TWI728646B - Temperature control method and temperature controller using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A temperature control method and a temperature controller using the same are provided. The temperature controller includes an audio apparatus, a storage device and a processor. The processor executes commands to decide a health score of a refrigerator/freezer according to a plurality of sensing parameters and control parameters of the refrigerator/freezer. Then, determine whether the health score is less than an excepted parameter value, and output a notification when the health score is less than the expected parameter value.

Description

Temperature control method and temperature controller using the same

The present invention relates to a temperature control technology, and particularly relates to a temperature control method and a temperature controller using the same.

Generally speaking, the temperature adjustment of the freezer-refrigerator is controlled by a thermostat connected to the freezer-refrigerator. When the temperature of the refrigerating cabinet is higher than a temperature upper limit, the thermostat provides a signal to the refrigeration host to request cooling, and when the temperature of the refrigerating cabinet is lower than a lower temperature limit, the thermostat provides a signal to the refrigeration Host, stop cooling down.

However, when the parts, pipelines, or refrigerants of the freezer-refrigerator are abnormal, traditionally, only the continuous temperature is used to determine whether the freezer-refrigerator is malfunctioning. At this time, the freezer-refrigerator is already in a malfunctioning state, which will cause an emergency repair condition. Therefore, how to avoid the need for emergency maintenance of the freezer-refrigerator is the goal of the people in the field.

In view of this, the present invention provides a temperature control method and its temperature control method. The controller can monitor the parameters of the freezer and refrigerator to calculate the health score, and can predict and immediately notify the monitor of the abnormal condition of the freezer and refrigerator.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a temperature controller, which is connected to a temperature sensor configured in a refrigerating cabinet. The thermostat includes a sound device, a storage device and a processor. The storage device stores one or more commands. The processor is coupled to the sound device and the storage device. The processor executes the instructions to determine the health score of the freezer and refrigerator according to a plurality of sensing parameters and temperature control parameters of the freezer and refrigerator. Then, it is determined whether the fitness score is less than the expected parameter value, and a notification is issued when the fitness score is less than the expected parameter value.

From another point of view, the embodiments of the present invention provide a temperature control method, which is suitable for connecting a temperature controller with a temperature sensor configured in a refrigerating cabinet. The temperature control method includes the following steps. The health score of the freezer-refrigerator is determined according to the multiple sensing parameters and temperature control parameters of the freezer-refrigerator. Then, it is determined whether the fitness score is less than the expected parameter value, and a notification is issued when the fitness score is less than the expected parameter value.

Based on the above, in this embodiment, the thermostat calculates the health score of the freezer-refrigerator based on the sensing parameters related to the temperature control capability of the freezer-refrigerator, and determines whether to send a notification based on the health score, so it can monitor the freezer-refrigerator The parameters of the cabinet are used to calculate the health score, and the freezer-refrigerator can be notified immediately that an abnormal situation is about to occur. In this way, it can be avoided that the monitor is notified when the freezer-refrigerator fails, which results in the need for emergency repair of the freezer-refrigerator.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the following is specially mentioned The embodiments, together with the accompanying drawings, are described in detail as follows.

100: Temperature control system

110: thermostat

111: processor

112: storage device

113: Sound Device

120: Freezer refrigerator

121: temperature sensor

122: refrigeration host

130: host system

30, 31: Sensing parameter data

40: health score

S202~S206: steps

S1, S2: switch signal

T1, T2: temperature curve

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a temperature control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a temperature control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3A and 3B illustrate an example of calculating a health score according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 shows an example of the health score of the freezer-refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Part of the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The reference symbols in the following description will be regarded as the same or similar elements when the same symbol appears in different drawings. These embodiments are only a part of the present invention, and do not disclose all the possible implementation modes of the present invention. To be more precise, these embodiments are only examples of the devices and methods within the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a temperature control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 1, the temperature control system 100 includes a temperature controller 110, a refrigerator-freezer 120 and a host system 130, wherein the refrigerator-freezer 120 and the host system 130 are both connected to the temperature controller 110. The thermostat 110 can be wired to the refrigerating cabinet 120 and connected to the host system 130 in a wired or wireless manner for data transmission. In the temperature control system 100, there may be one or more temperature controllers 110, refrigerating cabinets 120, and host systems 130. The thermostat 110 can be connected to one or more refrigerating cabinets 120, or Connected to one or more host systems 130, the present invention is not limited here.

