KR100271973B1 - A method for sleeping mode controlling of refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sleep operation control method of a refrigerator that automatically detects a user's sleep pattern and allows the user to perform a sleep operation before and after sleeping. In the related art, the refrigerator sleeps only when the user presses a sleep switch before bedtime. Not only was it inconvenient to use because it was supposed to enter the operation, there was a problem that the sleep operation function is not performed when the sleep switch does not press the sleep switch.

The present invention detects illuminance for a preset period (one week) at the time of initial startup of the refrigerator, and then learns the weekly illuminance pattern for setting the average illuminance level for each unit time, in advance with the learning step of the illuminance pattern. Learning the weekly noise pattern for each unit time to sense the noise for a set period (weekly) and to set and store the average noise level for each unit time, the result of performing the weekly illumination pattern learning step and the weekly noise pattern learning step is determined Detecting the sleep pattern through the sum of the average roughness level and the average noise level for each weekly unit of time, the forced operation of the compressor for a predetermined time from 2 hours of sleep time detected as a result of the sleep pattern detection step, and after the sleep time , Sleep pattern agent to minimize noise by minimizing operation of refrigeration / refrigeration fan and defrost heater Invention consisting of a step being to perform.

Description

How to control the sleep operation of the refrigerator

The present invention relates to a method for controlling the sleep operation of a refrigerator, and in particular, to learn a sleep pattern of a user at the initial startup of the refrigerator and automatically perform a sleep operation according to the learned sleep pattern before and after the user automatically takes a sleep. It relates to a sleep operation control method of the refrigerator.

In general, a refrigerator uses a principle of absorbing ambient heat during evaporation by repeatedly executing a refrigeration cycle that compresses, condenses, expands, and evaporates a refrigerant. Through the low pressure gas refrigerant is conveyed to the condenser bar at this time generates a considerable noise by mechanical operation.

In this way, when the compressor is driven to generate cold air, noise is inevitably generated due to the current compressor structure. Especially, at night, the sound is transmitted better than the daytime, and because the surrounding area is quiet, the same sound is louder. If the noise is generated from the refrigerator when trying to sleep at night there was a problem such as not able to get a good night's sleep.

In order to solve such a problem, conventionally, the sleep operation is performed according to the operation of the sleep operation button, thereby limiting the operation of the compressor during the sleep operation and delaying the defrosting to minimize the noise during the operation. An embodiment of is disclosed in Patent Publication No. 96-4505 (name: noise prevention device of the refrigerator during sleep), which was filed by the present applicant and published on April 6, 1996.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a noise prevention device of a refrigerator during sleep disclosed in Patent Publication No. 96-4505, which is a light receiving unit of an optical sensor in a control panel 2 provided at a front door of the refrigerator 1. A light receiving transistor PT is installed to input a constant on / off signal to the controller 3 according to the illumination of the room, and a sleep switch SW is provided on the control panel 2 to control the on / off signal. (3), and the controller 3 is configured to output a stop time and a drive signal to the compressor CP for a predetermined time based on a signal input from the sleep switch SW and the light receiving transistor PT. .

FIG. 2 shows a detailed circuit diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG. ₁ , wherein a sleep signal input unit 4 for inputting a sleep signal by a user's operation is connected to an input port PI ₁ of the controller 3. The port PI ₂ is connected to an optical sensing unit 5 which detects illuminance around the refrigerator and outputs an illuminance signal. The control unit 3 outputs an appropriate control signal to the output port PO based on the signal input through the light sensing unit 5 to control the driving of the compressor CP. Is shown in the flowchart.

That is, when the controller 3 senses the illumination around the refrigerator through the light detecting unit 5 and determines that the interior is dark, the controller 3 stops the driving of the compressor CP for a predetermined time (30 minutes), and then resumes normal driving. If the indoor light is turned on when the compressor is stopped for such a sleep operation, the compressor (CP) is immediately restarted and then detected whether 10 minutes have elapsed. It is controlled to prevent the cold cooling of the refrigerator which is easy to occur when the operation stops continuously.

The sleep operation control method of the conventional refrigerator configured as described above is inconvenient in use because the refrigerator was to perform the sleep operation only when the user presses the sleep switch before entering the sleep, and it is inconvenient to use the sleep switch. There was a problem that the sleep operation function could not be performed to make the best use of the function of the refrigerator.

