KR20100034442A - The control method of a refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiment of the present invention relates to a control method of a refrigerator, and to a control method of a refrigerator to improve the control system of the refrigerator so that defrosting of the evaporator is performed efficiently.

The control method of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment may include: detecting a room temperature when a defrosting operation condition is established during operation of the refrigerator; If the room temperature is greater than or equal to T1, driving a compressor to perform hot gas defrosting operation; Allowing the refrigerant to be bypassed from the compressor outlet to the evaporator inlet side while the hot gas defrosting operation is performed; Determining whether the defrost is terminated according to the temperature value of the defrost sensor during the defrosting operation is included.

According to this embodiment as described above, there is an advantage that the hot gas defrosting operation or the general defrosting operation can be selectively performed according to the outside temperature.

Description

The control method of a refrigerator

The present embodiment relates to a control method of a refrigerator.

In general, a refrigerator is a device for supplying cold air to a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment by a refrigeration system so that food is stored at a low temperature.

The refrigeration system then consists of a compressor-condenser-expander-evaporator. Then, the air changes to a low temperature state while passing through the evaporator and is supplied to the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment.

The cold air circulated in the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment is moved to the heat exchange chamber in which the evaporator is installed again through a predetermined path.

At this time, the moisture contained in the air circulating inside the refrigerator is formed on the surface of the evaporator by contact with the evaporator and grows to frost.

A large amount of frost that grows in this way not only has a great effect on the heat exchange efficiency of the evaporator, but also adversely affects the passage of air passing through the evaporator. It will drive.

When the defrosting operation is performed, power is applied to the defrosting heater, and frost formed on the surface of the evaporator adjacent to the defrosting heater is melted by the heat of the defrosting heater, and gradually the heat of the defrosting heater is It is delivered to the top to gradually melt the frost formed on the surface of the evaporator to be removed.

However, in the case of using the defrost heater as described above, since a separate power is supplied to the defrost heater, power consumption is large, and the temperature inside the refrigerator is increased by the heat of the defrost heater.

In addition, since the defrost heater is provided on one side of the evaporator to heat only a part of the evaporator, there is a problem in that defrosting time is consumed and the defrosting efficiency is lowered.

The present embodiment is proposed to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to propose a control method of a refrigerator in which a defrost time is shortened and a rise in temperature in a defrost process is prevented.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to propose a control method of a refrigerator in which a defrosting process using hot gas is selectively performed according to the room temperature to improve the defrosting efficiency.

A control method of a refrigerator according to an embodiment for achieving the above object includes the steps of: if the defrosting operating conditions are established during operation of the refrigerator; If the room temperature is greater than or equal to T1, driving a compressor to perform hot gas defrosting operation; Allowing the refrigerant to be bypassed from the compressor outlet to the evaporator inlet side while the hot gas defrosting operation is performed; Determining whether the defrost is terminated according to the temperature value of the defrost sensor during the defrosting operation is included.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a refrigerator, the method comprising: turning off an evaporator fan when a defrosting operation is performed during operation of the refrigerator; In the process of performing the defrosting operation, selecting hot gas defrosting operation or general defrosting operation according to an indoor temperature value; Operating a compressor in the hot gas defrosting operation, and turning off the compressor in the general defrosting operation; And determining whether to end the defrosting operation according to the temperature value of the defrosting sensor during the defrosting operation.

According to the proposed embodiment, since the frost formed in the evaporator can be removed by the high temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor, power consumption can be reduced as compared with the conventional electric heater alone.

In addition, since the high-temperature refrigerant passing through the compressor moves along the inside of the evaporator, there is an advantage that can quickly remove the frost formed on the entire evaporator.

In addition, when the room temperature is lowered below a predetermined temperature, there is an advantage that the defrosting efficiency can be improved by selectively operating the electric heater.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing a refrigeration system of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, a refrigerator 1 equipped with a refrigeration system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a compressor 10 compressing a refrigerant, and a refrigerant compressed at high temperature and high pressure by the compressor 10. Condenser 20 for condensing, an expansion valve 30 for expanding the refrigerant passing through the condenser 20, an evaporator 40 for evaporating the refrigerant passing through the expansion valve 30, and the evaporator 40 And a gas-liquid separator 50 provided between the compressor 10 and separating the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant passing through the evaporator 40.

