KR100898052B1 - Method for controlling an operation of refrigerators - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for controlling operation of a refrigerator, comprising a freezer compartment evaporator and a refrigerator compartment evaporator, and a refrigerant flow path switching valve for switching the refrigerant passage between the freezer compartment evaporator and the refrigerator compartment evaporator, wherein each of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment reaches a set temperature. According to the control to operate in any one of the refrigeration / refrigeration cycle, refrigeration cycle, refrigerating cycle, non-compression cycle, when the freezer compartment is at the refrigerating cycle stage is below the set temperature and the refrigerating compartment is above the set temperature, refrigeration of the refrigerant flow path switching valve While opening the measured refrigerant passage and closing the freezer compartment side refrigerant passage, the closed freezer compartment side refrigerant passage is characterized in that it is periodically opened for a second predetermined time interval every first predetermined time interval.

According to the present invention, by periodically opening the refrigerant passage on the freezer compartment side of the refrigerant flow path switching valve in the refrigerating cycle, it is possible to eliminate the overcooling phenomenon in the refrigerating compartment evaporator caused by excessive refrigerant supply, and to provide a rapid pressure when the compressor is stopped. Equilibrium can improve the driving efficiency of the compressor, thereby improving the operation performance of the refrigerator.

Refrigerator, driving, control

Description

Operation control method of refrigerator {METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN OPERATION OF REFRIGERATORS}

The present invention relates to an operation control method of a refrigerator, and in particular, a refrigerator having a single compressor, two evaporators, and a refrigerant flow path switching valve for controlling a refrigerant flow path to the evaporator, each of which independently refrigerates and freezes a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment. The present invention relates to an operation control method of a refrigerator that can improve the performance of a refrigerator by efficiently controlling opening and closing of a refrigerant flow path switching valve according to operating conditions of a refrigerator compartment and a freezing compartment.

In general, a refrigerator is applied with a refrigeration cycle in which a refrigerant is circulated therein, so that when the liquid refrigerant evaporates, it absorbs the surrounding heat and supplies the cold air to a food storage room such as a freezer and a refrigerating chamber to supply various foods for a long time. As a device capable of storing the same, a so-called independent cooling method in which an evaporator and a fan for supplying cold air are provided in the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment, respectively, and independently supply and supply cold air to each chamber is used.

1 is a configuration diagram of a refrigeration cycle of the independent cooling method, the refrigeration cycle is a compressor (1) for compressing the refrigerant at a high temperature and high pressure, and a condenser provided at the rear end of the compressor (1) to condense heat exchanged with the surroundings (2) and a refrigerant provided at the rear end of the condenser 2 to switch the refrigerant flow path so that the condensed refrigerant can be supplied to either the freezer compartment evaporator 5 or the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 or to both evaporators. The freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment are provided between the flow path switching valve 3, an expansion valve 4 or capillary tube provided between the refrigerant flow path switching valve and each evaporator to expand the condensed refrigerant at low pressure, and the refrigerant expanded at low pressure. It consists of a configuration including a freezer compartment evaporator (5) and a refrigerator compartment evaporator (6) to cool independently. Reference numerals 5a and 6a denote freezer compartment fans and refrigerating compartment fans that circulate cold air that has passed through the freezer compartment evaporator 5 and the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 to the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment as a whole.

The refrigerant flow path switching valve (3) is a three-way valve having one inlet and two outlets, so that any one of the two outlets is selectively opened or both are opened and closed so that the refrigerant flow paths (3a, 3b) are switched. It is.

2 is a block diagram of the operation control system for controlling the refrigeration cycle, an input unit 11 functioning as a user interface, a temperature sensing unit 12 for sensing the temperature of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment, and a compressor ( 1) and the load driver 13 for driving the fans 5a, 5b, etc., the valve driver 14 for driving the refrigerant flow path switching valve 3, and the load driver 13 and the valve according to the stored operation control program. The control unit 10 controls the driving unit 14.

When the operation signal is input through the input unit 11, the control unit 10 uses the information on the internal temperature of the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment received from the temperature sensing unit 12 to store the refrigerator according to the previously stored operation control program. The signal for controlling the operation is transmitted to the load driver 13 and the valve driver 14, and the load driver 13 and the valve driver 14 which receive the control signal from the controller 10 are connected to the received control signal. Accordingly, the compressor 1, the freezer compartment fan 5a, the refrigerating compartment fan 5b, and the refrigerant flow path switching valve 3 are operated, respectively.

