KR20100059524A - Refrigerator and method for controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A refrigerator and a control method thereof are provided to reduce power consumption by accurately recognizing a defrost time using the operating time of a compressor if the compressor temporarily stops and then re-operates. CONSTITUTION: A refrigerator comprises a compressor(112), an evaporator, defrost heaters(123,125), and a controller(310). The compressor compresses refrigerant. The evaporator performs heat exchange based on the refrigerant provided from the compressor. The defrost heater supplies heat to the evaporator. The controller stores the operating time of the compressor and turns on the defrost heater if the stored operating time is equal to or longer than a predetermined value.

Description

Refrigerator and method for controlling the same}

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and a method of controlling the refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator and a method of controlling the refrigerator capable of accurately identifying the time of defrosting.

Generally, a refrigerator is a device used for storing food fresh for a long time, and includes a freezer compartment for freezing food, a freezer compartment for cold storage of plants, and a freezing cycle for cooling the freezer compartment and refrigerator compartment. The operation control is performed by the controller.

Unlike in the past, the refrigerator is not only a space for food, but also a family room where the family members are gathering and talking and solving the food. In addition, quantitative and qualitative functional changes are required for all family members to use easily.

On the other hand, when the refrigerator operates for a long time, ice, frost, frost, etc. (hereinafter referred to as 'frost') are generated in the evaporator installed in the freezer compartment. If such frost is generated in the evaporator, the evaporator will not function properly and power consumption will increase. Accordingly, various attempts have been made to remove frost accurately and efficiently.

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator and a control method of the refrigerator capable of accurately identifying the time of defrosting.

A refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, an evaporator for performing heat exchange based on the refrigerant supplied from the compressor, a defrost heater for supplying heat to the evaporator, and operation And a controller configured to store the operating time of the compressor in use, and to control the defrost heater to be turned on when the stored compressor operating time is greater than or equal to a predetermined time.

In addition, the control method of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, the step of storing the operating time of the compressor in operation, and when the operating time of the stored compressor is more than the set time, supply heat to the evaporator Turning on the defrost heater.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the compressor in operation is temporarily stopped and restarted, the defrosting timing can be accurately determined by using the stored compressor operation time. Therefore, power consumption and the like are reduced.

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

1 is a perspective view illustrating a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, the refrigerator 1 according to the present invention, although not shown, a case 110 having an inner space divided into a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment, a freezer compartment 120 that shields the freezer compartment, and a refrigerating compartment. A rough appearance is formed by the refrigerating chamber door 140.

Further, the front surface of the freezing chamber door 120 and the refrigerating chamber door 140 is further provided with a door handle 121 protruding forward, so that the user can easily grip and rotate the freezing chamber door 120 and the refrigerating chamber door 140. Make it work.

On the other hand, the front of the refrigerator compartment door 140 may be further provided with a home bar 180, which is a convenient means for allowing a user to take out a storage such as a beverage contained therein without opening the refrigerator compartment door 140.

In addition, the front side of the freezer door 120 may be provided with a dispenser 160 which is a convenient means for allowing the user to easily take out ice or drinking water without opening the freezer door 120, and such a dispenser 160. An upper side of the control panel 200 may be further provided to control the driving operation of the refrigerator 1 and to show a state of the refrigerator 1 being operated on the screen.

The control panel 200 may include an input unit 220 including a plurality of buttons, and a display unit 230 for displaying a control screen and an operation state.

The display unit 230 displays information such as a control screen, an operation state, and a temperature inside the refrigerator. For example, the display unit 230 may display a service type of the dispenser (eg, ice, water, flake ice), a set temperature of the freezer compartment, and a set temperature of the refrigerator compartment.

The display unit 230 may be implemented in various ways, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), and the like. In addition, the display unit 230 may be implemented as a touch screen capable of performing the function of the input unit 220.

The input unit 220 may include a plurality of operation buttons. For example, the input unit 220 may include a dispenser setting button (not shown) for setting a service type of the dispenser (ice ice, water, crushed ice, etc.) and a freezer temperature setting button (not shown) for setting a freezer temperature. And, it may include a refrigerator compartment temperature setting button (not shown) for setting the freezer compartment temperature. The input unit 220 may be implemented as a touch screen that can also perform the function of the display unit 230.

Meanwhile, the refrigerator according to the present invention is not limited to the double door type illustrated in the drawings, but the one door type, the sliding door type, and the curtain door type. Irrespective of the form, etc., it is sufficient to provide a defrost heater for defrosting the evaporator described later.

