KR100362610B1 - Refrigerator and controlling method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a cooling chamber and a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, comprising: a setting operation unit for setting reference temperatures for a plurality of cooling levels according to the degree of cooling of the cooling chamber, and a reference temperature of the respective cooling levels. And a controller for storing the reference temperature selected by the setting operation unit in the memory, and controlling the driving of the compressor according to the reference temperature stored in the memory. Thereby, the reference temperature of each cooling level can be conveniently changed without replacing parts, such as a diode.

Description

Control method for refrigerators and freezers

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator capable of changing a set temperature for each cooling level of a cooling chamber.

A refrigerator generally has a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment, and includes a freezing system for cooling food stored in these freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment. A general refrigeration system comprises a compressor for compressing a refrigerant at high temperature and high pressure, a condenser for condensing the refrigerant from the compressor, and an evaporator for evaporating the refrigerant from the condenser to generate cold air.

Here, the compressor is provided with a cooling fan for cooling the compressor when the compressor is driven in order to cool the compressor to a temperature at which the compressor is operating because the efficiency is lowered when the compressor is in a high temperature state during the operation of the compressor.

In recent years, in addition to simply freezing and freezing food, an automatic ice maker that automatically freezes ice, a dispenser device for supplying cooling water and ice, LCD displays that display cooling levels and refrigerator functions, and refrigerator function operation buttons, etc. Efficient refrigerators have been developed and used to enhance the function of the refrigerators.

In such a refrigerator, a microcomputer for controlling each driving unit for executing various functions and a PCB board having a power supply circuit for supplying power to each driving unit are installed.

On the PCB, a plurality of temperature change instructing diode mounting parts having a temperature change limit range are provided so that the microcomputer senses the changed temperature when the reference temperature is changed according to each cooling level.

In the microcomputer, the initial value of the reference temperature for the cooling level of the steel, medium, and weak is set in advance, and the driving unit is changed by changing the reference temperature to a higher or lower temperature by detecting a diode and changing the temperature corresponding to the diode. It is programmed to control.

However, in order to change the reference temperature according to the cooling level, it is inconvenient to turn off the power of the refrigerator and separate the PCB substrate provided in the refrigerator body from the main body, and mount the diode in the diode mounting unit corresponding to the temperature to be changed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator which can conveniently change the operation of each driving unit of a reference temperature or a refrigerator according to a cooling level of a cooling chamber without replacing a component such as a diode.

1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to the present invention;

2 is an initial screen of a display unit provided in FIG. 1;

3 is a refrigerator function selection screen according to FIG.

4 is a control mode screen according to FIG.

5 is a reference temperature setting screen according to FIG.

6 is a reference temperature setting table for setting a reference temperature according to the cooling level of FIG.

7 is a control block diagram for setting a reference temperature of FIG.

8 is a flow chart for setting the reference temperature according to the cooling level of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

1: refrigerator 3: freezer door

5: refrigerator door 7: dispenser device

9: display device 20: display initial screen

30: refrigerator function selection screen 35: control mode icon

40: Control mode selection screen 41: Reference temperature setting mode icon

43: Defrost heater control mode icon 50: Reference temperature setting screen

51: Freezer reference temperature change icon 55: Freezer reference temperature change icon

57: storage icon 60: reference temperature setting table different from the cooling level

61: control unit 63: setting operation unit

65 drive unit 67 display unit

69: memory

According to the present invention, in the refrigerator provided with a cooling chamber and a refrigerant compression compressor, a setting operation unit for setting and inputting a plurality of cooling levels according to the degree of cooling of the cooling chamber and a reference temperature for each cooling level. And a control unit for storing the memory and the cooling level and corresponding reference temperature inputted through the setting operation unit in the memory, and controlling the driving of the compressor according to the reference temperature stored in the memory.

The refrigerator further includes an evaporator for evaporating a refrigerant, a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the evaporator, and a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator, and the setting operation unit controls the defrost control temperature of the evaporator detected by the temperature sensor. It is preferable to have a defrost control temperature setting unit for setting, and the control unit stores the set defrost control temperature in the memory, and controls the drive of the defrost heater according to the defrost control temperature.

The memory may be stored in the EEPROM even if the power is cut off.

The display unit for displaying the setting information according to the selection of the setting operation unit is provided so that the user can easily know the setting information, wherein the setting operation unit may be formed as a touch screen.