Looking at the general operation control method of the refrigerator configured as described above are as follows.

When the refrigerator operates according to the operation signal, the refrigerant flow path switching valve 3 is controlled so that the compressor 1 is driven and the compressed refrigerant is alternately supplied to the freezer compartment evaporator 5 and the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6. The steps of opening and closing are alternately performed at predetermined time intervals programmed in the (freezing / refrigeration cycle).

After the above steps, when the refrigerating chamber is detected to be below the set temperature by the temperature detecting unit 12, the refrigerant passage 3b of the refrigerant passage switching valve 3 is closed to close the refrigerant in the freezer compartment evaporator (5). The compressor 1 is only supplied to the refrigerator (freezing cycle), and when the freezing chamber also reaches a lower temperature than the set temperature, the compressor 1 is stopped.

In this way, when the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber are both below the set temperature and the driving of the compressor 1 is stopped, and the temperature of the refrigerating chamber rises above the set temperature, the compressor 1 is driven again and the refrigerant flow switching valve The refrigerator compartment side refrigerant path 3b of (3) is opened so that the refrigerant is supplied only to the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6. (Refrigeration cycle)

When the freezing compartment is raised above the set temperature during the process, the refrigerant flow path switching valve 3 is alternately opened and closed at regular intervals so that the refrigerant is alternately supplied to the freezing compartment evaporator 5 and the refrigerating compartment evaporator 6. The step (freezing / refrigeration cycle) is repeated repeatedly.

That is, in the conventional operation control method, when only one of the refrigerating compartment or the freezing compartment becomes above the set temperature (that is, the refrigerating cycle or the refrigerating cycle), the evaporator of the corresponding chamber in which the refrigerant flow path switching valve 3 is above the set temperature ( The driving is controlled to supply the refrigerant only to 5 or 6).

However, according to the conventional operation control method, in the refrigerating cycle or the refrigerating cycle, the entire compressed refrigerant is supplied to only the freezing compartment evaporator 5 or the refrigerating compartment evaporator 6, which may cause a problem due to the excessive supply of the refrigerant. have.

In particular, when the freezing compartment is below the set temperature and the refrigerating compartment is above the set temperature (that is, in the case of the refrigeration cycle), only the refrigerant passage side refrigerant passage 3b of the refrigerant passage switching valve 3 is opened so that the refrigerant passes only to the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6. In general, a supercooling phenomenon occurs in the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 because all refrigerants are supplied to the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 even though the required refrigerant amount of the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 is smaller than that required in the freezer compartment evaporator 5. As a result, the refrigerating chamber performance is deteriorated, and the compressor suction pipe side of the rear end of the refrigerating chamber evaporator 6 is frozen, which causes a problem of impeding the refrigerant flow.

In addition, in the case of the refrigeration / refrigeration cycle, since the refrigerant flow path switching valve 3 is alternately opened and closed at regular intervals, the stepping motor for opening and closing the refrigerant flow path switching valve 3 is repeatedly operated periodically, thereby stepping motor. In addition to shortening the service life of the device, a problem arises that reduces the reliability of operation due to a malfunction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to control the refrigerant flow path switching valve to suppress the occurrence of an overcooling phenomenon in the refrigerating chamber evaporator due to excessive refrigerant supply and the reliability of the stepping motor. It is to provide an operation control method of the refrigerator which can improve the performance of the refrigerator by improving and improving the cooling speed.

Operation control method of the refrigerator as a problem solving means for achieving the above object,

A freezer compartment evaporator and a refrigerating compartment evaporator, and a refrigerant flow path switching valve for switching the refrigerant flow path between the freezer compartment evaporator and the refrigerating compartment evaporator, according to whether each of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment reaches a set temperature, In the operation control method of the refrigerator for controlling to operate in any one cycle of the non-compression cycle, when the freezing chamber is at the refrigerating cycle step of the set temperature below the set temperature and the refrigerating chamber is above the set temperature, the refrigerant passage of the refrigerating chamber side of the refrigerant flow path switching valve is opened. In addition, while closing the freezing chamber side refrigerant passage, the closed freezing chamber side refrigerant passage is characterized in that it is periodically opened for a second predetermined time interval for each first predetermined time interval.

