KR20040017131A - Uniformity temperature control apparatus for refrigeration room of refrigerator and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A uniform temperature controller for a refrigerator compartment of a refrigerator and a control method of the same are provided to rapidly execute uniform cooling by rapidly settling local high temperature and super cooling in the refrigerator compartment. CONSTITUTION: A controller includes a main chilled air channel(42) formed on a rear wall of a refrigerator compartment(31) formed to face a freezer compartment(21) with a partition(12) formed in vertical direction and placed therebetween, to discharge chilled air to a front side; a side wall chilled air channel(43) having one side connected with the main chilled air channel, and the other side extended along the partition to a front opening area, and bent on a terminal area thereof to be extended in vertical direction; a chilled air nozzle having a chilled air outlet discharging chilled air to the front side, rotated in vertical direction of the refrigerator compartment, and in front and rear direction of the partition, and connected with the side wall chilled air channel; a temperature sensor coupled to the chilled air nozzle in such a manner that the temperature sensor moves together with the chilled air nozzle to detect temperature around the chilled air nozzle; a blowing unit formed to change flow rate of chilled air discharged through the chilled air nozzle; and a control part controlling the chilled air nozzle and the blowing unit depending on detected temperature.

Description

Uniform temperature control device for refrigerators and its control method {UNIFORMITY TEMPERATURE CONTROL APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATION ROOM OF REFRIGERATOR AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling a refrigerator uniform temperature of a refrigerator and a method of controlling the same. More particularly, the refrigerator compartment uniformity of a refrigerator capable of quickly eliminating local high temperature and subcooling in a refrigerator compartment and achieving uniform cooling at an early stage. A temperature control device and a control method thereof.

1 is a plan sectional view of a conventional refrigerator. As illustrated, the refrigerator includes a main body 11 in which a freezing compartment 21 and a refrigerating compartment 31 are formed, respectively, with partitions 12 formed in the vertical direction, and the freezing compartment 21 and the refrigerating compartment 31. It is provided with a freezing chamber door 35 and a refrigerating chamber door 35 which are hinged to the main body 11 so as to open and close the front opening of each.

A circulation passage 32 is formed in the rear region of the freezing chamber 21 to cool the air while being circulated, and an evaporator 33 is provided in the circulation passage 32 to cool the air. On the rear wall of the freezing chamber 21, a plurality of freezing cold air outlets 23 are formed so that the heat-exchanged air can be discharged to the freezing chamber 21 while passing through the evaporator 33.

A cold air discharging member 37 is provided in the rear region of the refrigerating chamber 31 so as to discharge cold air provided from the freezing chamber 21, and cold air may be discharged into the refrigerating chamber 31 on the front surface of the cold air discharging member 37. A plurality of refrigeration cold air outlet 38 is formed. One side of the refrigerating compartment 31 is provided with a temperature sensor 34 to detect the internal temperature of the refrigerating compartment 31.

The partition 12 has a cold air supply unit 13 formed therethrough so that the air cooled while passing through the evaporator 33 may be provided to the cold air discharge member 37, and cold air is introduced into one side of the cold air discharge member 37. The cold air inlet 39 is formed in communication with the cold air supply unit 13 so that it can be. The damper 40 is provided in the cold air discharge member 37 to open and close the cold air inlet 39.

By this configuration, when the cooling fan (not shown) is rotated, air flows from the lower side of the evaporator 33 along the up and down direction, and the flowed air is cooled while passing through the evaporator 33. Some of the cooled air is discharged into the freezing chamber 21 through the freezing cold air outlet 23, and a part of the air is introduced into the cold air discharging member 37 through the cold air supply unit 13, and the introduced air is stored in each cold air cooler. It is discharged to the refrigerating chamber 31 through the discharge port 38 to cool the inside of the refrigerating chamber 31.

Some of the air in the freezer compartment 21 and the refrigerating compartment 31 is sucked into the lower side of the evaporator 33 and flows upwardly to be cooled while passing through the evaporator 33 and discharged to the freezer compartment 21 and the refrigerating compartment 31 again. While repeating the process, the freezing compartment 21 and the refrigerating compartment 31 are respectively cooled.

On the other hand, the control unit (not shown) controls the damper 40 so that the cold air inlet 39 is blocked when the temperature value detected by the temperature sensor 34 satisfies the set temperature condition, thereby preventing the refrigerating compartment 31 from being overcooled. Done.

