KR20050002166A - Defrosting method for a refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for defrosting a refrigerator is provided to reduce power consumption by extending a defrosting period of a defrosting heater by circulating cavity air in the case that the refrigerator is not used for a long time. CONSTITUTION: It is confirmed whether compressor driving accumulated time reaches set hours(S1). If so, a defrosting flag is set as 0 after executing normal defrosting operation by a defrosting heater(S2). If is checked whether the compressor driving accumulated time reaches set hours(S3). It is confirmed whether a door is opened or shut, and if so, the defrosting flag is set as 1(S3-1). An operation rate of a compressor is checked. If the operation rate of the compressor is more than 50%, the defrosting flag is set as 1(S3-2). If the door is not opened or shut and the operation rate is less than 50%, the defrosting flag is maintained as zero(S4). If the compressor driving accumulated time exceeds the set hours, the defrosting heater is driven(S5). If a cavity temperature of a refrigerating compartment exceeds a set temperature requiring defrosting operation, the defrosting flag is set as 1(S6). If the cavity temperature of the refrigerating compartment is lower than the set temperature, a refrigerating fan is driven for set hours for circulating air in the cavity(S7).

Description

Defrosting method of refrigerator {DEFROSTING METHOD FOR A REFRIGERATOR}

The present invention relates to a defrosting method for removing the frost generated in the evaporator of the refrigerator, and more particularly to a defrosting method for reducing the power consumption of the refrigerator when not used for a long time.

Generally, a refrigerator compresses a refrigerant to a high temperature and high pressure in a compressor, and cools it by a heat exchange process in which a refrigerant converted into a liquid refrigerant having a low temperature and high pressure in a condenser takes away ambient heat and cools the surrounding air when the refrigerant evaporates in an evaporator. By circulating the air (cold air) to the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment, and by repeating the above process again the above-mentioned process to obtain the cooling effect by the heat exchange it is possible to freeze or refrigerated storage of food.

The air circulating in the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment contains moisture in the refrigerator, and as the air circulated to the evaporator cools down during the heat exchange process with the refrigerant, moisture contained in the air condenses and forms frost on the surface of the evaporator. When frost is formed in the evaporator, the heat exchange efficiency with the refrigerant is lowered. Therefore, in order to prevent the frost, it is common to perform a defrost operation to remove the frost to operate the defrost heater installed around the evaporator to remove the frost from the evaporator. .

The defrosting operation for eliminating the evaporator defrost of the refrigerator is based on general experience, and the defrosting heater is driven in accordance with the compressor operating time, for example, when the compressor is operated for about 8 hours (depending on the refrigerator capacity and the outside temperature). It is programmed to perform defrosting operation and automatically controls compressor, defrost heater and fan motor by microprocessor.

However, even if the compressor operation time is less than 8 hours, when the user frequently opens and closes the refrigerator door, and when there is a lot of food stored in the refrigerator, the moisture is increased and the frost is excessively implanted in the evaporator. In this case, it is necessary to perform defrosting early.

In this way, in case of excessive frosting, the temperature sensor is used to detect the surface temperature of the evaporator, whether the surface temperature reaches the defrost set temperature early, and the internal temperature is sensed so that the temperature inside the elevated temperature rises above the set temperature. Defrost heater operation is performed early before the set time depending on whether or not the defrosting operation.

However, all of the above conventional defrosting operation conditions are based on the driving time of the compressor, and in consideration of the internal temperature, the evaporator temperature, and the number of opening / closing of the refrigerator door in preparation for the case where frost is formed early. Since it is for defrosting at an early stage, if the refrigerator is not used for a long time, the frost will not be excessively prematurely implanted in the evaporator, nor will the door be opened or closed, so there is no moisture inflow into the evaporator. In spite of the delay, there is a problem that the defrost heater is automatically driven unnecessarily frequently after a certain time, for example, 8 hours has elapsed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce unnecessary power consumption due to defrosting operation by a defrost heater based on a conventional compressor driving time, and to operate a defrosting operation when the refrigerator is not used for a long time due to a user's travel or the like. It is to provide a refrigerator defrosting method that can reduce the power consumption of the defrosting operation by the frequent frequent defrosting heater drive by extending the defrosting cycle by the defrost heater by delaying the frost formation by the air circulation in the high temperature.

