KR101122094B1 - Controlling method of laundry treatment apparutus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a control method of a laundry treatment apparatus. The control method according to the present invention is a control method of an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, an air supply device having an expansion valve, and a clothes treating device having a fan, wherein the fan is rotated at a first RPM while the air supply device is used. A supply step of supplying air; A comparison step of comparing the operating pressure of the compressor with a predetermined standard; And adjusting the RPM of the fan so that the detected operating pressure is included in a confidence interval when the detected operating pressure of the compressor is greater than or equal to a predetermined standard. According to such a clothes treating apparatus, it becomes possible to reduce noise.

Description

Controlling method of laundry treatment apparatus {Controlling method of laundry treatment apparutus}

The present invention relates to a control method of a laundry treatment apparatus, and more particularly, to a control method that can reduce noise.

Recently, various types of clothes treating apparatuses have been used together with washing machines for washing clothes. For example, drum-type dryers for drying clothes after washing, cabinet-type dryers for hanging clothes and drying, and refreshers for supplying hot air to clothes and refreshing clothes have been developed.

By the way, the above-mentioned clothes processing apparatus may generate noises exceeding a predetermined standard when the clothes and the like are treated to dry, thus causing inconvenience to the user.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a control method of a laundry treatment apparatus capable of reducing noise.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a control method that can achieve the original function of the clothes treating apparatus while reducing the noise.

An object of the present invention as described above, in the control method of the clothes handling apparatus having an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, an air supply device having an expansion valve and a fan, the air supply device while rotating the fan at a first RPM Supplying air by the air supply, by comparing the operating pressure of the compressor with a predetermined standard, and when the detected operating pressure of the compressor is greater than or equal to a predetermined standard, the operating pressure of the detected fan is adjusted by adjusting the RPM of the fan. It is achieved by a control method of a laundry treatment apparatus comprising an adjustment step to be included in.

In addition, the object of the present invention as described above is an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, an air supply device having an expansion valve and a control method of a clothes treating apparatus having a fan, wherein the expansion valve while rotating the fan at a first RPM Supplying air by supplying air by the air supply device to a first degree, comparing the operating pressure of the compressor with a predetermined standard, and when the detected operating pressure of the compressor is equal to or greater than a predetermined standard, It is achieved by a control method of a laundry treatment apparatus, characterized in that it comprises an adjusting step to adjust the opening degree so that the detected operating pressure is included in the confidence interval.

In addition, the object of the present invention as described above is an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, an air supply device having an expansion valve and a control method of a clothes treating apparatus having a fan, wherein the expansion valve while rotating the fan at a first RPM To supply the air by the air supply device to a first degree, a comparison step of comparing the operating pressure of the compressor with a predetermined standard, and the RPM of the fan when the detected operating pressure of the compressor is equal to or greater than a predetermined standard. And adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve so that the detected operating pressure is included in the confidence interval.

As described above, the control method according to the present invention can reduce the noise generated in the clothes treating apparatus by adjusting the rpm of the fan and / or the opening degree of the expansion valve.

According to the present invention, the original function of the clothes treating apparatus can be achieved while reducing the noise of the clothes treating apparatus.

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

In the present specification, a refresher for refreshing clothes and supplying hot air as a clothes treating apparatus is described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the idea of the present invention may be applied to other clothes treating apparatuses that may include a heat pump described below. Can be. In this case, the term “refreshing” refers to a laundry object that provides air, hot air, steam, mist or moisture to remove wrinkles, deodorizing, sanitizing, antistatic or laundry. It is a warming process. In addition, the clothes mentioned herein include not only clothes and clothes, but also objects that can be worn by a person, such as shoes, socks, gloves, hats, and the like, and laundry objects include all objects that can perform washing.

 Hereinafter, the configuration of the clothing treatment apparatus will be described first, and then the control method will be described.

1 is a front view showing a clothes treatment apparatus to which the control method according to the embodiments of the present invention can be applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, the clothes treating apparatus 100 supplies a cabinet 10 having an accommodation space 12 for accommodating clothing 1 therein, and supplies air or heated air to the accommodation space 12. 2, 22, at least one temperature sensor (see Fig. 2, 40, 42) for sensing the temperature inside the cabinet 10 and the control unit for controlling the air supply (22) ). In addition, the clothes treating apparatus 100 may further include a steam generator (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 30) for selectively injecting steam into the accommodation space 12, and the steam generator is controlled by the above-described controller.

The cabinet 10 includes various components to be described later, and has a receiving space 12 in which clothing is accommodated. The receiving space 12 is selectively communicated with the outside by the door (14). In addition, the receiving space 12 is provided with a variety of support 16 to hang the clothes (1), etc., the structure for supporting such clothes (1) is widely known in the field of the present invention, so a detailed description thereof is omitted. do.