By the way, in the conventional method for controlling the cold air in the refrigerating compartment of the refrigerator, the damper 40 is opened and closed so that the cold air inlet 39 fixedly formed in the constant region is opened and closed based on the detection result of the temperature sensor 34 fixedly arranged in the constant region in the refrigerator. ), When food having a relatively high temperature is stored in a place relatively far from the temperature sensor 34, it cannot be detected immediately, so that the temperature around the hot food is raised, leading to food There is a problem that inhibits.

In addition, when food having a relatively high temperature is accommodated in an adjacent region of the temperature sensor 34, the temperature sensor 34 senses a relatively high temperature caused by the food and continues to supply cold air into the refrigerating chamber 31. In other cases, there is a problem that there is a risk that subcooling may occur rather than other foods.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator compartment uniform temperature control apparatus and a method of controlling the refrigerator compartment capable of quickly eliminating local high temperature and subcooling in the refrigerator compartment and thereby achieving uniform cooling at an early stage.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional refrigerator,

2 is a view showing an application state of the refrigerator compartment uniform temperature control apparatus of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a side cross-sectional view of FIG.

4 is a side cross-sectional view of the cold air nozzle of FIG. 2;

5 is a front view showing the inside in a state in which the housing cover of the cold air nozzle of FIG. 4 is removed;

6 is a control block diagram of a refrigerator compartment uniform temperature control device of the refrigerator of FIG.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling a uniform temperature of a refrigerating compartment of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

12: bulkhead 13: cold air supply unit

21: freezer 22: blowing fan

31: refrigerator compartment 37: cold air discharge member

40: damper 52: housing

60: cold air nozzle 61: cold air outlet

62: sensor housing 67: temperature sensor

70: nozzle support member 81: control unit

83: timer 83: load calculation unit

According to the present invention, the main cold air flow path is formed so as to discharge the cold air forward to the rear wall of the refrigerating chamber formed on the opposite side of the freezing chamber with the partition wall formed along the vertical direction; One side is in communication with the main cold air flow path and the other side is extended to the front opening area along the partition wall and bent in the end region extending along the vertical direction; A cold air nozzle having a cold air discharge port so as to discharge cold air to a front surface thereof, the cold air discharge port being rotatable along the vertical direction of the refrigerating chamber and the front and rear directions of the partition wall, and the cold air discharge port being coupled to the sidewall cold air passage; A temperature sensor movably coupled to the cold air nozzle to detect a temperature around the cold air nozzle; Blowing means formed to vary the speed of cold air discharged through the cold air nozzle; The internal temperature is periodically detected from a normal operation point in which cold air is supplied through the main cold air flow path, and when the detection result is a high temperature load, the cold air nozzle is controlled to supply cool air to the high temperature load region and the cold air demand of the high temperature load is controlled. According to the refrigerator compartment uniform temperature control apparatus comprising a control unit for controlling the blowing means to change the speed of the cold air according to.

Here, a blocking position in which both the main cold passage and the sidewall cooling passage are blocked at a boundary area between the main cooling passage and the sidewall cooling passage, and a first open position in which the sidewall cooling passage is opened and the main cooling passage is blocked. And a damper disposed rotatably between the second open positions in which both the main cold air passage and the side wall cold air passage are open.

The blowing means may be configured to further include a side wall blowing fan disposed in the side wall cooling passage.

Preferably, the control unit controls the damper so that the damper is positioned at the first open position when the high temperature load is detected as a result of the temperature detection.

The detection result of the temperature sensor is effective to further include a load calculation unit for calculating the speed and cold air injection time of the cold air discharged through the cold air discharge port based on the cold air requirements according to the temperature and size of the high temperature load when detecting the high temperature load. to be.

