Refrigerator and Control Method of Refrigerator

This application is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/KR2023/020486, filed on Dec. 13, 2023, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0020982, filed on Feb. 16, 2023, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

The disclosure relates to a refrigerator that may efficiently operate a defrost heater and a method for controlling the refrigerator.

A refrigerator is a device for storing items such as food, beverages, etc., for a long period without spoilage, and the refrigerator includes a plurality of storage compartments (e.g., a refrigerating compartment, a freezing compartment, a temperature conversion compartment) capable of storing the items.

The refrigerator repeatedly performs a cooling cycle of compression-condensation-expansion-evaporation of a refrigerant to maintain the temperature of the storage compartment at a set target temperature. That is, the refrigerator supplies each storage compartment with air cooled by an evaporator corresponding to each storage compartment based on a target temperature of each storage compartment, thereby maintaining each storage compartment at its target temperature.

Water vapor introduced into the refrigerator from outside at room temperature, or water vapor evaporated from food stored in the refrigerator may form frost on an outer surface of the evaporator at a low temperature due to a temperature difference. In addition, frost on the evaporator's surface may reduce heat exchange efficiency, causing decreased cooling efficiency and increased power consumption.

Provided is a refrigerator that may efficiently remove frost formed on an evaporator, and a method for controlling the refrigerator.

Further, provided is a refrigerator that may economically operate a defrost heater, and a method for controlling the refrigerator.

Technical aspects that can be achieved by the disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned aspects, and other technical aspects not mentioned will be clearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the technical art to which the disclosure belongs from the following description.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a refrigerator including a storage compartment; an evaporator; a defrost heater provided around the evaporator; a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant discharged from the evaporator; a fan configured to supply air cooled by the evaporator to the storage compartment; at least one memory storing instructions and configured to record temperature information of the storage compartment, temperature information of the evaporator, operation information of the compressor, and operation information of the fan at defined time intervals; and at least one processor, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the refrigerator to: identify an index value for detecting a defrost condition based on the temperature information of the storage compartment and the temperature information of the evaporator recorded at a first time point, and the temperature information of the storage compartment and the temperature information of the evaporator recorded at a second time point; identify whether the defrost condition is satisfied based on the index value, the operation information of the compressor, and the operation information of the fan; and operate the defrost heater based on identifying that the defrost condition is satisfied.

The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, may cause the refrigerator to: identify a first value by assigning a defined first weight to a difference value between a temperature value of the evaporator and a temperature value of the storage compartment recorded at the first time point; identify a second value by assigning a defined second weight to the difference value between the temperature value of the evaporator and the temperature value of the storage compartment recorded at the second time point; and identify the index value based on the difference value between the first value and the second value.

The second time point may be a past time point that satisfies a defined condition among time points before the first time point, and wherein the defined condition may include operation information of the compressor and operation information of the fan recorded at the past time point being identical to operation information of the compressor and operation information of the fan recorded at the first time point.

The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, may cause the refrigerator to, based on a presence of a plurality of past time points that satisfy the defined condition, identify an oldest time point among the plurality of past time points as the second time point.

The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, may cause the refrigerator to, based on an absence of a past time point that satisfies the defined condition, omit identifying the index value corresponding to the first time point.

The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, may cause the refrigerator to delete oldest recorded information among the information recorded at the defined time intervals, based on a number of pieces of information recorded at the defined time intervals exceeding a defined number.

The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, may cause the refrigerator to identify the index value at the defined time intervals, based on an elapse of a preset time from at least one of a time point at which an operation of the defrost heater ends or a time point at which power is applied to the refrigerator.

The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, may cause the refrigerator to identify that the defrost condition is satisfied, based on the compressor being in operation for a preset time, a rotation speed of the fan being greater than a defined threshold rotation speed, and the index value corresponding to the first time point being greater than a threshold value.

The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, may cause the refrigerator to identify that the defrost condition is satisfied, based on the compressor being in operation for a preset time, and a defined number of consecutive index values identified at the defined time intervals all being greater than a threshold value.

The instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, may cause the refrigerator to operate the defrost heater based on a cumulative operation time of the compressor exceeding a preset time, based on identifying that the defrost condition is not satisfied.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method for controlling a refrigerator including a storage compartment, an evaporator, a defrost heater provided around the evaporator, a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant discharged from the evaporator; and a fan configured to supply air cooled by the evaporator to the storage compartment, the method including: recording temperature information of the storage compartment, temperature information of the evaporator, operation information of the compressor, and operation information of the fan at defined time intervals; identifying an index value for detecting a defrost condition based on the temperature information of the storage compartment and the temperature information of the evaporator recorded at a first time point, and the temperature information of the storage compartment and the temperature information of the evaporator recorded at a second time point; identifying whether the defrost condition is satisfied based on the index value, the operation information of the compressor, and the operation information of the fan; and operating the defrost heater based on identifying that the defrost condition is satisfied.

The identifying of the index value may include: identifying a first value by assigning a defined first weight to a difference value between a temperature value of the evaporator and a temperature value of the storage compartment recorded at the first time point; identifying a second value by assigning a defined second weight to the difference value between the temperature value of the evaporator and the temperature value of the storage compartment recorded at the second time point; and identifying the index value based on the difference value between the first value and the second value.

The second time point may be a past time point that satisfies a defined condition among time points before the first time point, and wherein the defined condition may include operation information of the compressor and operation information of the fan recorded at the past time point being identical to operation information of the compressor and operation information of the fan recorded at the first time point.

The method may include, based on presence of a plurality of past time points that satisfy the defined condition, identifying an oldest time point among the plurality of past time points as the second time point.

The method may include: based on an absence of a past time point that satisfies the defined condition, omitting the identifying of the index value corresponding to the first time point.

Various embodiments of the disclosure and terms used herein are not intended to limit the technical features described herein to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include various modifications, equivalents, or substitutions of the corresponding embodiments.

In describing of the drawings, similar reference numerals may be used for similar or related elements.

The singular form of a noun corresponding to an item may include one or more of the items unless clearly indicated otherwise in a related context.

In the disclosure, phrases, such as “A or B”, “at least one of A and B”, “at least one of A or B”, “A, B or C”, “at least one of A, B and C”, and “at least one of A, B, or C” may include any one or all possible combinations of the items listed together in the corresponding phrase among the phrases.

As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Terms such as “1st”, “2nd”, “primary”, or “secondary” may be used simply to distinguish an element from other elements, without limiting the element in other aspects (e.g., importance or order).

Further, as used in the disclosure, the terms “front”, “rear”, “top”, “bottom”, “side”, “left”, “right”, “upper”, “lower”, and the like are defined with reference to the drawings, and are not intended to limit the shape and position of any element.

It will be understood that when the terms “includes”, “comprises”, “including”, and/or “comprising” are used in the disclosure, they specify the presence of the specified features, figures, steps, operations, components, members, or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, figures, steps, operations, components, members, or combinations thereof.

When a given element is referred to as being “connected to”, “coupled to”, “supported by” or “in contact with” another element, it is to be understood that it may be directly or indirectly connected to, coupled to, supported by, or in contact with the other element. When a given element is indirectly connected to, coupled to, supported by, or in contact with another element, it is to be understood that it may be connected to, coupled to, supported by, or in contact with the other element through a third element.

It will also be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on” another element, it may be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present.

A refrigerator according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include a main body.

The “main body” may include an inner case, an outer case positioned outside the inner case, and an insulation provided between the inner case and the outer case.

The “inner case” may include a case, a plate, a panel, or a liner forming a storage compartment (also referred to as a storage room). The inner case may be formed as one body, or may be formed by assembling a plurality of plates together. The “outer case” may form an appearance of the main body, and be coupled to an outer side of the inner case such that the insulation is positioned between the inner case and the outer case.

