CN116928951A - Refrigerator and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a refrigerator and a control method thereof, wherein the refrigerator comprises an evaporator, a cold accumulation device and a refrigerator body which is limited with a freezing compartment, and the cold accumulation device can be refrigerated by the evaporator and can refrigerate the freezing compartment; the control method comprises the following steps: determining a current cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device in response to entering the electricity consumption valley period and the evaporator reaching a defrosting condition; determining a remaining time of the current moment from an end moment of the electricity consumption valley period in response to the current cold accumulation amount reaching the first cold accumulation amount; determining a first defrosting duration of the evaporator according to the remaining time, historical defrosting data of the evaporator and historical cold accumulation data from after defrosting of the cold accumulation device is finished to cold accumulation to a second cold accumulation amount, so that the cold accumulation device can accumulate cold to the second cold accumulation amount before the electricity consumption low-valley period is finished; controlling the refrigerator to defrost the evaporator according to the first defrosting time; and controlling the refrigerator to cool the cold accumulation device in response to the completion of defrosting of the evaporator. The invention fully utilizes the electric energy in the electricity consumption valley period.

Description

Refrigerator and control method thereof

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of refrigeration equipment, and particularly provides a refrigerator and a control method thereof.

Background

Existing refrigerators generally cool storage compartments (e.g., a freezer compartment, a refrigerator compartment, and a variable temperature compartment) by means of evaporators thereon. As the refrigerator is used, the low temperature evaporator may sublimate moisture in the air into frost. After the refrigerator is used for a period of time, frost can cover the whole evaporator, influence the heat absorption capacity of the evaporator, and then influence the refrigerating capacity of the evaporator. For this reason, the evaporator needs to be defrosted periodically.

Some refrigerators are also provided with cold storage devices. The cold accumulation device can accumulate cold in the electricity consumption low-valley period, and then the evaporator is assisted in refrigerating the storage chamber of the refrigerator in the electricity consumption peak period. Meanwhile, the cold accumulation device can continuously release cold energy to the storage chamber of the refrigerator when power is cut off, so that the storage chamber can continuously refrigerate or freeze food materials in the storage chamber.

However, the current refrigerator does not organically combine defrosting of the evaporator and using the cold storage device during the low electricity consumption period, so that the refrigerator often stores cold for the cold storage device while defrosting, the defrosting effect of the evaporator is poor, and the cold storage efficiency of the cold storage device is low or even incomplete.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator and a control method thereof so as to organically combine defrosting of an evaporator with cold accumulation of a cold accumulation device and to make the refrigerator complete defrosting of the evaporator and cold accumulation of the cold accumulation device during a low electricity consumption period.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides in a first aspect a control method of a refrigerator including an evaporator, a cold storage device, and a cabinet defining a freezing compartment, the cold storage device being capable of being cooled by the evaporator and capable of cooling the freezing compartment;

the control method comprises the following steps:

determining a current amount of cold accumulation of the cold accumulation device in response to entering a power consumption valley period and the evaporator reaching a defrosting condition;

determining a remaining time of the current moment from an end moment of the electricity consumption valley period in response to the current cold accumulation amount reaching a first cold accumulation amount;

determining a first defrosting duration of the evaporator according to the remaining time, historical defrosting data of the evaporator and historical cold accumulation data from after defrosting of the cold accumulation device is finished to a second cold accumulation amount, so that the cold accumulation device can accumulate cold to the second cold accumulation amount before the electricity consumption valley period is finished;

controlling the refrigerator to defrost the evaporator according to the first defrosting time;

and controlling the refrigerator to refrigerate the cold accumulation device in response to the evaporator finishes defrosting.

Optionally, the determining the first defrosting duration of the evaporator according to the remaining time, the historical defrosting data of the evaporator, and the historical cold accumulation data from the end of defrosting to the cold accumulation to the second cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device includes:

step S1: determining estimated defrosting time when the evaporator completely frosts according to historical defrosting data of the evaporator;

step S2: determining the estimated cold accumulation time from the end of defrosting to the second cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device according to the estimated defrosting time and the historical cold accumulation data of the cold accumulation device;

step S3: calculating the sum of the estimated defrosting time and the estimated cold storage time length, and recording the sum as the demand time;

step S4: comparing the required time with the residual time;

step S5: responding to the demand time being greater than the residual time, reducing the estimated defrosting time determined in the step S1 by one unit time, and re-executing the steps S2 to S5;

step S6: and in response to the demand time not being greater than the residual time, determining the estimated defrosting time as a first defrosting duration of the evaporator.