On the other hand, according to another field of the present invention, a side cold air flow passage formed in the up and down direction and the main cold air flow path in which the cool air is discharged from the rear wall of the refrigerating compartment to the partition wall partitioning the refrigerating compartment and the freezer compartment and communicating with the main cold air passage. Forming a; Providing a cold air nozzle having a cold air outlet formed to discharge cold air, and a temperature sensor integrally coupled to the cold air nozzle to detect an ambient temperature; Installing the cold air nozzle and the temperature sensor such that the cold air nozzle is in communication with the sidewall cold air passage and the cold air discharge port is rotatable along the vertical direction and the front and rear directions of the refrigerating chamber; Periodically detecting an internal temperature from a normal operation point at which cold air is supplied through the main cold air passage; Calculating a speed and a cold air injection time of the cold air discharged through the cold air outlet according to the cold air demand of the high temperature load when detecting the high temperature load as a result of the detection of the internal temperature; Rotating the cold air nozzle to discharge cold air to the hot load region; Injecting and cooling cold air into the high temperature load based on the calculated speed and injection time of the cold air; After the step of cooling the high temperature load, there is provided a method for controlling the uniform temperature of the refrigerating compartment of the refrigerator, comprising detecting the internal temperature and returning to the normal operation when the high temperature load is not detected.

Here, it is preferable to further include the step of blocking the main flow path before the step of cooling the high temperature load.

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

2 is a view showing an application state of the refrigerator compartment uniform temperature control apparatus of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a side cross-sectional view of Figure 2, Figure 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the cold air nozzle of Figure 2, FIG. 5 is a front view illustrating the inside of the cold air nozzle of FIG. 4 with the housing cover removed. The same and equivalent parts as those described above and shown in the drawings will be described with the same reference numerals for convenience of description. As shown in these figures, the refrigerator includes a main body 11 in which a freezer compartment 21 and a refrigerating compartment 31 are formed, respectively, with partitions 12 formed along the up and down directions, and the freezer compartment 21 and the refrigerating compartment. A freezing chamber door 25 and a refrigerating chamber door 35 which are hinged to the main body 11 so as to open and close each front opening of the 31 are provided.

A circulation passage 32 is formed in the rear region of the freezing chamber 21 to cool the air while circulating, and an evaporator 33 is provided in the circulation passage 32 to cool the air. A plurality of freezing cold air outlets 23 are formed in the front region of the evaporator 33 along the front and rear directions of the freezing compartment 21 so that the air cooled through the evaporator 33 can be discharged to the freezing compartment 21. The refrigerator compartment 31 is provided with a refrigerator compartment uniform temperature control apparatus of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention so as to quickly resolve local high temperature and subcooling to achieve uniform cooling of the refrigerator compartment 31 early.

The refrigerator compartment uniform temperature control apparatus of the present refrigerator includes a main cold air passage 42 and a partition wall 12 formed to discharge air cooled while passing through the evaporator 33 from the rear region of the refrigerator compartment 31 to the front region. The side wall cold flow path 43 extends along the inside of the front opening area and is bent in the front opening area and disposed along the vertical direction of the partition wall 12, and the side wall cold flow path 43 communicates with each other. The cold air nozzle 60 coupled to the relative movement along the front and rear direction, the temperature sensor 67 to detect the temperature of the front region in the cold air discharge direction is integrally coupled to the cold air nozzle 60, and the cold air nozzle And a blower fan 22 installed in at least one of the main cold air passage 42 and the side wall cold air passage 43 so as to vary the speed of the cold air discharged through the 60, and periodically detect the internal temperature. High when detecting high temperature load Depending on the rate and injection time of the cooling air based on cooling air requirements depending on the temperature and the size of the load it is constituted by a control unit 81 for controlling the blower fan 22 and the cooling air nozzle 60 so that cool air can be injected. Here, the blower fan 22 may be configured to include a separate sidewall blower fan (not shown) in the upstream region of each cold air nozzle along the flow direction of the cold air.

In the rear region of the partition 12 along the front and rear directions of the refrigerating compartment 31, a cold air supply part 13 is formed through the evaporator 33 so that the cooled air can be provided to the refrigerating compartment 31. 12, the side wall cooling air flow path 43 extending along the front-back direction is formed. The side wall cold air passage 43 is bent downward in an area between the shelf 36 and the refrigerating chamber door 35 along the front and rear directions of the refrigerating chamber 31 to extend in the vertical direction.

The rear region of the refrigerating chamber 31 is provided with a cold air discharging member 37 to discharge the cold air supplied through the cold air supply unit 13 to the refrigerating chamber 31. A plurality of refrigerated cold air outlets 38 are formed on the front surface of the cold air discharge member 37, and a cold air inlet 39 is formed at one side to communicate with the cold air supply unit 13.

