KR20110064309A

KR20110064309A - Defrosting apparatus for a refrigerator

Info

Publication number: KR20110064309A
Application number: KR1020090120832A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 고은옥
Original assignee: 엘지이노텍 주식회사
Priority date: 2009-12-07
Filing date: 2009-12-07
Publication date: 2011-06-15
Also published as: KR101803811B1

Abstract

The present invention is an evaporator of the refrigerator; A camera photographing the frost generated in the evaporator; And it relates to a defroster of the refrigerator comprising a defrosting device for removing the frost in accordance with the determination of the image taken by the camera.

Description

Defrosting Apparatus for a Refrigerator

The present invention relates to a defroster for a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a defroster for a refrigerator to detect and defrost the frost generated in the evaporator of the refrigerator with a camera.

In general, the refrigeration cycle of the refrigerator is composed of a compression process, a condensation process, an expansion process and an evaporation process. Looking at each process in detail, the compression process uses a compressor to condense the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant gas evaporated through the evaporator. Through the condensation process, the refrigerant gas of high temperature and high pressure passes through the condenser and exchanges heat with air or water to convert it into high pressure liquid refrigerant.In the expansion process, the high pressure liquid refrigerant forms an expansion tube. As it passes through, it is in an ideal state of low pressure and low pressure and flows into the evaporator.

In the evaporation process, the low-temperature, low-pressure, ideal-state refrigerant is converted into a gaseous state through heat exchange with the evaporator. At this time, the temperature around the evaporator is lowered so that the cold air is supplied to the refrigeration and freezing chamber, whereby the food is frozen or refrigerated. You can save it.

However, when heat exchange is performed in the evaporator, frost is generated in the evaporator due to a sudden temperature difference with the ambient temperature of the evaporator, thereby lowering the freezing efficiency of the refrigerator.

This property is mainly implanted in the air inflow portion of the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment, which causes a decrease in the cooling efficiency.

The present invention is to provide a defroster of the refrigerator to increase the energy efficiency of the refrigerator by determining the defrosting time for removing the frost generated in the evaporator of the refrigerator through a camera photographed image.

The present invention

Evaporator of the refrigerator;

A camera photographing the frost generated in the evaporator; And

Provided is a defroster of the refrigerator including a defrosting device for removing the frost in accordance with the determination of the image taken by the camera.

Defroster of the refrigerator according to the present invention can increase the energy efficiency of the refrigerator by easily determining the defrosting time for removing the frost by photographing the frost formed on the evaporator using a camera.

The present invention is an evaporator of the refrigerator;

A camera photographing the frost generated in the evaporator; And

Here, the camera is preferably installed on the position of the frost generated in the evaporator, for example, the top of the evaporator can be easily photographed.

In addition, the camera according to the present invention has a shape in which the bottom is open at least one side of the through-hole case; A shutter positioned inside the case and passing / blocking an optical image of the subject; A lens barrel positioned below the shutter and including a plurality of lenses incident the optical image; An actuator having a lens barrel seating groove to which the lens barrel is coupled and seated, the actuator driving the lens barrel in an optical axis direction; It includes a printed circuit board having an image sensor for converting the optical image incident to the lens barrel into an electrical signal.

In this case, the shutter may be composed of a pair of shutter blades, a sponge may be connected to one of the shutter blades of the pair of shutter blades.

In addition, the defrosting device refers to a device provided in the refrigerator to remove frost, and if the defrosting device for this purpose is not particularly limited, it is recommended to include a defrost heater and / or fan (fan).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprises" or "includes" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, one or more other It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or a combination thereof.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the following description is only for explaining the present invention specifically, and is not limited to the scope of the present invention by the following description.

1 is a block diagram showing a defroster of the refrigerator according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a camera constituting the defroster of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

1 and 2, the defroster of the refrigerator according to the present invention comprises an evaporator 10 of the refrigerator; It includes a camera 20 for photographing the frost generated in the evaporator 10 and a defroster (not shown) for removing the frost in accordance with the determination of the image photographed by the camera 20.

Evaporator 10 according to the present invention is provided in the refrigerator to produce a refrigerant gas of low temperature / low pressure evaporated for refrigeration or refrigeration.

At this time, the evaporator 10 is converted into a gas state through the heat exchanger and the heat exchanger inside the evaporator 10, wherein the temperature around the evaporator 10 is lowered so that the cold air is supplied to the refrigeration and freezing chamber to freeze or store food, Save it.

Meanwhile, when heat exchange is performed in the evaporator 10, frost may be generated in the evaporator 10 due to a sudden temperature difference with the ambient temperature of the evaporator 10.

Camera 20 according to the present invention is to detect the frost generated on the evaporator 10, specifically the frost generated on the surface of the evaporator 10.

Here, the camera 20 is preferably installed at the position where the frost generation characteristics generated in the evaporator 10 can be easily photographed, for example, the top of the evaporator 10.

As a specific aspect, the camera 20 according to the present invention is a case (80) formed with a through hole 110 in at least one side in the shape of the lower opening; A shutter 60 positioned above the case 80 and passing / blocking an optical image of the subject; A lens barrel 50 positioned below the shutter 60 and including a plurality of lenses that enter the optical image; An actuator (40) provided with a lens barrel seating groove (100) to which the lens barrel (50) is coupled and seated, and to drive the lens barrel (50) in an optical axis direction; It may include a printed circuit board 30 having an image sensor 70 for converting the optical image incident to the lens barrel 50 into an electrical signal.

