KR20090119082A - Control device and method for lamp of refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A device and a method for controlling a lamp of a refrigerator are provided to semi-permanently remove defects due to mechanical abrasion generated by a contact point type door switch when a machine is used for a long time. CONSTITUTION: A device for controlling a lamp of a refrigerator includes a lamp driving unit(110), an optical sensor unit(10), and a micom(100). The lamp driver turns on/off the lamp of the refrigerator. The optical sensor unit senses illuminance of the refrigerator and outputs a sensing signal corresponding the sensed illuminance. The micom compares the sensing signal with a setting value to determine whether a door of the refrigerator is opened/closed and controls a lamp driving unit according to the determining result.

Description

Lamp control device and method of high refrigerators {Control Device and Method for Lamp of Refrigerator}

The present invention relates to a high lamp control apparatus and method for a refrigerator, and more particularly, to open and close a refrigerator door by using an internal illumination sensed by an optical sensor without using a non-contact switch using a mechanical contact switch or a Hall IC. The present invention relates to a high lamp control apparatus and method for a refrigerator for determining whether to control the on / off of the high lamp of the refrigerator accordingly.

The refrigerator forms a refrigeration cycle using the compressor, the condenser, the expansion device, and the evaporator as main components, and absorbs the heat in the storage compartment by the evaporation of the refrigerant flowing through the evaporator. It is a device that keeps various foods fresh for a long time in a refrigerated or frozen state.

In general, the refrigerator detects when the refrigerator door is opened by the user and turns on the high lamp installed inside the storage compartment, so that the user can easily identify various foods stored in the storage compartment even at night when the indoor light is turned off. It is configured to be.

To this end, the conventional refrigerator detects whether the refrigerator door is opened or closed by using a mechanical contact switch installed at one side of the refrigerator as disclosed in the following [1], and controls the operation of the lamp.

However, the high lamp control method using the mechanical contact switch may cause a defect such as a short due to abrasion and carbonization of the mechanical contact according to a long time use, and thus the on / off control of the high lamp may not be properly performed. It causes a lot of problems.

That is, when the high lamp does not operate due to a failure of the high lamp control device of the refrigerator, a user who opens the refrigerator door in a state in which the refrigerator is installed at night or under the illuminance of the room has a problem of always turning on the interior lighting.

On the other hand, when the high lamp is always on despite the refrigerator door is closed, not only unnecessary power consumption but also deterioration of the refrigerator due to high temperature inside and the lamp's surroundings due to the heat generated from the plastic The problem arises.

In order to solve this problem, a high lamp control method of a refrigerator using an electronic non-contact switch using a Hall IC or the like may be applied, but even in this case, due to excessive cost increase and complexity of assembly according to the IC element and circuit configuration There is a problem that reduces the production efficiency of the refrigerator.

In addition, the conventional high lamp control apparatus has a problem that it may not look good because the door switch for detecting the opening and closing of the door is embedded in the form exposed to the side or top of the refrigerator.

[Patent 1] Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 1999-024851 (published on April 6. 1999)

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the object of the present invention can not only semi-permanently solve the defects caused by mechanical wear, etc. generated in the manner using a conventional contact door switch when used for a long time, electronic It is to provide a high lamp control apparatus and method for a refrigerator that can reduce the production cost of the refrigerator because the configuration and assembly is simple compared to the method using a switch.

In addition, another object of the present invention, unlike the conventional method of installing the refrigerator door switch in the exposed part of the refrigerator, high lamp control of the refrigerator that can improve the aesthetics of the refrigerator by installing the door opening and closing detection unit in an unexposed place. To provide an apparatus and method.

In order to achieve the above object, the high lamp control apparatus of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the lamp driving unit for turning on / off the high lamp of the refrigerator, detects the internal illumination of the refrigerator and corresponds to the detected illuminance And a microcomputer for determining whether the door of the refrigerator is opened or closed by comparing an optical sensor unit for outputting a detection signal with the set value, and controlling the operation of the lamp driving unit according to the determination result.

In addition, the optical sensor unit is characterized in that it comprises a CDS element for changing the size of the DC power input to the microcomputer by changing the resistance value in accordance with the high illuminance of the DC power connected to the microcomputer and the refrigerator.