A cold air outlet 41 is formed at one side of the cold air inlet 39 so as to be in communication with the side wall cold air passage 43, and a blocking position for blocking both the side wall cold air passage 43 and the main cold air passage 42. A damper 40 is rotatably provided between a first open position in which only the side wall cold air passage 43 is opened, and a second open position in which both the side wall cold air passage 43 and the main cold air passage 42 are opened.

On the other hand, in the side wall cold air flow passage 43 disposed along the vertical direction of the partition 12, the internal temperature is periodically detected and cold air is intensively supplied to the high temperature load when detecting the high temperature load, thereby achieving uniform cooling early. The nozzle assembly 51 is provided so that it may be.

The nozzle assembly 51 includes a housing 52 forming an accommodation space therein and a cold air discharge port 61 so as to discharge cold air forward, and the cold air discharge port 61 is exposed to the outside and the housing 52 is exposed to the outside. And a temperature sensor 67 that is integrally coupled to the cold air nozzle 60 and detects the temperature of the front region of the cold air discharge port 61.

The housing 52 has a housing body 53 having a cylindrical shape with one side open, and a housing cover 57 which is coupled to block the opening area of the housing body 53. The housing body 53 is provided with a protrusion 55 which is inserted into the rear region of the cold air nozzle 60 to rotatably support the cold air nozzle 60, and the cold air allows the cold air to flow in the protrusion 55. The flow path 56 is formed. The cold air duct 54 is connected to the cold air duct 54 for guiding cold air. The housing cover 57 is formed to have a disk shape through which the nozzle hole 58 is formed so that the cold air nozzle 60 can be rotatably inserted in the center region.

The cold air nozzle 60 has a cold air outlet 61 formed on the front surface and has a hemispherical shape through which cold air flows, and a temperature sensor 67 is accommodated above the cold air outlet 61. A recessed sensor accommodating part 62 is formed.

The circumference of the cold air nozzle 60 is supported by a plurality of concentric circular nozzle support members 70 such that the cold air nozzle 60 can be rotated in the vertical direction and the left and right directions with respect to the housing 52. It is rotatably provided by the roller 68, and the tooth | gear part 71 is formed in the inner diameter surface along the circumferential direction of the nozzle support member 70 over a predetermined section. The teeth 71 are integrally rotatably coupled to the rotation shaft of the drive motor 75 for driving the nozzle support member 70 so that the cold air discharge port 61 can flow along the left and right directions of the housing 52. The drive gear 74 is engaged.

Rotating shafts 63 extending along the horizontal direction are formed at both sides of the cold air nozzle 60, and each end of the rotating shaft 63 has a bearing portion 72 formed on the inner diameter surface of the nozzle support member 70. It is rotatably coupled to. The driven shaft 64 is rotatably integrally connected to the rotation shaft 63 so that the rotational force of the driving motor 65 is transmitted through the plurality of gears 66 to rotate the cold air nozzle 60 along the vertical direction. Are combined.

6 is a control block diagram of a refrigerator compartment uniform temperature control device of the refrigerator of FIG. 2. As shown, the refrigerator's uniform temperature control apparatus of the present refrigerator includes a control unit 81 implemented in the form of a microcomputer with a built-in control program, and the control unit 81 detects a temperature sensor 67. And a timer 83 for detecting the time are respectively connected. The control unit 81 calculates the load calculation unit 85 and the load calculation unit 85 that calculate the injection speed and time of the cold air according to the temperature and size of the high temperature load based on the detection result of the temperature sensor 67. The cold air nozzle 60, the blower fan 22, and the damper 40 are electrically connected to each other so as to control the flow of the cold air based on the control.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling a uniform temperature of a refrigerating compartment of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. The step of configuring the device will be described with reference to the above-mentioned uniform temperature control device of the built-in chamber of the refrigerator, and the control step will be described below. As shown, when the normal operation is started (S10), the controller 81 controls the timer 83 to count the operation time (t) from the start point of the normal operation (S20). Next, a predetermined time has elapsed from the normal operation the start normal operation time (t) is set period (t _set) and the like floor (S30), and controls so that the damper 40 in the first open position, the main cooling air flow path (42 ) To be blocked (S40). Next, while driving the cold air nozzle 60 along the vertical and horizontal directions of the housing 52, the temperature is detected by scanning around the cold air nozzle 60 (S50).