On the other hand, the inside of the cabinet 10 is provided with a machine room 20 in which the air supply device 22 and the steam generator 30 is accommodated. Machine room 20 is preferably located below the receiving space 12, the air supply device 22 and the steam generating device 30 is located therein. As such, the reason why the machine room 20 is located below is that the hot air and steam supplied from the air supply device 22 and the steam generator 30 have a property of rising by high temperature, and thus the machine room 20 is It is because it is preferable to be located at the bottom to supply hot air and steam toward the top.

2 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the inside of the machine room 20. In FIG. 2, only components of the air supply device 22 and the steam generator 30 are illustrated for convenience of description, and not shown for a pipe line connecting the components.

Referring to FIG. 2, the air supply device 22 and the steam generator 30 are located inside the machine room 20. In the embodiment of the present invention, a heat pump is employed as the air supply device.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the heat pump 22 corresponding to the air supply device is similar to the heat pump used in the air conditioner. That is, the heat pump 22 is provided with an evaporator 24, a compressor 26, a condenser 28 and an expansion valve (not shown) through which the refrigerant circulates, thereby dehumidifying and heating the air.

That is, the refrigerant evaporates in the evaporator 24 to absorb latent heat of ambient air, thereby cooling the air to condense and remove moisture in the air. In addition, when the refrigerant is condensed in the condenser 28 via the compressor 26, the latent heat is released toward the surrounding air to heat the surrounding air. Therefore, the evaporator 24 and the condenser 28 function as a heat exchanger, and the air introduced into the machine room 20 is dehumidified and heated through the evaporator 24 and the condenser 28 to the receiving space 12. Supplied.

As such, the air heated by the heat pump 22 may be slightly lower than the air heated by using a conventional heater, but the air can be dehumidified without using a separate dehumidifier. Therefore, the air supplied back to the receiving space 12 by the heat pump 22 corresponds to a relatively 'low temperature dry air' (here, 'low temperature' does not mean that the temperature is absolutely low, but heating But it is used in the sense that the temperature is relatively low compared to conventional heating air). Therefore, the air supplied by the heat pump 22 of the present invention has a lower temperature than the hot air of the conventional clothes treatment apparatus, but supplies dehumidified air without a separate dehumidifier, so that the clothes are easily dried and refreshed. It becomes possible.

Specifically, an air inlet 21 through which air in the accommodation space 12 flows into the inside of the machine room 20 is formed at the front end of the machine room 20, and the air inlet 21, the evaporator 24, and the condenser ( The flow path through which air flows is formed by the duct 29 connecting the 28 and the fan 32. The air introduced into the duct 29 through the air inlet 21 is dehumidified and heated while passing through the heat pump 22, and is supplied to the accommodation space 12 by the fan 32.

Here, although not shown in the drawings, the air inlet 21 may be preferably provided with a filter. By providing a filter at the air inlet 21, it is possible to filter various foreign matters and the like that may be included in the air flowing into the machine room 20 from the accommodation space 12 to supply only fresh air to the accommodation space 12.

On the other hand, the machine room 20 is provided with a steam generator 30 for selectively supplying steam to the accommodation space (12). By supplying steam to the accommodation space 12 by the steam generating device 30, it is possible to remove wrinkles and the like that may occur in clothing, and furthermore, by the high temperature steam with the effect of sterilization and refreshing due to the swelling of the clothing cloth, etc. You can expect the effect.

The steam generator 30 is provided with a heater (not shown) for heating the water therein, and generates water by heating the water to supply to the receiving space (12). An external faucet or the like may be used as the water supply source for supplying water to the steam generator 30, or a container type water supply source provided on one side of the machine room 20 may be used. This container type water supply is preferably detachably installed so that the user can separate the water supply from the machine room 20 to fill the water and reinstall it.

In addition, the steam generated by the steam generator 30 is supplied to the accommodation space 12 through the steam hose 36 and the steam nozzle 40. In this case, the shorter the length of the steam hose 36 is, in order to prevent the temperature of the steam from being lowered or the condensation of steam while the steam moves along the steam hose 36. Therefore, when the machine room 20 is located below the accommodation space 12, the steam nozzle 40 preferably supplies steam through the top of the machine room 20, that is, the bottom of the accommodation space 12. .

In addition, the back of the machine room 20 may be provided with a circulation fan 34. The circulation fan 34 supplies the air outside the machine room 20 into the machine room 20, so that the above-described heat pump 22 and the steam generator 30 are driven so that the temperature inside the machine room 20 is excessive. To prevent it from rising.