In addition, in the operation control method of the refrigerator according to the present invention, when the freezer and the refrigerating chamber are both at the freezing / refrigerating cycle stage at which the set temperature is higher than or equal to the set temperature, the freezer compartment side and the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passages of the refrigerant flow path switching valve are equally spaced at a third predetermined time interval. Opening alternately, when either of the freezer compartment or the refrigerating compartment reaches the set proximity temperature, respectively, the open passage of the refrigerant passage on the undelivered side is extended and the open passage of the refrigerant passage on the reached side is shortened and opened. When both the freezer compartment and the built-in compartment reach the set proximity temperature, the freezer compartment side and the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passages of the refrigerant flow path switching valve are alternately opened at the fourth set time interval longer than the third set time. do.

In addition, the operation control method of the refrigerator according to the present invention stops the operation of the compressor when the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment are both at or below the set temperature, and after the fifth set time, the freezing compartment side and the refrigeration of the refrigerant flow path switching valve It is characterized by opening all the measured refrigerant flow path.

In addition, the operation control method of the refrigerator according to the present invention is characterized in that, during the initial operation of the refrigerator, both the freezer compartment side and the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passages of the refrigerant passage switching valve are opened for a sixth set time.

In addition, the operation control method of the refrigerator according to the present invention is characterized in that the refrigerating compartment-side refrigerant passage is closed for a second set time that the freezer compartment-side refrigerant passage is opened.

Operation control method of the refrigerator according to the present invention,

By periodically opening the refrigerant passage on the freezer compartment side of the refrigerant flow path switching valve in the refrigerating cycle, the overcooling phenomenon in the refrigerating chamber evaporator caused by excessive refrigerant supply can be eliminated. By adjusting the opening time of the switching valve, it is possible to improve the cooling speed and to improve the reliability of the operation of the stepping motor.When the compressor is stopped, the pressure can be balanced quickly to improve the driving efficiency of the compressor.

This has the effect of improving the overall operating performance of the refrigerator.

In addition, even if the effect is not specifically described in the description of the present invention, the effect that can be expected from the technical features of the present invention by those skilled in the art will be included in the effect of the present invention. .

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

In describing the embodiments of the present invention, in the case where it is determined that the technical features of the present invention may be unnecessarily obscured as a matter already known to those skilled in the art, such as a known function or a known configuration, in principle. The detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the following description, the same parts as those of the above-mentioned refrigeration cycle and operation control system will be described using the same reference numerals, and in the terminology used, the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment are referred to as set temperatures (or proximate temperatures). ) Below means that the set temperature has been reached, and above the set temperature means that the set temperature is less than the set temperature, the set temperature below the set temperature, and above the set temperature can be defined as the same as the set temperature. have.

3 is a flowchart of an operation control method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, which is a flowchart from an initial driving stage to a refrigeration / refrigeration cycle stage, FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a stage after FIG. 3, and FIG. It is an operation pattern diagram which shows the operation state by the operation control method which concerns on an example.

3 to 5, the operation control method of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the operation signal of the refrigerator by the power is applied, the refrigerator is operated (S10), the control unit 10 The control signal is applied to the load driving unit 13 to drive the compressor 1, and the control signal is applied to the valve driving unit 14 to supply the refrigerant passage 3a and the refrigerant compartment side refrigerant of the refrigerant passage switching valve 3. The flow path 3b is opened together for the sixth set time t6. (S20)

Here, opening the freezer compartment side refrigerant passage 3a and the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passage 3b of the refrigerant passage switching valve 3 together at the time of initial operation of the refrigerator improves the cooling rate and checks for abnormality of the refrigerant line. For sake.

After the step S20, the control unit 10 checks whether the sixth set time (t6) has elapsed (S30), and when the time has elapsed again applies a control signal to the valve drive unit 14 to the refrigerant flow path switching valve (3). The freezer / refrigerant cycle proceeds by alternately opening the freezer compartment side refrigerant passage 3a and the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passage 3b.

In the refrigerating / refrigerating cycle step according to an embodiment of the present invention, first, the freezing chamber side refrigerant passage 3a and the refrigerating chamber side refrigerant passage 3b of the refrigerant passage switching valve 3 are spaced apart by a third predetermined time t3. By the step of opening evenly alternately (S40) proceeds.