In addition, the CDS device is characterized in that the light receiving structure is mounted inside the gasket side of the refrigerator door.

In addition, in the high lamp control method of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention, whether the door opening or closing of the refrigerator is determined by comparing the illuminance sensed in the first step and the first step of detecting the illuminance of the refrigerator with a set value. And a third step of turning on / off the high lamp of the refrigerator according to the second step of determining and the determination result of the second step.

In addition, the high lamp control apparatus of the refrigerator according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a power supply unit whose output is changed according to the high illumination of the refrigerator, and a lamp driver for turning on / off the high lamp of the refrigerator according to the output change of the power supply unit. Characterized in that it comprises a.

The power supply unit may include a DC power supply and a CDS element for changing an output of the DC power supply by changing a resistance value according to high illuminance of the refrigerator.

The lamp driving unit may include a relay for turning on / off the high lamp, a relay power supply for supplying operating power to the relay, and a photocoupler connected to the power supply, a relay, and a relay power supply, wherein the photocoupler is connected to the power supply. If the input is greater than the set value is applied to the relay power supply to the relay, if less than the set value characterized in that the relay power supply connected to the relay is cut off.

The high lamp control apparatus of the refrigerator according to the present invention detects the high illuminance of the refrigerator to determine whether the door of the refrigerator is opened or closed, and accordingly the method using a conventional mechanical contact switch because it controls the on / off of the lamp. There is an advantage that can be solved semi-permanently problems that can occur.

In addition, since the high lamp control apparatus of the refrigerator according to the present invention generally uses an optical sensor having a low cost, it is easy to configure and assemble than a conventional non-contact switch, thereby improving production efficiency.

In addition, since the high lamp control apparatus of the refrigerator according to the present invention is mounted so that the optical sensor for detecting the opening and closing of the door is not exposed to the outside, it is possible to improve the aesthetics of the refrigerator and prevent damage to the optical sensor. have.

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

( First embodiment )

1 is a view showing a refrigerator having a high lamp control apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The refrigerator 1 of FIG. 1 is rotatably coupled to the main body 2, the freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerating compartment 4, and one side of the main body 2, which are formed inside the main body 2 and separated from each other by a partition wall. And a freezing compartment door 5 and a refrigerating compartment door 6 for selectively opening and closing the freezing compartment 3 and the refrigerating compartment 4, respectively.

In the present embodiment, the refrigerator 1 is configured such that the freezer compartment 3 is located at the upper side and the refrigerating compartment 4 is located at the lower side, but is not limited thereto. Of course.

In addition, a high internal lamp 7 is provided on one side of the refrigerating compartment 1, and the high internal lamp 7 is operated to be on when the user opens the refrigerating compartment door 6 and to be off when the refrigerating compartment door 6 is closed.

The high lamp 7 may be installed in the freezer compartment 3 in some cases, but for convenience of description, the case where only the refrigerator compartment 4 is installed will be described as an example.

On the other hand, the inner edges of the freezer compartment door 5 and the refrigerating compartment door 6 prevent cold air inside the freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerating compartment 4 from flowing out when the doors 5 and 6 are closed. In order to achieve this, gaskets 8 are provided which closely contact the main body 2 and the doors 5 and 6.

In addition, a recess 9 having a predetermined size is formed at one side of the gasket 8 installed in the refrigerating compartment door 6, and an optical sensor 10 for detecting illuminance in the refrigerator is formed inside the recess 9. Is installed in a light receiving structure.

As described below, the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment determines whether the refrigerator door 6 is opened or closed by using the output change of the light sensor 10 according to the change in illuminance in the refrigerator, and the lamp according to the result. The operation of (7) will be controlled.

At this time, the optical sensor 10 may be preferably implemented by any one of the known optical sensor that the output value is changed according to the external illumination, in the present embodiment applied a CDS element whose resistance value is changed according to the external illumination. .

As described above, the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment includes an optical sensor 10 for detecting opening and closing of the refrigerating compartment door 6 in a recess 9 formed inside the gasket 8 unlike a conventional door switch. Since it is mounted and not exposed to the outside, the overall aesthetics of the refrigerator 1 can be improved and the damage of the optical sensor 10 can be prevented.

