Method for controlling operation of refrigerator through mechanical rotary knob

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11085693-B2
Application number	US-201716473234-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2017
Priority date	Dec 22, 2016
Publication date	Aug 10, 2021
Grant date	Aug 10, 2021

Abstract

The present invention discloses an air volume adjustment device for a refrigerator. The air volume adjustment device comprises: a fan capable of introducing cold air from an evaporator into the first air inlet cavity and the second air inlet cavity; a baffle arranged between a first air inlet cavity of a first compartment and a second air inlet cavity of a second compartment, which is capable of moving among a plurality of positions to adjust the volume of air entering the first air inlet cavity and the second air inlet cavity; and an operating knob and a potentiometer which are connected to the front side and the rear side of the baffle, respectively. The operating knob is capable of operably driving the baffle to move. The potentiometer transfers an electrical signal corresponding to a position of the baffle to the controller for controlling the fan or the compressor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator comprising an air volume adjustment device, wherein the refrigerator comprises a cabinet body, a compressor and an evaporator, wherein:
a first compartment and a second compartment are defined in the cabinet body; a first air inlet cavity communicated with the first compartment and a second air inlet cavity communicated with the second compartment are arranged on a back of the first compartment and a back of the second compartment respectively;
the compressor is arranged at a bottom of the cabinet body;
the evaporator is arranged in an evaporator cavity of the cabinet body and is capable of supplying cold to the first compartment and the second compartment;
the air volume adjustment device is arranged on at least one of the backs of the first compartment and the second compartment, and comprises a fan and a baffle; the baffle is arranged between the first air inlet cavity and the second air inlet cavity; the fan is capable of introducing cold air from the evaporator into the first air inlet cavity and the second air inlet cavity; the baffle is capable of moving among a plurality of positions to adjust a volume of air entering the first air inlet cavity and a volume of air entering the second air inlet cavity; the refrigerator further comprises a controller connecting the compressor and the air volume adjustment device;
and wherein the air volume adjustment device further comprises an operating knob connected to a first side of the baffle and a potentiometer connected to a second side of the baffle opposite to the first side of the baffle along a direction perpendicular to a moving plane of the baffle; the operating knob is arranged inside one of the first compartment and the second compartment; the potentiometer is connected to the controller; the operating knob is capable of operably driving the baffle to move for selecting a desired gear of the baffle; the potentiometer transfers an electrical signal corresponding to a position of the baffle to the controller; the controller controls the fan according to the fan speed matched to the selected gear, and the controller controls the compressor to be started up or shut down according to a startup point or a shutdown point of the compressor matched to the selected gear.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the operating knob is configured as a rotary knob which drives the baffle to rotate among the plurality of positions.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the first compartment is configured as a refrigerating compartment; the second compartment is configured as a freezing compartment; the air volume adjustment device is arranged on the back of the freezing compartment.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the cabinet body further comprises a front cover plate arranged on the back of the freezing compartment and a rear cover plate connected to the front cover plate; the first air inlet cavity and the second air inlet cavity are arranged between the front cover plate and the rear cover plate.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 4 , wherein the potentiometer is mounted on the rear cover plate.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the operating knob is capable of driving the baffle to move among at least three positions, such that the refrigerator can be switched among at least three modes; in the first position, the volume of air entering the refrigerating compartment is equal to that entering the freezing compartment, and the refrigerator is operating in a conventional mode; in the second position, the volume of air entering the refrigerating compartment is less than that entering the freezing compartment, and the refrigerator is operating in a fast cooling mode; in the third position, the volume of air entering the refrigerating compartment is greater than that entering the freezing compartment, and the refrigerator is operating in a freezing-to-refrigerating mode.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 6 , wherein in the fast cooling mode, the controller controls the rotational speed of the fan to increase by 10% compared to the conventional mode; in the freezing-to-refrigerating mode, the controller controls the rotational speed of the fan to reduce by 10% compared to the conventional mode.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 4 , wherein the air volume adjustment device further comprises a columnar body which passes through the front cover plate and the rear cover plate along the direction perpendicular to the moving plane of the baffle; the baffle is fixed on the columnar body to be movable on the moving plane; the operating knob and the potentiometer are connected to two ends of the columnar body, respectively.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 4 , wherein a rear plate of the freezing compartment is arranged in front of the front cover plate; a freezing air duct which is communicated with the freezing compartment is arranged between the front cover plate and the rear plate of the freezing compartment.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 9 , wherein a foam thermal-insulating layer is arranged between the front cover plate and the rear plate of the freezing compartment; the freezing air duct is positioned between the front cover plate and the foam thermal-insulating layer.

Assignees

• Qingdao Haier Joint Stock Co Ltd

Inventors

• Fu Dongxiao
• Liu Qinglin
• Jia Jilong

Classifications

• F25D2600/04

  Controlling heat transfer · CPC title

• F25D2600/06

  Controlling according to a predetermined profile · CPC title

• F25D2317/067

  characterised by air ducts · CPC title

• F25D29/003 Primary

  for movable devices · CPC title

• F25D29/005

  Mounting of control devices · CPC title