JPH11173734A - Operation control method for refrigerator and operation controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the design of a small-sized power source which suppresses the sum total of the current values at start of a DC motor, and suppresses the maximum rated current value. SOLUTION: In the operation controller for a refrigerator which has, as load, a plurality of DC motors such as a DC motor 1 for in-refrigerator chill circulating fan, a DC motor 2 for a compressor cooling fan, a DC motor 3 for automatic ice machine, etc., ranking is decided to the starting of the DC motors when the request for the simultaneous operation start of the plural DC motors is made, and the operation start of the DC motor is provided with a time lag, and the control of starting the plural pieces of DC motors requested for simultaneous operation start, staggering them one by one, is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation control method and an operation control device for a refrigerator, and more particularly to a plurality of motors for a fan drive motor for circulating cool air in a refrigerator, a fan drive motor for a compressor, and a motor for an automatic ice maker. The present invention relates to an operation control method and an operation control device for a refrigerator having a DC motor as a load.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A refrigerator has a plurality of DC motors as loads, such as a DC motor for a cooling air circulation fan in a refrigerator, a DC motor for a compressor cooling fan, and a DC motor for an automatic ice maker. Are individually and indefinitely started by an operation start request output by the operation control device individually for each DC motor. Therefore, in the conventional refrigerator, when an operation start request is issued to a plurality of DC motors at the same time, the plurality of DC motors start operating simultaneously as requested.

In a conventional refrigerator, when a fan motor for circulating cool air in a refrigerator is stopped by a lock, when the operation is started in response to a request for recovery from the operation control device,
The recovery operation of the DC motor in the locked state is started irrespective of the operation of the other DC motors.

Further, as another conventional example of a refrigerator operation control device, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-27462, a compressor relay is activated by a DC power supply in a stable manner. When the compressor of the refrigeration cycle receives a start request, it shuts off the relays of the other electric load devices of the refrigerator and gives priority to the activation of the compressor relay. It is known to activate relays in a priority order.

[0005]

At the start of operation, a larger amount of current flows in the DC motor in the form of a starting current than in a steady state, and this current approaches a steady current value with the passage of time.

On the other hand, in the conventional refrigerator, when an operation start request is made to a plurality of DC motors at the same time, the plurality of DC motors start operation at the same time according to the request. A power supply unit that takes into account the sum of the starting currents of the DC motors in the maximum rated current value is required.
The current value is larger than the steady current value. For this reason, a large current power supply unit is required.

In a conventional refrigerator, when a fan motor for circulating cool air in the refrigerator is stopped by a lock, when the operation is started in response to a request for recovery from the operation control device,
Since the recovery operation of the DC motor in the locked state is started regardless of the operation of other DC motors, a power supply unit that considers the sum of the current values at the time of locking in the maximum rated current value is required, and this also requires A large current power supply is required.

[0008] The operation control device for a refrigerator disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-27462 gives the highest priority to the activation of the compressor relay, and then activates the relays of the electric load devices sequentially to operate the relay. The DC motor for the cool air circulation fan in the refrigerator, the DC motor for the compressor cooling fan, the DC motor for the automatic ice maker, etc. It is not intended to contribute to the design of a DC power supply unit having a high level.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a small-sized power supply unit in which the sum of the current values at the time of starting and locking a DC motor is suppressed, and the maximum rated current value is suppressed. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a refrigerator operation control method and operation control device that enable design.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a method for controlling the operation of a refrigerator according to the present invention comprises a DC motor for a cooling air circulation fan in a refrigerator, a DC motor for a compressor cooling fan, and a DC motor for an automatic ice maker. In an operation control device for a refrigerator having a plurality of DC motors as loads, such as a motor, when a request to start operation of the plurality of DC motors at the same time is made, the start of the DC motors is ranked and the DC motors are ranked. In this embodiment, a time difference is provided at the start of the operation, and control is performed to sequentially start the plurality of DC motors one by one at the same time upon receiving the operation start request.