1 is a block diagram of a refrigerator configuration for performing the defrosting method of the present invention.

2 shows a flowchart for implementing the defrosting method of the present invention.

In order to achieve the above object, the refrigerator defrosting method according to the present invention is set by extending the drive integration time of the compressor requiring defrosting operation from 8 hours to 12 hours, and whether the compressor drive integration time has reached the set time. Checking, if the compressor driving integration time reaches the set time, performing normal defrosting operation by the defrost heater, then setting the defrost flag to 0, checking again whether the compressor driving integration time has reached the set time, In the meantime, check whether the door has been opened or closed by the input signal from the switch input unit of the refrigerator, and if the door is opened or closed, setting the defrost flag to 1, and checking the compressor operation rate, even if the operation rate is 50% or more. Is set to 1, there is no opening and closing of the refrigerator door and the operation rate is less than 50% In the above step, the user determines that the refrigerator is not normally used due to travel, while maintaining the defrost flag at 0. When the integration time of the compressor exceeds the set time, the defrost flag must be defrosted in the above step. Alternatively, if the defrost flag is 1 by checking whether it is 0, driving the defrost heater through the defrost heater driving unit to perform a defrost process, resetting the defrost flag to 0 and returning to the start step, and the defrost flag is maintained at 0. In the state, when the temperature inside the refrigerator compartment inputted through the temperature sensing unit exceeds the set temperature (2 ° C) requiring defrosting operation, the defrost flag is set to 1 and returned to the start step, and the measured temperature in the refrigerator compartment is the set temperature. If it is lower, the refrigeration fan is operated for a set time to circulate the cold air in the refrigerator, Gender the body is configured to include a secondary defrost method comprising implantation is prevented from excessively made.

Hereinafter, with reference to the floor chart of the accompanying drawings showing an embodiment of the refrigerator defrosting method of the present invention will be described in more detail the present invention.

Referring to the block diagram of the configuration for performing the refrigerator defrosting method of the present invention shown in Figure 1, and the floor chart shown in Figure 2 will be described in detail the defrosting operation method according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the configuration of the refrigerator control unit for performing the refrigerator defrosting method of the present invention is that the microprocessor 1 is a signal for the temperature of the freezer compartment and the freezer compartment from the temperature sensors 2 and 3 provided in the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment. Is input through the temperature sensing unit 4, the door is provided to the door for the case of opening and closing the door by the user receives the operation of the door switch 5 to be operated when opening and closing the door from the switch input unit 6, defrost sensor From (7) receives the temperature signal during the defrost of the evaporator.

The microprocessor controls the compressor driving unit 11 to open and close the compressor 10 by receiving signals from the various devices as described above, and the R-fan 12 through the refrigerator compartment fan (R-fan) driving unit 13. To control the operation of the defrost heater driving unit 14 to drive the defrost heater 15 to dissolve the frost formed on the evaporator to remove.

The defrosting operation of the present invention in the refrigerator having the above configuration will be described in detail with reference to the floor chart of FIG. 2.

First, the driving integration time of the compressor 10 that requires defrosting operation is set to extend from the conventional 8 hours to 12 hours, and it is checked whether the compressor driving integration time has reached the set time (step S1), and the compressor driving integration time When this set time is reached, the normal defrosting operation by the defrost heater is performed and then the defrost flag is set to 0 (step S2).

Then, it is again checked whether the compressor driving integration time has reached the set time (step S3), and during this time, it is checked whether the door is opened or closed by the input signal from the switch input unit 6 of the refrigerator, and the defrost flag when the door is opened or closed. Is set to 1 (step S3-1), and then the compressor operation rate is checked to set the defrost flag to 1 even when the operation rate is 50% or more (step S3-2).