2 is a circuit diagram showing a high lamp control apparatus of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The P01 port of the microcomputer 100 that controls the operation of the refrigerator high lamp 7 is connected to the DC power supply DC1 through the optical sensor 10, and the optical sensor 10 changes in resistance according to external illumination. As a result, the size of the DC power source DC1 input to the microcomputer 100 is changed.

That is, as described above, since the optical sensor 10 made of the CDS element shows a high resistance value when the internal light intensity is low, such as when the refrigerating chamber door 6 is closed, the optical sensor 10 has a low resistance at the P01 port of the microcomputer 100. (low) signal is input.

On the other hand, when the refrigerating compartment door 6 is opened, since the high illuminance is relatively high, the resistance value of the optical sensor 10 is reduced, so that a high signal is input to the P01 port of the microcomputer 100. do.

Accordingly, the microcomputer 100 determines whether the refrigerator compartment door 6 is opened by comparing the signal of the DC power source DC1 input to the P01 port with a preset value stored in a memory (not shown) or the like, and according to the determination result. A control signal is output to the P02 port to control the operation of the lamp driver 110 to turn on / off the high lamp 7.

As an example, the microcomputer 100 outputs a high signal to the inverter element INV1 through the P02 port when it is determined that the refrigerating compartment door 6 is in an open state. The relay RY1 supplies external power to the internal lamp 7. ) Is turned on and the relay RY1 is turned off by outputting a low signal to the inverter element INV1.

At this time, the set value is a value determined in advance through the experiment is preferably set to a high internal illuminance when the refrigerator compartment door 6 is closed, in this case, the microcomputer 100 is the refrigerator compartment when the input of P01 is larger than the set value It is determined that the door 6 is open.

3 is a flowchart showing a control method of the apparatus for controlling the high lamp 7 of the refrigerator 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

When the power is applied, the microcomputer 100 starts the operation of the refrigerator 1 according to an operation program stored in advance in the memory (not shown) (S110), and the internal lighting intensity detected by the optical sensor 10 through the P01 port. The corresponding DC power source DC1 is received (S120).

When the step S120 is completed, the microcomputer 100 determines whether the illuminance (actually the magnitude of the DC power supply DC1) detected in the step S120 exceeds a set value (S130).

If the determination result of step S130 exceeds the set value, the microcomputer 100 determines that the refrigerator compartment door 6 is open, and turns on the high lamp 7 (S140), otherwise the refrigerator compartment door 6 It is determined that the closed state and performs the step S120.

When the step S140 is completed, the microcomputer 100 receives the DC power DC1 corresponding to the high internal illuminance detected by the optical sensor 10 through the P01 port again (S150).

When the step S150 is completed, the microcomputer 100 determines whether the illuminance (actually the magnitude of the DC power supply DC1) detected in the step S150 is equal to or less than the set value (S160).

If the determination result of step S160 is less than or equal to the set value, the microcomputer 100 determines that the refrigerator compartment door 6 is closed and turns off the high lamp 7 (S170), otherwise the refrigerator compartment door 6 is open. In step S150 is determined.

On the other hand, when the step S170 is completed, the microcomputer 100 determines whether the operation termination condition of the refrigerator 1 (S180), and if the determination result is the operation termination condition, the control is terminated, and if it is not the operation termination condition, the operation S120 is performed. do.

As described above in detail, since the apparatus and method for controlling the high lamp of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment is a method of controlling the lamp of the high lamp 7 using the optical sensor 10, the method of using the conventional contact switch is generated. There is an advantage that the poor control due to contact wear can be improved permanently.

In addition, the high lamp control apparatus and method of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment can significantly improve the production cost and assembly of the product because the configuration is significantly simpler than the conventional method using a non-contact door switch. There is this.

( Second embodiment )

Since the exploded perspective view of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, redundant description thereof is omitted. In addition, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those in the first embodiment.

The refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment is distinguished from the first embodiment in that a microcomputer is not used for the operation control of the high lamp 7. Hereinafter, the operation of the high lamp control apparatus of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4.

