WO2024103908A1

WO2024103908A1 - Control method for refrigerator, and refrigerator

Info

Publication number: WO2024103908A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/115963
Authority: WO
Inventors: 杨东亚; 王健; 张文; 尹云东; 金晓武
Original assignee: 青岛海尔电冰箱有限公司; 海尔智家股份有限公司
Priority date: 2022-11-18
Filing date: 2023-08-30
Publication date: 2024-05-23
Also published as: CN115727627A

Abstract

A control method for a refrigerator, and a refrigerator. The control method comprises: detecting an environmental noise value of an environment where a refrigerator is located; acquiring a door body opening and closing state of a room where a user of the refrigerator is located; selecting a preset nominal noise value according to the door body opening and closing state; comparing whether the environmental noise value is less than the nominal noise value; and if the environmental noise value is less than the nominal noise value, enabling a noise reduction mode of the refrigerator, so as to reduce noise generated by the refrigerator. Therefore, the user is prevented from being disturbed by the noise whilst sleeping, thereby improving the sleep quality of the user.

Description

Refrigerator control method and refrigerator

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the technical field of refrigerator noise reduction, and in particular to a refrigerator control method and a refrigerator.

Background technique

At present, with the improvement of living standards, refrigerators have been widely used in family life. During the operation of the compressor and other components of the refrigerator, some noise may be emitted, which may cause trouble to the user's sleep and fail to satisfy the user's use experience.

Summary of the invention

In view of the above problems, a control method of a refrigerator and a refrigerator are proposed to overcome the above problems or at least partially solve the above problems.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the noise of a refrigerator to ensure the sleeping quality of a user.

A further object of the present invention is to select a more reasonable nominal noise value to improve the accuracy of determining whether the noise reduction mode needs to be activated.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a method for controlling a refrigerator, comprising:

Detecting an environmental noise value of an environment where the refrigerator is located;

Obtaining the door opening and closing status of the room where the user of the refrigerator is located;

selecting a preset nominal noise value according to the open and closed state;

Comparing whether the environmental noise value is less than the nominal noise value;

If so, start the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator to reduce the noise generated by the refrigerator.

Optionally, when the door body is in an open state, the step of selecting a preset nominal noise value according to the opening and closing state includes:

A first nominal noise value is selected as the nominal noise value according to the opening state.

Optionally, the first nominal noise value is set in the following manner:

Calculating the distance from the refrigerator to the room;

When the door is in an open state, determining a first sound attenuation value from the environment where the refrigerator is located to the room according to the distance;

The first sound attenuation value is added to a preset sound value suitable for human sleep to obtain the first nominal noise value.

Optionally, when the door body is in a closed state, the step of selecting a preset nominal noise value according to the opening and closing state includes:

A second nominal noise value is selected as the nominal noise value according to the closed state.

Optionally, the second nominal noise value is set in the following manner:

Calculating the distance from the refrigerator to the room;

When the door is in a closed state, determining a second sound attenuation value from the environment where the refrigerator is located to the room according to the distance;

The second sound attenuation value is added to a preset sound value suitable for human sleep to obtain the second nominal noise value.

Optionally, before the step of detecting the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located, the method further includes:

Detecting whether the compressor of the refrigerator is in a shutdown state;

If so, execute the step of detecting the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located.

Optionally, the step of starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator includes:

Improving the on/off point of the refrigerator; and/or

reducing the compressor frequency of the refrigerator; and/or

The fan rotation frequency of the refrigerator is reduced.

Optionally, the step of detecting the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located includes:

Detecting an environmental noise value of an environment where the refrigerator is located within a first preset time period.

Optionally, if the environmental noise value is less than the nominal noise value, the control method further includes:

Detecting whether the door of the refrigerator has been opened or closed within a second preset time period;

If not, execute the step of starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the present invention further provides a refrigerator, comprising:

A memory and a processor, wherein a control program is stored in the memory, and when the control program is executed by the processor, it is used to implement any one of the above-mentioned refrigerator control methods.

In the control method of the refrigerator of the present invention, the ambient noise value of the environment in which the refrigerator is located is detected, the opening and closing status of the door of the room where the user of the refrigerator is located is obtained, and a preset nominal noise value is selected according to the opening and closing status. It is compared whether the ambient noise value is less than the nominal noise value. If so, the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator is started to reduce the noise generated by the refrigerator, avoid being disturbed by noise during the user's sleep, and improve the user's sleep quality.

