KR19990062162A - Refrigerator and its humidity control method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a compressor, a blowing fan for supplying cold air generated in an evaporator to a refrigerating chamber, a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator, and a humidity control method thereof. The humidity control method of the present invention is a humidity control method of a refrigerator having a compressor, a blowing fan for supplying cold air generated in an evaporator to a refrigerating chamber, and a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator. Selecting a; Operating the blower fan while the compressor stops operating according to the selected humidity condition. Thereby, the humidity in a refrigerator compartment can be adjusted.

Description

Refrigerator and its humidity control method

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator having a compressor, a blowing fan for supplying cold air generated in an evaporator to a refrigerating chamber, a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator, and a humidity control method thereof. .

A refrigerator generally has a relatively low temperature freezer compartment and a relatively high temperature refrigerator compartment, and includes a refrigeration system for cooling food contained in the refrigerator compartment.

The refrigeration system in the refrigerating chamber includes a compressor that compresses a refrigerant, a condenser that condenses the refrigerant at a high temperature and high pressure state compressed by the compressor, and a refrigerant that receives refrigerant from the condenser and absorbs latent heat while the refrigerant is evaporated. By action has at least one evaporator which cools the surrounding air. In addition, a refrigerating chamber fan is attached to the refrigerating chamber, and the refrigerating chamber fan blows air cooled by heat exchange while passing through the evaporator to the refrigerating chamber. In addition, the refrigerator compartment is equipped with a refrigerator compartment temperature sensor to detect the room temperature. On the other hand, moisture is condensed on the surface of the evaporator due to the difference in the relative humidity between the surface of the evaporator and the ambient air to generate frost, and the heat accumulated on the surface of the evaporator reduces the heat exchange efficiency of the evaporator. Therefore, in order to remove such frost, a defrost heater for heating the evaporator is provided to dissolve and remove the frost on the surface of the evaporator.

The refrigerator equipped with such a refrigeration system controls the compressor and the refrigerating fan according to the refrigerating conditions set by the microcomputer with the built-in control program to achieve the refrigerating conditions.

By the way, in such a conventional refrigerator, the air having a high humidity on the surface of the evaporator is mixed with the air having a low humidity around by a blowing operation of the refrigerating chamber fan without a separate means for controlling the humidity in the refrigerating chamber. Maintain humidity conditions. Therefore, there is a problem that can not control the humidity in the refrigerating chamber according to the type of food stored.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator capable of controlling humidity in a refrigerating chamber and a humidity control method thereof.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to the present invention,

2 is a humidity control control block diagram of the refrigerating compartment of the refrigerator of Figure 1,

3 is a humidity control flow chart according to the humidity control method of the present invention,

4 is an operation timing diagram according to the humidity control method of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1: refrigerator body 2: freezer

3: refrigerator compartment 4: compressor

5: refrigerator compartment fan 6: refrigerator compartment evaporator

7: defrost heater 8: refrigerating chamber temperature sensor

9: humidity sensor 10: defrost heater temperature sensor

11: control unit 12: humidity condition selection key

13: compressor drive circuit 14: refrigerator compartment fan drive circuit

15 defrost heater driving circuit 16: compressor timer

17: timer for heater 18: evaporator drive circuit

The above object is, according to the present invention, in the humidity control method of the refrigerator having a compressor, a blowing fan for supplying cold air generated in the evaporator to the refrigerating chamber, and a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator, the humidity in the refrigerating chamber Selecting a condition; According to the selected humidity condition, it is achieved by the humidity control method of the refrigerator comprising operating the blowing fan while the operation of the compressor is stopped.

The step of selecting the humidity condition may be configured to be performed by a user by operating a predetermined selection key, and the operation of the blowing fan may include detecting humidity in the refrigerating compartment and applying the detected humidity to the detected humidity. It can be configured to be based on.

In addition, when the selected humidity condition is a high humidity condition, it may be configured to further include the step of operating the defrost heater for a predetermined time during the operation of the compressor.

