Operation control method of refrigerator

Abstract

 An operation control method of a refrigerator including a main body defining a freezing compartment (50) and a refrigerating compartment (40), an evaporator (41,51) cooling the freezing compartment (50) and the refrigerating compartment (40), a heater (45) defrosting the evaporator (41), and a plurality of blowing fans (43,53) respectively corresponding to the freezing compartment (50) and the refrigerating compartment (40). The method includes setting a heater operation temperature less than a control temperature of the refrigerating compartment; measuring a temperature (T_so) of air surrounding the refrigerator; measuring an inside temperature (T_r) of the refrigerating compartment; and operating the heater (45) and the blowing fan (43) corresponding to the refrigerating compartment (40) when the measured temperature (T_so) of the surrounding air is less than a set reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature (T_r) is less than the heater operation temperature.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims benefit of Korean Patent Application No.2005-0073742, filed on August 11, 2005, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to an operation control method of a refrigerator, and more particularly, to an operation control method of a refrigerator, which is capable of preventing unnecessary cooling and heating operations from being performed in a refrigerating compartment when the surrounding air has a low temperature.

Description of the Related Art

[0003] A refrigerator is an apparatus for keeping various foods fresh for a long period of time by using cooling air produced in a cooling loop. The refrigerator usually includes a freezing compartment for storing frozen foods below freezing temperature, a refrigerating compartment for storing refrigerated foods over the freezing temperature, and the cooling loop for cooling the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment.

[0004] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic layout of a cooling loop 10 of a so-called independent cooling method, as an example of the cooling loop 10, in which evaporators 41, 51 and blowing fans 43, 53 are independently provided in a refrigerating compartment 40 and a freezing compartment 50. Referring to the drawing, the cooling loop 10 is provided with a compressor 11 compressing a refrigerant of a high temperature and a low pressure into one of a high temperature and a high pressure, a condenser 12 condensing a compressed refrigerant, a capillary tube 13 adiabatically expanding the condensed refrigerant of a low temperature and a high pressure, and the evaporators 41, 51 provided in the refrigerating compartment 40 and the freezing compartment 50, respectively to evaporate the expanded refrigerant and thus produce the cooling air. The cooling loop 10 can be further provided with the blowing fans 43, 53 supplying the cooling air produced by the evaporators 41, 51 to the refrigerating compartment 40 and the freezing compartment 50, and a refrigerating compartment heater 45 and a freezing compartment heater 55 to heat and defrost the evaporators 41, 51.

[0005] Operation of the cooling loop 10 with the configuration described above will now be described. First, the freezing compartment 50 and the refrigerating compartment 40 are set to maintain a control temperature range having a predetermined upper limit temperature and a predetermined lower limit temperature. When an inside temperature of the freezing compartment 50 or the refrigerating compartment 40 is out of the control temperature range, the compressor 11 is operated to make the evaporator 51 or 41 produce the cooling air. In general, the compressor 11 is turned on or off according to the inside temperature of the freezing compartment 50, as the heat load of the compressor is greater than that of the refrigerating compartment 40.

[0006] In a case where the compressor 11 is operated when a predetermined condition is met (for example, the inside temperature of the freezing compartment 50 is greater than the upper limit temperature), cooling of the refrigerating compartment 40 is usually performed together with cooling of the freezing compartment 50 unless the inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40 is less than the lower limit temperature. Therefore, in many cases, when the compressor 11 begins to be operated, the cooling operation of the refrigerating compartment 40 begins. This is intended to reduce a frequency of the separate operation of the compressor 11 for the refrigerating compartment 40 and form a regular operation pattern of the cooling cycle by making it possible to cool the refrigerating compartment 40 and the freezing compartment 50 at the same time by one-time operation of the compressor 11, thus increasing operation stability of the cooling cycle 10.

[0007] However, in the conventional operation control method of a refrigerator, there is a drawback. Specifically, when a temperature difference ΔT1 between a temperature of surrounding air and the inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40 is less than a temperature difference ΔT2 between the inside temperatures of the refrigerating compartment 40 and the freezing compartment 50, since the temperature of surrounding air around a refrigerator is low, heat of the refrigerating compartment 40 is transferred to the freezing compartment 50, so that over-cooling of the refrigerating compartment 40 occurs.