On the other hand, the clothes handling apparatus (see FIG. 1, 100) is provided with at least one temperature sensor (50, 52) for sensing the temperature inside the cabinet (see FIG. 1, 10). Here, the temperature sensor is a machine room 20 in the first sensor 50 for sensing the temperature of the air supplied to the receiving space (see Fig. 1, 12) of the cabinet 10 and the receiving space 12 of the cabinet 10. A second sensor 52 for sensing the temperature of the air discharged to the) may be provided. By providing a temperature sensor, the controller can appropriately control the driving of the air supply device 22 and the fan 32 by sensing the temperature of the air discharged from the accommodation space and / or the temperature of the air supplied to the accommodation space. have.

The first sensor 50 detects the temperature of the air supplied to the accommodation space 12. Specifically, the first sensor 50 is preferably located at the rear end of the condenser 28 constituting the heat pump 22. Since the air is heated in the condenser 28 and supplied to the accommodation space 12 through the fan 32, when the temperature of the air is measured at the rear end of the condenser 28, the temperature of the air supplied to the accommodation space 12 is measured. It can be measured. Although FIG. 2 shows that the first sensor 50 is located adjacent to the outlet 33 through which air is discharged from the fan 32, the position of the first sensor 50 flows into the accommodation space 12. It can be installed anywhere in the position that can sense the temperature of the air to be, that is, the rear end of the condenser 28, preferably immediately after the end of the condenser 28 that can directly measure the air heated in the condenser 28 Is installed on.

On the other hand, the second sensor 52 detects the temperature of the air discharged from the accommodation space 12 into the machine room 20, specifically located in front of the evaporator 24 constituting the heat pump 22 It is desirable to. Since the air introduced into the machine room 20 passes through the heat pump 22 through the evaporator 24, the temperature of the air is measured at the front end of the evaporator 24 along the inside of the duct 29 forming the air flow path. As a result, the temperature of the air discharged from the accommodation space 12 can be measured. In addition, the second sensor 52 is preferably located adjacent to the air inlet 21 of the machine room 20 in order to more accurately measure the temperature of the air discharged from the accommodation space 12. By being located adjacent to the air inlet 21, it becomes possible to directly measure the temperature of the air flowing through the air inlet 21.

In the clothes treating apparatus having the above-described configuration, the air or the heated air is supplied to the accommodation space 12 by the air supply device 22 formed of the heat pump according to the user's selection or the selected course. Specifically, the air dehumidified in the air supply device 22 or the heated air is supplied to the accommodation space 12 by driving the fan 32.

By the way, the noise generated when driving the clothes processing apparatus 100 is made of various noises such as the fan 32 noise, the compressor 26 noise, the circulation fan 34 noise, but is generated from the fan 32 The proportion of noise is large. This is because the fan 32 rotates at a relatively high speed to supply air. Such noise may cause discomfort to the user, and in particular, may cause discomfort to the user when the clothing treatment apparatus 100 is driven in the evening or at night. On the other hand, if the RPM of the fan 32 is reduced in order to reduce the noise as described above, sufficient air is not supplied to the accommodation space 12, and it is difficult to sufficiently dry and refresh the clothes.

Therefore, the control method according to the present invention provides a control method that can increase the desired drying performance while reducing the noise of the clothes treatment apparatus in order to solve the above problems, will be described with reference to the drawings.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in a control method according to an exemplary embodiment, a supply step of supplying air by the air supply device 22 (S310), and a comparison step (S330) of comparing the operating pressure of the compressor 26 with a predetermined reference. And adjusting step (S350) so that the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is included in the confidence interval.

As described above, when the clothes treating apparatus 100 is driven, the noise generated from the fan 32 occupies the largest proportion. Therefore, in order to reduce the noise generated in the clothing treatment apparatus 100, it is desirable to reduce the noise generated in the fan 32, which is possible by reducing the RPM of the fan 32. However, if the RPM of the fan 32 is reduced, the noise may be reduced, but the amount of air supplied to the accommodation space 12 through the air supply device 22 is also reduced. Therefore, efficiency is reduced when the object inside the accommodation space 12 is dried or refreshed. In addition, since the amount of air passing through the air supply device 22 is reduced, the compressor 26 is overloaded and the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is increased.

That is, if the capacity of the compressor is variable, it is possible to adjust the capacity of the compressor according to the amount of air flowing, but if the capacity of the compressor is fixed, if the amount of air is reduced, the compressor is heavily loaded. As a result, the operating pressure of the compressor is increased. As such, when the operating pressure of the compressor is increased, the compressor may be out of an appropriate operating pressure section in which the compressor is stably driven (hereinafter referred to as a “confidence section”). If the operating pressure of the compressor is out of the confidence interval, the compressor may be broken. Therefore, when the RPM of the fan 32 is reduced in order to reduce noise, a control method for maintaining the operating pressure of the compressor 26 in the confidence interval is required.