4 is a circuit diagram showing a high lamp control apparatus of a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The high lamp 7 control apparatus of the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment outputs the first DC power supply DC3 by changing the resistance value according to the high internal illumination intensity of the first DC power supply DC3 and the refrigerating chamber 4. Photoelectric sensor (10) for changing the light, the relay (RY1) for turning on / off the high lamp (7), the second DC power supply (DC4) and the first DC power supply (DC3) for supplying the operating power to the relay (RY1) ), A photocoupler 20 connected to the relay RY1 and the second DC power source DC4.

In this case, the optical sensor 10 is the aforementioned CDS element, and the photocoupler 20 is a conventional photocoupler composed of a light emitting diode 20a and a photo transistor 20b.

In addition, as described below, the photocoupler 20 according to the size of the first DC power supply DC3 input to the light emitting diode 20a causes the phototransistor 20b to relay the second DC power supply DC4 to the relay. Perform a switching action that selectively connects to RY1.

Since the optical sensor 10 mounted in the recess 9 of the gasket 8 provided in the refrigerating compartment door 6 exhibits a high resistance value when the illuminance inside the refrigerating compartment door 6 is closed, when the internal light intensity is low. The size of the first DC power source DC3 applied to the light emitting diode 20a of the photocoupler 20 is reduced.

Therefore, the amount of light emitted from the light emitting diode 20a becomes small, so that the photo transistor 20b cannot be turned on, and as a result, the relay RY1 is turned off so that the high lamp 7 is not turned on.

On the other hand, when the refrigerating compartment door 6 is opened, since the high illuminance is relatively high, the resistance value of the optical sensor 10 is reduced, and accordingly, the agent applied to the light emitting diode 20a of the photocoupler 20 is reduced. 1 The size of the DC power supply DC3 becomes large.

Therefore, the amount of light emitted from the light emitting diode 20a increases, which causes the photo transistor 20b to be turned on. As a result, the relay RY1 is turned on so that the high lamp 7 is turned on.

At this time, the optical sensor 10 and the photocoupler 20 is preferably selected appropriately through experiments to perform the above functions when the refrigerating compartment door 6 is in a closed state and an open state.

Unlike the first embodiment, the refrigerator high lamp control apparatus according to the present embodiment has an advantage that it can be applied to the lamp inside a mechanical refrigerator that does not use a microcomputer.

1 is a view showing a refrigerator having a high lamp control apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention,

2 is a circuit diagram showing a high lamp control apparatus of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a high lamp control apparatus for a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the present invention; and

4 is a circuit diagram showing a high lamp control apparatus of a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (8)

Lamp driving unit for turning on / off the high lamp of the refrigerator; An optical sensor unit configured to detect a high illuminance of the refrigerator and output a detection signal corresponding to the detected illuminance; And And a microcomputer for controlling whether the lamp driver is opened or closed by comparing the detection signal with a set value, and controlling the operation of the lamp driver according to a determination result. The method of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor unit, DC power source connected to the microcomputer; And And a CDS element for changing the magnitude of the DC power input to the microcomputer by changing the resistance value according to the high illuminance of the refrigerator. The method of claim 2, The CDS element is a high lamp control apparatus of the refrigerator, characterized in that the light receiving structure is mounted inside the gasket side of the refrigerator door. A first step of detecting the interior illumination of the refrigerator; A second step of determining whether the door of the refrigerator is opened or closed by comparing the illuminance detected in the first step with a setting value; And And a third step of turning on / off the high lamp of the refrigerator according to the determination result of the second step. The method of claim 4, wherein The first step is a high lamp resistance control method of the refrigerator, characterized in that for detecting the illuminance using a CDS element whose resistance value changes according to the high illuminance. A power supply whose output is changed according to the illuminance of the refrigerator; and And a lamp driving unit for turning on / off the high lamp of the refrigerator according to the output change of the power supply unit. The method of claim 6, wherein the power supply unit, DC power supply; and And a CDS element for changing an output of the DC power supply by changing a resistance value according to the high illuminance of the refrigerator. The method of claim 7, wherein the lamp driving unit, A relay for turning on / off the high lamp; A relay power supply unit supplying operation power to the relay; And Including a photocoupler connected to the power supply, relay and relay power supply, The photocoupler is connected to the relay power supply to the relay when the input applied by the power supply exceeds the set value, and the high lamp control apparatus of the refrigerator, characterized in that for shutting off the relay power supply connected to the relay.

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