KR100256408B1 - operation control method of refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for controlling operation of refrigerator is provided to reduce power consumption by adjusting operation time period for defrost heater in accordance with a seasonal change. CONSTITUTION: A method comprises a step(S10) of initializing each part of the refrigerator when AC power is applied from an external source, a step(S20) of allowing a user to set the temperature of refrigerator and outputting a corresponding key signal to a control unit, a step(S30) of judging whether the condition for turning on the compressor is satisfied, a step(S40,S50) of turning on the compressor and blower fan if the condition is satisfied, and counting the compressor operation time period, a step(S55) of judging whether the counted compressor operation time period has reached the defrost cycle, a step(S60) of judging the condition for turning off the compressor is satisfied, if not reached, a step(S70) of turning off the compressor and blower fan, if the condition for turning off the compressor is satisfied, a step(S80, S90) of judging again whether the counted compression operation time period has reached the defrost cycle, and sensing the outdoor air temperature if reached, a step(S100,S110) of judging whether the outdoor air temperature is lower than a predetermined level, and whether the total frequency of defrost operation is lower than 3 times if the outdoor air temperature is lower, a step(S120,S130) of adding 1 to the total frequency if the total frequency is lower than 3, and driving a defrost heater, a step(S140,S150) of sensing the evaporator temperature, and judging whether the temperature is higher than a reference defrost temperature, a step(S160) of turning off the defrost heater if the evaporator temperature is higher, a step(S170,S180) of resetting total frequency of defrost operation as zero if the outdoor air temperature is higher than the preset temperature or the total frequency of defrost operation is higher than 3, and turning on the defrost heater, a step(S190) of sensing the evaporator temperature, and a step(S200) of judging whether the evaporator temperature is higher than the high humidity defrost temperature.

Description

Operation control method of refrigerator

The present invention relates to a drive control method of a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a drive control method of a refrigerator configured to perform a defrosting operation by adjusting a drive time of a defrost heater according to an outside temperature.

In general, the refrigerator, as shown in Figure 1 through the intermediate member 20 in the inner middle side of the cabinet 10, the object required for freezing and refrigeration at the top and bottom (for example, stored food and storage containers, etc.) The freezing and refrigerating chambers 30 and 40 are partitioned into a predetermined space so as to be stored and frozen and refrigerated. The air flow (air) inside the freezing and refrigerating chambers 30 and 40 is located at the rear side of the freezing chamber 30. Cold air circulation means (50) is provided to force the circulation of the force, and the rear side of the cabinet 10 at the rear side in the freezing chamber (30) in accordance with the operation of the cold air circulation means (50) A damper cover 60 having cold air discharge and suction holes 61 and 62 formed to guide the flow of cold air blown and at the same time to form a cold air environment path in which the cold air is discharged to the upper side of the freezing chamber 30 and sucked downward. Is installed.

At this time, the cold air circulation means 50 is a blowing fan motor 51 is driven by the power supplied, the blowing fan 52 is rotated in accordance with the driving of the blowing motor 51, and the blowing fan motor 51 It consists of a bracket 53 for fixing to the cabinet (10).

In the lower portion of the cold air circulation means 50 with respect to the damper cover 60 and the cabinet 10, the freezing and refrigerating chambers 30 and 40 circulated by the blowing force of the cold air circulation means 50. Evaporator 70 is installed to exchange heat in the cold air to cold cold again, and to remove frost formed on the surface of the evaporator 70 when the evaporator 70 is operated for a long time. The defrost heater 80 is turned on and off at regular intervals by receiving power, and the frost on the surface of the evaporator 70 is lowered when the defrost heater 80 is turned on. A drain hose 90 is installed inside the rear wall of the cabinet 10 to drain the defrost water generated during the melting defrost process.