First, the control unit of the clothes treatment apparatus supplies air to the accommodation space 12 by the air supply device (22). The controller supplies air to the accommodation space 12 according to the selected course or the user's selection. In this case, the control unit rotates the fan 32 at the first RPM to supply the dehumidified and / or heated air to the accommodation space 12 by the air supply device 22.

Here, the first RPM may be defined as an RPM that does not generate noise above a predetermined standard in the clothes treatment apparatus 100, and is not limited to a specific value in the present specification. For example, if the noise occurs in the clothes processing apparatus 100 100 to 150 db or more corresponds to a value that is generally unacceptable to the user. The noise is generated when the fan 32 rotates at approximately 1200 RPM or more. Therefore, in the present control method, approximately 1200 RPM may be defined as the limit RPM, and the first RPM may be defined as approximately 1000 RPM. That is, in the present control method, the fan 32 is rotated at the first RPM to supply dehumidified and / or heated air.

On the other hand, if the RPM of the fan 31 is reduced as usual, the amount of air passing through the air supply device 22 is reduced, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 can rise to escape the confidence interval. Therefore, a description will be given below of how to keep the operating pressure of the compressor 26 in the confidence interval.

Following the step of supplying air by driving the fan 32, the control unit detects the operating pressure of the compressor 26 and compares it with a predetermined reference (S330).

The operating pressure of the compressor 26 can be detected by providing a pressure sensor directly on the compressor 26. The control unit may check the operating pressure of the compressor 26 by the pressure sensor. However, the provision of the pressure sensor in the compressor 26 as described above may be one cause of increasing the cost when manufacturing the clothes treating apparatus. As a manufacturer, it is desirable to reduce costs when manufacturing a clothes treating apparatus. Therefore, in the present embodiment, instead of having a new pressure sensor, the pressure of the compressor 26 is sensed using a temperature sensor provided in the clothes treating apparatus.

The above-described garment treatment apparatus 100 includes at least one temperature sensor 50 and 52, and the first sensor 50 may be located at a rear end of the condenser 28 constituting the heat pump 22. The second sensor 52 may be located at the front end of the evaporator 24 constituting the heat pump 22.

The principle of sensing the operating pressure of the compressor 26 by the temperature sensor is as follows. When the temperature of the air passing through the air supply device 22 is higher than or equal to a predetermined reference, the compressor 26 operates at a relatively high temperature, so that the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is relatively high. As a result, the control unit may detect the operating pressure of the compressor 26 by sensing the temperature of the air passing through the air supply device 22.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the temperature of the air passing through the air supply device 22 is sensed by using the first temperature sensor 50 to sense the operating pressure of the compressor 26. On the other hand, more preferably, a table in which the temperature of the air passing through the air supply device 22 and the operating pressure of the compressor 26 corresponding thereto can be stored in advance in a storage unit (not shown) of the controller. In this case, the controller may determine the operating pressure of the compressor by reading the operating pressure of the compressor corresponding to the sensed air temperature.

7 is a graph showing the pressure change of the compressor when driving the clothes treating apparatus according to the present control method. In Figure 7, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents the pressure of the compressor. In the vertical axis, P1 represents the boundary value of the above-described confidence interval. In other words, when the compressor operates at an operating pressure smaller than P1, the compressor is stably driven.

Referring to FIG. 7, when the air supply device 22 is driven to operate the compressor 26, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is increased. This is because the pressure rises as the compressor 26 operates. In addition, in the present embodiment, since the fan 32 is rotated by reducing the RPM of the fan 32, the pressure of the compressor 26 is increased at a relatively high speed.

When the control unit increases the operating pressure of the compressor to approach the confidence interval P1, the control unit adjusts the RPM of the fan 32 to adjust the operating pressure of the compressor 26 (S350).

As shown in FIG. 7, when the operating pressure of the compressor 26 approaches P1, the controller adjusts the RPM of the fan 32. In this case, the controller adjusts the RPM of the fan 32 when the operating pressure of the compressor 26 reaches P1, preferably when P2 smaller than P1 is reached. Here, P2 may be defined as, for example, a value reduced by 10% compared to P1.

