|
(11) | EP 1 780 484 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
| published in accordance with Art. 158(3) EPC |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
| (54) | COMPOSITE REFRIGERATOR HAVING MULTI-CYCLE REFRIGERATION SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF |
| (57) The present invention discloses a refrigerator having a compression device provided
with several refrigeration loops arranged in series or in parallel, which comprises
a main CPU, a temperature sensor and a refrigeration cycle loop, wherein the refrigeration
cycle loop is composed of a compressor, a condenser, a main capillary, a freezing
evaporator, a refrigerating evaporator and a gas returning pipe connected in series.
A solenoid valve having two output ports is connected to the downstream of the condenser.
One of the output ports is connected to the main capillary and the other is connected
an auxiliary refrigerating cycle branch. The present invention solves the contradiction
between the refrigeration efficiency and the function of stopping freezing, and it
can optimize the system efficiency in the normal using state in which the refrigerating
chamber and the freezing chamber are used simultaneously and reduce the power consumption
effectively, and at the same time it can further realize the function of closing the
freezing chamber and convert the refrigerating chamber into a freezing chamber of
different gradation. |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Firstly, in the refrigeration cycle loop, the freezing evaporator is connected before the refrigerating evaporator; the auxiliary refrigerating cycle branch comprises auxiliary refrigerating capillary, which is in parallel with the main capillary and the freezing evaporator that are connected in series, and which is connected between the output port of the solenoid valve and the input port of the refrigerating evaporator.
Secondly, in the refrigeration cycle loop, the freezing evaporator is connected before the refrigerating evaporator; auxiliary refrigerating cycle branch comprises auxiliary capillary and auxiliary refrigerating evaporator connected thereof in series, and the auxiliary refrigerating cycle branch is in parallel with the main capillary and the freezing evaporator that are connected in series, and which is connected between the output port of the solenoid valve and the input port of the refrigerating evaporator.
Thirdly, in the refrigeration cycle loop, the freezing evaporator is connected before the refrigerating evaporator; auxiliary refrigerating cycle branch comprises auxiliary capillary and auxiliary refrigerating evaporator connected thereof in series, and the auxiliary refrigerating cycle branch is in parallel with the main capillary, the freezing evaporator and the refrigerating evaporator that are connected in series, and which is connected between the output port of the solenoid valve and the output port of the refrigerating evaporator.
Fourthly, in the refrigeration cycle loop, the refrigerating evaporator is connected before the freezing evaporator; auxiliary refrigerating cycle branch comprises auxiliary capillary and auxiliary refrigerating evaporator connected thereof in series, and the auxiliary refrigerating cycle branch is in parallel with main capillary, refrigerating evaporator and freezing evaporator that are connected in series, and which is connected between the output port of the solenoid valve and the output port of the freezing evaporator.
Wherein, the solenoid valve is a two-position three-way valve, which is connected to condenser, main capillary and auxiliary refrigerating capillary respectively. In order to implement the above structure, solenoid valve is two solenoid valves in parallel installation, one of which is connected between the condenser and the main capillary, and the other is connected between the condenser and the auxiliary refrigerating capillary.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is the structural block diagram according to the prior art I;
Figure 2 is the structural block diagram according to the prior art II;
Figure 3 is the structural block diagram according to the prior art III;
Figure 4 is the structural block diagram of the embodiment 1 according to the present invention;
Figure 5 is the structural block diagram of the embodiment 2 according to the present invention;
Figure 6 is the structural block diagram of the embodiment 3 according to the present invention;
Figure 7 is the structural block diagram of the embodiment 4 according to the present invention;
Figure 8 is the structural block diagram of the embodiment 5 according to the present invention;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiment 1:
After the refrigerator is initiated, the compressor begins to operate, the refrigerant is compressed into high-pressure gas by compressor 1 and is discharged, and the high-pressure gas passes through solenoid valve 31 after being condensed by the condenser 2. The temperature sensor detects the temperatures of the freezing chamber and that of the refrigerating chamber, when the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber require to operate simultaneously, the CPU controls the solenoid valve 31 to switch on freezing and switch off refrigerating, the refrigerant is compressed into high-pressure gas by compressor 1 and is discharged, and the high-pressure gas passes through solenoid valve 31 after being condensed by condenser 2. The refrigerant is throttled by the main capillary 3, and becomes low-pressure low-temperature liquid. The liquid partially evaporates into low-temperature gas in the freezing evaporator 41 to absorb the heat energy of freezing chamber F. The remaining liquid, which does not evaporate completely, flows into the refrigerating evaporator 51 and continues to evaporate, and to absorb the heat energy of the refrigerating chamber R, and finally evaporates into low-temperature gas completely, which is then inhaled into compressor 1 after being heated by the gas returning pipe 6, and thereby forms the cycle; here refrigerating and freezing are involved in the cycle simultaneously, which can be utilized as refrigerator of common practice. In respect that the system load is the load of refrigerating and freezing in series, which is constant, therefore, the refrigeration system cycle efficiency can be adjusted to an optimum status under the target surrounding temperature, and effectively enhance energy conversion rate.