At the lower portion of the drain hose 90, the defrost water drained along the drain hose 90 is collected and at the same time, the collected defrost water is evaporated by the compression heat of the compressor, which will be described later. An evaporation plate 110 is installed at an upper portion of the formed machine room 100, and a compressor 120 is installed at a lower portion of the evaporation plate 110 to compress the circulating refrigerant at a high temperature and high pressure. The cabinet 10 The outer rear wall of the condenser 130 is provided to condense by natural convection by receiving the gas refrigerant compressed at high temperature and high pressure by the compression action of the compressor 120.

On the other hand, in the rear side of the intermediate member 20, the first cold passage 150 of a predetermined interval by the cold air flow guide plate 140 to discharge the cold air heat exchanged while passing through the evaporator 70 to the refrigerating chamber 40 On the other side of the intermediate member 20, a second cold passage 160 of a predetermined interval is formed so that the cold air in the refrigerating chamber 40 passes through the evaporator 70, and the first cold passage ( The temperature controller 170 is installed at the upper rear side of the refrigerating chamber 40 to adjust the supply amount of the cold air discharged to the refrigerating chamber 40 through the multi-stage (for example, strong cooling or weak cooling).

In the drawings, reference numerals 180 and 181 are freezing and refrigerating chamber doors of which one side is hinged to open and close the front openings of the freezing and refrigerating chambers 30 and 40 in an opening and closing manner, and 190 is a predetermined height within the refrigerating chamber 40. It is a shelving means that can load the object while being selectively moved.

The operation process of the refrigerator made as described above is as follows.

First, when the user operates the keys of the high temperature selecting unit not shown, and sets the temperature of the high temperature, that is, the temperature of the freezing chamber 30 and the refrigerating chamber 40, the control unit not shown in the drawing shows the high temperature through the high temperature detecting unit not shown. The internal temperature of the compressor 120 is sensed when the internal temperature of the compressor 120 is higher than the temperature set by the user, and the driving time of the compressor 120 is counted. .

When the compressor 120 is driven as described above, the refrigerant is compressed into a gas of high temperature and high pressure to pass through the condenser, not shown, to evaporate the defrost water collected in the evaporation plate 110, and the refrigerant passing through the condenser is condenser 130. As it flows in, it is heat-exchanged by natural convection or forced convection with external air, cooled by low temperature and high pressure refrigerant to liquefy.

The low temperature and high pressure liquid refrigerant liquefied in the condenser 130 is decompressed into a low temperature high pressure free refrigerant which is easy to evaporate while passing through the capillary tube shown to expand to reach the evaporation pressure and flows into the evaporator 70.

Accordingly, in the evaporator 70, the low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant depressurized in the capillary tube is evaporated and vaporized while passing through several pipes constituting the evaporator 70, and the high-temperature air is heat-exchanged with cold air and cooled in the evaporator 70. The low-temperature low-pressure gas refrigerant is again sucked into the compressor 120 to form a refrigeration cycle that circulates repeatedly.

Then, the controller repeatedly checks the counted driving time of the compressor 120 and stops driving the compressor 120 when a predetermined defrost cycle is reached according to the elapsed driving time of the checked compressor 120. The defrost heater 80 is driven.

As such, as the operation of the compressor 120 is stopped, the circulation of the refrigerant is stopped, so that the generation of cold air by heat exchange is stopped in the evaporator 70, and implanted on the surface of the evaporator 70 by the heat of the defrost heater 80. The frost melted into defrost water is collected into the evaporation plate 100 through the drain hose (90).

The controller checks the temperature of the evaporator detected through the evaporator temperature sensor, which is not shown, and stops driving the defrost heater 80 by determining that the defrost is completed when the temperature of the checked evaporator exceeds the preset defrost temperature. .

However, since the conventional refrigerator as described above has a defrost temperature, that is, the off-point temperature of the defrost heater 80 is based on a summer season in which frost is generated, spring, autumn, In winter, the defrost heater 80 operates longer than necessary, causing unnecessary power consumption.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the problems described above, the present invention focuses on the difference between the outside air temperature by season, by varying the defrost temperature according to the outside air temperature, low defrost temperature in winter when the humidity is low The purpose of the present invention is to provide a drive control method of a refrigerator that can prevent unnecessary power consumption by adjusting the driving time of the defrost heater according to the season such as the defrost temperature increases in the summer when the high humidity is high.