FIG. 2 is a view schematically illustrating the configuration of the refrigerator of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the refrigerator 1 receives the compressor 112, the condenser 116 for condensing the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 112, and the refrigerant condensed in the condenser 116 to be evaporated. The refrigerator compartment defrost heater 123 which defrosts the refrigerator compartment evaporator 122 and the freezer compartment evaporator 124 disposed in the refrigerator compartment (not shown), and the refrigerator compartment evaporator 122 and the freezer compartment evaporator 124. And a three-way valve 130 for supplying the freezer compartment defrost heater 125, the refrigerant condensed in the condenser 116 to the refrigerator compartment evaporator 122 or the freezer compartment evaporator 124, and the refrigerant supplied to the refrigerator compartment evaporator 122. And a freezer compartment expansion valve 132 for expanding and a freezer compartment expansion valve 134 for expanding the refrigerant supplied to the freezer compartment evaporator 124.

In addition, the refrigerator 1 may further include a gas-liquid separator (not shown) in which the refrigerant passing through the evaporators 122 and 124 is separated into a liquid and a gas.

In addition, the refrigerator 1 includes a refrigerator compartment fan 142 and a freezer compartment fan that suck cold air that has passed through the refrigerator compartment evaporator 122 and the freezer compartment evaporator 124 and blow it into a refrigerator compartment (not shown) and a freezer compartment (not shown), respectively. 144 may be further included.

In addition, the compressor driving unit 113 for driving the compressor 112, the refrigerator compartment fan 142 and the refrigerator compartment fan drive unit 143 and the freezer compartment fan drive unit 145 for driving the freezer compartment 144 may be further included.

Meanwhile, each of the refrigerator compartment evaporator 122 and the freezer compartment evaporator 124 is provided with a refrigerator compartment defrost heater 123 and a freezer compartment defrost heater 125 for removing frost formed on the surface, respectively.

The defrost heaters 123 and 125 may be installed in a part of the evaporators 122 and 124, but are not limited thereto. The defrost heaters 123 and 125 may be installed to surround the entire evaporators 122 and 124.

When the defrost heaters 123 and 125 are radiant heaters, the compressor 112 and the fans 142 and 144 may be stopped, and only the defrost heaters 123 and 125 may be operated to defrost using radiant heat. Meanwhile, only the compressor 112 may stop while the defrost heaters 123 and 125 operate, and the fans 142 and 144 may operate. Radiant heat or the like may be transmitted to the entire evaporators 122 and 124 by the operation of the fans 142 and 144.

3 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the inside of the refrigerator illustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the refrigerator of FIG. 3 includes a compressor 112, a refrigerator compartment evaporator (122 of FIG. 2), a freezer compartment evaporator (124 of FIG. 2), a refrigerator compartment defrost heater 123, a freezer compartment defrost heater 125, and The controller 310 is included. In addition, the refrigerator of FIG. 3 may further include a temperature sensor 320 and a memory 330. In addition, the refrigerator of FIG. 3 may further include a compressor driver 113, a refrigerator compartment fan 142, a refrigerator compartment fan driver 143, a freezer compartment fan 144, a freezer compartment driver 145, and an input unit 220. have.

The compressor 112, the refrigerating compartment fan 142, and the freezing compartment fan 144 are described with reference to FIG. 2.

The input unit 220 includes a plurality of operation buttons, and transmits a signal for an input freezing compartment set temperature or a refrigerator compartment set temperature to the controller 310.

The temperature detector 320 detects a temperature around the evaporator. The sensed temperature is input to the control unit 310 and used to determine the off timing of the defrost heaters 123 and 125.

In addition, the temperature detection unit 320, the temperature detection unit 320 may detect the refrigerator compartment temperature and the freezer compartment temperature, respectively. In addition, the temperature of each chamber in the refrigerating chamber or each chamber in the freezing chamber may be sensed. The sensed temperature is input to the controller 310.

The controller 310 controls the compressor 112 to be driven in response to a signal for a freezer compartment set temperature or a refrigerator compartment set temperature from the input unit 220. That is, the compressor driving unit 113 is controlled to drive the compressor 112.

The compressor 112 in operation compresses the refrigerant as described above, and performs heat exchange in the evaporators 122 and 124 via the condenser 116 and the expansion valves 132 and 134. At this time, in order to remove the frost generated in the vicinity of the evaporator (122, 124), the controller 310 controls to operate the defrost heater (123, 125) at a predetermined time interval from the operation of the compressor (112).