While the step S30 is in progress, the temperature detector 12 detects the temperature of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment and transmits the temperature to the controller 10, and the controller 10 stores the temperature of the delivered freezer compartment or the refrigerating compartment and the proximity temperature that is set and stored. It is determined whether the freezer compartment or the refrigerator compartment has reached the set proximity temperature (S50).

Here, the proximity temperature refers to a temperature value set and stored in the controller 10 as an arbitrary temperature value close to the set temperature. For example, when the set temperature of the freezer compartment is -18 ° C, the proximity temperature is -16 ° C, which is + 2 ° C. When the set temperature of the refrigerating compartment is 3 ℃, the proximity temperature can be set to 5 ℃, which is + 2 ℃ respectively. The proximity temperature of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment can be appropriately selected according to the operating conditions. It is.

As a result of the determination in step S50, when either the freezing compartment or the refrigerating compartment reaches the set proximity temperature, the refrigerant passage opening time of the undelivered side is extended, and the refrigerant passage opening time of the reached side is shortened and opened alternately. The step (S60) to proceed.

That is, when it is determined that the refrigerating chamber first reaches the proximity temperature of the refrigerating compartment, the opening time of the unreached freezing compartment side refrigerant passage 3a is extended, and the opening time of the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passage 3b reaching the proximate temperature is shortened. Through this, by supplying a large amount of refrigerant to the freezer that has not yet reached the proximity temperature it is possible to bring an improvement in the cooling rate.

While the step S60 is in progress, the controller 10 continuously determines whether both the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment have reached the set proximity temperature (S70), and when both the freezer compartment and the interior compartment have reached the set proximity temperature, the refrigerant flow is switched. In step S80, the freezing chamber side refrigerant passage 3a and the refrigerating chamber side refrigerant passage b of the valve 3 are alternately opened evenly at intervals of the fourth predetermined time t4.

For example, if the third set time t3 is 1 minute, the fourth set time t4 is 2 minutes, and the fourth set time t4 is longer than the third set time t3. And when all the refrigerating chamber reaches a close temperature close to the set temperature from that time it is possible to improve the reliability of the stepping motor and to shorten the life by increasing the opening and closing operation cycle of the refrigerant flow switching valve (3).

During the refrigerating / refrigerating cycle through the above-described process, the controller 10 compares the temperature of the refrigerating compartment delivered from the temperature sensing unit 12 with the stored set temperature to determine whether the refrigerating compartment has reached the set temperature. (S90)

As a result of the determination, when the refrigerating compartment has reached the set temperature, the control unit 10 applies a control signal to the valve driving unit 14 to open only the refrigerant passage 3a of the freezing compartment side of the refrigerant passage switching valve 3, and the refrigerant passage on the refrigerating compartment side. (3b) controls to close (S100).

As the refrigerant is supplied only to the freezer compartment evaporator 5 through the step S100, a freezing cycle is performed.

During the step S100, the temperature detecting unit 12 continuously detects the temperatures of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment and transfers them to the control unit 10. The control unit 10 controls the transferred freezer compartment temperature and the stored set temperature. In comparison, it is determined whether the freezer compartment has reached the set temperature.

As a result of the determination, when the freezer compartment reaches the set temperature, the control unit 10 applies a control signal to the load driving unit 13 to stop the driving of the compressor 1 to proceed with the non-compression cycle step (S120).

After the compressor 1 is stopped, the controller checks whether the fifth set time t5 has elapsed (S130), and when the set time has elapsed, applies a control signal to the valve driving unit 14 to switch the refrigerant flow channel switching valve 3. The freezer compartment side refrigerant passage 3a and the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passage 3b are controlled to be opened.

Thus, opening of the freezer compartment side refrigerant passage 3a and the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passage 3b after the fifth set time t5 has elapsed while the compressor 1 is stopped is operated even when the compressor 1 is stopped. In order to smoothly restart the compressor 1 by maximizing the use of the residual refrigerant and minimizing the refrigerant pressure so that the pressure is balanced quickly.