Optionally, before determining the first defrosting duration of the evaporator, the control method further comprises: comparing the residual time with a preset duration;

the determining the first defrosting duration of the evaporator according to the remaining time, the historical defrosting data of the evaporator, and the historical cold accumulation data from the end of defrosting to the cold accumulation to the second cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device comprises the following steps:

and determining a first defrosting duration of the evaporator according to the residual time, historical defrosting data of the evaporator and historical cold accumulation data from the end of defrosting to the second cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device in response to the residual time being greater than the preset duration.

Optionally, the control method further includes:

determining an estimated frosting amount of the evaporator before a next electricity consumption valley period in response to the remaining time being not greater than the preset duration;

determining whether the estimated frosting quantity reaches a frosting condition of the evaporator;

controlling the refrigerator to defrost the evaporator for a second defrosting duration in response to the estimated frosting quantity reaching the defrosting condition, so that the evaporator finishes defrosting before the current electricity consumption low-valley period is finished, and the cold storage device stores cold to the second cold storage quantity before the electricity consumption low-valley period is finished;

and controlling the refrigerator to refrigerate the cold accumulation device in response to the evaporator finishes defrosting.

Optionally, the determining the estimated frosting amount of the evaporator before the next electricity consumption valley period includes:

acquiring the door opening and closing times, the door opening time each time and the environment humidity of the refrigerator in the current operation period;

determining the current frosting quantity of the evaporator according to the door opening and closing times, the door opening time and the ambient humidity;

acquiring a historical frosting amount of the evaporator before a next electricity utilization valley period;

and determining the estimated frosting amount of the evaporator before the next electricity consumption valley period according to the current frosting amount and the historical frosting amount.

Optionally, the determining the current cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device includes:

determining the current temperature of a cold storage medium in the cold storage device;

and determining the current cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device according to the current temperature.

Optionally, the first cold accumulation amount is less than or equal to the second cold accumulation amount; and/or the cold storage device having the first cold storage amount is capable of providing sufficient cold to the freezer compartment to maintain the freezer compartment in a conventional freezing temperature interval when the evaporator is frosted; the second cold accumulation amount is a rated cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device.

Optionally, before defrosting the evaporator, the control method further comprises: controlling the refrigerator to continue refrigerating the cold accumulation device in response to the current cold accumulation amount not reaching the first cold accumulation amount; and/or, in the defrosting process of the evaporator, the control method further comprises the following steps: and controlling the cold accumulation device to refrigerate the freezing compartment.

Optionally, the control method further includes:

and responding to the current moment being the starting moment of the electricity consumption valley period, and controlling the refrigerator to refrigerate the cold accumulation device.

The present invention provides in a second aspect a refrigerator comprising:

a housing defining a freezer compartment;

an evaporator for refrigerating the freezer compartment;

a cold storage device capable of being cooled by the evaporator and capable of cooling the freezing compartment;

a controller;

a memory having stored thereon execution instructions configured to enable the refrigerator to perform the control method of any one of the first aspects when executed by the controller.

Based on the foregoing, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that in the foregoing technical solution of the present invention, when the electricity consumption low-valley period is entered and the evaporator reaches the defrosting condition, by determining the current cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device, and determining the remaining time of the current moment from the end moment of the electricity consumption low-valley period when the current cold accumulation amount reaches the first cold accumulation amount, then determining the first defrosting duration of the evaporator according to the remaining time, the historical defrosting data of the evaporator, and the historical cold accumulation data from after defrosting of the cold accumulation device to the cold accumulation to the second cold accumulation amount, so that the cold accumulation device accumulates cold to the second cold accumulation amount before the end of the electricity consumption low-valley period, and further the refrigerator can finish defrosting of the evaporator and cold accumulation of the cold accumulation device in the electricity consumption low-valley period. And finally, controlling the refrigerator to defrost the evaporator according to the first defrosting time length, and controlling the refrigerator to refrigerate the cold accumulation device when or after the evaporator finishes defrosting. Therefore, in the low electricity consumption period, the refrigerator of the invention firstly stores cold to the first cold storage amount by the current cold storage device, and then the refrigerator frosts the evaporator, so that the cold storage device with the first cold storage amount can refrigerate the freezing compartment in the defrosting process of the evaporator, and the temperature in the freezing compartment is prevented from rising due to defrosting of the evaporator, and the fresh-keeping effect of food materials in the freezing compartment is prevented from being influenced. Furthermore, in the electricity consumption low-valley period, the cold accumulation device is enabled to continue to accumulate cold to the second cold accumulation amount after defrosting of the evaporator is completed, so that cold accumulation of the cold accumulation device is completed, electricity consumption load of a power grid is balanced, and electricity charge of a user is reduced.

Further, the first defrosting duration of the evaporator is determined through the steps S1 to S6, so that the refrigerator is ensured to finish refrigerating the cold accumulation device before the electricity consumption low-valley period is finished.