[0008] Meanwhile, there are conventional refrigerators that adopt a method of increasing the inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40 by using the refrigerating compartment heater 45 and the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 when there is a risk of the over-cooling of the refrigerating compartment 40.

[0009] However, in the conventional refrigerators, a determination whether to operate the refrigerating compartment heater 45 is made based on surface temperature of the evaporator 41, which is at a very low temperature right after operation of the compressor 11 is stopped. Therefore, the refrigerating compartment heater 45 is operated very frequently, which is a drawback. Also, the inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40 is increased undesirably, since the refrigerating compartment heater 45 is operated even when the temperature of surrounding air is so high that it is unnecessary to heat the refrigerating compartment 40 (i.e., ΔT1 ≥ ΔT2), or the inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40 is so high that there is no risk of over-cooling of the refrigerating compartment 40.

[0010] Further, there is another drawback. Since the increased inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40 causes the cooling operation to be performed again, and the surface temperature of the evaporator 41, which drops by the cooling operation, causes the refrigerating compartment heater 45 to be operated, the unnecessary cooling operation and the heating operation are performed repeatedly in the refrigerating compartment 40 for each cooling cycle.

[0011] Accordingly, in the conventional operation control method of a refrigerator, there are various drawbacks. Efficiency is deteriorated, since, for example, more energy is consumed when the surrounding air temperature is in the low temperature state than when in the high temperature state due to the unnecessary cooling and heating operations repeatedly performed when in the low temperature state.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide an operation method of a refrigerator, which is capable of reducing energy consumption and thus improving efficiency in operation of the refrigerator by preventing unnecessary cooling and heating operations performed in a refrigerating compartment to prevent over-cooling of the refrigerating compartment when the surrounding air is in a low temperature state.

[0013] Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

[0014] The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can be achieved by providing an operation control method of a refrigerator including a main body defining a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment, an evaporator cooling the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, a heater defrosting the evaporator, and a plurality of blowing fans respectively corresponding to the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, the operation control method comprising: setting a heater operation temperature less than a control temperature of the refrigerating compartment; measuring a temperature of air surrounding the refrigerator; measuring an inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment; and operating the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is less than a set reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature is less than the heater operation temperature.

[0015] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment at the same time that the heater starts to be operated.

[0016] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operation control further comprises: setting a heater stop temperature; and stopping an operation of the heater when the measured inside temperature reaches the heater stop temperature.

[0017] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises: operating the heater; setting a heater stop temperature; measuring a temperature of the evaporator; stopping the operating of the heater when the measured temperature of the evaporator reaches the set heater stop temperature; and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment.

[0018] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises: operating the heater for a set heater operation time; stopping the operation of the heater after the heater operation time has elapsed; and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment.

[0019] According to an aspect of the present invention, the refrigerator further comprises a plurality of the freezing compartments and the refrigerating compartments, and a plurality of the evaporators and the heaters respectively corresponding to the freezing compartments and refrigerating compartments.

[0020] The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can be achieved by providing an operation control method of a refrigerator including a main body defining a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment, an evaporator cooling the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, blowing fans respectively corresponding to the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, and a compressor compressing a refrigerant supplied to the evaporator, the operation control method comprising: setting a first fan control temperature greater than a control temperature of the refrigerating compartment; measuring a temperature of air surrounding the refrigerator; measuring an inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment; and performing a cooling operation comprising maintaining operation of the compressor and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is less than a set reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment is equal to or greater than the first fan control temperature.

[0021] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operation control method further comprises: setting a second fan control temperature less than the control temperature of the refrigerating compartment; and performing the cooling operation comprising maintaining the operation of the compressor and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is equal to or higher than the reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment is equal to or greater than the second fan control temperature.

[0022] According to an aspect of the present invention, the refrigerator further comprises a plurality of the freezing compartments and the refrigerating compartments, and a plurality of the evaporators and the heaters respectively corresponding to the freezing compartments and refrigerating compartments.

[0023] The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can be achieved by providing an operation control method of a refrigerator including a main body defining a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment, an evaporator cooling the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, a heater defrosting the evaporator, a plurality of blowing fans respectively corresponding to the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, and a compressor compressing a refrigerant supplied to the evaporator, the operation control method comprising: setting a first fan control temperature greater than a control temperature of the refrigerating compartment; setting a heater operation temperature less than the control temperature of the refrigerating compartment; measuring a temperature of air surrounding the refrigerator; measuring an inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment; performing a cooling operation comprising maintaining operation of the compressor and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is less than a set reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment is equal to or greater than the first fan control temperature; and heating the refrigerating compartment comprising operating the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is less than the reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature is less than the heater operation temperature after the operation of the compressor is stopped.