When there are large amount of food stored in the refrigerating chamber which thereby needs more cooling capacity, the CPU controls the solenoid valve 31 to switch on freezing and auxiliary refrigerating cycle, the refrigerant is compressed into high-pressure gas by compressor 1 and is discharged, and the high-pressure gas passes through the solenoid valve 31 after being condensed by condenser 2. The refrigerant is throttled by the main capillary 3, and becomes low-pressure low-temperature liquid. The liquid partially evaporates into low-temperature gas in the freezing evaporator 41 to absorb the heat energy of the freezing chamber F. The remaining liquid, which does not evaporate completely, flows into the refrigerating evaporator 51 and continues to evaporate to absorb the heat energy of refrigerating chamber R. Meanwhile, the refrigerant is throttled by throttle capillary 32 of the auxiliary refrigerating cycle, and becomes low-pressure low-temperature liquid. The liquid evaporates into low-temperature gas in the refrigerating evaporator 51 to absorb the heat energy of refrigerating chamber R. The liquid finally evaporates into low-temperature gas completely, which is inhaled into compressor 1 after being heated by gas returning pipe 6, and thereby forms the cycle; here the temperature of refrigerating chamber can be decreased, which realizes the function of fast cooling for one aspect, and realizes the function of converting the refrigerating chamber into freezing chamber for another aspect. It is particularly suitable for storing large amount of frozen food periodically. The freezing temperature of the refrigerating chamber can be regulated by adjusting the duration of switch on and off of the solenoid valve 31, and this is a very practical function, which is also very suitable for the use of Chinese people.
When the temperature of the freezing chamber has reached the predefined temperature while the refrigerating chamber has not yet reached that temperature, the CPU controls the solenoid valve 31 to switch off the freezing and switch on the auxiliary refrigerating cycle, the refrigerant is throttled by the throttle capillary 32 of auxiliary refrigerating cycle, and becomes low-pressure low-temperature liquid. The liquid evaporates into low-temperature gas in the refrigerating evaporator 51 to absorb the heat energy of the refrigerating chamber R. The liquid finally evaporates into low-temperature gas completely, which is inhaled into compressor 1 after being heated by gas returning pipe 6, and thereby forms cycle; here the freezing evaporator is not involved in refrigeration cycle, and refrigerating generates all the cooling capacity, which can be utilized as refrigerating chamber, to largely reduce the electricity consumption and save energy. This is a very practical function.
The main operation control of the compressor adopts refrigerating temperature sensor, and system matching principle is, under the target surrounding temperature (for example, 25°C, or other temperatures, according to the average surrounding temperature of the target market or the climate type the refrigerator is designed for), to reach the refrigerating target temperature (for example, 5°C) and the freezing target temperature (for example, -18°C) simultaneously, and to further enhance the cycle system efficiency of the refrigerant and enable the refrigerator to reach the optimal energy saving target under the common target surrounding temperature when the refrigerating and the freezing are operating simultaneously.
Program resets to START, tests whether "Freezing Off" is activated, if it is activated, then the solenoid valve switches off the freezing cycle loop and switches on the auxiliary refrigerating cycle loop. It is a "Refrigerating" single cycle loop, which operates according to the predefined temperature of the "Refrigerating Chamber", and the scope of the predefined temperature can be large.