The present invention is invented to solve the above problems of the prior art, the object of the present invention is to allow the user to automatically enter the sleep operation according to the user's sleep pattern without pressing the sleep switch, The present invention provides a method of controlling a sleep operation of a refrigerator to learn a sleep pattern of a user and to control a sleep operation according to the period.

A characteristic of the sleep operation control method of the refrigerator according to the present invention comprises the steps of measuring the illuminance and the noise around the refrigerator during the normal operation of the refrigerator and the noise detector, respectively, for a predetermined period of time. Analyze by time zone, and determine the intensity pattern and noise pattern class according to the time zone, each of which is given a higher grade, and store it in the storage unit after calculating the intensity pattern and noise pattern class stored in the storage unit. Determining this as a sleep pattern if the lower grade continues continuously for a predetermined time, and if the sleep pattern is determined to drive the compressor from a certain time before the start of the sleep pattern and to stop the operation of the compressor until a certain time after entering the sleep pattern It includes the step of performing a sleep operation.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a refrigerator according to the prior art,

2 is a circuit diagram of one embodiment according to the prior art;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional sleep driving control method;

4 is a schematic configuration diagram for implementing a life driving method according to the present invention;

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling sleep operation of a refrigerator according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

20: light detection unit, 22: noise detection unit,

24: door opening and closing detection unit, 26: control unit,

28: compressor, 30: compressor drive unit,

32: refrigeration / refrigeration fan, 34: refrigeration / refrigeration fan drive unit.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of the sleep operation control method of the refrigerator according to the present invention will be described.

4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a lifespan operation control apparatus for implementing a sleep driving method according to the present invention, which is installed on one side of the front side of the refrigerator and detects the illuminance of the interior of the room, on one side of the front side of the refrigerator A noise detection unit 22 installed to detect external noise of the refrigerator when the compressor 28 and the refrigeration / refrigeration fan 32 are stopped, a door open / close detection unit 24 detecting whether the refrigerator is opened or closed, The control unit 26 receives the signals sensed by the detection units 20, 22 and 24, and outputs a compressor driving signal and a refrigeration / refrigeration fan driving signal, and the compressor according to the control signal of the controller 26. 28) and a compressor driver 30 for driving the refrigeration / refrigeration fan 32 and a refrigeration / refrigeration fan driver 34.

The sleep operation control method of the refrigerator according to the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

When the initial power supply for initial purchase of the refrigerator or the change of the stored sleep pattern is applied, the control unit 26 first learns and stores the sleep pattern of the user for one week according to a preset condition.

In the refrigerator 26, the maximum and minimum values of noise and illuminance that may normally occur are set to, for example, 00h and FFh, and are divided into four grades, for example, from the minimum value to the maximum value. And the sensed data received from the noise detector 22 is divided into four classes and stored.

First, the operation of learning the illuminance pattern will be described. When the illuminance signal is input from the light detecting unit 20, the controller 26 determines whether the illuminance value is a minimum illuminance value by comparing with a preset illuminance minimum value ( S202) If it is determined that the minimum illuminance value is determined as the result of the above determination, it is stored (S203), and if it is not the minimum illuminance value, it is determined whether or not the maximum illuminance value is compared with the maximum illuminance value (S204). If it is determined that the illuminance value of S it is stored (S205) is performed.

On the other hand, the operation of learning the noise pattern, as described above, while performing the operation of detecting and storing the maximum illumination value and the minimum illumination value for each time period as described above of the compressor 28 and the refrigeration / refrigeration fan (32) When it is determined that the driving is stopped (S206), the noise level around the refrigerator is learned from the noise data input through the noise detector 22. In other words, the day is divided into 24 hours and the average of the noise level detected for each hour for each time period is stored (S207).

In this way, by dividing the maximum illuminance value and the minimum illuminance value during the unit time by every hour by 2 and determining the average illuminance value in the time zone, and repeating the operation for each hourly time, the illuminance pattern for 1 day is detected. Save it. For example, after repeating such an operation for one week, the average illumination value for the same time zone is determined and stored for one week by determining the average value by summing the illumination values detected for each time zone by dividing by 7 (S209).

The weekly average illuminance value determined as described above is shown in Table 1, and as can be seen from this, each average illuminance value is divided into four grades according to the size of the value, and the lower the grade, the lower the illuminance. The bar setting shows that the illumination is relatively low from 23:00 to 10 am.