The case 80 according to the present invention is preferably made of plastic for insulation between the inside and the outside, and may be injection molded for mass production.

The case 80 may have a through hole 110 formed on at least one side thereof, and preferably, the case 80 may be formed at an upper portion of an open rectangular shape.

The through hole 110 provides a path through which external light is incident.

The shutter 60 according to the present invention is for passing / blocking an optical image of, and is located above the inner side of the case 80.

In this case, the shutter 60 may include at least one shutter blade (not shown), and a sponge (not shown) may be connected to a lower end of the shutter blade.

In a particular embodiment, the shutter 60 is preferably composed of a pair of shutter blades. In this case, the sponge may be connected to a shutter blade provided at a lower end of the pair of shutter blades.

Here, the sponge is connected to the shutter 60, thereby cleaning the surface of the lens located at the lower end of the shutter 60 in accordance with the operation of the shutter 60.

In this case, the lens is cleaned by repeatedly operating the shutter 60 five to ten times before photographing a subject.

In particular, when the sponge is mounted on an actuator with a lens barrel 50 including a lens, it is preferable to attach the sponge at the same height as the tolerance range of the space interval.

The lens barrel 50 according to the present invention includes a plurality of lenses (not shown) that enter an optical image.

The actuator 40 according to the present invention moves the lens barrel 50 along the optical axis direction to auto focus to clearly photograph the projectile, specifically the frost generated in the evaporator 10.

It is preferable to use a voice coil motor as the actuator 40.

Here, when the voice coil motor is used as the actuator 40, by repeatedly driving the voice coil motor at regular intervals, it is easy to form the frost generated in the evaporator 10 due to the heat generated by the operation of the voice coil motor. In addition to determining, it is possible to increase the temperature of the camera 20 itself to remove the moisture affecting the camera 20 function.

In particular, the lens barrel 50 has a seating groove 100 in which the lens barrel 50 is coupled and seated inside the actuator 40.

The printed circuit board 30 according to the present invention includes an image sensor 70 for converting an optical image incident through the lens barrel 50 into an electrical signal.

The image sensor 70 transmits the photographed optical image signal to a separate controller (not shown) to determine the degree of frost generated in the evaporator 10, thereby determining whether to perform a defrosting process for removing frost. To help.

Here, the controller may be provided separately from the camera 20, but may be installed on the printed circuit board 30.

The defrosting apparatus (not shown) according to the present invention, if it is necessary to remove the frost after determining the image taken by the camera, that is, whether or not to remove the frost of the evaporator 10 from the captured image, To remove the defrost of the evaporator (10).

Such defrosting apparatus is commonly applied to refrigerators, and preferably includes a defrost heater, a fan, or both.

In this case, the defroster may be connected to the camera 20 or the control unit.

Referring to the operation of the defroster of the refrigerator according to the present invention having such a configuration as follows.

First, by periodically operating the voice coil motor as the actuator 40 of the camera 20, the temperature of the camera 20 itself is raised to remove moisture that affects the camera 20 function.

Thereafter, the surface of the subject, that is, the evaporator 10 is periodically photographed to confirm whether frost is generated in the evaporator 10.

At this time, prior to photographing the evaporator 10, the shutter 60 is repeatedly operated five to ten times to clean the lens surface of the camera 20 with a sponge connected to the shutter 60.

Then, the image taken by the evaporator 10 is transmitted to the controller (not shown) through the image sensor 70.

Then, it is determined whether to remove the frost generated in the evaporator 10 on the basis of the transferred image, if necessary to remove the separate removal device. For example, a defrost heater (not shown) is operated to remove frost generated in the evaporator 10, that is, defrost.

As described above, those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are all illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims to be described later rather than the detailed description and equivalent concepts thereof.

1 is a block diagram showing a defroster of the refrigerator according to the present invention,

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a camera constituting the defroster of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

Description of the main parts of the drawing

10: evaporator 20: camera

30: printed circuit board 40: actuator

50: lens barrel 60: shutter

70: image sensor 80: case

100: lens barrel seating groove 110: through hole

Claims

Evaporator of the refrigerator;

A camera photographing the frost generated in the evaporator; And

Defroster of the refrigerator comprising a defrosting device for removing the frost in accordance with the determination of the image taken by the camera.

The method of claim 1,

Defroster of the refrigerator wherein the camera is installed on the top of the evaporator.

The method of claim 1,

And a control unit connected to the camera and the defroster to control defrosting based on the image photographed by the camera.

The method of claim 1,

A defroster of a refrigerator in which the defroster comprises a defrost heater, a fan or both.

The method of claim 1,

The camera

A case having a through hole formed in at least one side thereof with an open shape;

A shutter positioned inside the case and passing / blocking an optical image of the subject;

A lens barrel positioned below the shutter and including a plurality of lenses incident the optical image;

An actuator having a lens barrel seating groove to which the lens barrel is coupled and seated, the actuator driving the lens barrel in an optical axis direction;

Defroster of the refrigerator comprising a printed circuit board having an image sensor for converting the optical image incident to the lens barrel into an electrical signal.

The method of claim 5,

The shutter is defroster of the refrigerator connected to the sponge at the bottom thereof.