The controller adjusts the RPM of the fan 32 when the operating pressure of the compressor 26 reaches P2 (time t1). The controller increases the RPM of the fan 32 by a predetermined amount. As the RPM of the fan 32, that is, the rotational speed, increases, the amount of air passing through the air supply device 22 increases, so that the operating pressure of the compressor 26 decreases. This can be seen in FIG. 7.

That is, when the operating pressure of the compressor 26 reaches P2, the control unit increases the RPM of the fan 32 by a predetermined amount, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is lowered. When the RPM of the fan 32 is increased as described above, the predetermined amount is increased. For example, in the present embodiment, the RPM is increased by about 60 rpm.

Referring back to FIG. 7, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 drops as the RPM of the fan 32 is increased, but again rises over time. This is because the operating pressure increases as the compressor 26 continues to drive. Thus, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 can again reach P2 (time t2). In this case, the control unit again increases the RPM of the fan 32 by a predetermined amount, thereby lowering the operating pressure of the compressor 26.

However, if the step of increasing the RPM of the fan 32 as described above is repeated, the RPM of the fan 32 continues to increase, and reaches the limit RPM. When the RPM of the fan 32 is greater than the limit RPM, noise of a predetermined reference or more is generated in the fan 32, so that the RPM of the fan 32 is increased to the limit RPM.

On the other hand, when the operating pressure of the compressor 26 rises again to reach P2 to increase the RPM of the fan 32, if the RPM of the fan 32 exceeds the limit RPM, the control unit air supply device 22 Can be stopped and audible or visually inform the user that compressor 26 is out of confidence interval.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is different from the above-described embodiment in that it is controlled by using an expansion valve so as not to deviate from the confidence interval.

Referring to FIG. 4, in a control method according to another exemplary embodiment, the fan 32 is set to the first RPM, and the expansion valve is opened to a first degree to supply air by the air supply device 22 (S410). ), A comparison step (S430) of detecting the operating pressure of the compressor 26 and comparing it with a predetermined standard and adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve so that the detected operating pressure of the compressor 26 is included in the confidence interval. (S450).

First, the control unit of the clothes treatment apparatus supplies air to the accommodation space 12 by the air supply device (22). The controller rotates the fan 32 at a predetermined RPM, for example, the first RPM, to supply dehumidified and / or heated air to the accommodation space 12 by the air supply device 22. In addition, when the air is supplied by the air supply device 22, the controller may open the expansion valve of the heat pump to a first degree to drive the air supply device 22.

Here, the RPM of the fan 32 may be defined as an RPM that does not generate noise above a predetermined standard. For example, an RPM of about 1200 RPM or less, or the first RPM described above may be defined so that noise of 100 to 150 db or more does not occur.

On the other hand, the expansion valve may be opened to a first degree (first degree), the first degree is adjustable according to the course selected by the user and the like is not limited to a particular value.

Subsequently, the control unit detects an operating pressure of the compressor 26 and compares it with a predetermined reference (S430).

The control unit adjusts the operating pressure of the compressor 26 by adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve when the operating pressure of the compressor rises and approaches P1 which is a confidence interval (S450).

Specifically, the control unit reduces the opening of the expansion valve by a predetermined amount when the operating pressure of the compressor 26 reaches P2. When the opening degree of the expansion valve is reduced, the amount of refrigerant flowing along the refrigerant line of the heat pump 22 is reduced, thereby reducing the operating pressure of the compressor 26.

On the other hand, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is lowered when the opening degree of the expansion valve is reduced, but rises again over time. This is because the operating pressure increases as the compressor 26 continues to drive. Thus, the operating pressure of the compressor 26 can again reach P2. In this case, the control unit again decreases the opening degree of the expansion valve, thereby lowering the operating pressure of the compressor 26.

However, when the step of reducing the opening of the expansion valve is repeated as described above, the expansion valve continues to close by a predetermined amount. When the expansion valve is closed, the flow rate of the refrigerant is reduced to reduce the operating pressure of the compressor, while the flow rate of the refrigerant is reduced, which makes it difficult to generate dehumidified and / or heated air in the heat pump 22. Therefore, when the expansion valve is closed as described above, it is no longer possible to reach a limit (hereinafter, referred to as 'limit opening degree') in which the expansion valve is difficult to produce dehumidified and / or heated air. do. In this case, the controller may stop the driving of the air supply device 22 and inform the user visually or visually that the compressor 26 is out of the confidence interval.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to another embodiment of the present invention. This control method is different from the above-described embodiment in that the operating pressure of the compressor 26 is controlled by using both the fan and the expansion valve so as not to deviate from the confidence interval, the following description will focus on the difference.

Referring to FIG. 5, in the control method according to the present embodiment, a step of supplying air by largely driving a heat pump (S510), comparing an operation pressure of a compressor with a predetermined reference (S530), and RPM of a fan It includes the step of adjusting (S550) and the step of adjusting the opening of the expansion valve (S570).