In detail, at the outlet side of the compressor 10, a valve unit 70 for regulating the flow of the refrigerant passing through the compressor 10 is provided. The valve unit 70 may include a three-way valve.

The valve unit 70 includes a suction port 71 through which the refrigerant passing through the compressor 10 is sucked in, a first discharge port 72 and a second discharge port 73 through which the sucked refrigerant is discharged. do.

The refrigerant discharged from the first discharge port 72 moves to the inlet side of the condenser 20, and the refrigerant discharged from the second discharge port 73 moves to the inlet side of the evaporator 40.

In addition, the refrigerator 1 is provided with a bypass pipe 80 extending from the second discharge port 73 to the inlet side of the evaporator 40. Therefore, the refrigerant discharged from the second discharge port 73 may move to the inlet side of the evaporator 40 via the bypass pipe 80.

Here, the bypass pipe 80 provides a passage for allowing the high temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 to move toward the inlet of the evaporator 40 when defrosting the evaporator 40 is required.

In summary, when the refrigeration cycle is operated, the refrigerant introduced into the valve unit 70 flows into the condenser 20 through the first discharge port 72. At this time, the second discharge port 73 may be closed.

On the other hand, when the defrost of the evaporator 40 is required, the refrigerant flowing into the valve unit 70 is introduced into the evaporator 40 inlet side through the second discharge port 73. At this time, the first discharge port 72 may be closed.

In addition, the condenser 20 is provided with a condenser fan 22 for dissipating heat generated from the condenser 20 to the outside. In addition, the evaporator 40 is provided with an evaporator fan 42 which blows cold air generated in the evaporator 40 into the storage compartment.

In addition, one side of the evaporator 40 is provided with a defrost heater 44 for dissipating heat in order to remove frost in the defrosting process of the evaporator 40.

A suction pipe 60 is provided between the evaporator 40 and the compressor 10 to allow the refrigerant passing through the evaporator 40 to flow into the compressor 10. Here, the refrigerant needs to flow into the compressor 10 in a gaseous state while passing through the suction pipe 60. If the liquid refrigerant flows into the compressor 10, the compression efficiency of the compressor may be lowered and the compressor may be damaged.

Here, the compressor 10, the condenser 20 and the suction pipe 60 is located in the machine room of the refrigerator. The machine room may be formed at one lower side of the refrigerator, and communicated with the outside to allow indoor air to flow in and out.

Meanwhile, the refrigerator 1 includes an indoor temperature sensor 91 for sensing an outside temperature of the outside of the refrigerator, that is, an indoor temperature, and a defrost sensor 92 and the sensor 91 for sensing the ambient temperature of the evaporator 40. The controller 100 controls the operation of the compressor 10, the condenser fan 22, and the defrost heater 44 according to the temperature sensed by the reference numeral 92.

In addition, the controller 100 controls the operation of the valve unit 70. That is, the controller 100 may control the opening and closing of the first discharge port 72 and the second discharge port 73.

The operation of the refrigerator 1 by the above-described configuration will be described.

When the refrigerator is operated in a normal refrigeration cycle, the first discharge port 72 is opened and the second discharge port 73 is closed by the operation of the valve unit 70. In this case, the refrigerant is moved from the suction port 71 to the first discharge port 72.

When the refrigerator operates in this state, the refrigerant is compressed while passing through the compressor 10. The compressed refrigerant is introduced into the condenser 20 through the suction port 71 and the first discharge port 72. In addition, the refrigerant introduced into the condenser 20 is condensed while passing through the condenser 20. Then, the condensed refrigerant is introduced into the expansion valve 30, the refrigerant introduced into the expansion valve 30 is expanded while passing through the expansion valve (30). In addition, the expanded refrigerant is introduced into the evaporator 40, and the refrigerant introduced into the evaporator 40 is evaporated while passing through the evaporator 40. The vaporized refrigerant passes through the gas-liquid separator 50 to separate the liquid phase and the gaseous phase, and the refrigerant in the separated gas phase flows into the compressor 10.