The “insulation” may insulate an inside of the storage compartment from an outside of the storage compartment to maintain inside temperature of the storage compartment at appropriate temperature without being influenced by an external environment of the storage compartment. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the insulation may include a foaming insulation. The foaming insulation may be molded by fixing the inner case and the outer case with jigs, etc. and then injecting and foaming urethane foam as a mixture of polyurethane and a foaming agent between the inner case and the outer case.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the insulation may include a vacuum insulation in addition to a foaming insulation, or may be configured only with a vacuum insulation instead of a forming insulation. The vacuum insulation may include a core material and a cladding material accommodating the core material and sealing the inside with vacuum or pressure close to vacuum. However, the insulation is not limited to the above-mentioned foaming insulation or vacuum insulation, and may include various materials capable of being used for insulation.

The “storage compartment” may include a space defined by the inner case. The storage compartment may further include the inner case defining the space corresponding to the storage compartment. The storage compartment may store a variety of items, such as food, medicines, cosmetics, and the like, and the storage compartment may be configured to be open on at least one side for insertion and removal of the items.

The refrigerator may include one or more storage compartments. In a case in which two or more storage compartments are formed in the refrigerator, the respective storage compartments may have different purposes of use, and may be maintained at different temperatures. To this end, the respective storage compartments may be partitioned by a partition wall including an insulation.

The storage compartment may be maintained within an appropriate temperature range according to a purpose of use, and may include a “refrigerating compartment”, a “freezing compartment”, and a “temperature conversion compartment” according to purposes of use and/or temperature ranges. The refrigerating compartment may be maintained at an appropriate temperature to keep food refrigerating, and the freezing compartment may be maintained at an appropriate temperature to keep food frozen. The “refrigerating” may be keeping food cold without freezing the food, and for example, the refrigerating compartment may be maintained within a range of 0 degrees Celsius to 7 degrees Celsius. The “freezing” may be freezing food or keeping food frozen, and for example, the freezing compartment may be maintained within a range of −20 degrees Celsius to −1 degrees Celsius. The temperature conversion compartment may be used as either a refrigerating compartment or a freezing compartment according to or regardless of a user's selection.

The storage compartment may also be referred to by various terms, such as “vegetable compartment”, “freshness compartment”, “cooling compartment”, and “ice-making compartment”, in addition to “refrigerating compartment”, “freezing compartment”, and “temperature conversion compartment”, and the terms, such as “refrigerating compartment”, “freezing compartment”, “temperature conversion compartment”, etc., as used below are to be understood as representing storage compartments having the corresponding purposes of use and the corresponding temperature ranges.

The refrigerator according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include at least one door configured to open or close the open side of the storage compartment. The respective doors may be provided to open and close one or more storage compartments, or a single door may be provided to open and close a plurality of storage compartments. The door may be rotatably or slidably mounted to the front of the main body.

The “door” may seal the storage compartment in a closed state. The door, like the main body, may include an insulation to insulate the storage compartment in a closed state.

According to an embodiment, the door may include an outer door plate forming the front surface of the door, an inner door plate forming the rear surface of the door and facing the storage compartment, an upper cap, a lower cap, and a door insulation provided therein.

A gasket may be provided on the edge of the inner door plate to seal the storage compartment by coming into close contact with the front surface of the main body when the door is closed. The inner door plate may include a dyke that protrudes rearward to allow a door basket for storing items to be fitted.

According to an embodiment, the door may include a door body and a front panel that is detachably coupled to the front of the door body and forming the front surface of the door. The door body may include an outer door plate forming the front surface of the door body, an inner door plate forming the rear surface of the door body and facing the storage compartment, an upper cap, a lower cap, and a door insulator provided therein.

The refrigerator may be classified as French Door Type, Side-by-side Type, Bottom Mounted Freezer (BMF), Top Mounted Freezer (TMF), or Single Door Refrigerator according to the arrangement of the doors and the storage compartments.

The refrigerator according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include a cold air supply device for supplying cold air to the storage compartment.

The “cold air supply device” may include a machine, an apparatus, an electronic device, and/or a combination system thereof, capable of generating cold air and guiding the cold air to cool the storage compartment.