[0024] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operation control method further comprises: setting a second fan control temperature less than the control temperature of the refrigerating compartment; and performing the cooling operation comprising maintaining the operation of the compressor and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is equal to or greater than the reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment is equal to or greater than the second fan control temperature.

[0025] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment at the same time that the heater starts to be operated.

[0026] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operation control method further comprises: setting a heater stop temperature greater than the control temperature of the refrigerating compartment; and stopping the operation of the heater when the measured inside temperature reaches the heater stop temperature.

[0027] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises: operating the heater; setting a heater stop temperature; measuring a temperature of the evaporator; stopping the operation of the heater when the measured temperature of the evaporator reaches the set heater stop temperature; and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment.

[0028] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises: operating the heater for a set heater operation time; stopping the operation of the heater after the heater operation time has elapsed; and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment.

[0029] According to an aspect of the present invention, the refrigerator further comprises a plurality of the freezing compartments and the refrigerating compartments, and a plurality of the evaporators and the heaters respectively corresponding to the freezing compartments and refrigerating compartments.

[0030] The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can be achieved by providing an operation control method of a refrigerator including a refrigerating compartment, an evaporator cooling the refrigerating compartment, and a heater defrosting the evaporator, the operation control method comprising: operating the heater according to a temperature of air surrounding the refrigerator and/or an inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment.

[0031] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operating the heater comprises operating the heater when a temperature of the surrounding air is less than a reference surrounding air temperature.

[0032] According to an aspect of the present invention, the operating the heater further comprises operating the heater when the inside temperature is less than a heater operation temperature.

[0033] The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can be achieved by providing a refrigerator comprising: a refrigerating compartment; an evaporator cooling the refrigerating compartment; a heater defrosting the evaporator; and a controller to operate the heater according to a temperature of air surrounding the refrigerator and/or an inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the prevent invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a cooling loop in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a refrigerator in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a cooling operation control method in accordance with the refrigerator of FIG. 2; and

FIGS. 4 to 6 are flowcharts of heating operation control methods of the refrigerator of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. Before a detailed description of the present invention is provided, it should be noted that although the embodiments are described using a refrigerator of an independent cooling method in which separate evaporators 41, 51 and blowing fans 43, 53 are provided in a refrigerating compartment 40 and a freezing compartment 50, application of the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0036] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a refrigerator in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The present refrigerator includes elements similar to elements of the cooling loop 10, and thus another discussion thereof is omitted.

[0037] The refrigerator further includes an input part 21 for inputting control temperatures of the refrigerating compartment 40 and the freezing compartment 50, a reference surrounding air temperature T_S0, a first fan control temperature T_b1, a second fan control temperature T_b2 and the like, a surrounding air measuring part 23 for measuring a surrounding air temperature T_S, a refrigerating compartment inside temperature measuring part 47 for measuring an inside temperature T_r of the refrigerating compartment 40, and a controller 30. Additionally, the refrigerator may further include a counting part 27 counting a heater operation time t_h of the heaters 45 and an evaporator surface temperature measuring part 49 for measuring an evaporator surface temperature T_E.

[0038] Detailed descriptions of the parts of the refrigerator with the aforementioned configuration will be provided in each operation below when an operation control method is described.

[0039] Referring to FIG. 3, after the refrigerator starts to be operated (S10), the reference surrounding air temperature T_S0, the first fan control temperature T_b1, the second fan control temperature T_b2, a heater operation temperature T_h1, a heater stop temperature T_h2 and the heater operation time t_h are set through the input part 21 (S11).

[0040] The reference surrounding air temperature T_S0 is defined as a reference temperature used to determine whether the surrounding air temperature T_S is in a low temperature state or in a high temperature state. The reference surrounding air temperature T_S0 can be varied according to an operation condition of the refrigerator, and can be set at, for example, 18°C.

[0041] The first fan control temperature T_b1 is a temperature greater than the control temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40, and is used to determine whether to operate the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 when the surrounding air temperature T_S is less than the reference surrounding air temperature T_S0.