Still further, when the remaining time is not greater than the preset duration, determining an estimated frosting amount of the evaporator before the next electricity consumption valley period; then determining whether the estimated frosting quantity reaches the frosting condition of the evaporator; when the estimated frosting quantity reaches the defrosting condition, controlling the refrigerator to defrost the evaporator by a second defrosting time length, so that the evaporator finishes defrosting before the current electricity consumption low-valley period is finished, and enabling the cold storage device to store cold to the second cold storage quantity before the electricity consumption low-valley period is finished; and after the evaporator finishes defrosting, controlling the refrigerator to refrigerate the cold accumulation device. Therefore, the refrigerator also ensures that the refrigerator does not defrost the evaporator in the off-low period, i.e., the refrigerator of the invention also enables each defrost of the evaporator in the off-low period.

The above, as well as additional objectives, advantages, and features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a specific embodiment of the present invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, some embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that components or portions thereof identified in different drawings by the same reference numerals are identical or similar; the drawings of the invention are not necessarily to scale relative to each other.

In the accompanying drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic view of a simple structure of a refrigerator according to an object of the present invention;

fig. 2.1 is a schematic structural view of the cold storage device of fig. 1 (cold storage device stores cold);

fig. 2.2 is a schematic structural view of the cold storage device of fig. 1 (the cold storage device is cooled);

fig. 2.3 is a schematic structural view of the cold storage device of fig. 1 (cold storage device keeps cold);

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating steps of a control method of a refrigerator in some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of steps for determining a first defrosting duration of an evaporator in some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a partial step flow chart of a control method of a refrigerator in further embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating steps for determining a predicted amount of frost on an evaporator according to still other embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 7 is another simple structural schematic view of a refrigerator provided according to the object of the present invention.

Detailed Description

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described below are only some embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments of the present invention, and the some embodiments are intended to explain the technical principles of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be obtained by a person skilled in the art without any inventive effort, based on the embodiments provided by the present invention, shall still fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

It should be noted that, in the description of the present invention, terms such as "center", "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate directions or positional relationships, which are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, are merely for convenience of description, and do not indicate or imply that the apparatus or elements must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

Further, it should also be noted that, in the description of the present invention, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected, can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can also be communicated with the inside of two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to the specific circumstances.

Still further, it should be noted that, in the description of the present invention, the terms "cooling capacity" and "heating capacity" are two descriptions of the same physical state. That is, the higher the "cooling capacity" of a certain object (for example, evaporator, air, condenser, etc.), the lower the "heat" of the object, and the lower the "cooling capacity" of the object, the higher the "heat" of the object. Some object absorbs the cold and releases the heat, and the object releases the cold and absorbs the heat. A target maintains "cold" or "heat" to maintain the target at a current temperature. "refrigeration" and "heat absorption" are two descriptions of the same physical phenomenon, i.e., a target (e.g., an evaporator) absorbs heat while it is refrigerating.

A refrigerator provided according to the inventive concept of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 and 2. It should be noted that, for convenience of description and for enabling those skilled in the art to quickly understand the technical solution of the present invention, only the technical features that are relatively strongly related (directly related or indirectly related) to the technical problem and/or the technical concept to be solved by the present invention will be described hereinafter, and the technical features that are relatively weakly related to the technical problem and/or the technical concept to be solved by the present invention will not be described in detail. Since the technical features with a weak degree of association belong to common general knowledge in the art, the disclosure of the present invention will not be insufficient even if the features with a weak degree of association are not described.

As shown in fig. 1, in a refrigerator provided according to the inventive concept, a refrigerator 100 includes a cabinet 110, an evaporator 120, a cold storage device 130, and a fan (not shown). Wherein, the refrigerator compartment 111, the freezer compartment 112, and the refrigerator compartment 113 are defined on the case 110. The evaporator 120 is disposed in the refrigerating compartment 113, and the blower fan is used to drive cool air around the evaporator 120 into the refrigerating compartment 111 and the freezing compartment 112, and cool food materials in the refrigerating compartment 111 and the freezing compartment 112. The air in the refrigerating compartment 111 and the freezing compartment 112 flows through the evaporator 120 again by the fan, and is cooled by the evaporator 120. The cold storage device 130 is configured to be capable of being cooled by the evaporator 120 and to be capable of cooling the freezing compartment 112.

Alternatively, in some embodiments shown in fig. 1, a portion of the cold storage device 130 is located within the freezer compartment 112 and another portion of the cold storage device 130 is located within the refrigeration compartment 113. The cold accumulation device 130 is cooled by the evaporator 120 through a portion located in the cooling compartment 113, thereby realizing cold accumulation of the cold accumulation device 130; the cold storage device 130 cools the freezing compartment 112 by a portion located in the freezing compartment 112, thereby cooling the cold storage device 130.