In the operation control method for a refrigerator according to the next invention, in the recovery operation by stopping the lock of the DC motor, if there is another DC motor in operation, the operation of the DC motor is stopped and then the lock is stopped. Control for performing a recovery operation of the DC motor.

An operation control device for a refrigerator according to the next invention has a plurality of DC motors as loads, such as a DC motor for a cooling air circulation fan in a refrigerator, a DC motor for a compressor cooling fan, and a DC motor for an automatic ice maker. In a refrigerator operation control device, when a request to start operation of a plurality of DC motors at the same time is made, the start of the DC motors is ranked, a time difference is provided for the start of operation of the DC motors, and the operation start request is received at the same time. And a control means for executing control for sequentially starting the plurality of DC motors one by one with a time difference.

[0013] In the operation control device for a refrigerator according to the next invention, when the control means performs another recovery operation by stopping the DC motor lock, if there is another DC motor in operation,
After the operation of the DC motor is stopped, control for performing a recovery operation of the DC motor that has been locked is executed.

[0014]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1 shows a refrigerator operation control device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a DC motor for a cooling air circulation fan in a refrigerator, 2 denotes a DC motor for a compressor cooling fan, and 3 denotes a DC motor for an automatic ice maker. The DC motor 1 for the cooling air circulation fan in the refrigerator and the DC motor 2 for the compressor cooling fan are DC brushless motors, and the DC motor 3 for an automatic ice maker is a brush motor.

The DC motors 1, 2, and 3 are connected to a DC power supply unit 4 and are individually driven by driving units 5, 6, and 7, respectively. The power supply unit 4 has a configuration in which a DC power supply obtained by rectification and smoothing from a general commercial AC power supply is converted into a DC voltage value required for loads of the DC motors 1, 2, and 3 by a converter.

A lock detector 8 for detecting lock of these fan motors is connected to the drive units 5 and 6 of the DC motor 1 for the cooling air circulation fan and the DC motor 2 for the compressor cooling fan. The lock detection unit 8 is of a current detection type that utilizes the fact that a larger amount of current flows than when the DC motor is locked when the DC motor is locked, and determines that the lock is established when a current exceeding a certain current value flows.

The driving units 5 to 7 are controlled by an operation control unit 9. The operation control device 9 includes a CPU 10, a ROM 11,
It is a microcomputer type including a RAM 12 and the like. When a request is made to start the operation of a plurality of DC motors 1, 2, and 3 at the same time, the activation of the DC motors is performed, for example, as shown in FIG. Then, a time difference is provided in the start of the operation of the DC motor, and control is performed to sequentially start the plurality of DC motors that have received the operation start request one by one with a time difference.

In the recovery operation by stopping the DC motor lock, the operation control device 9 stops the operation of the DC motor and stops the DC motor that has stopped the lock, if there is another DC motor that is operating. Control for performing a motor recovery operation is performed. The recovery operation means that when the DC motor is locked, the lock detection unit 8 detects the lock, and the drive unit 5, 6, 7 stops the DC motor by a signal from the operation control device 9, and then, for a certain period of time. It means the operation of driving the DC motor again after the elapse.

Next, the motor start control by the operation control device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The operation control device 9 first determines whether or not there is a request to start operation of each of the DC motors 1, 2, and 3 (step S101). Next, it is determined whether there is a plurality of DC motors for which an operation start request has been issued (step S102).
If there is one DC motor for which an operation start request has been issued (No at Step S102), the DC motor is immediately operated (Step S103).

On the other hand, if there are a plurality of DC motors for which an operation start request has been issued (Yes at step S102), the starting motors are ranked (step S104). The motor is searched, and the operation of the corresponding DC motor is started (step S105).