[0042] The second fan control temperature T_b2 is a temperature less than the control temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40, and which is used to determine whether to operate the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 when the surrounding air temperature T_S is equal to or greater than the reference surrounding air temperature T_S0.

[0043] Herein, the first fan control temperature T_b1 can be set as a control upper limit temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40, and the second fan control temperature T_b2 can be set as a control lower limit temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40. Alternatively, the first fan control temperature T_b1 and the second fan control temperature T_b2 can be set different from the control upper limit temperature and the control lower limit temperature, respectively, or can be set different in each of the high temperature state and the low temperature state.

[0044] The heater operation temperature T_h1 is set to determine whether to operate the refrigerating compartment heater 45 when the surrounding air temperature T_S is in the low temperature state, while the heater stop temperature T_h2 is set to determine whether to stop the operation of the refrigerating compartment heater 45. Herein, the heater operation temperature T_h1 can be equal to or different from the control lower limit temperature, according to operation characteristics of the refrigerator.

[0045] Next, the surrounding air temperature T_S and the inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40 (hereinafter, referred to as a refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r) are measured by the surrounding air measuring part 23 provided outside the refrigerator and the refrigerating compartment inside temperature measuring part 47 provided inside the refrigerating compartment 40 (S12).

[0046] When the compressor 11 is operated under a predetermined condition (for example, when the inside temperature of the freezing compartment 50 is out of the control temperature range) (S13), it is determined whether the surrounding air temperature T_S is in the low temperature state or in the high temperature state by comparing the measured surrounding air temperature T_S with the set reference surrounding air temperature T_S0 (S14).

[0047] If it is determined that the surrounding air temperature T_S is in the high temperature state (the surrounding air temperature T_S is equal to or greater than the reference surrounding air temperature T_S0)(S14), the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is compared with the second fan control temperature T_b2 (S18). If the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is equal to or greater than the second fan control temperature T_b2, the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 is operated to perform the cooling operation (S19a). In contrast, if the measured refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is less than the second fan control temperature T_b2, the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 is maintained in an inoperative state (S19b).

[0048] Herein, since the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 can be in an operative state or the inoperative state while the compressor 11 is operated, the operation S19a can also be described as 'the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 begins operation or is maintained in the operative state' and the operation S19b can be described as 'the operation of the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 is stopped or the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 is maintained in an inoperative state'. Further, it should be noted that, although, in FIG. 3, a separate heating operation is not performed when the surrounding air temperature T_S is in the high temperature state, in which over-cooling rarely occurs, the embodiment of the present invention does not exclude the possibility that the separate heating operation is performed to prevent the over-cooling of the refrigerating compartment 40 even when the surrounding air temperature T_S is in the high temperature state.

[0049] Meanwhile, if the surrounding air temperature T_S is determined to be in the low temperature state (S14), the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is compared with the first fan control temperature T_b1 (S16). If the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is equal to or greater than the first fan control temperature T_b1, the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 is operated (S17a). In contrast, if the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is less than the first fan control temperature T_b1, the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 is maintained in the inoperative state (S17b).

[0050] Herein, since the first fan control temperature T_b1 is one which is set above the control temperature of the refrigerating compartment 40, if it is determined whether to operate the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 using the first fan control temperature T_b1 as a reference when in the low temperature state, frequency of the cooling operation of the refrigerating compartment 40 can be reduced relatively and unnecessary cooling operations can be prevented, thus preventing the over-cooling of the refrigerating compartment 40.

[0051] FIGS. 4 to 6 are operation control methods of the heater in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. When each aspect is described, duplicate operations will be described only in the first aspect. In the second and the third aspects, operations different from the first aspect will be described in detail.

First aspect (FIG. 4)

[0052] Referring to the drawing, when the operation of the compressor 11 is stopped under a predetermined condition (for example, the inside temperature of the freezing compartment 50 is within the control temperature range) (S21), the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r of the refrigerating compartment 40 is measured through the refrigerating compartment inside temperature measuring part 47 (S22).

[0053] The measured refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is compared with the heater operation temperature T_h1 (S23). If the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is less than the heater operation temperature T_h1, the refrigerating compartment heater 45 and the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 are operated to prevent the over-cooling of the refrigerating compartment 40 (S24). In contrast, if the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is equal to or greater than the heater operation temperature T_h1, the refrigerating compartment heater 45 is maintained in the inoperative state since there is no risk of the over-cooling of the refrigerating compartment 40 (S28).