When the high temperature load is detected (S60), the control unit 81 controls the load calculation unit 85 to calculate the speed and cold air injection time of the cold air according to the size and temperature of the high temperature load (S70). In addition, the cold air nozzle 60 is controlled to rotate the cold air nozzle 60 so that the cold air discharge port 61 faces the detected high temperature load region (S80). The blowing fan 22 is controlled to cool the high temperature load so that cold air is injected at the calculated cold air speed and injection time (S90).

When the calculated injection time has elapsed, the controller 81 causes the injection of cold air to end (S100), and returns the cold nozzle 60 to the initial position (S110). While driving the cold air nozzle 60, the temperature is detected (S50), and if the high temperature load is not detected, the main cold air flow path 42 is opened (S120) and the normal operation is returned (S10).

As described above, according to the present invention, the main cold air flow path and the side wall cold flow path are formed, and in the side wall cold flow path, a temperature sensor and a cold air nozzle which can be rotated along the vertical direction and the front and rear direction of the side wall are provided for local high temperature and There is provided a refrigerator compartment uniform temperature control apparatus and a control method thereof for a refrigerator which can realize uniform cooling of the refrigerator compartment at an early stage by quickly eliminating subcooling.

Claims (7)

A main cold air flow passage formed to discharge cold air toward the rear wall of the refrigerating chamber formed on the opposite side of the freezing chamber with the partition wall formed along the vertical direction therebetween; One side is in communication with the main cold air flow path and the other side is extended to the front opening area along the partition wall and bent in the end region extending along the vertical direction; A cold air nozzle having a cold air discharge port so as to discharge cold air to a front surface thereof, the cold air discharge port being rotatable along the vertical direction of the refrigerating chamber and the front and rear directions of the partition wall, and the cold air discharge port being coupled to the sidewall cold air passage; A temperature sensor movably coupled to the cold air nozzle to detect a temperature around the cold air nozzle; Blowing means formed to vary the speed of cold air discharged through the cold air nozzle; The internal temperature is periodically detected from a normal operation point in which cold air is supplied through the main cold air flow path, and when the detection result is a high temperature load, the cold air nozzle is controlled to supply cool air to the high temperature load region and the cold air demand of the high temperature load is controlled. And a control unit for controlling the blowing means to change the speed of the cold air according to the refrigerator compartment uniform temperature control apparatus of the refrigerator. The method of claim 1, A blocking position at which both the main cold passage and the sidewall cooling passage are blocked at a boundary area between the main cold passage and the sidewall cooling passage, and a first open position at which the sidewall cooling passage is opened and the main cooling passage is blocked; And a damper rotatably disposed between the second open positions in which both the main cold passage and the sidewall cold passage are open. The method of claim 2, And said blower means further comprises a side wall blower fan disposed in said side wall coolant flow path. The method of claim 2, And the controller controls the damper so that the damper is positioned at the first open position when the high temperature load is detected as a result of the temperature detection. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, And a load calculation unit that calculates a speed and a cold air injection time of the cold air discharged through the cold air outlet based on the cold air consumption amount according to the temperature and size of the high temperature load when the high temperature load is detected as a result of the detection of the temperature sensor. Refrigeration chamber uniform temperature control device of the refrigerator. Forming a sidewall cooling passage communicating with the main cooling passage in a partition wall which partitions the refrigerator compartment and the freezing chamber and is formed along a vertical direction of the main cooling passage through which cold air is discharged from the rear wall of the refrigerating compartment to the front region; Providing a cold air nozzle having a cold air outlet formed to discharge cold air, and a temperature sensor integrally coupled to the cold air nozzle to detect an ambient temperature; Installing the cold air nozzle and the temperature sensor such that the cold air nozzle is in communication with the sidewall cold air passage and the cold air discharge port is rotatable along the vertical direction and the front and rear directions of the refrigerating chamber; Periodically detecting an internal temperature from a normal operation point at which cold air is supplied through the main cold air passage; Calculating a speed and a cold air injection time of the cold air discharged through the cold air outlet according to the cold air demand of the high temperature load when detecting the high temperature load as a result of the detection of the internal temperature; Rotating the cold air nozzle to discharge cold air to the hot load region; Injecting and cooling cold air into the high temperature load based on the calculated speed and injection time of the cold air; After the step of cooling the high temperature load, detecting the internal temperature and returning to the normal operation when the high temperature load is not detected. The method of claim 6, And controlling the main passage before the step of cooling the high temperature load.