In addition, by calculating the average value of the noise level by integrating the noise level during the unit time, that is, for 1 hour, and storing it as the average noise value of the time zone, and repeating the operation for each hour, the noise pattern for 1 day Detect and save. For example, after repeating the operation for one week, the noise value detected for each time zone is added and divided by 7 to determine the average value, thereby determining and storing the average noise value for the same time zone for one week (S210).

The weekly average noise value determined as described above is shown in Table 1, and as can be seen from this, each average noise value is divided into four grades according to the magnitude of the value, and the lower the grade, the lower the noise. From 0 o'clock to 8 am, the noise is relatively low.

time 0 One 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Weekly (7 days) noise level One One One 2 One One 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 One 3 4 3 4 4 4 3 Weekly (7 days) illuminance 2 One One One One 2 One One 2 2 3 4 4 4 3 2 One One 4 4 3 3 3 2 Sum 3 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 5 4 5 6 7 7 7 6 2 4 8 7 7 7 7 5

Accordingly, the control unit 26 calculates the weekly (7 days) noise and weekly (7 days) illuminance value per hour, and when the sum continues for more than 8 lower 2 or 3 grades, the time zone is recognized as a sleep pattern. In the above example, the sleep time is recognized from 0 o'clock to 8 am.

When the sleep pattern is determined according to the above operation, the control unit 26 performs the sleep operation control operation.

The sleep operation control is performed from 2 hours before the sleep time to prevent the refrigerator from being weakly cooled during the sleep time.

That is, as determined in step S211, if it is determined that 2 hours before the induction of sleep time, the sleep operation control is started (S212), and if it is determined that it is not 2 hours before the induction of the sleep time, the driving operation (S214) is performed.

Here, starting the sleep operation control two hours before the inrush of the sleep time minimizes the operation time of the compressor 28 during the sleep time and at the same time reduces the rotation speed of the freezer / refrigeration fan 32 to ½ and defrost inrush condition. It is to minimize noise by suppressing the operation of the compressor after defrosting by delaying it, and forcibly starting the compressor 2 hours before sleep time to perform the maximum cooling, and then to minimize the operation of the noise generator as above during the sleep time. It is for.

While performing the above sleep operation control, it is determined whether the sleep time has ended according to a predetermined sleep pattern (S213), and if the sleep time is not finished as a result of the above determination, the sleep operation is continued but the sleep time is over. If it is determined, the sleep operation control is terminated and the control is performed by the normal operation.

The present invention detects the noise and illuminance around the refrigerator for a certain period of time, such as a week after the initial startup of the refrigerator, divides it by hourly intervals, obtains an average value of the detected values for the same time zone, and classifies it into a preset grade to change the detection level. After the sleep pattern is determined according to the trend, the sleep operation control is automatically performed before and after the sleep time according to the sleep pattern to minimize noise during the sleep time, thereby providing a comfortable sleep environment, and in particular, convenient and efficient cooling. It has the advantage of being effective.

Claims (2)

During the initial startup of the refrigerator, the sensor detects the maximum and minimum illuminance values of the ambient illuminance through the light detector for each day for a preset period (weekly), and stores the average illuminance value for each unit time per day and then detects it for the preset period. Learning a weekly illumination pattern for each unit time of summing the average daily illuminance values of the same time zone among the average illuminance values for each unit time and setting the grade according to the size; In addition to the learning and storage step of the illuminance pattern, the ambient noise is accumulated by unit time for each day for a preset period (weekly), and the average noise value for each unit time is stored for a predetermined period and then detected for a preset period. Learning the daytime noise pattern for each unit time of the average noise value of the unit time, the average of the daily average noise value of the same time zone and the rating according to the size to store the grade Detecting a sleep pattern through a sum result of an average roughness level and an average noise level for each weekly unit time determined as a result of performing the weekly illumination pattern learning step and the weekly noise pattern learning step, The sleep pattern detected by the sleep pattern detection step results in a forced operation of the compressor for a predetermined time from 2 hours of sleep time, and after the sleep time, minimizes the operation of the compressor, the refrigeration / refrigeration fan and the defrost heater to minimize noise. Sleep operation control method of the refrigerator consisting of a step to perform the control. The method of claim 1, The learning of the noise pattern is a sleep operation control method of the refrigerator, characterized in that to learn when the operation of the compressor and the refrigeration / refrigeration fan is stopped.