[0054] The determination whether to operate the refrigerating compartment heater 45 is made based on the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r instead of the surface temperature of the evaporators 41. This prevents unnecessary operation of the refrigerating compartment heater 45 when the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is sufficiently high, while the surface temperature of the evaporators 41 is low.

[0055] Meanwhile, after the refrigerating compartment heater 45 starts to be operated, the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is repeatedly measured to be compared with the heater stop temperature T_h2 (S25). If the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r becomes equal to or greater than the heater stop temperature T_h2, the operation of the refrigerating compartment heater 45 is stopped (S26). At this time, the operation of the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 can be stopped together with the refrigerating compartment heater 45 or its operation can be maintained.

[0056] Next, if the operation of the refrigerator is not stopped (S27), the aforementioned processes are repeated when the compressor 11 is operated in the next cycle (S13).

Second aspect (FIG. 5)

[0057] An operation control method of the heater in accordance with a second aspect of the present invention is different from that of the first embodiment in that the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 starts to be operated after the operation of the refrigerating compartment heater 45 is stopped. That is, if it is determined that the refrigerating compartment inside temperature T_r is less than the heater operation temperature T_h1 (S33), only the refrigerating compartment heater 45 starts to be operated first (S34a).

[0058] When the refrigerating compartment heater 45 is operated, the evaporator surface temperature measuring part 49 measures the evaporator surface temperature T_E (S35). Alternatively, instead of the evaporator surface temperature T_E of the evaporator 41, temperature of another part can be measured as necessary. If the measured evaporator surface temperature T_E is equal to or greater than the heater stop temperature T_h2 (S36), the operation of the refrigerating compartment heater 45 is stopped (S37) and the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 43 is operated (S38).

Third aspect (FIG. 6)

[0059] A condition in which the operation of the refrigerating compartment heater 45 is stopped is different from that of the second aspect.

[0060] That is, the refrigerating compartment heater 45 is operated for the previously set heater operation time t_h and then its operation is stopped (S45 and S46). Next, the blowing fan 43 starts to be operated. Herein, the counting part 27 measures operation time of the refrigerating compartment heater 45 and transmits a signal indicating the time to the controller 30.

[0061] As described above, in accordance with the operation control method of a refrigerator of the embodiment of the present invention, when surrounding air is in the low temperature state, the determination whether to operate the heater is made based on the inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment instead of the surface temperature of the evaporator. Therefore, it is possible to operate the heater only when the heating operation is necessary, that is, there is a risk of the over-cooling of the refrigerating compartment, thus preventing the unnecessary cooling operation.

[0062] That is, in the operation control method of a refrigerator in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, since the cooling operation or the heating operation of the refrigeration compartment is performed only when necessary, the amount of energy consumed in an unnecessary operation can be minimized. Accordingly, efficiency in operation of a refrigerator can be improved, and defects, such as crack formation in welded joints of the main body due to sharp temperature changes of the refrigerating compartment and the evaporator, can be prevented.

[0063] As described above, in accordance with the operation control method of a refrigerator of the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to reduce energy consumption and thus improve efficiency in operation of the refrigerator by preventing the unnecessary cooling and heating operation performed in the refrigerating compartment for the purpose of preventing the over-cooling of the refrigerating compartment when the surrounding air temperature is in the low temperature state.

[0064] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An operation control method of a refrigerator including a main body defining a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment, an evaporator cooling the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, a heater defrosting the evaporator, and a plurality of blowing fans respectively corresponding to the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, the operation control method comprising:

setting a heater operation temperature less than a control temperature of the refrigerating compartment;

measuring a temperature of air surrounding the refrigerator;

measuring an inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment; and

operating the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is less than a set reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature is less than the heater operation temperature.

2. The operation control method according to claim 1, wherein the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment at the same time that the heater starts to be operated.

3. The operation control method according to claim 2, further comprising:

setting a heater stop temperature; and

stopping an operation of the heater when the measured inside temperature reaches the heater stop temperature.

4. The operation control method according to claim 1, wherein the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises:

operating the heater;

setting a heater stop temperature;

measuring a temperature of the evaporator;

stopping the operating of the heater when the measured temperature of the evaporator reaches the set heater stop temperature; and

operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment.