First, the controller drives the bottom pump 22 to supply dehumidified and / or heated air to the accommodation space 12 (S510). In this case, the controller may set the RPM of the fan 32 to the first RPM and open the expansion valve to a first degree to drive the heat pump 22.

Subsequently, the control unit senses the operating pressure of the compressor 26 and compares it with a predetermined reference (S530). In this case, the controller detects the operating pressure of the compressor 26 by sensing the temperature of the air by the temperature sensor as described above. The first set temperature shown in FIG. 5 may be set to a temperature corresponding to P1, preferably P2, which is a confidence interval of the operating pressure of the compressor 26 described above. Therefore, the controller compares the temperature T of the air with the first set temperature to determine whether the operating pressure of the compressor 26 has reached P1 or P2.

When the temperature T of the air becomes equal to or greater than the first set temperature, the controller first adjusts the RPM of the fan 32 to lower the operating pressure of the compressor 26 (S550).

As described above, in this embodiment, both the RPM of the fan and the opening of the expansion valve are adjusted to lower the operating pressure of the compressor 26. In this case, it is preferable to first adjust the RPM of the fan before adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve. This is because if the opening of the expansion valve is reduced from the beginning, the amount of refrigerant flowing along the refrigerant line of the heat pump is reduced, making it difficult to dehumidify and / or heat air by the heat pump. This makes it difficult to dry or refresh clothes or the like. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the operating pressure of the compressor is lowered, the RPM of the fan is first adjusted, and then the opening degree of the expansion valve is adjusted.

The controller increases the RPM of the fan 32 by a predetermined amount (551), and determines whether the increased RPM is greater than or equal to the limit RPM (S553). Detailed description of the step of adjusting the RPM of the fan is similar to the embodiment of Figure 3, so that repeated description is omitted.

Subsequently, the controller determines whether the dryness of the garment has reached a desired reference dryness level (S555). When the detected dryness of the clothing reaches the reference dryness, the heat pump 22 is turned off, and the user can be notified of this.

The dryness of the clothes may be provided with a dryness sensor in the accommodation space to directly detect the dryness of the clothes or indirectly detect the dryness of the clothes by using the temperature sensors 50 and 52.

A method of indirectly detecting the dryness of clothes using the temperature sensor 50 or 52 is as follows. 8 is a graph showing a temperature change measured by the first sensor 50 and the second sensor 52 described above in the laundry treatment apparatus according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the temperature T ₁ measured by the first sensor 50, the temperature T ₂ measured by the second sensor 52, and the temperature difference ΔT of the T ₁ and T ₂ are In the graph, the vertical axis represents temperature (° C.) and the horizontal axis represents dryness (%) over time. In the degree of drying, 0% indicates no drying at the beginning of driving, and 100% indicates a state in which drying is completed after a predetermined time has elapsed.

Referring to FIG. 8, since T ₁ is approximately 30 ° C. and T ₂ is 20 ° C. at the initial stage of driving the clothes treating apparatus, ΔT corresponds to approximately 10 ° C. FIG. That is, since the air introduced into the heat pump 22 at the initial driving time is heated in the condenser 28 and introduced into the accommodation space 12, the temperature difference detected by the first and second sensors 50 and 52 is different from the above. Likewise it corresponds to about 10 ℃.

Subsequently, when the heat pump 22 continues to drive over time, a change occurs in the temperature difference. That is, when the clothes contain a lot of moisture, the air supplied to the receiving space 12 takes the moisture of the clothes and contains moisture and flows into the heat pump 22 of the machine room 20. As such, when air containing a large amount of water flows into the heat pump 22, a large amount of refrigerant is evaporated in the evaporator 24 to condense a large amount of water, and the refrigerant contains a large amount of latent heat. That is, the amount of latent heat contained in the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 24 is increased compared to the air containing less moisture.

As such, when the refrigerant containing a large amount of latent heat moves to the condenser 28 to heat the air while condensing, the latent heat is radiated to heat the air, thereby heating the air at a higher temperature than in the case of air containing less moisture. It becomes possible to do Therefore, when the clothes placed in the accommodation space 12 contains a lot of moisture and the dryness is low, the temperature of the air heated by the condenser 28 is increased, so that the first sensor 50 and the second sensor 52 ), The temperature difference DELTA T becomes large. This can be seen that the curve of the temperature difference ΔT rises with time in FIG. 8.