While the step S140 is in progress, the control unit 10 receives the temperature signal sensed by the temperature sensing unit 12 and determines whether the refrigerating chamber rises above the set temperature (S150), and the refrigerating chamber is above the set temperature. When rising, the control signal is applied to the load driving unit 13 to drive the compressor 1 again, and the control signal is applied to the valve driving unit 14 to supply the refrigerant flow path on the refrigerating chamber side of the refrigerant flow switching valve 3. ) And only the freezer compartment side refrigerant path (3a) is controlled to be closed. (S160)

The refrigeration cycle proceeds while the refrigerant is supplied only to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 6 through the step S160. At this time, since the refrigerant is continuously supplied only to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 6 as described above, the supercooling phenomenon occurs. ) Is checked through the valve driver 14 to periodically open the refrigerant passage 3a of the freezer compartment side of the refrigerant passage switching valve 3 for the second predetermined time t2 at intervals of the first predetermined time t1. The operation of the refrigerant flow path switching valve 3 is controlled (S170), and the refrigerant is periodically distributed to the freezer compartment evaporator 5 through step S150 to prevent excessive refrigerant from being supplied to the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6. .

In operation S170, in order to further prevent overcooling in the refrigerating compartment evaporator 6, as shown in FIG. 6, during the time t2 at which the freezing compartment side refrigerant passage 3a is opened (t2), the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passage 3b. It is also possible to control the closing of).

The control unit 10 determines whether the power-off signal is applied (S180), and when the power-off signal is input, terminates the control if the power-off signal is input (S180). According to the detected temperature signal, it returns to any one of the freezing / refrigerating cycle, the freezing cycle, the refrigeration cycle, and the non-compression cycle to repeat the control operation corresponding to each step.

On the other hand, the set time (t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6) according to the present invention can be differently determined according to the performance and operating characteristics of each refrigerator by experiment, for example, t1 is 60 sec, When t2 is programmed and set to 10 sec, the refrigerant flow path switching valve 3 is operated to open the freezing compartment side refrigerant path 3a for 10 seconds at intervals of 60 seconds during the refrigeration cycle.

 While the present invention has been described above, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the contents described in the above-described embodiments and drawings, and equivalent configurations modified or changed by those skilled in the art are It will be said that without departing from the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

1 is a configuration of a conventional independent refrigeration cycle refrigeration cycle,

2 is a block diagram of a typical operation control system for controlling a refrigeration cycle;

3 and 4 is a flow chart of the operation control method according to an embodiment of the present invention,

5 is an operation pattern diagram of a driving control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is an operation pattern diagram of a driving control method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

＊ Explanation of symbols on major part of drawing ＊

1: compressor 2: condenser

3: refrigerant flow path switching valve 4: expansion valve

5: freezer evaporator 6: cold room evaporator

10: control unit 11: input unit

12: temperature sensing unit 13: load driving unit

14: valve driving part

Claims (5)

A freezer compartment evaporator and a refrigerating compartment evaporator, and a refrigerant flow path switching valve for switching the refrigerant flow path between the freezer compartment evaporator and the refrigerating compartment evaporator, according to whether each of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment reaches a set temperature, In the operation control method of the refrigerator for controlling to operate in any one of the non-compression cycle, When the freezer compartment is at or below the set temperature and the refrigerator compartment is at the refrigerating cycle stage that is above the set temperature, And opening the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passage of the refrigerant passage switching valve and closing the freezing compartment side refrigerant passage, wherein the closed freezing compartment side refrigerant passage is periodically opened for a second predetermined time interval at a first predetermined time interval. Operation control method of the refrigerator. The method of claim 1, When both the freezer and freezer are at the freezing / refrigerating cycle stage above the set temperature, The freezer compartment side and the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passages of the refrigerant flow path switching valves are alternately opened evenly at third set time intervals. When either of the freezer compartment or the refrigerating compartment reaches the set proximity temperature, the unopened refrigerant passage opening time is extended, and the refrigerant passage opening time of the reached side is shortened to open alternately. When both the freezer compartment and the built-in compartment reach the set proximity temperature, the freezer compartment side and the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passages of the refrigerant flow path switching valve are alternately opened at the fourth set time interval longer than the third set time. Operation control method of the refrigerator. The method according to claim 1 or 2, When both the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment are in the non-compression cycle stage below the set temperature, Stop the compressor, And a freezing chamber side and a refrigerating chamber side refrigerant passage of the refrigerant passage switching valve are opened after a fifth set time. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The operation control method of the refrigerator, characterized in that, during the initial operation of the refrigerator, both the freezer compartment side and the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passages of the refrigerant passage switching valve are opened for a sixth set time. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And controlling the refrigerating compartment side refrigerant passage to be closed for a second predetermined time period during which the freezing compartment side refrigerant passage is opened.

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