For example, the ranking is performed as shown in FIG. 2, and the DC motor 1 for the cooling air circulation fan in the refrigerator, the DC motor 2 for the compressor cooling fan, and the DC motor 3 for the automatic ice maker are all arranged. If not started, the DC motor 1 for the cool air circulation fan with the highest priority is started.

Next, the elapsed time from the start of operation of the started DC motor, for example, the DC motor 1 for the cool air circulation fan in the refrigerator, is measured by a software timer in the operation control device 9, and a predetermined time T seconds has elapsed. Is monitored (step S106). Until the predetermined time T seconds elapse (No at Step S106), the activation of another DC motor is prohibited.

The predetermined time T seconds may be set such that, after one DC motor starts, when the starting current becomes about 120% of the steady state, the next DC motor is started. . If the predetermined time T seconds has elapsed (Yes at Step S106), the ranking is advanced (Step S10).
7) Then, the start of the highest priority, for example, the DC motor 2 for the compressor cooling fan is permitted.

As shown in FIG. 4, the current of the DC motor flows at the start of the operation in the form of a start-up current more than in the steady state, and approaches a steady current value over time. Therefore, when multiple DC motors start at the same time,
It is necessary to design a power supply unit in which the sum of those starting currents is within the rated current. For example, when three DC motors having a starting current of 0.8 A are started at the same time, when the starting is started, 2.4 A is used.
Will flow. A power supply having a rated current of 2.4 A is required.

On the other hand, in the operation control device according to the present invention, a time difference is given to the start of the DC motor, and for example, as shown in FIG. After elapse of T seconds), when the ranking of the DC motors is advanced, the maximum current when the third DC motor starts is suppressed to the sum of the steady-state current value of two DC motors and one starting current. Can be Specifically, if the starting current is 0.8 A and the steady-state current is 0.2 A, 0.8 + 0.2 ×
2 = 1.2 A will flow.

As a result, if the number of DC motors is limited to three without considering any other load, the conventional method is as follows.
Although a power supply unit having a current capacity of 4 A was required, the operation control device according to the present invention requires only a power supply unit having a current capacity of 1.2 A. By reducing the power supply capacity as described above, a lightweight and inexpensive power supply unit is sufficient,
Further, since the power supply rating can be reduced, heat generation can be suppressed, and a highly reliable device can be obtained.

Next, the recovery control at the time of motor lock by the operation control device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The operation control device 9 first determines whether or not there is a request for recovery of the DC motor stopped by the motor lock (step S201). If there is a recovery request (Yes at Step S201), it is determined whether or not there is a DC motor currently operating (Step S202).

If there is a DC motor currently operating (Yes at step S202), it is determined whether or not the remaining operating time of the operating DC motor is within one minute (step S203). If the time is within one minute (Yes at Step S203), the operation of the DC motor is continued.

On the other hand, when the remaining operation time exceeds 1 minute or the operation time is undefined (No at Step S203), the operation of all the DC motors is prohibited and stopped (Step S204), and the DC with the recovery operation request is issued. Only one motor is operated in accordance with the ranking shown in FIG. 2, and the timer for the recovery operation is reset (step S205). If no DC motor is currently operating (No at Step S202), the DC motor operation is immediately prohibited at Step S204.

Next, it is determined whether the DC motor that has performed the recovery operation is locked (step S206). If the DC motor is locked again (step S206 affirmative), the flag F is set to "1" in order to recognize that the DC motor is locked. (Step S207).

As described above, since the other DC motors are stopped in consideration of the lock current when starting the recovery operation, the power supply current at the time of locking is reduced by the steady current of the stopped DC motor. it can. At the time of recovery, after locking and stopping once due to some influence, the possibility of locking again is high, and there is a high possibility that the lock current flows. Is significant.