On the other hand, the above object, according to another field of the present invention, in the control method of a refrigerator having a cooling chamber, a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, an evaporator for evaporating a refrigerant, and a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator, wherein the cooling temperature is changed. Selecting a cooling level of the cooling chamber, setting a reference temperature for the cooling level, storing a reference temperature of each cooling level, and driving the compressor according to the set reference temperature It is preferable to include.

The control method of the refrigerator further includes setting at least one of a defrost time or a defrost completion temperature of the defrost heater, and driving the defrost heater according to the set value. can do.

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

As shown in FIG. 1, as an example of the refrigerator according to the present invention, a pair of refrigerating compartments and a freezing compartment partitioned left and right are formed in a rectangular cylindrical cabinet having a front opening, and a refrigerating compartment in front of the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment, respectively. The door 5 and the freezing chamber door 3 are attached. Here, in the cabinet of the refrigerator, a compressor for compressing the refrigerant at a high temperature and a high pressure (not shown), a condenser condensing the refrigerant from the compressor, an evaporator for generating cold air by evaporating the refrigerant from the condenser, and a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the evaporator. And a defrost heater for removing frost deposited on the evaporator, and a controller (see FIG. 7) to control the operation of the compressor and to control the defrost heater to operate when defrosting is required based on the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor. do.

One area of the freezer door 3 is provided with a dispenser 7 having a water dispenser and an ice dispenser so that ice or water stored in the freezer can be supplied from the outside. The display apparatus 9 which displays the frozen and refrigerated state is provided.

The display apparatus 9 has a display unit formed of a touch screen and a setting operation unit, and the setting operation unit is composed of a plurality of icons for selecting information or setting a function displayed on the display unit.

When power is applied to the display device 9, the display initial screen 20 as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed, and a refrigerator function for checking and adjusting the refrigeration and freezing conditions of the refrigerator, and input and display dates The company's logo is displayed along with a menu showing functions such as a schedule function and a time display function.

When the refrigerator function icon 21 is selected on the display initial screen 20, the refrigerator function selection screen 30 is displayed on the display unit as illustrated in FIG. 3. The refrigerator function selection screen 30 is composed of a graphic area displaying the cooling state of the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment, and a menu area indicating the function corresponding to each selection icon.

In the menu area, a plurality of icons for selecting the size of the ice supplied through the dispenser device 7 according to the preference, a temperature setting selection icon for setting the temperature of the freezer and the refrigerating chamber, and a 'initial screen for returning to the initial screen' 'Control Mode' icon 35 is displayed to display a screen to set the control temperature according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a control mode screen 40 displayed when the 'control mode' icon 35 of FIG. 3 is selected. As shown in the figure, the control mode screen 40 is attached to the 'cooling level reference temperature setting mode' icon 41 for changing the reference temperature according to the cooling level of the strong, medium, and weak of the cooling chamber, and attached to the evaporator. Defrost heater control mode icon 43 is provided to control the operation of the installed defrost heater by the defrost completion temperature or the defrost time.

5 is a cooling level reference temperature setting screen 50 that is displayed when 'middle' is selected among the reference temperature setting icons 41 of the cooling chamber in the control mode screen 40 of FIG. 4, and FIG. Cooling level reference temperature setting table 60 is required. The reference temperature table 60 is provided included in a separate refrigerator manual.

Here, the refrigerator 1 according to the present invention has a strong, medium, and weak cooling intensity, among which, among the cooling levels of the freezer, 'medium' is the reference temperature of '-18 ° C', and the refrigerating room is '-3 ° C'. 'As reference temperature.

As shown in the drawing, the reference temperature setting screen 50 of FIG. 5 includes a plurality of freezer compartment reference temperature change icons 51 for changing the reference temperature of 'middle' of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment. R0 to R3 are provided as the temperature change icon 55. In addition, a graphic area 59 indicating a selection state of the reference temperature selection icons of the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment and a storage icon 57 storing the selected reference temperature are provided.

According to the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment reference temperatures 60a and 60b of the reference temperature setting table 60 according to the cooling level of FIG. 6, to lower the cooling reference temperature of the freezing compartment by '-1.0 ° C.', the reference temperature setting screen 50 In the F1 icon, select (ON), and to change the refrigeration reference temperature '-2 ℃', select the R2 icon (ON) and select the storage icon (57). When the selection of the reference temperature is completed, the compressor operates so that the reference temperature for 'middle' of the freezer compartment is changed by '-1 ℃' by the set temperature change, and the reference temperature for 'middle' of the refrigerator compartment is changed to '-2 ℃'. do.