1 is a schematic internal structural view showing a conventional refrigerator,

2 is a schematic block diagram of a drive control apparatus for a refrigerator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flowchart for describing an operation of the controller illustrated in FIG. 2;

Figure 4 is a schematic graph for comparing the standard defrost temperature and the high humidity defrost temperature according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing>

200; Temperature setting unit 300: high temperature detection unit

400: outside temperature detection unit 500: evaporator temperature detection unit

600: control unit 700: compressor driving unit

800: blowing fan drive unit 900: defrost heater drive unit

The drive control method of the refrigerator according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a cooling operation step of cooling the inside of the refrigerator by driving the compressor according to the set inside temperature, and the drive of the compressor when a predetermined defrost cycle during the cooling operation In the drive control method of the refrigerator comprising a defrost operation step of detecting the outside temperature while stopping the outside temperature and the defrost operation step of heating the evaporator to a different defrost temperature according to the outside temperature detected in the outside temperature detection step, the defrost operation Each time the evaporator is heated to 30 to 40 ° C., the number of defrosting operations is added to calculate the total defrosting count. When the evaporator is heated to 40 to 50 ° C., the total number of defrostings calculated up to that point is reset. Even if the outside temperature detected in the outside temperature sensing step is less than the set temperature, the total number of defrost times calculated up to that point is a predetermined number of times. Sangyimyeon to the evaporator is characterized in that heating to 40 ~ 50 ℃.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of a drive control apparatus of a refrigerator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as can be seen with reference to the same drawing, the drive control apparatus of the present invention is a temperature setting unit 200, and the inside Temperature sensing unit 300, outside temperature sensing unit 400, evaporator temperature sensing unit 500, control unit 600, compressor driving unit 700, blowing fan driving unit 800 and defrost heater driving unit 900 Is made of.

2, the temperature setting unit 200 is provided with a plurality of setting keys for setting the operating temperature of the inside of the refrigerator, that is, the freezer compartment (see 30 in FIG. 1) and the refrigerating chamber (see 40 in FIG. 1). When the key is operated, a corresponding key signal is generated and applied to the controller 600, and the inside temperature detecting unit 300 detects a temperature inside the refrigerator and applies a corresponding inside temperature signal to the controller 600.

In addition, the outside air temperature detecting unit 400 detects the temperature outside the refrigerator and applies a corresponding outside air temperature signal to the controller 600, and the evaporator temperature detecting unit 500 measures the temperature of the evaporator (see 70 in FIG. 1). Detects and applies the corresponding evaporator temperature signal to the controller 600.

In addition, the controller 600 compares the temperature inside the refrigerator set by the user through the temperature setting unit 200 with the current temperature measured by the internal temperature sensor 300, and according to the comparison result, the compressor ( 1) and a driving signal for driving the blower fan (see 52 of FIG. 1) is applied to the compressor driver 700 and the blower fan driver 800, respectively, and the drive time of the compressor is counted.

In addition, the control unit 600 detects the outside air temperature through the outside temperature sensing unit 400 when the defrost cycle according to the elapse of the driving time of the compressor, the standard defrost temperature (30 ~ 40 ℃) or high humidity dehumidification according to the detected outside temperature The compressor is heated to a temperature (40 to 50 ° C.) to apply a control signal to the defrost heater driver 900 to perform a defrost operation.

In addition, the compressor driver 700 includes the compressor for circulating the refrigerant, and drives the compressor by applying power to the compressor according to a control signal applied from the controller 700.

In addition, the blower fan driving unit 800 includes the blower fan configured to discharge the cold air heat-exchanged by the evaporator into the refrigerator and the blower fan motor (see 51 of FIG. 1) to rotate the blower fan. The blower fan is rotated by driving power to the blower fan motor according to a control signal applied from the controller 600.