On the other hand, since the defrost heaters 123 and 125 are operated at predetermined time intervals starting from the operation of the compressor 112, when the power is not supplied to the refrigerator momentarily by a power failure or the like and restarted again, the predetermined time is restarted. Since the defrost heaters 123 and 125 are operated at time intervals, the defrost heaters 123 and 125 did not operate at the actual defrost time.

In the present invention, to compensate for this, the operation time of the compressor 112 is to be stored. Accordingly, the controller 310 controls the memory unit 330 to store the operation time of the compressor 112.

By doing so, even when power is not supplied to the refrigerator due to a power failure or the like and restarts again, defrosting is performed by using the operation time of the compressor 112 stored in the memory unit 330 until the compressor 112 is temporarily stopped. The timing can be determined. That is, when the operating time of the stored compressor 112 is greater than or equal to the set time, the controller 310 may control to turn on the defrost heater.

On the other hand, only when the power is not supplied to the refrigerator and then restarted within a predetermined time, by using the operation time of the compressor 112 stored in the memory unit 330 until the compressor 112 is temporarily stopped. The defrost heaters 123 and 125 may be controlled to be turned on.

Meanwhile, after the defrost heaters 123 and 125 are turned on, the controller 310 controls to turn off the defrost heaters 123 and 125 when the temperature around the evaporators 122 and 124 detected by the temperature detector 320 is higher than or equal to a set temperature. can do.

That is, when the temperature around the evaporators 122 and 124 reaches the set temperature at which the defrost is completed, the controller 310 may control the defrost heaters 123 and 125 to be turned off.

The controller 310 may turn off the compressor 112 when the defrost heaters 123 and 125 operate. For smooth defrost operation, the compressor 112 may be turned off before the defrost heaters 123 and 125 are turned on.

Meanwhile, when the compressor 112 is turned off when the defrost heaters 123 and 125 operate, the controller 310 may also turn off the fans 142 and 144, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The fans 142 and 144 may be turned on to blow the heat of the heat toward the evaporators 122 and 124.

Meanwhile, the controller 310 determines whether the ambient temperature of the evaporator is greater than or equal to the set temperature, and controls to turn off the defrost heater when the ambient temperature detected by the temperature detector 320 is greater than or equal to the preset temperature. Can be.

Meanwhile, the controller 310 controls the on / off operation of the compressor 112 and the fan 142 or 144, as shown in the drawing, the compressor driver 113 and the fan driver 143 or 145. Direct control, it is possible to finally control the compressor 112, and the fan 142 or 144.

The compressor drive unit 113, the refrigerator compartment fan drive unit 143, and the freezer compartment fan drive unit 145 each use a compressor motor (not shown), a refrigerator compartment fan motor (not shown), and a freezer compartment fan motor (not shown), respectively. Each motor (not shown) is operated at a target rotational speed under the control of the controller 310. When such an electric motor is a three-phase electric motor, it may be controlled by a switching operation in an inverter (not shown), or may be controlled at a constant speed by using an AC power source as it is. Herein, each motor (not shown) may be any one of an induction motor, a BLDC (Blush less DC) motor, a synchronous reluctance motor (synRM) motor, and the like.

On the other hand, as described above, the controller 310 can control the overall operation of the refrigerant cycle in accordance with the set temperature from the input unit 220. For example, in addition to the compressor driver 113, the refrigerator compartment fan driver 143, and the freezer compartment fan driver 145, the three-way valve 130, the refrigerator compartment expansion valve 132, and the freezer compartment expansion valve 134 may be further controlled. Can be. In addition, the operation of the condenser 116 can also be controlled. In addition, the controller 310 may control the operation of the display unit 230.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, the evaporators 122 and 124 are used in the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment, respectively, and thus, the fans 142 and 144 and the driving units 143 and 145 are used. However, the evaporators common to the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment are described. It is also possible to use a common fan (not shown), a common driving unit (not shown), and a common defrost heater. In this case, a damper (not shown) may be installed between the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment, and the fan (not shown) may forcibly blow cold air generated by one evaporator to be supplied to the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment.

The memory unit 330 stores the operating time of the compressor 112. In particular, when restarting after the pause of the compressor 112, the operation time until the pause is stored. On the other hand, in addition to the data necessary for the overall control operation of the refrigerator can be stored.