Preferably, the cold accumulation device 130 is filled with a refrigerant so that the cold accumulation device 130 performs cold accumulation by the refrigerant therein. Preferably, the cold storage agent has a freezing point below the minimum operating temperature of the freezer compartment 112 (e.g., -16 ℃). On this basis, the cold storage agent may be any feasible cold storage agent, for example a sodium chloride solution.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 2.1 to 2.3, the thermal insulation layer 131 is provided at the outer side of the cold accumulation device 130, and a cold accumulation port 1311 and a cold accumulation door plate 132 for controlling the opening and closing of the cold accumulation port 1311 are provided at a portion of the thermal insulation layer 131 located in the refrigerating compartment 113; the portion of the insulating layer 131 located in the freezer compartment 112 is provided with a cooling port 1312 and a cooling door plate 133 for controlling the opening and closing of the cooling port 1312.

As shown in fig. 2.1, when the cold accumulation device 130 accumulates cold, the cold accumulation door 132 opens the cold accumulation port 1311 and the cold discharge door 133 closes the cold discharge port 1312.

As shown in fig. 2.2, when the cold accumulation device 130 discharges cold, the cold accumulation door plate 132 closes the cold accumulation port 1311 and the cold discharge door plate 133 opens the cold discharge port 1312.

As shown in fig. 2.3, when the cold accumulation device 130 is kept warm, the cold accumulation door 132 closes the cold accumulation port 1311, and the cold discharge door 133 closes the cold discharge port 1312.

In addition, one skilled in the art can also make the housing 110 define a temperature change compartment as desired. Alternatively, the case 110 may define only any two of the refrigerating compartment 111, the freezing compartment 112, and the temperature changing compartment.

A control method of the refrigerator in some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig. 3 and 4 in conjunction with the refrigerator shown in fig. 1 to 2.3.

As shown in fig. 3, a control method of a refrigerator in some embodiments of the present invention includes:

in step S110, the refrigerator 100 is controlled to cool the cold storage device 130 in response to the current time being the start time of the electricity consumption low period.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the electricity consumption low valley period and the non-electricity consumption low valley period may be input to the refrigerator 100 (specifically, may be a memory of the refrigerator 100) by a user or a manufacturer, or may be acquired from a cloud server or a background server by the refrigerator 100 through its own communication module.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the cooling of the cold storage device 130 is controlled when the start time of the electricity consumption low period is reached in time during the operation of the refrigerator 100.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 2.1, the cold accumulation door plate 132 of the cold accumulation device 130 is caused to open the cold accumulation port 1311, and the cold discharge door plate 133 of the cold accumulation device 130 is caused to close the cold discharge port 1312.

In response to the entry of the electricity consumption low-valley period and the evaporator 120 reaching the defrosting condition, a current cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device 130 is determined S120.

The defrosting condition of the evaporator 120 is that the frosting quantity on the refrigerator 100 reaches the set frosting quantity. When the amount of frost on the evaporator 120 reaches the set amount of frost, the refrigerating efficiency of the evaporator 120 is low, that is, the amount of frost on the evaporator 120 is large, seriously impeding heat exchange of the evaporator 120. Based on this, the person skilled in the art can determine the set frosting amount through a plurality of experiments for different models of the refrigerator 100. Since the technical means for determining the set frosting quantity is a conventional technical means in the art and can be obtained by those skilled in the art through a naive experience, a detailed description is omitted herein.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the current amount of cold storage of the cold storage device 130 is determined when the frosting amount of the evaporator 120 reaches the set frosting amount during the electricity consumption valley period. If the current cool storage amount reaches the first cool storage amount, step S130 is performed, and if the current cool storage amount does not reach the first cool storage amount, step S170 is performed.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the cold storage device 130 having the first amount of cold storage is capable of providing sufficient cold to the freezer compartment 112 during defrosting of the evaporator 120 to maintain the freezer compartment 112 at a conventional freezing temperature interval. The freezing temperature interval is a normal temperature interval of the freezing compartment 112 before defrosting of the evaporator 120. Alternatively, the cold storage device 130, when having the first amount of cold storage, has a refrigerant corresponding to a temperature that is not higher than the lowest operating temperature of the freezer compartment 112.

Optionally, the cold storage device 130 is provided with a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the cold storage agent within the cold storage device 130.