On the other hand, according to another field of the present invention, the object is a plurality of humidity conditions in the refrigerator having a compressor, a blowing fan for supplying cold air generated in the evaporator to the refrigerating chamber, and a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator. A selection key for selection of; According to the selected humidity condition, it is achieved by a refrigerator including a control unit for operating the blowing fan while the compressor is stopped.

Here, the control unit, including a humidity sensor for detecting the humidity in the refrigerating compartment, may be configured to operate the blowing fan based on the detected humidity.

In addition, when the selected humidity condition is a high humidity condition, the control unit is preferably configured to operate the defrost heater for a predetermined time while the operation of the compressor is stopped.

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

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to the present invention. As shown in this figure, the refrigerator includes a main body 1 having a freezing compartment 2 at the top and a refrigerating chamber 3 at the bottom thereof, and a compressor 4 installed at the rear lower portion of the main body 1 to compress the refrigerant. And a refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 provided corresponding to the refrigerator compartment 3 in the cold air duct formed in the rear wall surface of the main body 1. The refrigerating compartment 3 is provided with a refrigerating compartment temperature sensor 8 and a humidity sensor 9 so as to detect temperature and humidity. The refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 is connected to the compressor 4 in series with each other, and a refrigerator compartment fan 5 is installed to supply air having a high humidity cooled to the refrigerator compartment 3 adjacent thereto. A defrost heater 7 for heating toward the refrigerating chamber evaporator 6 is installed in the lower part of the refrigerating chamber evaporator 6, and the defrost heater temperature sensor 10 is attached to the defrost heater 7.

2 is a humidity control control block diagram of the refrigerating compartment of the refrigerator of FIG. 1. As shown, the control unit 11 in charge of overall control is provided outside the refrigerating chamber temperature sensor 8, the humidity sensor 9 and the defrost heater temperature sensor 10 and the refrigerating chamber 3 in the refrigerating chamber 3. The humidity condition selection key 12 receives the temperature in the refrigerating chamber, the humidity, the temperature of the discharge air of the defrost heater, and the humidity conditions, respectively. In addition, the control unit 11 is connected to the respective drive circuits (13, 14, 15, 18) to drive control the compressor (4), the refrigerator compartment fan (5), the refrigerator compartment evaporator (6) and the defrost heater (7). And a compressor timer 16 and a heater timer 17 for integrating the operating time of the compressor 4 and the defrost heater 7, respectively. Humidity control flow chart according to the humidity control method of the refrigerator having such a configuration is shown in Figure 3, the operation timing diagram according to the humidity control method is shown in FIG.