The thermostat 110 includes but is not limited to a processor 111, a storage device 112 and a sound device 113. The processor 111 is coupled to the storage device 112 and the sound device 113, and can access and execute instructions recorded in the storage device 112 to implement the temperature control method of the embodiment of the present invention. In some embodiments, the processor 111 includes, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), or other programmable general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors, or digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processors). DSP), programmable controllers, application specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuits, ASIC), programmable logic devices (Programmable Logic Device, PLD) or other similar devices or combinations of these devices, the present invention is not limited to this.

The storage device 112 is, for example, any type of fixed or removable random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), flash memory (Flash memory), hard disk A disk or other similar device or a combination of these devices is used to store one or more instructions that can be executed by the processor 111, and these instructions can be loaded into the processor 111. The sound device 113 is, for example, a speaker, earphone or other device capable of outputting sound.

The thermostat 110 further includes a communication interface (not shown). The communication interface supports various wired or wireless communication standards, such as Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) systems, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, WiMAX) system, third-generation wireless communication technology (3G), fourth-generation wireless communication technology (4G), long-term evolution technology (Long Term Evolution, One or a combination of communication technologies such as LTE), and the present invention is not limited thereto. The thermostat 110 is connected to the host system 130 in a wired or wireless manner through a communication interface. The thermostat 110 can receive control signals from the host system 130 and communicate with each other through a communication interface, for example, and can be connected to the freezer-refrigerator cabinet 120 in a wired manner to control the freezer-refrigerator cabinet 120. The control signal includes a display signal and/or a setting signal. The host system 130 can send a control signal to the thermostat 110 to control the content displayed on a display (not shown) of the thermostat 110. The display is, for example, a seven-segment display. For example, the host system 130 may control the display of the thermostat 110 to display the current temperature of the freezer-refrigerator 120, warning messages, or whether the host system is normally connected, and other display content.

In addition, the host system 130 can also be used to set the thermostat 110. Specifically, the user can adjust the control parameters of the thermostat 110 or increase/decrease the functions of the thermostat 110 according to requirements. The host system 130 can receive the user's setting of the control parameter through an input device (not shown) such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch screen, and output a setting signal to set the thermostat 110 according to the user's setting. The setting signal includes the user's setting of various control parameters. For example, the control parameters are the temperature control parameters of the refrigerating cabinet 120 such as shutdown temperature, temperature difference setting, fan start temperature, etc., or the switch setting, display/hide of the code display mode and string display mode of the thermostat 110 display The function of the thermostat 110, the abnormal setting of notification (such as the abnormal sound setting of the sound notification) and other control parameters, the present invention is not limited to this.

In one embodiment, the host system 130 can receive the user's switch settings for the code display mode and the string display mode through the input device, and the thermostat 110 can switch between the code display mode and the string display mode included in the setting signal set up Switch to code display mode or string display mode. In detail, the code display mode is to display the corresponding operation function in code, and the word string display mode is to display the corresponding operation function in word string. By switching between the code display mode and the string display mode, the user can switch the display mode according to his or her preference to lower the operating threshold of the thermostat 110.

In another embodiment, the thermostat 110 can be configured to display or hide part of the functions of the thermostat 110 according to the display/hide function included in the setting signal. The functions of the thermostat 110 include, for example, temperature control, defrosting, abnormal notification, abnormal sounding, temperature alarm, communication address and other functions. Those with ordinary knowledge in the field can make appropriate adjustments based on ordinary knowledge and actual needs. The invention does not limit the function of the thermostat 110 here.

In another embodiment, the host system 130 may receive the user's abnormal setting for the notification through the input device. Taking the sound notification as an example, the host system 130 may receive the user's abnormal sound notification setting for the sound notification through the input device, and the thermostat 110 may control the sound device 113 according to the abnormal sound setting included in the setting signal. Specifically, the abnormal sound setting may include settings such as cancelable/non-cancelable sound notification, sound notification again when the abnormality is not eliminated, and sound notification after the sound notification is canceled until the next abnormal sound notification. The present invention is not limited to this.