Further, "determining the current amount of cold accumulation of the cold accumulation device 130" includes determining the temperature of the cold accumulation agent by the temperature sensor and then determining the current amount of cold accumulation of the cold accumulation device 130 according to the temperature of the cold accumulation agent. Specifically, each temperature value may represent a cold storage amount. Alternatively, a temperature-cool storage amount comparison table is stored in the refrigerator 100 in advance, and after the temperature of the cool storage agent is determined in the refrigerator 100, the cool storage amount corresponding to the current temperature is determined from the temperature-cool storage amount comparison table.

And step S130, determining the residual time of the current moment from the end moment of the electricity consumption valley period in response to the current cold accumulation amount reaching the first cold accumulation amount.

Step S140, determining a first defrosting duration of the evaporator 120 according to the remaining time, the historical defrosting data of the evaporator 120, and the historical cold accumulation data of the cold accumulation device 130 from the end of defrosting to the cold accumulation to the second cold accumulation amount, so that the cold accumulation device 130 accumulates the cold to the second cold accumulation amount before the end of the electricity consumption valley period.

The second cold accumulation amount is a rated cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device 130, when the cold accumulation device 130 just stores cold to the rated cold accumulation amount, the temperature of the cold accumulation agent in the cold accumulation device 130 is the solidification temperature or slightly lower than the solidification temperature, and the cold accumulation agent is in a solid state. Accordingly, the first cold accumulation amount is smaller than or equal to the second cold accumulation amount.

As shown in fig. 4, in some embodiments of the present invention, step S140 further includes:

in step S141, the estimated defrosting time when the evaporator 120 is completely defrosted is determined according to the historical defrosting data of the evaporator 120.

Wherein the historical defrosting data is a plurality of defrosting data before the moment of the evaporator 120, and each defrosting data at least comprises the defrosting time of the evaporator 120.

Specifically, the longest defrosting time is determined from the historical defrosting data first and is used as the first estimated defrosting time.

Step S142, determining the estimated cold accumulation time from the end of defrosting of the cold accumulation device 130 to the second cold accumulation amount according to the estimated defrosting time and the historical cold accumulation data of the cold accumulation device 130.

The historical cold accumulation data is a plurality of cold accumulation data before the cold accumulation device 130, and initial cold amounts of the cold accumulation devices 130 corresponding to the cold accumulation data are different. Each of the cold accumulation data includes a cold accumulation period in which the cold accumulation device 130 accumulates cold from an initial cold amount corresponding to the cold accumulation data to a second cold amount, respectively.

Specifically, the estimated cooling capacity of the cold accumulation device 130 during the defrosting of the evaporator 120 is determined according to the estimated defrosting time, so that the cold accumulation capacity of the cold accumulation device 130 at the completion of the defrosting of the evaporator 120 is determined according to the estimated cooling capacity and the first cold accumulation capacity, and is recorded as the initial cooling capacity. And then determining initial cold accumulation amount and cold accumulation duration corresponding to the initial cold accumulation amount from the historical cold accumulation data, and taking the initial cold accumulation amount and the cold accumulation duration as a first estimated cold accumulation duration.

Step S143, calculating the sum of the estimated defrosting time and the estimated cold storage time length, and recording as the required time.

In step S144, the required time is compared with the remaining time. If the required time is greater than the remaining time, step S145 is performed; if the required time is not greater than the remaining time, step S146 is performed.

In step S145, in response to the demand time being greater than the remaining time, the estimated defrosting time determined in step S141 is reduced by one unit time, and steps S142 to S145 are re-performed.

The unit time may be any feasible time, for example, 1min, 3min, 5min, 10min, etc. At least part of the historical cold storage data has different cold storage time lengths, and the difference value between the cold storage time lengths corresponding to the part of the cold storage data is an integral multiple of unit time.

In step S146, in response to the demand time not being greater than the remaining time, the estimated defrosting time is determined as the first defrosting duration of the evaporator 120.

And optionally, in step S147, recording the first defrosting duration determined in step S146, and counting the first defrosting duration into historical defrosting data, and updating the historical defrosting data.

In step S150, the refrigerator 100 is controlled to continuously defrost the evaporator 120 for a first defrosting duration. Meanwhile, the cold accumulation device 130 is controlled to refrigerate the freezing compartment 112, as shown in fig. 2.2, the cold accumulation door plate 132 is made to close the cold accumulation port 1311, and the cold discharge door plate 133 is made to open the cold port 1312, so as to avoid the temperature rise of the freezing compartment 112 caused by defrosting of the evaporator 120, and the fresh-keeping effect of the freezing compartment 112 on food materials in the freezing compartment is affected.

In step S160, in response to the evaporator 120 ending defrosting, the refrigerator 100 is controlled to cool the cold storage device 130.

Specifically, immediately after the defrosting of the evaporator 120 is completed, the cold accumulation door plate 132 is caused to open the cold accumulation port 1311, and the cold release door plate 133 is caused to close the cold release port 1312.