Furthermore, the sound value suitable for human sleep can be any value between 36-40 decibels. The technical personnel in the field lack creativity. When considering the noise that affects human sleep, they often directly use 36 decibels as the judgment standard. If it is higher than 36 decibels, it is considered to affect human sleep. Even if the prior art considers reducing the noise of the refrigerator, 36 decibels is used as the standard for judging noise, and the maximum is generally not more than 40 decibels as the standard for judging noise. This embodiment breaks through this ideological shackles. By calculating the distance from the refrigerator to the room, when the door is in an open state, the first sound attenuation value from the refrigerator to the room is determined according to the distance, and the first sound attenuation value is added to the sound value suitable for human sleep to obtain the first nominal noise value. The first nominal noise value obtained is definitely greater than the sound value suitable for human sleep, and can generally be greater than 45 decibels, 50 decibels, 55 decibels, 60 decibels or 65 decibels, or even 70 decibels, etc., which is specifically related to the above distance and the actual sound insulation effect of the room. This embodiment helps to select a more reasonable nominal noise value and avoid blindly starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator.

Furthermore, the sound value suitable for human sleep can be any value between 36-40 decibels. The technicians in this field lack creativity. When considering the noise that affects human sleep, they often directly use 36 decibels as the judgment standard. If it is higher than 36 decibels, it is considered that it will affect human sleep. Even if the prior art considers reducing the noise of the refrigerator, 36 decibels is used as the standard for judging noise, and the maximum is generally not more than 40 decibels as the standard for judging noise. This embodiment breaks through this ideological shackles. By calculating the distance from the refrigerator to the room, when the door body is in a closed state, the second sound attenuation value from the refrigerator to the room is determined according to the distance, and the second sound attenuation value is added to the sound value suitable for human sleep to obtain the second nominal noise value. The obtained second nominal noise value is definitely greater than the sound value suitable for human sleep, and can generally be greater than 50 decibels, 55 decibels, 60 decibels, 65 decibels, 70 decibels or 75 decibels, etc., which is specifically related to the actual sound insulation effect of the above distance, room and door body. This embodiment helps to select a more reasonable nominal noise value and avoid blindly starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator.

Based on the following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will become more aware of the above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiments below. The accompanying drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments and are not to be considered as limiting the present invention. Also, the same reference symbols are used throughout the accompanying drawings to represent the same components. In the accompanying drawings:

FIG1 is a flow chart of a method for controlling a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG2 is a flow chart of a method for controlling a refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided in order to enable a more thorough understanding of the present disclosure and to fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.

FIG1 is a flow chart of a control method of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG1 , the control method may include the following steps S102 to S110:

Step S102: Detect the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located. Generally, a sound collection component can be installed at a designated position of the refrigerator to detect the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located. Specifically, for example, a microphone can be installed on the door body or the door body display panel of the refrigerator to detect the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located, that is, to detect the environmental noise value around the refrigerator.

Step S104: Obtain the door opening and closing status of the room where the user of the refrigerator is located. Generally, an opening and closing detector can be set on the door of the room to detect the opening and closing status of the door of the room. Of course, image recognition can also be used to determine the opening and closing status of the door of the room. Before executing this step, it is generally necessary to determine the number of rooms with users. When there are multiple rooms with users, select the room closest to the refrigerator, and then obtain the opening and closing status of the door of this closest room. The user of the refrigerator can generally be understood as the person living in the house where the refrigerator is located.

Step S106: Select a preset nominal noise value according to the opening and closing state. Generally, the opening and closing states of the door of the room are different, and the corresponding nominal noise values are different. The nominal noise value when the door is closed is generally greater than the nominal noise value when the door is open. This helps to select a more reasonable nominal noise value and avoid blindly starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator. Generally, the nominal noise value can be a sound value that does not affect the sleep of users in the room.

Step S108: Compare whether the environmental noise value is smaller than the nominal noise value.

If yes, execute step S110: start the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator to reduce the noise generated by the refrigerator.