In the drawing, the memory unit 330 is illustrated as a separate configuration independent of the controller 310, but is not limited thereto and may be included in the controller 310.

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

Referring to the drawings, first, the control unit 310 controls to operate the compressor 112 (S405).

The control unit 310 controls the compressor 112 to operate according to the signal for the freezer compartment set temperature or the refrigerator compartment set temperature from the input unit 220. The compressor 112 in operation compresses the refrigerant as described above, and performs heat exchange in the evaporators 122 and 124 via the condenser 116 and the expansion valves 132 and 134.

Next, the controller 310 controls to store the operation time of the compressor 112 (S410). The operation time of the compressor 112 may be stored in the memory unit 330. By storing the operation time in this way, even when power is not supplied to the refrigerator due to a power failure or the like and restarts again, the operation time of the compressor 112 stored in the memory unit 330 is used until the compressor 112 is temporarily stopped. Thus, the defrosting time can be determined.

Next, the controller 310 determines whether the operation time of the stored compressor 112 is longer than the set time (S420).

The controller 310 controls to continue to operate the compressor 112 when the stored operation time of the compressor 112 is not more than the set time.

The controller 310 controls to turn on the defrost heaters 123 and 125 when the stored operation time of the compressor 112 is greater than or equal to the set time (S430). By comparing the operation time of the stored compressor 112 with the set time, the defrost heaters 123 and 125 can be turned on accurately and stably even when power is not supplied to the refrigerator due to a power failure or the like and restarted again. Will be.

The controller 310 may turn off the compressor 112 when the defrost heaters 123 and 125 operate. For smooth defrost operation, the compressor 112 may be turned off before the defrost heaters 123 and 125 are turned on.

Meanwhile, when the compressor 112 is turned off when the defrost heaters 123 and 125 operate, the controller 310 may also turn off the fans 142 and 144, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The fans 142 and 144 may be turned on to blow the heat of the heat toward the evaporators 122 and 124.

Next, the controller 310 determines whether the ambient temperature of the evaporators 122 and 124 is equal to or higher than the set temperature (S440). The temperature around the evaporators 122 and 124 may be detected by the temperature detector 320.

When the ambient temperature of the evaporators 122 and 124 is equal to or higher than the set temperature, the controller 310 controls to turn off the defrost heaters 123 and 125 (S450).

When the ambient temperature of the evaporators 122 and 124 is not equal to or higher than the set temperature, the controller 310 continuously controls the defrost heaters 123 and 125 to be turned on (S455).

While the above has been shown and described with respect to preferred embodiments of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, it is usually in the technical field to which the invention belongs without departing from the spirit of the invention claimed in the claims. Various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view schematically illustrating the configuration of the refrigerator of FIG. 1.

3 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the inside of the refrigerator illustrated in FIG. 1.

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

<Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings>

1 ....... Refrigerator 112 ..... Compressor

122 ..... Fridge Evaporator 123 ..... Fridge Defrost Heater

124 ..... Freezer Evaporator 125 ..... Freezer Defrost Heater

220 ..... Input 230 ..... Display

310 ..... Control part 320 ..... Temperature sensing part

330 ..... Memory section

Claims (9)

A compressor for compressing the refrigerant; An evaporator that performs heat exchange based on the refrigerant supplied from the compressor; A defrost heater supplying heat to the evaporator; And And a controller configured to store an operation time of the compressor in operation, and to control the defrost heater to be turned on when the stored compressor operation time is longer than a predetermined time. The method of claim 1, The control unit, And restarting the defrost heater using the compressor operating time stored before the pause when restarting after the pause of the compressor. The method of claim 1, The control unit, The refrigerator characterized in that the control to turn off the defrost heater when the temperature around the evaporator is more than the set temperature. The method of claim 1, The control unit, And control the compressor to be turned off during the defrost heater operation. The method of claim 1, And a memory unit for storing the operation time of the compressor. Storing an operating time of the compressor in operation; And If the operating time of the stored compressor is more than the set time, turning on the defrost heater for supplying heat to the evaporator; control method of a refrigerator comprising a. The method of claim 6, The defrost heater on step, And restarting the defrost heater by using the compressor operating time stored before the pause when restarting after the pause of the compressor. The method of claim 6, If the temperature around the evaporator is greater than or equal to a predetermined temperature, turning off the defrost heater. The method of claim 6, The defrost heater on step, And the compressor is turned off when the defrost heater is operated.

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