In step S170, the refrigerator 100 is controlled to continue cooling the cold accumulation device 130 in response to the current cold accumulation amount not reaching the first cold accumulation amount.

Based on the foregoing description, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that, in the low electricity consumption period, the refrigerator 100 of the present invention makes the current storage device store cold to the first cold storage amount, and then makes the refrigerator 100 defrost the evaporator 120, so that the cold storage device 130 with the first cold storage amount can refrigerate the freezing compartment 112 in the defrosting process of the evaporator 120, thereby preventing the temperature in the freezing compartment 112 from rising due to defrosting of the evaporator 120 and affecting the fresh-keeping effect of the food in the freezing compartment 112. Further, in the electricity consumption low-valley period, the cold accumulation device 130 is enabled to continue to accumulate cold to the second cold accumulation amount after defrosting of the evaporator 120, so that cold accumulation of the cold accumulation device 130 is completed, electricity consumption load of a power grid is balanced, and electricity charge of a user is reduced.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the refrigerator 100 may not fully utilize the power of the on-off valley period because the evaporator 120 may be about to end the on-off valley period and may reach a defrosting condition during the off-off valley period. The invention also provides for this purpose further embodiments as shown in fig. 5 and 6.

As shown in fig. 5, in still other embodiments of the present invention, unlike some embodiments described previously, the control method of the refrigerator 100 further includes, after step S130:

step S210, determining the residual time and the preset duration. When the remaining time is longer than the preset time, continuing to execute the step S140; when the remaining time is not longer than the preset time period, step S220 is performed.

The preset time comprises a first time and a second time. The first time is a time that the evaporator 120 removes the minimum amount of frost, and after the evaporator 120 removes the minimum amount of frost, it is possible to ensure normal cooling of the refrigerator 100 before the cold storage device 130 next stores cold to the first cold storage amount. The second time is a time for the cold accumulation device 130 to accumulate cold to a second cold accumulation amount after the defrosting of the evaporator 120 is completed.

Further, one skilled in the art can determine the maximum amount of frost of the evaporator 120 from when the cold storage device 130 stores the second amount of cold after the defrosting of the evaporator 120 is completed to when the cold storage device 130 stores the first amount of cold next time according to the historical frost data of the evaporator 120 or through a plurality of experiments. The time required for the evaporator 120 to remove the maximum amount of frost is then determined through a number of experiments, and is the first time. A second time is then determined based on the first time and step S142.

In step S220, in response to the remaining time being not greater than the preset duration, the estimated frosting amount of the evaporator 120 before the next electricity consumption valley period is determined.

In still other embodiments of the present invention, step S220 further comprises:

in step S221, the number of times of opening and closing the door, each time of opening the door, and the ambient humidity of each time of opening the door of the refrigerator 100 in the current operation cycle are obtained.

Here, the operation cycle refers to a period of time from when the refrigerator 100 starts or ends the previous defrosting to when the next defrosting starts or ends. The last defrosting and the next defrosting are two adjacent defrosting.

The door opening and closing times refer to the number of times the door of the refrigerator 100 is opened. If the refrigerator 100 has a plurality of refrigerator 100 doors, it is necessary to count the number of times each refrigerator 100 door is opened, and the time each refrigerator 100 door is opened and the ambient humidity at each time the refrigerator 100 door is opened, respectively.

The ambient humidity is the air humidity of the environment in which the refrigerator 100 is located. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that air humidity is temperature dependent and that the moisture content of air varies at different temperatures. In a first embodiment of the invention, the ambient humidity comprises a corresponding air humidity at each temperature.

In step S222, the current frosting quantity of the evaporator 120 is determined according to the door opening and closing times, the door opening time and the ambient humidity.

Specifically, once the refrigerator 100 opens and closes the door in time sequence, the door opening time of the refrigerator 100 and the ambient humidity during door opening are counted, and the frosting amount of the evaporator 120 on the refrigerator 100 is determined from the door opening time-ambient humidity-frosting gauge stored in advance in the refrigerator 100 according to the door opening time and the ambient humidity. Then, the number of times of opening and closing the doors of the refrigerator 100 is counted and the frosting amount of each time is added up to determine the current frosting condition of the refrigerator 100 (herein denoted as S for convenience of description ₀ )。