In another embodiment, the thermostat 110 further includes an input device (not shown) such as keys and a touch screen, and the thermostat 110 can receive the user's setting of control parameters through the input device, and according to the user's Set to set the thermostat 110. For example, the output device is used to receive the user's switching setting of the code display mode and the word string display mode. For the detailed content of the display mode switching setting, please refer to the foregoing description, which will not be repeated here. Or, the input device can also receive the user’s voice The abnormal sound setting of the sound notification, the detailed content of the abnormal sound setting can refer to the foregoing description, and will not be repeated here. For the content of other control parameters, please refer to the description of the aforementioned host system, which will not be repeated here.

The freezer-refrigerator 120 includes but is not limited to a temperature sensor 121 and a refrigeration host 122. In this embodiment, the freezing and refrigerating cabinet 120 is, for example, a refrigerating cabinet, a freezing cabinet, or a dual-temperature or multi-temperature refrigerating cabinet having both freezing and refrigerating functions. The temperature sensor 121 is configured in the freezer-refrigerator cabinet 120 for sensing the temperature of the freezer-refrigerator cabinet 120, and is connected to the temperature controller 110 in a wired or wireless manner. The refrigeration host 122 includes, for example, a condenser, a compressor, a capillary tube or a thermal expansion valve, and an evaporator, which can cool the freezing and refrigerating cabinet 120 and is connected to the thermostat 110 in a wired manner.

The host system 130 is connected to the thermostat 110 through a wired or wireless manner and performs two-way communication. It is, for example, a server, a workstation, a personal computer, a notebook computer, a flat-panel computer, or a computer that generally includes a processor, a storage device, and a data transmission interface. Devices with computing capabilities, such as smart phones, are not limited to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a temperature control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 at the same time. The method of this embodiment is applicable to the above-mentioned thermostat 110. The detailed steps of the temperature control method of this embodiment are described below with various devices and components of the thermostat 110.

First, the processor 111 determines the health score of the freezer-refrigerator 120 according to a plurality of sensing parameters and a plurality of temperature control parameters of the freezer-refrigerator 120 (step S202). Specifically, there are dozens of sensing parameters and temperature control parameters of the thermostat 110, and the sensing parameters For example, it includes parameters such as the switching frequency of the refrigeration host 122 and the cooling time required for the refrigerating cabinet 120 to drop to a specific temperature, and the temperature control parameters include parameters such as shutdown temperature, temperature difference setting, fan starting temperature and the like. In this embodiment, the processor 111 obtains the sensing parameters based on the temperature control parameters, sets scores for these sensing parameters related to the temperature control capability of the freezer-refrigerator 120, and calculates the current freezing based on one or more scores. The health score of the refrigerator 120. The corresponding relationship between each sensing parameter and the score can be generated based on a prior test and stored in the storage device 112 in the form of a look-up table. In other embodiments, the corresponding relationship between each sensing parameter and the score can also be calculated using an equation stored in the storage device 112, and the present invention is not limited to this.

In this embodiment, the host system 130 further includes an input device (not shown), and the processor 111 receives the user's settings for the items of sensing parameters and the items of temperature control parameters through the input device. The setting here may be a setting input by the user through an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch screen in advance, that is, an item used to determine the sensing parameter and temperature control parameter of the health score of the freezer-refrigerator 120. The processor 111 can receive the user's setting of the sensing parameter and the temperature control parameter through the input device, and store the setting value for the purpose of determining the health score of the freezer-refrigerator 120 in step S202. The setting of the sensing parameters and temperature control parameters here can also be system preset items (such as switching frequency and cooling time) or item settings input by the user last time, and the present invention is not limited to this.