5. The operation control method according to claim 1, wherein the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises:

operating the heater for a set heater operation time;

stopping the operation of the heater after the heater operation time has elapsed; and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment.

6. The operation control method according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator further comprises a plurality of the freezing compartments and the refrigerating compartments, and a plurality of the evaporators and the heaters respectively corresponding to the freezing compartments and refrigerating compartments.

7. An operation control method of a refrigerator including a main body defining a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment, an evaporator cooling the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, blowing fans respectively corresponding to the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, and a compressor compressing a refrigerant supplied to the evaporator, the operation control method comprising:

setting a first fan control temperature greater than a control temperature of the refrigerating compartment;

measuring a temperature of air surrounding the refrigerator;

measuring an inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment; and

performing a cooling operation comprising maintaining operation of the compressor and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is less than a set reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment is equal to or greater than the first fan control temperature.

8. The operation control method according to claim 7, further comprising:

setting a second fan control temperature less than the control temperature of the refrigerating compartment; and

performing the cooling operation comprising maintaining the operation of the compressor and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is equal to or higher than the reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment is equal to or greater than the second fan control temperature.

9. The operation control method according to claim 8, wherein the refrigerator further comprises a plurality of the freezing compartments and the refrigerating compartments, and a plurality of the evaporators and the heaters respectively corresponding to the freezing compartments and refrigerating compartments.

10. An operation control method of a refrigerator including a main body defining a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment, an evaporator cooling the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, a heater defrosting the evaporator, a plurality of blowing fans respectively corresponding to the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, and a compressor compressing a refrigerant supplied to the evaporator, the operation control method comprising:

setting a first fan control temperature greater than a control temperature of the refrigerating compartment;

setting a heater operation temperature less than the control temperature of the refrigerating compartment;

measuring a temperature of air surrounding the refrigerator;

measuring an inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment;

performing a cooling operation comprising maintaining operation of the compressor and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is less than a set reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment is equal to or greater than the first fan control temperature; and

heating the refrigerating compartment comprising operating the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is less than the reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature is less than the heater operation temperature after the operation of the compressor is stopped.

11. The operation control method according to claim 10, further comprising:

setting a second fan control temperature less than the control temperature of the refrigerating compartment; and

performing the cooling operation comprising maintaining the operation of the compressor and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment when the measured temperature of the surrounding air is equal to or greater than the reference surrounding air temperature and the measured inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment is equal to or greater than the second fan control temperature.

12. The operation control method according to claim 10, wherein the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment at the same time that the heater starts to be operated.

13. The operation control method according to claim 10, further comprising:

setting a heater stop temperature greater than the control temperature of the refrigerating compartment; and

stopping the operation of the heater when the measured inside temperature reaches the heater stop temperature.

14. The operation control method according to claim 10, wherein the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises:

operating the heater;

setting a heater stop temperature;

measuring a temperature of the evaporator;

stopping the operation of the heater when the measured temperature of the evaporator reaches the set heater stop temperature; and

operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment.

15. The operation control method according to claim 10, wherein the operating of the heater and the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment comprises:

operating the heater for a set heater operation time;

stopping the operation of the heater after the heater operation time has elapsed; and operating the blowing fan corresponding to the refrigerating compartment.

16. The operation control method according to claim 10, wherein the refrigerator further comprises a plurality of the freezing compartments and the refrigerating compartments, and a plurality of the evaporators and the heaters respectively corresponding to the freezing compartments and refrigerating compartments.

17. An operation control method of a refrigerator including a refrigerating compartment, an evaporator cooling the refrigerating compartment, and a heater defrosting the evaporator, the operation control method comprising:

operating the heater according to a temperature of air surrounding the refrigerator and/or an inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment.

18. The operation control method according to claim 17, wherein the operating the heater comprises operating the heater when a temperature of the surrounding air is less than a reference surrounding air temperature.

19. The operation control method according to claim 18, wherein the operating the heater further comprises operating the heater when the inside temperature is less than a heater operation temperature.

20. A refrigerator comprising:

a refrigerating compartment;

an evaporator cooling the refrigerating compartment;

a heater defrosting the evaporator; and

a controller to operate the heater according to a temperature of air surrounding the refrigerator and/or an inside temperature of the refrigerating compartment.

Drawing