The door opening time-environmental humidity-frosting scale is a data mapping table determined by repeated tests of the refrigerator 100 with the corresponding model. Since the data mapping table is obtained through experiments as a conventional technical means in the art and can be obtained by those skilled in the art through a naive experience, a detailed description thereof will not be provided herein. As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, since the refrigerator 100 is opened and closed to drive the air to flow, the exchange of cold air in the compartment of the refrigerator 100 with air in the environment is promoted, and air with high temperature and humidity in the environment (relative to air in the compartment of the refrigerator 100) is more likely to enter the compartment of the refrigerator 100, thereby increasing the frosting amount of the refrigerator 100. In order to make the current frosting situation of the present invention more similar to the actual frosting situation of the refrigerator 100, in some embodiments of the present invention, it is preferable to also record the number of door opening and closing times as n, the accumulated door opening time of all door opening and closing times as L, and the final current frosting situation as S

Furthermore, the person skilled in the art can also modify the comparison base "1 time/minute" in the formula to any other feasible value, for example 0.8 times/minute, 1.2 times/minute, 1.3 times/minute, 1.5 times/minute, 2 times/minute, 3 times/minute, etc., as desired.

Step S223, the historical frosting amount of the evaporator 120 before the next electricity consumption low-valley period is acquired.

In still other embodiments of the present invention, the refrigerator 100 is caused to retain the frosting data of the evaporator 120 for at least the previous day, so that the refrigerator 100 can obtain the historical frosting amount corresponding to the period from the current time to the next electricity consumption valley period from the frosting data stored therein.

It is further preferable that the refrigerator 100 is caused to acquire the historical frosting amount of the evaporator 120 before the cold accumulation device 130 is cold-accumulated next to the first cold accumulation amount.

In step S224, the estimated frosting amount of the evaporator 120 before the next electricity consumption off-peak period is determined according to the current frosting amount and the historical frosting amount.

The sum of the current frosting quantity obtained in step S222 and the historical frosting quantity obtained in step S223 is determined as the estimated frosting quantity of the evaporator 120.

In step S230, it is determined whether the estimated frosting quantity reaches the frosting condition of the evaporator 120.

Specifically, it is determined whether the frosting quantity of the evaporator 120 reaches the set frosting quantity. If the frosting quantity of the evaporator 120 reaches the set frosting quantity, step S240 is performed; if the frosting quantity of the evaporator 120 does not reach the set frosting quantity, the refrigerator 100 is continued to operate according to the current control strategy.

In step S240, in response to the estimated frosting quantity reaching the frosting condition, the refrigerator 100 is controlled to defrost the evaporator 120 for the second frosting time period, so that the evaporator 120 finishes frosting before the end of the current electricity consumption low valley period, and the cold storage device 130 is cooled to the second cold storage quantity before the end of the electricity consumption low valley period.

The second defrosting duration is the first time described in step S210.

In step S250, the refrigerator 100 is controlled to cool the cold storage device 130 in response to the evaporator 120 ending defrosting.

Based on the foregoing description, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that still other embodiments of the present invention also enable the refrigerator 100 to operate in the low power period for each defrosting of the evaporator 120 and for each cold accumulation of the cold accumulation device 130.

Further, in some embodiments shown in fig. 7, the refrigerator 100 further includes a memory 140 and a controller 150. Wherein, the memory 140 stores execution instructions thereon; the controller 150 is configured to execute the execution instructions stored in the memory 140 to cause the refrigerator 100 to execute the control method described in any of the foregoing embodiments.

The memory 140 is used to store execution instructions, specifically, computer programs that can be executed. Further, the memory 140 may include a memory and a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), and provides execution instructions and data to the controller 150. By way of example, the Memory may be a Random-Access Memory (RAM), and the non-volatile Memory may be at least 1 disk Memory.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the control method described above may be applied to the controller 150 or may be implemented by the controller 150. Illustratively, the controller 150 is an integrated circuit chip having the capability of processing signals. In the course of the controller 150 executing the above-described control method, each step of the above-described control method may be completed by an integrated logic circuit in the form of hardware or an instruction in the form of software in the controller 150. Further, the controller 150 may be a general purpose controller such as a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), a network processor (Network Processor, NP), a digital signal processor (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a Field programmable gate array (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, a microprocessor, and any other conventional processor.

Thus far, the technical solution of the present invention has been described in connection with the foregoing embodiments, but it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of the present invention is not limited to only these specific embodiments. The technical solutions in the above embodiments can be split and combined by those skilled in the art without departing from the technical principles of the present invention, and equivalent changes or substitutions can be made to related technical features, so any changes, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the technical principles and/or technical concepts of the present invention will fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A control method of a refrigerator including an evaporator, a cold storage device, and a cabinet defining a freezing compartment, the cold storage device being capable of being cooled by the evaporator and of cooling the freezing compartment;

the control method comprises the following steps:

determining a current amount of cold accumulation of the cold accumulation device in response to entering a power consumption valley period and the evaporator reaching a defrosting condition;

determining a remaining time of the current moment from an end moment of the electricity consumption valley period in response to the current cold accumulation amount reaching a first cold accumulation amount;

determining a first defrosting duration of the evaporator according to the remaining time, historical defrosting data of the evaporator and historical cold accumulation data from after defrosting of the cold accumulation device is finished to a second cold accumulation amount, so that the cold accumulation device can accumulate cold to the second cold accumulation amount before the electricity consumption valley period is finished;

controlling the refrigerator to defrost the evaporator according to the first defrosting time;

and controlling the refrigerator to refrigerate the cold accumulation device in response to the evaporator finishes defrosting.