On the other hand, when the drying proceeds as described above to reduce the moisture contained in the clothes, that is, when the dryness of the clothes can be seen that the temperature of the air heated in the condenser 28 gradually decreases. That is, as the amount of moisture contained in the air flowing into the heat pump 22 decreases, the amount of latent heat included in the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 24 also decreases. Therefore, the amount of latent heat that is condensed and discharged in the condenser 28 is reduced, so that the temperature of the air heated in the condenser 28 is lowered. In the above description, it can be seen that the curve of the temperature difference ΔT decreases when the drying degree exceeds approximately 40% as time passes in FIG. 8.

Therefore, in the above description, the control unit can determine the drying degree of the clothing by the temperature difference ΔT measured by the first sensor 50 and the second sensor 52. In other words, it becomes possible to determine that the drying degree of the clothing increases as the temperature difference ΔT decreases. Therefore, the preset reference temperature difference is input to the control unit of the clothes treating apparatus, and the control unit compares the measured temperature difference ΔT with the reference temperature difference to determine the dryness of the clothes. For example, when the reference temperature difference is set to 10 ° C., the controller compares the measured temperature difference ΔT with the reference temperature difference 10 ° C., so that the measured temperature difference ΔT is smaller than the reference temperature difference. When the heat pump 22 stops driving to complete the drying.

On the other hand, the reference temperature difference as described above is modified by the user can be input. For example, when the reference temperature difference is set to 10 ° C, the degree of dryness corresponds to 60% in FIG. 8, and when the reference temperature difference is set to 5 ° C, the degree of dryness is 70% in FIG. 8. It becomes. Therefore, by appropriately changing the reference temperature difference, the user can adjust the drying degree of the clothing at the time when drying is completed.

On the other hand, when the dryness is determined by the temperature difference ΔT measured by the first sensor 50 and the second sensor 52 by the control unit as described above, the temperature after the predetermined time has elapsed from the initial driving. It is preferable to compare the difference DELTA T with the reference temperature difference. This is because, as shown in FIG. 8, the temperature difference ΔT increases from the initial driving to the middle portion, and the temperature difference ΔT decreases as the temperature difference exceeds the mid driving period. Therefore, when the control is performed by comparing the temperature difference ΔT and the reference temperature difference measured as described above from the beginning of the driving, the driving stops in a state in which drying is not completed in the initial driving. Therefore, in the present invention, the control unit controls by comparing the temperature difference ΔT and the reference temperature difference measured as described above after the heat pump 22 is driven and a predetermined time, for example, at least 10 minutes has elapsed. It is desirable to.

On the other hand, in the step (S530) of detecting the operating pressure of the compressor 26, when the temperature (T) of the air is lower than the first set temperature, it is not necessary to adjust the operating pressure of the compressor 26, immediately drying the clothes The process proceeds to step S555 to determine the degree.

In addition, when it is determined that the RPM of the fan is greater than or equal to the limit RPM, it is difficult to further reduce the operating pressure of the compressor 26 by adjusting the RPM of the fan 32. This is because the noise generated from the fan 32 is higher than the reference noise. Therefore, in this case, by adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve to adjust the operating pressure of the compressor 26 (S570).

The step of adjusting the expansion valve is to detect the operating pressure of the compressor 26 and compare with a predetermined reference (S571), reducing the opening of the expansion valve (S573), comparing the opening of the expansion valve with the limit opening degree Step S575 and the step of determining the dryness of the clothing (S577).

Specifically, the controller compares the temperature T of the air with the first set temperature to determine whether the operating pressure of the compressor 26 reaches P1 or P2. When the temperature of the air is above the first set temperature, the opening degree of the expansion valve is reduced by a predetermined amount (S573), and it is determined whether the opening degree reaches the limit opening degree (S575). Since the steps are similar to those of the embodiment of FIG. 4, repeated descriptions thereof will be omitted.

In the step S571 of detecting the operating pressure of the compressor 26, when the temperature T of the air is lower than the first set temperature, it is not necessary to adjust the operating pressure of the compressor 26. The process proceeds to step S577.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to another embodiment of the present invention. 6 is different from the embodiment of FIG. 5 in that it includes a step of comparing the temperature of the air with the second set temperature before supplying air by driving the heat pump.

Referring to FIG. 6, in the control method according to the present embodiment, the controller compares the temperature T of the air with the second set temperature (S501). Here, the second set temperature may be set in various ways, such as the installation place, region, climate, season, weather, etc. of the clothes treatment apparatus, for example, is set to approximately 40 ℃ in this embodiment.