As shown in these figures, the control unit 11 sets the humidity conditions in the refrigerating chamber 3 according to the selection signal input from the humidity condition selection key 12 (S1). At this time, the user can select a low humidity condition, a medium humidity condition and a high humidity condition by the humidity condition selection key 12. When the refrigeration system of the refrigerating chamber 3 is operated, the control unit 11 controls the compressor driving circuit 13 and the evaporation driving circuit 18 to operate the compressor 4 and the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 at a predetermined time T1. Drive (S2). At this time, the operation time of the compressor 4 is integrated by the compressor timer 16. When the compressor 4 and the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 are driven, the refrigerator compartment temperature sensor 8 and the humidity sensor 9 detect the temperature and humidity in the refrigerator compartment 3 (S3), and the control unit 11 drives the refrigerator compartment fan drive. The furnace 14 is controlled to drive the refrigerator compartment fan 5 for a predetermined time T1-T2 (S4). The compressor 4 and the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 are stopped after being extended for a predetermined time (T2-T3) after driving the refrigerator compartment fan 5 (S5). When the selection signal from the humidity condition selection key 12 is a medium humidity condition, the control unit 11 drives the refrigerator compartment fan 5 when the compressor 4 and the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 are stopped (T3) (S6). ), The humidity from the humidity sensor 9 is continuously compared with the target humidity (S7), and when the humidity in the refrigerating chamber 3 reaches the target humidity (T6), the operation of the refrigerator compartment fan 5 is stopped (S9). ). At this time, when the humidity in the refrigerating chamber 3 does not reach the target humidity, the compressor 4 and the refrigerating chamber evaporator 6 continue to operate while stopping (S8). In the medium-humidity condition, the air having a high humidity on the surface of the evaporator 6 is mixed with the low-humidity ambient air by the blowing air during the operation of the compressor 4 and the refrigerating chamber evaporator 6 of the refrigerating chamber fan 5. Therefore, the humidity in the refrigerating chamber 3 increases. The control unit 11 controls the defrost heater driving circuit 15 when the compressor 4 and the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 are stopped (T3) when the selection signal of the humidity condition selection key 12 is a high humidity condition. (7) is driven for a predetermined time (T3-T4) (S10). At this time, the operation time of the defrost heater 7 is accumulated by the heater timer 17. After the defrost heater 7 is driven, the defrost heater temperature sensor 10 detects the temperature of the heating air discharged from the defrost heater 7 (S11) and is input to the controller 11. In order not to affect the refrigerating efficiency of the refrigerating compartment 3, the operation stop point of the defrost heater 7, T4 is faster than the time when the temperature of the heated air discharged from the defrost heater 7 exceeds the temperature in the refrigerating compartment 3. Choose. When the driving of the defrost heater 7 is stopped (T4), the control unit 11 drives the refrigerating chamber fan 5 (S12), and continuously compares the humidity from the humidity sensor 9 with the target humidity (S13). When the humidity in the refrigerating compartment 3 reaches the target humidity (T5), the driving of the refrigerating compartment fan 5 is stopped (S15). At this time, when the humidity in the refrigerating chamber 3 does not reach the target humidity, the compressor 4 and the refrigerating chamber evaporator 6 continue to operate while stopping (S14). In the high humidity conditions, the air in which the high humidity of the surface of the evaporator 6 is mixed with ambient air of low humidity increases by the blowing air during the operation of the compressor 4 and the refrigerator evaporator 6 of the refrigerating chamber fan 5, Since the frost on the surface of the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 is removed by the heating air of the defrost heater 7 and the refrigerator compartment evaporator 6 operates normally, the humidity in the refrigerator compartment 3 increases.

In steps S1 to S15, the controller 11 repeatedly compares the temperature in the refrigerating chamber 3 with the target temperature, and stops when the refrigerating chamber temperature becomes lower than the target temperature.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the humidity in the refrigerator compartment can be adjusted according to the type of food.

Claims (7)

In the humidity control method of the refrigerator comprising a compressor, a blowing fan for supplying the cold air generated in the evaporator to the refrigerating chamber, and a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator, Selecting a humidity condition in the refrigerating compartment; And operating the blower fan while the compressor stops operating according to the selected humidity condition. The method according to claim 1, The step of selecting the humidity conditions, A humidity control method of a refrigerator, characterized in that the user is operated by operating a predetermined selection key. The method according to claim 1, Operating the blowing fan, The humidity control method of the refrigerator characterized by detecting the humidity in the refrigerator compartment, based on the detected humidity. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, If the selected humidity conditions are high humidity conditions, And controlling the defrost heater for a predetermined time while the compressor is stopped. A refrigerator comprising a compressor, a blowing fan for supplying cold air generated in an evaporator to a refrigerating chamber, and a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator, A selection key for selecting a plurality of humidity conditions; And a control unit which operates the blower fan while the compressor stops operating according to the selected humidity condition. The method according to claim 5, The control unit, And a humidity sensor for detecting humidity in the refrigerating compartment, and operating the blower fan based on the detected humidity. The method according to claim 5 or 6, If the selected humidity conditions are high humidity conditions, The control unit, the refrigerator characterized in that for operating the defrost heater for a predetermined time while the operation of the compressor is stopped.