Method for controlling refrigerator to alternately cool two storage compartments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11732948-B2
Application number	US-201917265311-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2019
Priority date	Aug 2, 2018
Publication date	Aug 22, 2023
Grant date	Aug 22, 2023

Abstract

A method for controlling a refrigerator comprises: as a first refrigeration cycle for refrigeration of a first storage chamber is operated, operating a compressor and operating a first cold air supply; when the first refrigeration cycle has been operated for a first run time, converting to a second refrigeration cycle for refrigeration of a second storage chamber, and operating a second cold air supply; and if the second refrigeration cycle has been operated for a second run time, stopping the second refrigeration cycle. A first reference time is determined using a representative value obtained based on the temperature of the first storage chamber during a single run cycle, which includes a previous first refrigeration cycle and a previous second refrigeration cycle. A second reference time period is determined using a representative value obtained on the basis of the temperature of the second storage chamber during the single run cycle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a refrigerator, the refrigerator including a compressor that compresses refrigerant, a first evaporator that receives refrigerant from the compressor to generate cold air for cooling a first storage compartment, a first cold air supply device that supplies cold air to the first storage compartment, a second evaporator that receives refrigerant from the compressor and generates cold air for cooling a second storage compartment, a second cold air supply device that supplies cold air to the second storage compartment, a valve that selectively opens one of a first refrigerant passage connecting the compressor and the first evaporator to allow the refrigerant to flow and a second refrigerant passage connecting the compressor and the second evaporator to allow the refrigerant to flow, and the refrigerator being configured to alternately cool the first storage compartment and the second storage compartment, the method comprising:
operating a current first cooling cycle to cool the first storage compartment to operate the compressor and operating the first cold air supply device for the first storage compartment;
switching to a current second cooling cycle to cool the second storage compartment to operate the compressor and operating the second cold air supply device after the current first cooling cycle is operated for a first operation time; and
stopping the current second cooling cycle when the current second cooling cycle is operated for a second operation time;
determining the first operation time using a first representative value, which is based on a temperature of the first storage compartment during a previous operation cycle, the previous operation cycle including a previous first cooling cycle and a previous second cooling cycle; and
determining the second operation time using a second representative value, which is based on a temperature of the second storage compartment during the previous operation cycle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first representative value is a temperature deviation of the first storage compartment during the previous operation cycle, and
wherein the second representative value is a temperature deviation of the second storage compartment during the previous operation cycle.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the first operation time includes comparing the first representative value and a first predetermined value, and determining the first operation time according to a result of the comparison; and
determining the second operation time includes comparing the second representative value and a second predetermined value, and determining the second operating time according to a result of the comparison.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein, when the first predetermined value is equal to the first representative value, the first operation time is determined to be a same time as a previous first operation time in the previous operation cycle, and when the second predetermined value is equal to the second representative value, the second operation time is determined to be a same time as a previous second operation time in the previous operation cycle.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein, when a difference between the first predetermined value and the first representative value is greater than zero, indicating that the first representative value is less than the first predetermined value, the first operation time is determined to be longer than the previous first operation time; and
when a difference between the first predetermined value and the first representative value is less than zero, indicating that the first representative value is greater than the first predetermined value, the first operation time is determined to be shorter than the previous first operation time.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein an amount that the first operation time is decreased or increased from the previous first operation time is based on an absolute value of the difference between the first predetermined temperature and the first representative value.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein operating the current first cooling cycle and switching to the current second cooling cycle includes operating the compressor with a fixed cooling power regardless of a number of operation cycles.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein operating the current first cooling cycle and switching to the current second cooling cycle includes operating the compressor at a cooling power, and the cooling power of the compressor in the current first cooling cycle is determined based on the temperature of the first storage compartment during the previous operation cycle, and is maintained to be equal to a previous cooling power of the compressor in the previous first cooling cycle or is changed, and
wherein the cooling power of the compressor in the current second cooling cycle is determined based on the temperature of the second storage compartment during the previous operation cycle, and is maintained to be equal to a previous cooling power of the compressor in a previous second cooling cycle or is changed.

9. A method for controlling a refrigerator, comprising:
operating a current first cooling cycle to cool a first storage compartment via a compressor operating at a first cooling power for a first operation time;
after the first operation time, operating a current second cooling cycle to cool a second storage compartment via the compressor operating at a second cooling power for a second operating time
determining the first cooling power of the compressor in the current first cooling cycle using a first representative value, which is based on a temperature of the first storage compartment during a previous operation cycle including a previous first cooling cycle and a previous second cooling cycle, and
determining the second cooling power of the compressor in the current second cooling cycle using a second representative value, which is based on a temperature of the second storage compartment during the previous operation cycle.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first representative value is an average temperature of the first storage compartment, and
wherein the second representative value is an average temperature of the second storage compartment.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first representative value is an average temperature between a first temperature and a second temperature of the first storage compartment, and
wherein the second representative value is an average temperature between a first temperature and a second temperature of the second storage compartment.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein:
determining the first cooling power includes comparing the first representative value with a first predetermined temperature and determining the first cooling power according to a result of the comparison, and
determining the second cooling power includes comparing the second representative value with a second predetermined temperature and determining the second cooling power according to a result of the comparison.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein,
when the first predetermined temperature is equal to the first representative value, the first cooling power is determined to be equal to a previous first cooling power in the previous operating, and
when the second predetermined temperature is equal to the second representative value, the second cooling power is determined to be equal to a previous second cooling power in the previous operating cycle.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein:
when a difference between the first predetermined temperature and the

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Ahn Seunguk
• Cha Kyunghun
• Chae Sunam

Classifications

• F25D11/022 Primary

  with two or more evaporators · CPC title

• F25B5/02

  arranged in parallel · CPC title

• F25B49/022

  Compressor control arrangements · CPC title

• F25D29/00 Primary

  Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices · CPC title

• F25B2400/19

  Pumping down refrigerant from one part of the cycle to another part of the cycle, e.g. when the cycle is changed from cooling to heating, or before a defrost cycle is started · CPC title