The defrost heater driving unit 900 includes a defrost heater (see 80 of FIG. 1) configured to perform a defrost operation by heating the evaporator, and supplies power to the defrost heater according to a control signal applied from the controller 600. Defrosting is performed by applying.

An operation example of the present invention having the above configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

First, when a commercial AC power is applied to the refrigerator from the outside, the controller 600 initializes each part of the refrigerator according to the cooling control function (S10), and the temperature setting unit 200 operates the user to set the temperature in the refrigerator. If set to generate a key signal corresponding to the applied to the control unit 600 (S20).

At this time, the temperature inside the high temperature sensor 300, that is, the temperature of the freezer compartment (see 30 of Figure 1) and the refrigerating chamber (see 40 of Figure 1), the evaporator temperature detection unit 500 detects the temperature of the evaporator correspondingly The internal temperature signal and the evaporator temperature signal are applied to the control unit 600, and the control unit 600 detects the current internal temperature detected by the internal temperature detection unit 300 and the internal temperature set by the user in the step S20. It is determined whether the on condition of the compressor by comparing (S30).

Here, the on condition of the compressor, when the current internal temperature detected by the internal temperature detecting unit 300 is higher than the internal temperature set by the user, the compressor to cool the inside, that is, the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment. It is an operating condition to circulate the refrigerant by driving.

At this time, if the on condition of the compressor is satisfied based on the determination result of the step (S30), since the current internal temperature is higher than the internal temperature set by the user in the step (S20), the control unit 600 is a compressor and The control signal for driving the blower fan is applied to the compressor driver 700 and the blower fan driver 800 (S40), and the drive time of the compressor is counted (S50).

As a result, the compressor driving unit 700 applies the driving power to drive the compressor, and the compressor compresses the refrigerant into a gas of high temperature and high pressure and passes the condenser, not shown, to be collected in an evaporation plate (see 110 in FIG. 1). The defrost water is evaporated, and the refrigerant passing through the condenser enters the condenser (see 130 of FIG. 1), is heat-exchanged by natural convection or forced convection with external air, and is cooled by the low temperature and high pressure refrigerant to liquefy.

The low temperature and high pressure liquid refrigerant liquefied in the condenser is decompressed into a low temperature high pressure free refrigerant which is easy to evaporate while passing through an illustrated capillary tube which expands to reach an evaporation pressure and is introduced into the evaporator, and the low temperature introduced into the evaporator. The low pressure refrigerant vaporizes through the pipes forming the evaporator to heat the surrounding air with cold air, and the low temperature low pressure gas refrigerant cooled in the evaporator is repeatedly sucked into the compressor to circulate the freezing cycle. Form.

In addition, the blower fan driving unit 800 applies power to the blower fan motor to drive the blower fan, and blows the cold air in which the blower fan heat exchanges in the evaporator.

Next, the controller 600 checks the driving time of the compressor counted up to the present time and determines whether the defrost cycle (for example, 6 hours) has been reached (S55). The process proceeds to the following step S70 in which the fan is stopped.

If the defrosting cycle has not been reached as a result of the determination in step S55, the controller 600 detects the current internal temperature and the internal temperature detected by the internal temperature signal applied from the internal temperature detecting unit 300, and at the step S20. It is determined whether the off condition of the compressor is satisfied by comparing the internal temperature set by the user (S60).

Here, the off condition of the compressor is to stop the driving of the compressor when the current internal temperature detected by the internal temperature detecting unit 200 is less than the internal temperature set by the user in step S20, so that Operation condition to stop the circulation.

At this time, if the off condition of the compressor is not satisfied as a result of the determination in step S60, since the current internal temperature is higher than the internal temperature set by the user in step S20, the control unit 600 performs the step S40. ), And the subsequent steps S40 to S60 are performed.

If the off condition of the compressor is satisfied as a result of the determination in step S60, since the current internal temperature is lower than the internal temperature set by the user in step S20, the controller 600 controls the compressor and the blower fan. A driving stop signal for stopping driving is applied to the compressor driver 700 and the blower fan driver 800, respectively (S70).