Then, the air blown by the blowing fan (not shown) is heat-exchanged while passing through the evaporator 40 to be a low temperature state and then supplied to the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment.

As described above, frost is generated in the evaporator 40 while the air is heat-exchanged while passing through the evaporator 40. And, if a certain amount of frost is generated, the frost should be removed. In this case, the refrigerator is defrosted.

The defrosting operation of the refrigerator includes a "hot gas defrosting process" in which the refrigerant passing through the compressor is bypassed through the bypass pipe 80 and the evaporator frost is removed by the refrigerant heat and the defrost heater 44. "Heater defrosting process" is included.

In the hot gas defrosting process, the first discharge port 72 is closed, the second discharge port 73 is opened, and the refrigerant is moved to the evaporator 40 inlet side through the bypass pipe 80. At this time, the moving refrigerant is a high temperature and high pressure refrigerant passing through the compressor 10 can easily remove the frost stuck in the evaporator 40.

In addition, the refrigerant passing through the evaporator 40 may be introduced into the compressor 10 again, compressed at a high pressure, and introduced into the evaporator 40 through the bypass pipe 80. This hot gas defrost cycle is repeated.

In the hot gas defrosting process, the condenser fan 22 is operated. At this time, the heat generated from the condenser 20 is applied to the suction pipe 60, the refrigerant can be vaporized to prevent the liquid refrigerant from flowing into the compressor (10).

On the other hand, the amount of the refrigerant circulating the hot gas defrost cycle will be less than the refrigerant circulating the normal refrigeration cycle, that is, the compressor 10, the condenser 20, the expansion valve 30 and the evaporator 40. As such, since the work of compression by the compressor 10 is reduced, power consumption is reduced.

In addition, since the refrigerant passing through the compressor 10 moves along the inside of the evaporator 40, there is an advantage that the frost formed on the entire evaporator 40 can be quickly removed.

On the other hand, when the room temperature is below a predetermined temperature, the heater defrost process may be performed instead of the hot gas defrost process.

The hot gas defrosting process is influenced by the outside temperature of the refrigerator, that is, the room temperature. Since the refrigerator machine room communicates with the outside, when the room temperature is low, the inside of the machine room is also low.

In addition, the compressor 10 and the suction pipe 60 are located in the machine room. When the temperature of the machine room decreases, the refrigerant flowing through the suction pipe 60 eventually loses heat to the outside.

The hot gas defrosting process uses heat of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10. When the heat of the refrigerant is lost due to a low room temperature, the defrosting efficiency decreases by that amount.

In addition, in the hot gas defrosting process, the condenser fan 22 is operated, and since the cool air is applied to the suction pipe 60 as the room temperature decreases, the liquid refrigerant may flow into the compressor 10 accordingly. Will become large. As a result, the efficiency of the compressor 10 is lowered.

Therefore, when the room temperature falls below a predetermined temperature, the heater defrosting process may be performed to improve the defrosting efficiency.

Hereinafter, an evaporator defrosting process according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a control process of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in operation S11 of the refrigerator, when the defrosting operation condition is established, the defrosting operation is performed (S12). Although not shown in the drawing, the defrost condition may be determined according to a temperature value detected by the defrost sensor 92.

When the defrosting operation is performed, the evaporator fan 42 is turned off (S13).

In operation S14, it is determined whether the hot gas defrosting operation is performed during the defrosting operation. To this end, first determine the room temperature outside the refrigerator (S15).

If the room temperature is T1 or more, hot gas defrosting operation is performed (S16, S17). If the room temperature is less than T1, normal defrosting operation, that is, heater defrosting operation, is performed (S21).

Here, T1 may be set to about 3 ℃. However, it is not necessarily limited to this temperature and may be set in the range of 0 ° C to 5 ° C.

When the hot gas defrosting operation is performed, the first discharge port 72 is closed and the second discharge port 73 is opened (S18). And, the compressor 10 is driven (S19), the condenser fan 22 is operated (S20).

In this process, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 flows into the suction port 71 of the valve unit 70 and is discharged through the second discharge port 73, and bypasses the bypass pipe 80. It is introduced into the evaporator 40 through.