In this embodiment, the ambient noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located is detected, the door opening and closing status of the room where the user of the refrigerator is located is obtained, and a preset nominal noise value is selected according to the opening and closing status. It is compared whether the ambient noise value is less than the nominal noise value. If so, the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator is activated to reduce the noise generated by the refrigerator, avoid being disturbed by noise during sleep, and improve the sleep quality of the user. In general, when the ambient noise value is greater than or equal to the nominal noise value, the impact of the ambient noise value on the user is greater than that of the refrigerator. The impact of noise on users is that even if the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator is activated at this time, the effect will be very small, so there is no need to activate the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator. Just let the refrigerator continue to maintain the existing operating mode.

In one embodiment of the present invention, when the door body is in an open state, the step of selecting a preset nominal noise value according to the opening and closing state may include:

A first nominal noise value is selected as the nominal noise value according to the open state.

In this embodiment, generally, the opening and closing states of the room door are different, and the corresponding nominal noise values are different. The first nominal noise value is selected as the nominal noise value according to the opening state. This helps to select a more reasonable nominal noise value and avoid blindly starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the first nominal noise value may be set in the following manner:

Calculate the distance from the refrigerator to the room;

When the door is in an open state, a first sound attenuation value from the refrigerator to the room is determined according to the distance;

The first sound attenuation value is added to the sound value suitable for human sleep to obtain a first nominal noise value.

In this embodiment, the sound value suitable for human sleep can be any value between 36-40 decibels. The technicians in this field lack creativity. When considering the noise that affects human sleep, they often directly use 36 decibels as the judgment standard. If it is higher than 36 decibels, it is considered that it will affect human sleep. Even if the prior art considers reducing the noise of the refrigerator, 36 decibels is used as the standard for judging noise, and the maximum is generally not more than 40 decibels as the standard for judging noise. This embodiment breaks through this ideological shackle. By calculating the distance from the refrigerator to the room, when the door body is in an open state, the first sound attenuation value from the refrigerator to the room is determined according to the distance, and the first sound attenuation value is added to the sound value suitable for human sleep to obtain the first nominal noise value. The first nominal noise value obtained is definitely greater than the sound value suitable for human sleep, and can generally be greater than 45 decibels, 50 decibels, 55 decibels, 60 decibels or 65 decibels, or even 70 decibels, etc., which is specifically related to the above distance and the actual sound insulation effect of the room. This embodiment helps to select a more reasonable nominal noise value and avoid blindly starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator. In addition, the door of this embodiment is in an open state, which can be understood as all doors from the refrigerator to the user's room are in an open state. For example, when the refrigerator is located in the kitchen, the kitchen door is also in an open state. The first sound attenuation value and the first nominal noise value can be calculated according to the actual situation of the room and are not listed here.

In one embodiment of the present invention, when the door body is in a closed state, the step of selecting a preset nominal noise value according to the opening and closing state may include:

In this embodiment, in general, the opening and closing states of the door bodies of the rooms are different, and the corresponding nominal The noise values are different. The second nominal noise value is selected as the nominal noise value according to the closed state. This helps to select a more reasonable nominal noise value and avoid blindly starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the second nominal noise value may be set in the following manner:

Calculate the distance from the refrigerator to the room;

When the door is in a closed state, a second sound attenuation value from the refrigerator to the room is determined according to the distance;

The second sound attenuation value is added to the sound value suitable for human sleep to obtain a second nominal noise value.

In this embodiment, the sound value suitable for human sleep can be any value between 36-40 decibels. The technicians in this field lack creativity. When considering the noise that affects human sleep, they often directly use 36 decibels as the judgment standard. If it is higher than 36 decibels, it is considered that it will affect human sleep. Even if the prior art considers reducing the noise of the refrigerator, 36 decibels is used as the standard for judging noise, and the maximum is generally not more than 40 decibels as the standard for judging noise. This embodiment breaks through this ideological shackle. By calculating the distance from the refrigerator to the room, when the door body is in a closed state, the second sound attenuation value from the refrigerator to the room is determined according to the distance, and the second sound attenuation value is added to the sound value suitable for human sleep to obtain the second nominal noise value. The obtained second nominal noise value is definitely greater than the sound value suitable for human sleep, and can generally be greater than 50 decibels, 55 decibels, 60 decibels, 65 decibels, 70 decibels or 75 decibels, etc., which is specifically related to the actual sound insulation effect of the above distance, room and door body. This embodiment helps to select a more reasonable nominal noise value and avoid blindly starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator. In addition, the door body of the present embodiment is in a closed state, which can be understood as at least one of all the door bodies from the refrigerator to the user's room is in a closed state. For example, when the refrigerator is located in the kitchen, the door body of the kitchen is in a closed state, and/or the door body of the user's room is in a closed state, etc. The second sound attenuation value and the second nominal noise value can be calculated according to the actual situation of the room, and are not listed here. The second sound attenuation value and the second nominal noise value are generally greater than the first sound attenuation value and the first nominal noise value, respectively.