As a result, the compressor driving unit 700 stops the driving of the compressor by stopping the application of the driving power to the compressor according to the driving stop signal applied from the control unit 600, and the compressor stops the driving of the refrigerant. The circulation is stopped so that no heat exchange occurs in the evaporator.

In addition, the blower fan driver 800 stops the driving of the blower fan by stopping the supply of power to the blower fan motor according to the driving stop signal applied from the controller 600, thereby stopping the rotation of the blower fan.

Next, the controller 600 checks the driving time of the compressor counted up to the present time, and determines whether the defrost cycle (for example, 6 hours) has been reached according to the passage of the checked compressor driving time (S80). If the defrosting cycle has not been reached, the above-described control operation ends.

If the defrosting cycle is reached as a result of the determination in step S80, the outside air temperature is sensed through the outside air temperature detecting unit 400 (S90).

That is, the outside air temperature detecting unit 400 detects the air temperature outside the refrigerator and applies the corresponding outside air temperature signal to the control unit 600, and the control unit 600 detects the outside air temperature through the outside air temperature signal.

Then, it is determined whether the outside air temperature sensed in the step S90 is less than a predetermined set temperature (S100). If the outside temperature is less than the set temperature, the determination is whether the total number of defrosting performed to the present time is less than three times. Determine (S110).

If the total number of defrosts performed up to the present time is less than three times as a result of the determination in step S110, the total number of defrosts is added to the total number of defrosts accumulated up to the present time (S120), and the defrost heater A control signal for driving the signal is applied to the defrost heater driving unit 900 (S130).

As a result, the defrost heater driving unit 900 applies power to drive the defrost heater, and the defrost heater generates heat to dissolve frost formed on the surface of the evaporator. 1 through 90) to the evaporation dish (see 100 in FIG. 1).

At this time, the evaporator temperature detection unit 500 detects the temperature of the evaporator and applies an evaporator temperature signal corresponding to the detected temperature of the evaporator to the control unit 600, the control unit 600 from the evaporator temperature detection unit 500 The temperature of the evaporator is sensed through the applied evaporator temperature detection signal (S140).

Next, the control unit 600 determines whether the temperature of the evaporator detected in the step S140 is equal to or more than the standard defrosting temperature (T1; 30-40 ° C., see FIG. 4) (S150), and the determination result determines the temperature of the evaporator. Is less than the standard defrosting temperature T1, the process proceeds to the step S130, and subsequent steps S130 to S150 are repeatedly performed until the temperature of the evaporator becomes higher than the standard defrosting temperature T1. The defrosting operation of heating is continued.

If the determination result in step S150 indicates that the temperature of the evaporator detected in step S140 is equal to or greater than the standard defrost temperature T1, the control unit 600 generates a control signal for stopping driving of the defrost heater. It is applied to the driver 900 (S160).

As a result, the defrost heater driving unit 900 stops the driving by stopping the power supply to the defrost heater, thereby ending the defrost operation.

That is, when the outside air temperature is lower than the set temperature, the humidity is relatively lower than in summer, so it corresponds to spring, autumn, or winter when the amount of frost is low. Therefore, by lowering the defrost temperature, the driving time of the defrost heater is shortened. This is to prevent waste of power by unnecessarily driving the defrost heater for a long time.

On the other hand, if the outside air temperature detected in the step (S90) is greater than the set temperature, or as a result of the determination in step S100 or the total number of defrosting performed up to the present time as a result of the determination in step (S110), the control unit The total number of defrostings accumulated up to the present time (600) is reset to zero (S170), and then a control signal for driving the defrost heater is applied to the defrost heater driving unit 900 (S180).

Thus, the defrost heater driving unit 900 is driven by applying power to the defrost heater, the defrost heater generates heat to melt the frost formed on the surface of the evaporator, the defrost water generated at this time to the drain hose Through the evaporation plate is collected.