The following takes the switching frequency of the refrigeration host 122 as an example to illustrate the detailed content of determining the health score in this case. 3A and 3B illustrate an example of calculating a health score according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the temperature control parameter of the freezer-refrigerator 120 includes high temperature Start temperature and low temperature stop temperature. When the temperature sensor 121 senses that the temperature of the freezer-refrigerator 120 is greater than the high temperature start-up temperature, the temperature controller 110 controls the refrigeration host 122 to turn on, so that the temperature of the freezer-refrigerator 120 drops. And, when the temperature sensor 121 senses that the temperature of the freezer-refrigerator 120 is less than the low-temperature stop temperature, it indicates that the temperature of the freezer-refrigerator 120 has reached an appropriate temperature. At this time, the thermostat 110 controls the refrigeration host 122 to turn off. Please refer to the sensor parameter data 30 corresponding to the freezer-refrigerator 120 in FIG. 3A. Under normal circumstances, the refrigeration host 122 will continuously switch according to the current temperature of the freezer-refrigerator 120 to maintain the temperature of the freezer-refrigerator 120 at a high temperature start-up temperature. And the low temperature stop temperature. The temperature of the refrigerating cabinet 120 is, for example, the temperature curve T1 in FIG. 3A, and the switching frequency of the refrigeration host 122 is, for example, the switching signal S1 in FIG. 3A.

However, when the refrigeration host 122 is abnormal, its refrigeration capacity may be insufficient or exceeded. Please refer to FIG. 3B corresponding to the sensing parameter data 31 of the freezer-refrigerator 120. If the temperature control capability of the refrigeration host 122 becomes poor, the refrigeration host 122 will continue to maintain the on or off state. At this time, the chance of the refrigeration host 122 being turned on or off will decrease, and the temperature of the freezing and refrigerating cabinet 120 will be low or high. The temperature of the refrigerating cabinet 120 is, for example, the temperature curve T2 in FIG. 3B, and the switching frequency of the refrigeration host 122 is, for example, the switching signal S2 in FIG. 3B. Here, the processor 111 of the thermostat 110 may determine the corresponding score according to the switching frequency of the refrigeration host 122, and determine the health score of the freezer-refrigerator 120 according to the score. In another embodiment, if there are multiple sensing parameters used to determine the health score, the scores corresponding to each sensing parameter can be added up or the pre-stored equation can be used to calculate the health score of the freezer-refrigerator 120. The invention is not limited to this.

After that, the processor 111 determines whether the fitness score is less than the expected parameter value (step S204). If the processor 111 determines that the health score is less than the expected parameter value (step S204, the determination is YES), it sends a notification (step S206). If the processor 111 determines that the fitness score is not less than the expected parameter value (step S204, the determination is No), it returns to step S202 to determine the fitness score again. The processor 111 may issue a notification when it determines that the fitness score is less than the expected parameter value, or issue a notification after determining that the fitness score continues to be less than the expected parameter value. The present invention is not limited to this. The processor 111, for example, transmits a sound signal to the sound device 113 to use the sound device 113 to issue a sound notification, or transmits a signal to the host system 130 to notify the monitor. The present invention does not limit the notification method here.

Fig. 4 shows an example of the health score of the freezer-refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. The processor 111 may calculate the health score once at a certain time interval. Please refer to the health score 40 in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, assuming that the time interval is one day, the processor 111 calculates the health score of the freezer-refrigerator 120 according to the sensing parameters every day. In this embodiment, the highest health score is 100 and the lowest is 0, but the present invention is not limited to this. Please refer to the following table 1 for the actual value corresponding to the health score of 40. Table 1 records the health score of the freezer-refrigerator 120 from December 1 to December 6.

Next, the processor 111 may compare the calculated fitness score with an expected parameter value (for example, 30 points), as in the determination step shown in the aforementioned step S204. In this embodiment, if the health score of the freezer-refrigerator 120 on December 5 is less than the expected parameter value of 30 points, the processor 111 will make a corresponding response, such as using the sound device 113 to send out a sound notification or send a notification to the host system 130. In this embodiment, the sound of the sound device 113 for sound notification may be different from the sound made when the freezer-refrigerator 120 fails, so as to distinguish the different states of the freezer-refrigerator 120 abnormality and failure. After the freezer-refrigerator 120 was repaired, its health score returned to 100 on December 6, maintaining a healthy state.

By calculating the health score of the freezer-refrigerator 120 based on the sensing parameters related to the temperature control capability of the freezer-refrigerator 120, and determining whether to issue a sound notification based on the health score, the temperature control method provided by the embodiment of the present invention can use the health score to Monitor the temperature control capability of the freezer-refrigerator 120. Based on this, the monitor can be notified of the abnormal condition of the freezer-refrigerator in real time, so as to avoid the situation that the freezer-refrigerator 120 malfunctions and requires emergency maintenance.

