preset defrosting stopping condition is met;

stopping heating, starting a pipeline corresponding to an evaporator of the refrigerator, and finishing defrosting.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein prior to responding to a defrost instruction, the method further comprises:

precooling a storage compartment of the refrigerator, wherein the storage compartment comprises a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber;

and when the temperature of the storage compartment is detected to meet the preset defrosting condition, a defrosting instruction is sent.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein after heating an evaporator of the refrigerator, the method further comprises:

recording a first time length after heating begins;

and if the first time length meets a first preset time length, stopping heating.

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