In one embodiment of the present invention, before the step of detecting the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located, the following steps may also be included:

Check whether the refrigerator compressor is in shutdown state;

If yes, the step of detecting the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located is performed.

In this embodiment, the refrigerator compressor is also prone to generate noise during operation. In order to distinguish whether the noise is from the refrigerator or from the outside, it is possible to detect whether the refrigerator compressor is in a shutdown state. If so, the step of detecting the ambient noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located is performed, so that the source of the noise can be distinguished more accurately. Compared with the method of distinguishing different sounds by analyzing the timbre, wavelength, frequency, amplitude, etc. of the sound, this embodiment is simpler and more convenient.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the step of starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator may include:

Raise the refrigerator's on/off point; and/or

Reduce refrigerator compressor frequency; and/or

Reduce the fan frequency of the refrigerator.

In this embodiment, increasing the on/off point of the refrigerator can reduce the operating time of components such as the compressor, and can also have a noise reduction effect. Generally, the on/off point of the refrigerator can be increased according to a preset value, and the preset value can generally be any value between 1-2 degrees to ensure that the storage of items in the refrigerator is not affected. Reducing the compressor frequency of the refrigerator and/or reducing the rotation frequency of the fan of the refrigerator can also reduce noise, and reducing the frequency generally prolongs the operating time of the compressor and/or fan. Generally, the compressor frequency can be reduced by 10-50HZ, for example, 20HZ, and the fan rotation frequency can be reduced by 10%-20%, for example, 15%. If the frequency of the compressor and fan of the refrigerator is reduced while increasing the on/off point of the refrigerator, the operating time of refrigeration components such as the compressor can generally be kept unchanged, that is, it is basically the same or exactly the same as when the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator is not started, which is also conducive to improving the user's experience of using the refrigerator.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the step of detecting the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located may include:

Detect the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located within a first preset time period.

In this embodiment, the first preset time length can be any value between 5 and 10 minutes. The environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located within the first preset time length is detected. The environmental noise value here can be understood as the average value of the environmental noise. By detecting the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located within the first preset time length, some very short-term noises can be excluded. For example, when the user is on a lower floor, there may be some vehicle horns, etc. This embodiment can more accurately determine whether it is necessary to start the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator, improve the rationality of the noise reduction of the refrigerator, and improve the user experience.

In one embodiment of the present invention, if the environmental noise value is less than the nominal noise value, the control method may further include:

If not, perform the steps for activating the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator.

In this embodiment, the second preset time can be any value between 1 and 3 hours, for example, 2 hours. If the ambient noise value is less than the nominal noise value, it is detected whether the door of the refrigerator has been opened or closed within the second preset time. If not, it means that the user has not used the refrigerator during this period and the refrigerator has completed the cooling target. At this time, the step of starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator is executed to avoid noise reduction when the refrigerator has not reached the cooling temperature, thereby improving the user experience.

In some other embodiments of the present invention, before the step of detecting the ambient noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located, the real time can also be obtained. If the real time belongs to the user's sleeping time, the step of detecting the ambient noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located is executed.

In this embodiment, the sleeping time can be from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. If the real-time time belongs to the user's sleeping time, the noise of the refrigerator may affect the user's sleep. If it does not belong to the user's sleeping time, there is no need to reduce the noise of the refrigerator. This embodiment can avoid blindly reducing the noise of the refrigerator and improve the user experience. Of course, the above-mentioned embodiments can generally be executed when it is determined that there are people in the room. If there is no one, there is no need to reduce the noise of the refrigerator. The refrigerator can be equipped with a network module to obtain the time through the network. In addition, the refrigerator also has corresponding control software. After the terminal device installs the control software and binds it to the refrigerator, the user can remotely start the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator by operating the control software, which is very convenient.