In other embodiments, the thermostat 110 may also determine whether to control the refrigerating cabinet 120 according to the setting value stored in the storage device 112 of the thermostat 110 according to a preset time when it is not connected to the host system 130. The preset time can be stored in the storage in advance The storage device 112 may be set by the user, and the present invention is not limited to this. Specifically, in the online phase when the thermostat 110 is connected to the host system 130, the thermostat 110 controls the refrigerating cabinet 120 according to the set value of the host system 130. If the thermostat 110 determines that it is not connected to the host system 130 for more than a preset time, it enters the offline stage. At this time, the thermostat 110 can control the refrigerating cabinet 120 according to the setting value stored in the storage device 112.

In summary, the temperature control method provided by the implementation of the present invention and the temperature controller using it can calculate the health score of the freezer and refrigerator based on the sensing parameters and temperature control parameters related to the temperature control ability of the freezer and refrigerator, and According to the health score to determine whether to send a notification, the health score can be calculated by monitoring the parameters of the freezer and refrigerator, and the abnormal condition of the freezer and refrigerator can be notified in real time. In this way, it can be avoided that the monitor is notified when the freezer-refrigerator fails, which results in the need for emergency repair of the freezer-refrigerator. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention further receives the control parameters input by the user through the host system and the temperature controller, and the host system can be further used to control the temperature controller. Based on this, users can adjust the mode and parameters of the thermostat according to their preferences, so as to customize the thermostat and lower the operating threshold of the thermostat.

S202~S206: steps

Claims (10)

A thermostat is connected to a temperature sensor configured in a refrigerating and freezing cabinet, wherein the refrigerating and refrigerating cabinet includes a refrigeration host, and the thermostat includes: a storage device for storing one or more instructions; and a processor, a coupling The storage device is connected, and the processor executes the instructions to: control the refrigeration host to turn on or off according to a plurality of sensing parameters and a plurality of temperature control parameters of the refrigerating cabinet, obtain the switching frequency of the refrigeration host, and determine The score corresponding to the switching frequency, where the temperature control parameters include high temperature start temperature and low temperature stop temperature; determine the health score of the refrigerating cabinet according to the score corresponding to the switching frequency, and determine whether the health score is less than an expected parameter value, And when the health score is less than the expected parameter value, a notification is issued. The temperature controller according to the first item of the scope of patent application, wherein the temperature controller further includes: a display, coupled to the processor; and a communication interface, the temperature controller is connected to the host system through the communication interface, and receives the host system The control signal, where the control signal includes a display signal or a setting signal. For the temperature controller described in item 2 of the scope of patent application, the temperature controller is set to display or hide part of the functions of the temperature controller according to the display/hide function included in the setting signal. The temperature controller described in item 2 of the scope of patent application, wherein the temperature controller receives the user's settings for the items of the sensing parameters and the items of the temperature control parameters through the input device of the host system. For example, the temperature controller described in item 2 of the scope of patent application, wherein when the temperature controller determines that it is not connected to the host system, it determines whether to control the temperature controller according to the setting value stored in the storage device of the temperature controller according to a preset time Freezer refrigerator. According to the temperature controller described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, the temperature controller further includes: an input device coupled to the processor. As for the temperature controller described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, the input device is used to receive the user's switching setting of the code display mode and the character string display mode. The temperature controller according to item 6 of the scope of patent application, wherein the temperature controller further includes: a sound device coupled to the processor, wherein the notification includes a sound notification, and the processor is less than the expected parameter value when the health score is When using the sound device to send out the notification. The temperature controller described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, wherein the input device is used to receive the abnormal setting of the notification from the user. A temperature control method is suitable for a temperature controller connected to a temperature sensor arranged in a refrigerating cabinet, wherein the refrigerating cabinet includes a refrigeration host, and the temperature control method includes: According to the multiple sensing parameters and multiple temperature control parameters of the refrigerating cabinet, the refrigeration host is controlled to turn on or off, the switching frequency of the refrigeration host is obtained, and the score corresponding to the switching frequency is determined, wherein the temperature control parameters include high temperature Start temperature and low temperature stop temperature; determine the health score of the refrigerating cabinet according to the score corresponding to the switching frequency; determine whether the health score is less than an expected parameter value, and send a notification when the health score is less than the expected parameter value.

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