2. The control method according to claim 1, wherein,

the determining the first defrosting duration of the evaporator according to the remaining time, the historical defrosting data of the evaporator, and the historical cold accumulation data from the end of defrosting to the cold accumulation to the second cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device comprises the following steps:

step S1: determining estimated defrosting time when the evaporator completely frosts according to historical defrosting data of the evaporator;

step S2: determining the estimated cold accumulation time from the end of defrosting to the second cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device according to the estimated defrosting time and the historical cold accumulation data of the cold accumulation device;

step S3: calculating the sum of the estimated defrosting time and the estimated cold storage time length, and recording the sum as the demand time;

step S4: comparing the required time with the residual time;

step S5: responding to the demand time being greater than the residual time, reducing the estimated defrosting time determined in the step S1 by one unit time, and re-executing the steps S2 to S5;

step S6: and in response to the demand time not being greater than the residual time, determining the estimated defrosting time as a first defrosting duration of the evaporator.

3. The control method according to claim 1, wherein,

before determining the first defrosting duration of the evaporator, the control method further comprises: comparing the residual time with a preset duration;

the determining the first defrosting duration of the evaporator according to the remaining time, the historical defrosting data of the evaporator, and the historical cold accumulation data from the end of defrosting to the cold accumulation to the second cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device comprises the following steps:

and determining a first defrosting duration of the evaporator according to the residual time, historical defrosting data of the evaporator and historical cold accumulation data from the end of defrosting to the second cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device in response to the residual time being greater than the preset duration.

4. The control method according to claim 3, wherein,

the control method further includes:

determining an estimated frosting amount of the evaporator before a next electricity consumption valley period in response to the remaining time being not greater than the preset duration;

determining whether the estimated frosting quantity reaches a frosting condition of the evaporator;

controlling the refrigerator to defrost the evaporator for a second defrosting duration in response to the estimated frosting quantity reaching the defrosting condition, so that the evaporator finishes defrosting before the current electricity consumption low-valley period is finished, and the cold storage device stores cold to the second cold storage quantity before the electricity consumption low-valley period is finished;

and controlling the refrigerator to refrigerate the cold accumulation device in response to the evaporator finishes defrosting.

5. The control method according to claim 4, wherein,

the determining the estimated frosting amount of the evaporator before the next electricity consumption valley period comprises the following steps:

acquiring the door opening and closing times, the door opening time each time and the environment humidity of the refrigerator in the current operation period;

determining the current frosting quantity of the evaporator according to the door opening and closing times, the door opening time and the ambient humidity;

acquiring a historical frosting amount of the evaporator before a next electricity utilization valley period;

and determining the estimated frosting amount of the evaporator before the next electricity consumption valley period according to the current frosting amount and the historical frosting amount.

6. The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein,

the determining the current cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device includes:

determining the current temperature of a cold storage medium in the cold storage device;

and determining the current cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device according to the current temperature.

7. The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein,

the first cold accumulation amount is smaller than or equal to the second cold accumulation amount; and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the cold storage device having the first cold storage amount is capable of providing sufficient cold to the freezer compartment to maintain the freezer compartment in a conventional freezing temperature interval when the evaporator is frosted; the second cold accumulation amount is a rated cold accumulation amount of the cold accumulation device.

8. The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein,

the control method further includes, before defrosting the evaporator: controlling the refrigerator to continue refrigerating the cold accumulation device in response to the current cold accumulation amount not reaching the first cold accumulation amount; and/or the number of the groups of groups,

during defrosting of the evaporator, the control method further comprises the following steps: and controlling the cold accumulation device to refrigerate the freezing compartment.

9. The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein,

the control method further includes:

and responding to the current moment being the starting moment of the electricity consumption valley period, and controlling the refrigerator to refrigerate the cold accumulation device.

10. A refrigerator, comprising:

a housing defining a freezer compartment;

an evaporator for refrigerating the freezer compartment;

a cold storage device capable of being cooled by the evaporator and capable of cooling the freezing compartment;

a controller;

a memory having stored thereon execution instructions arranged, when executed by the controller, to enable the refrigerator to perform the control method of any one of claims 1 to 9.