At this time, the evaporator temperature detection unit 500 detects the temperature of the evaporator and applies an evaporator temperature signal corresponding to the detected temperature of the evaporator to the control unit 600, the control unit 600 from the evaporator temperature detection unit 600 The temperature of the evaporator is sensed through the applied evaporator temperature detection signal (S190).

Then, the control unit 600 determines whether the temperature of the evaporator detected in the step (S190) is higher than the high humidity phase temperature (T2; 40 ~ 50 ℃, see Figure 4) (S200), the determination result temperature of the evaporator Is less than the high humidity phase temperature T2, the process proceeds to the step S170, and subsequent steps S170 to S200 are repeatedly performed until the temperature of the evaporator becomes higher than the high humidity phase temperature T2. The defrosting operation of heating is continued.

If it is determined in step S200 that the temperature of the evaporator detected in step S190 is equal to or higher than the high humidity defrost temperature T2, the process proceeds to the step 160 of stopping driving of the defrost heater. The control operation ends.

That is, when the outside air temperature is higher than the set temperature, the humidity is high and the amount of frost is generated in summer, so the defrost temperature is increased to suit the demand, thereby extending the driving time of the defrost heater, thereby perfecting the frost generated on the surface of the evaporator. On the other hand, when the defrosting operation is performed three times in spring, autumn, or winter, even when the outside temperature is lower than the set temperature, the defrosting temperature is increased once to extend the driving time of the defrost heater, and thus the surface of the evaporator cannot be defrosted. It is to completely remove the frost that can remain on.

As described above, in the present invention, when the outside temperature is lower than the set temperature, the defrosting temperature is lowered because the amount of frost generated in the evaporator is relatively lower than in the summer when the humidity is relatively low in spring, autumn, or winter. When the driving time of the defrost heater is relatively short and the outside temperature is higher than the set temperature, the defrost heater is performed by dehumidifying operation by performing the defrosting operation by relatively increasing the defrosting temperature by increasing the defrosting temperature in summer, when the humidity is relatively high. By adjusting the driving time of the, it is possible to prevent the waste of power by unnecessarily driving the defrost heater in other seasons except summer.

As described above, according to the present invention, the defrosting temperature is changed according to the outside temperature by paying attention to the difference of the outside temperature according to the seasons, the defrosting temperature is low in winter when the humidity is low, and the defrosting temperature is high in the summer when the humidity is high. The drive time of the defrost heater is adjusted to suit the effect of preventing waste of power.

Claims (6)

(delete) (delete) (delete) (delete) (Secondary correction) A cooling operation step of cooling the inside of the compressor by driving the compressor according to a set inside temperature, an outside temperature sensing step of sensing the outside air temperature while stopping the operation of the compressor when a predetermined defrost cycle occurs during the cooling operation, and the outside temperature sensing In the drive control method of the refrigerator comprising a defrosting operation step of heating the evaporator to a different defrost temperature according to the ambient air temperature detected in the step, The defrosting operation step drives the refrigerator to heat the evaporator to 30 to 40 ° C. if the outside temperature is less than a predetermined set temperature, and to heat the evaporator to 40 to 50 ° C. if the outside temperature is above the set temperature. Way. (Secondary correction) A cooling operation step of cooling the inside of the compressor by driving the compressor according to a set inside temperature, an outside temperature sensing step of sensing the outside air temperature while stopping the operation of the compressor when a predetermined defrost cycle occurs during the cooling operation, and the outside temperature sensing In the drive control method of the refrigerator comprising a defrosting operation step of heating the evaporator to a different defrost temperature according to the ambient air temperature detected in the step, The defrosting operation step adds the number of defrosting operations each time the evaporator is heated to 30 to 40 ° C., and calculates the total number of defrosting times. And controlling the refrigerator to heat the evaporator to 40 to 50 ° C. if the total number of defrost times calculated up to that point is higher than a predetermined number even if the detected outside temperature is less than a set temperature. Way.

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