If the temperature of the air is greater than or equal to the second set temperature, the controller determines that the temperature of the air flowing in the air supply device 22 is relatively high, and sets the RPM of the fan 32 to the limit RPM (S502) to heat pump ( 22) (S503). The reason why the temperature of the air flowing through the heat pump 22 becomes relatively higher than the second set temperature as described above is because the ambient temperature of the clothes treating apparatus is very high, or the clothes treating apparatus continuously dries or refreshes the clothes. May occur in some cases.

Even when the air temperature is relatively high, if the PRM of the fan 32 is set to the first RPM to be driven, the flow rate of the air is reduced compared to the high air temperature, and the compressor 26 is overloaded. Therefore, when it is determined that the temperature of the air is greater than or equal to the second set temperature as described above, the control unit omits the step of adjusting the fan RPM by setting the RPM of the fan to the limit RPM, and immediately adjusting the expansion valve (S570). Go to).

On the other hand, when the air temperature T is less than or equal to the second set temperature, the control method according to the embodiment of FIG. 5 described above is performed.

1 is a front view of a laundry treatment apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the inside of the machine room in Figure 1,

3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a flow chart showing a control method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a flow chart showing a control method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a graph showing a pressure change of the compressor according to the control method of the present invention, and

8 is a graph showing temperature change measured by the first and second sensors.

Claims (19)

In the control method of an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, an air supply device having an expansion valve and a clothes treatment device having a fan, A supply step of supplying air by the air supply device while rotating the fan at a first RPM; A comparison step of comparing the operating pressure of the compressor with a predetermined standard; And And adjusting the RPM of the fan so that the detected operating pressure is included in a confidence interval when the detected operating pressure of the compressor is greater than or equal to a predetermined standard. The method of claim 1, The first RPM is a control method of the laundry treatment apparatus, characterized in that the RPM does not occur more than a predetermined reference. The method of claim 1, And controlling the operating pressure of the compressor by detecting the temperature? Of the air passing through the air supply device in the comparing step. The method of claim 1, The adjusting step is a control method of the laundry treatment apparatus, characterized in that for increasing the RPM of the fan by a predetermined amount. 5. The method of claim 4, The adjusting step is a control method of the laundry treatment apparatus, characterized in that to increase the RPM of the fan to a limit RPM that does not issue noise more than a predetermined reference. In the control method of an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, an air supply device having an expansion valve and a clothes treatment device having a fan, A supply step of supplying air by the air supply device by opening the expansion valve to a first degree while rotating the fan at a first RPM; A comparison step of comparing the operating pressure of the compressor with a predetermined standard; And And adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve so that the detected operating pressure is included in a confidence interval when the detected operating pressure of the compressor is equal to or greater than a predetermined standard. The method of claim 6, The first degree is a control method of a clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that the opening degree does not occur more than a predetermined reference. The method of claim 6, And controlling the operation pressure of the compressor by sensing the temperature of the air passing through the air supply device in the comparing step. The method of claim 6, The adjusting step is a control method of a laundry treatment apparatus, characterized in that for reducing the opening of the expansion valve by a predetermined amount. 10. The method of claim 9, The adjusting step is a control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for closing the opening degree of the expansion valve to a limit opening degree that no noise is generated above a predetermined standard. In the control method of an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, an air supply device having an expansion valve and a clothes treatment device having a fan, A supply step of supplying air by the air supply device by opening the expansion valve to a first degree while rotating the fan at a first RPM; A comparison step of comparing the operating pressure of the compressor with a predetermined standard; And And adjusting the RPM of the fan and the opening degree of the expansion valve so that the detected operating pressure is included in a confidence interval when the detected operating pressure of the compressor is higher than a predetermined standard. Control method of the device. The method of claim 11, The adjusting step Controlling the RPM of the fan and controlling the opening degree of the expansion valve. The method of claim 12, And controlling the RPM of the fan is performed before adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve. The method of claim 11, The first RPM is a RPM that does not generate a noise higher than a predetermined reference, the first degree is a control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that the opening degree does not generate a noise higher than the predetermined reference. The method of claim 11, And controlling the operating pressure of the compressor by detecting the temperature? Of the air passing through the air supply device in the comparing step. The method of claim 12, Adjusting the RPM of the fan control method of the laundry treatment apparatus, characterized in that for increasing the RPM of the fan by a predetermined amount. The method of claim 16, Adjusting the RPM of the fan control method of the laundry treatment apparatus, characterized in that to increase the RPM of the fan to a second RPM that does not issue noise more than a predetermined reference. The method of claim 12, Adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve is a control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for closing the expansion valve by a predetermined amount. The method of claim 18, Adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve is a control method of the clothes treating apparatus, characterized in that for closing the opening degree of the expansion valve to a limit opening degree that no noise is generated above a predetermined standard.

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