At this time, the high temperature refrigerant passing through the compressor 10 may remove frost trapped in the evaporator 40.

In addition, by the operation of the condenser fan 22, heat generated in the condenser 20 is applied to the suction pipe 60. Therefore, vaporization of the refrigerant is facilitated, and the liquid refrigerant may be prevented from flowing into the compressor 10.

On the other hand, when the room temperature is less than T1 and the heater defrosting operation is performed, the compressor 10 and the condenser fan 22 are turned off (S22, S23). Then, the defrost heater 44 is turned on (S24).

In this process, the defrost heater 44 is heated, the frost generated in the evaporator 40 can be removed.

As described above, it is determined whether defrosting is terminated while the defrosting operation is being performed (S25). Defrost termination can be determined by the defrost temperature detected by the defrost sensor 92.

If the defrost temperature is T2 or more (S26), it is determined that the defrost is finished, the compressor 10 and the condenser fan 22 are turned off (S27, S28), the defrost heater 44 is also turned off (S29) .

However, if the defrosting operation is performed in the heater defrosting process, since the compressor 10 and the condenser fan 22 are already in the OFF state, the state is controlled to be maintained, and only the defrost heater 44 will be OFF.

In order to allow a normal refrigeration cycle to be performed, the first discharge port 72 is opened and the second discharge port 73 is closed (S30).

Then, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 flows into the condenser 20 through the first discharge port 72. After this, the refrigerant flows into the evaporator 40 through the expansion valve 30 and flows into the compressor 10 again. This refrigeration cycle may be performed repeatedly (S31).

On the other hand, if the defrost temperature is less than T2, the step S14 is performed to determine whether hot gas defrosting operation (S32). Then, according to the determined room temperature to perform the steps of S15 or less again.

By the defrost control of the refrigerator, when the room temperature is above a predetermined temperature, the hot gas defrosting operation may be performed, and when below the predetermined temperature, the heater defrosting operation may be performed to improve the defrosting efficiency.

1 is a block diagram showing a refrigeration system of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flow chart showing a control process of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (11)

If the defrosting operating conditions are established during operation of the refrigerator, allowing the room temperature to be sensed; If the room temperature is greater than or equal to T1, driving a compressor to perform hot gas defrosting operation; Allowing the refrigerant to be bypassed from the compressor outlet to the evaporator inlet side while the hot gas defrosting operation is performed; And determining whether to end the defrosting according to the temperature value of the defrosting sensor during the defrosting operation. The method of claim 1, The control method of the refrigerator further comprises the step of turning off the evaporator fan when the defrosting operating conditions are established. The method of claim 1, And controlling the condenser fan to be operated while the hot gas defrosting operation is performed. The method of claim 1, If the room temperature is less than T1, the compressor further comprises the step of turning off the refrigerator. The method of claim 4, wherein If the room temperature is less than T1, the control method of the refrigerator further comprising the step of turning on the defrost heater. The method of claim 1, In the process of bypassing the refrigerant, And controlling the first discharge port of the valve unit to close and the second discharge port to open. The method of claim 1, In the step of determining whether the defrost is finished, And determining whether the hot gas defrosting operation is performed when the temperature of the defrost sensor is greater than or equal to T2, and when the temperature of the defrost sensor is less than T2, defrosting operation is terminated. If the defrosting operation is performed during operation of the refrigerator, turning off the evaporator fan; In the process of performing the defrosting operation, selecting hot gas defrosting operation or general defrosting operation according to an indoor temperature value; Operating a compressor in the hot gas defrosting operation, and turning off the compressor in the general defrosting operation; And determining whether to end the defrosting operation according to the temperature value of the defrosting sensor during the defrosting operation. The method of claim 8, In the hot gas defrosting operation, And controlling the discharge port of the valve unit to bypass the refrigerant from the compressor outlet to the evaporator inlet. The method of claim 9, In the hot gas defrosting operation, And controlling the condenser fan to operate. The method of claim 8, In the general defrosting operation process, The control method of the refrigerator further comprising the step of turning off the condenser fan.

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