FIG2 is a flow chart of a control method of a refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG2 , the control method may include steps S202 to S218:

Step S202: Detect whether the compressor of the refrigerator is in a shutdown state.

If yes, execute step S204, if no, return to step S202.

Step S204: Detect the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located.

Step S206: Obtain the door opening and closing status of the room where the user of the refrigerator is located.

Step S208: When the door is in the open state, a first nominal noise value is selected as the nominal noise value according to the open state. The setting method of the first nominal noise value can refer to the above embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

Step S210: When the door is in a closed state, a second nominal noise value is selected as the nominal noise value according to the closed state. The second nominal noise value can also be set in the same manner as in the above embodiment, which will not be described in detail here.

Step S212: Compare whether the environmental noise value is smaller than the nominal noise value.

If so, execute step S214; if not, return to step S212.

Step S214: Raise the on/off point of the refrigerator.

Step S216: reducing the compressor frequency of the refrigerator.

Step S218: Reduce the fan rotation frequency of the refrigerator.

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG3, based on the same concept, the present invention further provides a refrigerator 300. The refrigerator 300 may include a memory 301 and a processor 302. The memory 301 stores a control program. When the control program is executed by the processor 302, Implement a refrigerator control method according to any one of the above embodiments.

The above embodiments may be combined arbitrarily. According to any one of the above preferred embodiments or a combination of multiple preferred embodiments, the embodiments of the present invention can achieve the following beneficial effects:

At this point, those skilled in the art should recognize that, although multiple exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications that conform to the principles of the present invention can still be directly determined or derived based on the content disclosed in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be understood and recognized as covering all these other variations or modifications.

Claims

A refrigerator control method, comprising:

Detecting an environmental noise value of an environment where the refrigerator is located;

Obtaining the door opening and closing status of the room where the user of the refrigerator is located;

selecting a preset nominal noise value according to the open and closed state;

Comparing whether the environmental noise value is less than the nominal noise value;

If so, start the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator to reduce the noise generated by the refrigerator.
The control method according to claim 1, wherein:

When the door body is in an open state, the step of selecting a preset nominal noise value according to the opening and closing state comprises:

A first nominal noise value is selected as the nominal noise value according to the opening state.
The control method according to claim 2, wherein:

The first nominal noise value is set by:

Calculating the distance from the refrigerator to the room;

When the door is in an open state, determining a first sound attenuation value from the refrigerator to the room according to the distance;

The first sound attenuation value is added to a preset sound value suitable for human sleep to obtain the first nominal noise value.
The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:

When the door body is in a closed state, the step of selecting a preset nominal noise value according to the opening and closing state comprises:

A second nominal noise value is selected as the nominal noise value according to the closed state.
The control method according to claim 4, wherein:

The second nominal noise value is set by:

Calculating the distance from the refrigerator to the room;

When the door is in a closed state, determining a second sound attenuation value from the refrigerator to the room according to the distance;

The second sound attenuation value is added to a preset sound value suitable for human sleep to obtain the second nominal noise value.
The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:

Before the step of detecting the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located, the method further includes:

Detecting whether the compressor of the refrigerator is in a shutdown state;

If so, execute the step of detecting the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located.
The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:

The step of starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator comprises:

Improving the on/off point of the refrigerator; and/or

reducing the compressor frequency of the refrigerator; and/or

The fan rotation frequency of the refrigerator is reduced.
The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:

The step of detecting the environmental noise value of the environment where the refrigerator is located comprises:

Detecting an environmental noise value of an environment where the refrigerator is located within a first preset time period.
The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:

If the environmental noise value is less than the nominal noise value, the control method further includes:

Detecting whether the door of the refrigerator has been opened or closed within a second preset time period;

If not, execute the step of starting the noise reduction mode of the refrigerator.
A refrigerator, comprising:

A memory and a processor, wherein a control program is stored in the memory, and when the control program is executed by the processor, it is used to implement the control method of the refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 9.