7 is a control block diagram for setting a reference temperature of the refrigerator 1 according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, reference temperature setting includes a setting operation unit 63 for setting the reference temperature, a display unit 67 for displaying a control mode screen for setting the reference temperature, and a setting for storing the set reference temperature. By the memory 69 and the control unit 61 for controlling the drive cycle and the drive time of the compressor in accordance with the set reference temperature.

Here, the control unit 61 stores the set reference temperature in the memory 67 composed of the EEP ROM, and controls the supply power supplied to the driving unit 69 such as the compressor and the cooling fan according to the reference temperature stored in the memory 67. Is programmed to

8 is a flowchart of reference temperature setting of the refrigerator. As shown in the drawing, if it is determined that the control mode icon 35 is selected on the refrigerator function selection screen 30 of FIG. 3 (S1) and the control mode icon 35 is selected, the control mode screen 40 of FIG. The reference temperature setting or the defrost heater control selection is determined (S3), and the cooling level to change the reference temperature is selected on the control mode screen 40 of FIG. 4 (S5), and the cooling level reference temperature setting of FIG. If the reference temperature of the refrigerating compartment or the freezing compartment is set on the screen 50 (S7) and then stored (S9), the compressor is driven according to the set reference temperature value (S11).

On the other hand, when the defrost heater control is selected, the defrosting completion temperature or defrost time of the defrost heater is selected and stored on the defrost heater control mode screen (not shown) (S13), and the driving unit of the defrost heater is operated according to the set value (S11).

With this configuration, when changing the reference temperature according to each cooling level of the refrigerator, the PCB board installed in the refrigerator body is separated from the refrigerator, and a program for changing the reference temperature is added to the control unit without replacing the temperature control diode. By storing the temperature in the EEP ROM, it is possible to adjust the reference temperature according to the cooling level according to the stored reference temperature.

In the above-described embodiment, the memory is described as an EEP ROM, but a hard disk capable of reading and writing data can be used as a memory.

In the embodiment, it is described that the reference temperature for the cooling level steel, medium, and weak is changed, but when the reference temperature of one cooling level is changed, the controller is programmed to apply the changed temperature to the reference temperature of the other cooling level. The process of setting the reference temperature can be simplified.

In addition, in the embodiment, in addition to the items provided in the control mode, the setting value may be changed by providing an icon for changing the setting of other functions of the refrigerator, such as an automatic ice making function requiring the setting of the water supply amount of the ice tray.

In the embodiment described as the user can easily set the control mode selection process of the cooling chamber, for the stable control of the refrigerator may be added to the control mode to be set only by a technician.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator which can conveniently change the operation of each drive unit of the reference temperature or the refrigerator according to the cooling level of the cooling chamber without replacing parts such as diodes.

Claims (7)

A refrigerator having a cooling chamber and a refrigerant compression compressor, A setting operation unit for setting and inputting a plurality of cooling levels according to the degree of cooling of the cooling chamber and a reference temperature according to each cooling level; With memory, And a controller configured to store a cooling level and a corresponding reference temperature input through the setting operation unit in the memory, and to control driving of the compressor according to the reference temperature stored in the memory. The method of claim 1, And an evaporator for evaporating a refrigerant, a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of the evaporator, and a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator. The setting operation unit has a defrost control temperature setting unit for setting the defrost control temperature of the evaporator detected by the temperature sensor, And the control unit stores the set defrost control temperature in the memory and controls driving of the defrost heater according to the defrost control temperature. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the memory is an EEPROM. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And a display unit which displays setting information according to selection of the operation unit. The method of claim 1, The setting operation unit is a refrigerator, characterized in that the touch screen. In the control method of a refrigerator having a cooling chamber, a refrigerant compressor, an evaporator for evaporating a refrigerant, and a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator, Selecting a cooling level of the cooling chamber to change the cooling temperature; Setting a reference temperature for the cooling level; Storing a reference temperature of each cooling level; And controlling the compressor according to the set reference temperature. The method of claim 6, And setting at least one of a defrosting time or a defrosting completion temperature of the defrost heater, and driving the defrost heater according to the set value.