[0035]

As can be understood from the above description, according to the operation control method for a refrigerator according to the present invention, when a plurality of DC motors are requested to start operating at the same time, the starting of the DC motors is ranked. Then, a time difference is provided at the start of operation of the DC motor, and control is performed such that a plurality of DC motors that have received the operation start request are sequentially started with a time difference, so that the sum of the current values at the start of the DC motor is controlled. Is reduced and the power supply capacity is reduced, so that a lightweight and inexpensive power supply can be used, and the power supply rating can be reduced.
Heat generation can be suppressed, and reliability can be improved.

According to the operation control method for a refrigerator according to the next invention, in the recovery operation by stopping the lock of the DC motor, if there is another DC motor in operation, the operation of the DC motor is stopped and then the lock is performed. Since the control to perform the recovery operation of the stopped DC motor is performed, the total current value at the time of locking is suppressed, and the power supply capacity is reduced, so that a lightweight and inexpensive power supply unit can be used, and the power supply rating can be reduced. Since heat generation can be reduced, heat generation can be suppressed, and reliability can be improved.

According to the refrigerator operation control device of the next invention, when a request is made to start the operation of a plurality of DC motors simultaneously, the start of the DC motors is ranked.
A time difference is set at the start of the operation of the DC motor, and control is performed to start the DC motors one by one at the same time sequentially with a time difference at the start of the operation, so that the total sum of the current values at the start of the DC motor is suppressed. In addition, since the power supply capacity is reduced, a lightweight and inexpensive power supply unit can be used, and the power supply rating can be reduced, so that heat generation can be suppressed and a highly reliable device can be obtained.

According to the operation control device for a refrigerator according to the next invention, at the time of the recovery operation by stopping the lock of the DC motor, if there is another DC motor that is operating, the operation of the DC motor is stopped and then the lock is performed. Since the control to perform the recovery operation of the stopped DC motor is performed, the total current value at the time of locking is suppressed, and the power supply capacity is reduced, so that a lightweight and inexpensive power supply unit can be used, and the power supply rating can be reduced. Since the heat generation can be reduced, heat generation can be suppressed, and a highly reliable device can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a refrigerator operation control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a ranking at the time of starting a DC motor in the operation control device for a refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing motor start control by the operation control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing starting current characteristics of a DC motor.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing recovery control when the motor is locked by the operation control device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 DC motor for cooling air circulation fan in refrigerator, 2 DC motor for compressor cooling fan, 3 DC motor for automatic ice maker, 4
Power supply unit, 5, 6, 7 drive unit, 8 lock detection unit, 9
Operation control device.

Claims (4)

[Claims] An operation control method for a refrigerator having a plurality of DC motors as loads, such as a DC motor for a cooling air circulation fan in a refrigerator, a DC motor for a compressor cooling fan, a DC motor for an automatic ice maker, and the like. When a request is made to start operation of the DC motors at the same time, the start of the DC motors is prioritized, a time difference is provided for the start of operation of the DC motors, and a plurality of DC motors receiving the operation start request at the same time are output one by one. An operation control method for a refrigerator, comprising: executing a control for sequentially starting the refrigerator with a time difference. 2. When performing a recovery operation by stopping the lock of the DC motor, if there is another DC motor in operation, the operation of the DC motor is stopped, and then the recovery operation of the DC motor whose lock is stopped is performed. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control is performed. 3. An operation control device for a refrigerator having a plurality of DC motors as loads, such as a DC motor for a cooling air circulation fan in a refrigerator, a DC motor for a compressor cooling fan, and a DC motor for an automatic ice maker. When a request is made to start operation of the DC motors at the same time, the start of the DC motors is prioritized, a time difference is provided for the start of operation of the DC motors, and a plurality of DC motors receiving the operation start request at the same time are output one by one. An operation control device for a refrigerator, comprising: control means for executing control for sequentially starting with a time difference. 4. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein, when performing a recovery operation by stopping the lock of the DC motor, if there is another DC motor that is operating, the DC motor is stopped after the operation of the DC motor is stopped. 4. The operation control device for a refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein control for performing the recovery operation is performed.