In this case, when the refrigerator door is not opened and the operation rate is less than 50%, for example, the user determines that the refrigerator is not normally used by traveling, and maintains the defrost flag at zero.

Since the defrosting operation should be performed when the driving integration time of the compressor 10 exceeds the set time, check whether the defrost flag is 1 or 0 in step S4, and when the defrost flag is 1, the defrost heater ( 15) to perform the defrost process, reset the defrost flag to zero (step S5), then return to the start step and repeat the above-described steps.

On the other hand, in the state where the defrost flag is maintained at 0, the defrost flag is set to 1 when the internal temperature of the refrigerating chamber entered by the temperature sensing unit 4 exceeds the set temperature (2 ° C.) requiring defrost operation. The process returns to the start step (step S6) and repeats from step S1.

If the measured temperature in the fridge is lower than the set temperature, the refrigeration fan is driven for a set time (for example, 50 minutes) to circulate the cold air in the refrigerator to prevent stagnation of cold air around the evaporator, thus preventing excessive frost formation. S7) is performed. This is because when the refrigerator is not used normally, such as when a user travels, the inside temperature of the refrigerator only needs to be maintained at a set temperature (for example, 2 ° C.) in which food does not deteriorate. It is not necessary to carry out the defrosting process by undesirably frequent defrost heater driving by delaying excessive frost formation by the circulation of cold air in the freezer compartment.

This is because the power consumption is 300W in the case of the defrost heater driving, but only 2-3W in the case of the fan motor driving, thus reducing the refrigerator power consumption by the power consumption of the defrost heater driving. .

After performing the above-described auxiliary defrosting step, the defrost flag is set to 1, and the process is returned to the start step to repeat the above-described steps (S1-S7).

According to the refrigerator defrosting operation of the present invention, when the user does not use the refrigerator normally, such as when the user went on a trip, the inside temperature of the refrigerator only needs to maintain a set temperature (for example, 2 ° C.) so that the food does not deteriorate. Therefore, it is possible to reduce power consumption by frequently using defrost heaters by avoiding unnecessary defrost heaters by delaying excessive defrosting due to internal cold air circulation by the freezer fan rather than by quickly defrosting operation. It is possible to prevent damages such as deterioration of foods due to defrost by the defrost heater.

Claims (2)

Setting the drive integration time of the compressor 10 requiring the defrosting operation to extend from the conventional 8 hours to 12 hours, and confirming whether the compressor drive integration time has reached the set time (S1), When the compressor driving integration time reaches the set time, after performing normal defrosting operation by the defrost heater, setting the defrost flag to 0 (S2), Again checking whether the compressor driving integration time has reached the set time (S3), In the meantime, checking whether the door is opened or closed by the input signal from the switch input unit 6 of the refrigerator, and setting the defrost flag to 1 when the door is opened or closed (S3-1), Checking the compressor operation rate and setting the defrost flag to 1 even when the operation rate is 50% or more (S3-2), If there is no opening or closing of the refrigerator door and the driving rate is less than 50%, the user judges that the refrigerator is not normally used due to travel, while maintaining the defrost flag at 0 (S4), Since the defrosting operation should be performed when the driving integration time of the compressor 10 exceeds the set time, check whether the defrost flag is 1 or 0 in step S4, and when the defrost flag is 1, the defrost heater ( Performing a defrost process by driving 15), resetting the defrost flag to 0 and returning to the start step (S5), In the state where the defrost flag is kept at 0, the defrost flag is set to 1 when the temperature in the refrigerator compartment inputted by the temperature sensing unit 4 exceeds the set temperature (2 ° C.) requiring defrost operation. Defrosting method of the refrigerator comprising a step (S6) to return to the step. The auxiliary defrosting step of claim 1, wherein when the measured temperature in the refrigerating chamber is lower than the set temperature, the refrigeration fan is driven for a set time to circulate the cold air in the refrigerator to prevent the cold air from stagnation around the evaporator to prevent excessive frosting. S7) The defrosting method of the refrigerator further comprising.