If "Freezing Off" is not activated, the solenoid valve switches on the freezing cycle loop and switches off the auxiliary refrigerating cycle loop. The temperatures of refrigerating chamber and freezing chamber are tested, and when the temperature of the refrigerating chamber or the temperature of the freezing chamber is higher than the predefined startup temperature, compressor is initiated. If the temperature of the freezing chamber is too low (freezing target temperature - Y) while the temperature of the refrigerating chamber is higher than the predefined startup temperature, the solenoid valve switches off the freezing cycle loop and switches on the auxiliary refrigerating cycle loop to reduce the temperature of the refrigerating chamber.
Embodiment 2:
Embodiment 3:
Embodiments 4:
The control process of the refrigerator according to the present invention is that, after the refrigerator is electrified and initialized, the temperature sensor begins to test the temperatures of the chambers, and when refrigerating chamber and freezing chamber require to begin operating simultaneously, the main CPU controls the solenoid valve 31 to switch on the main cycle and switch off the auxiliary refrigerating cycle, and refrigerant cycle is the same as common refrigerator system in that the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber refrigerate simultaneously. The refrigerant is compressed into high-pressure gas by compressor 1 and is discharged, and the high-pressure gas passes through solenoid valve 31 after being condensed by condenser 2. The refrigerant is throttled by the main capillary 3, and becomes low-pressure low-temperature liquid. The liquid partially evaporates into low-temperature gas in the freezing evaporator 41 to absorb the heat energy of the freezing chamber F. The remaining liquid, which does not evaporate, flows into the refrigerating evaporator 51 and continues to evaporate, to absorb the heat energy of the refrigerating chamber R, and finally evaporates into low-temperature gas completely, which is inhaled into the compressor 1 after being heated by gas returning pipe 6, and thereby forms the cycle; here refrigerating and freezing are involved in the cycle simultaneously, which can be utilized as refrigerator of common practice. In respect that the system load is the load of refrigerating and freezing in series, which is constant, therefore, the refrigeration system cycle efficiency can be adjusted into an optimum efficiency under the target surrounding temperature, and effectively enhance the energy conversion rate.
When refrigerating chamber needs more cooling capacity, the main CPU controls the solenoid valve 31 to switch on the main cycle and the auxiliary refrigerating cycle; the refrigerant is compressed into high-pressure gas by the compressor 1 and is discharged, and the high-pressure gas passes through the solenoid valve 31 after being condensed by the condenser 2. The refrigerant is throttled by the main capillary 3, and becomes low-pressure low-temperature liquid. The liquid partially evaporates into low-temperature gas in the freezing evaporator 41 to absorb the heat energy of freezing chamber F. The remaining liquid, which does not evaporate, flows into the refrigerating evaporator 51 and continues to evaporate to absorb the heat energy of the refrigerating chamber R. Meanwhile, the refrigerant is throttled by the auxiliary refrigerating capillary 32, and becomes low-pressure low-temperature liquid. The liquid evaporates into low-temperature gas in auxiliary refrigerating evaporator 52 to absorb the heat energy of the refrigerating chamber R. The liquid finally evaporates into low-temperature gas completely, which is inhaled into compressor 1 after being heated by gas returning pipe 6, and thereby forms cycle; here the temperature of refrigerating chamber can be decreased, which realizes the function of fast cooling for one aspect, and realizes the function of converting the refrigerating chamber into freezing chamber for another aspect. It is particularly suitable for storing large amount of frozen food periodically. The freezing temperature of the refrigerating chamber can be regulated by adjusting the duration of switch on and off of the solenoid valve 31, and this is a very practical function, which is also very suitable for the use of Chinese people.
When the freezing chamber has reached the predefined temperature or shuts down, while the refrigerating chamber needs cooling capacity, the CPU can control the solenoid valve to switch off freezing cycle and switch on auxiliary refrigerating cycle branch, the refrigerant is throttled by the auxiliary refrigerating capillary 32 and becomes low-pressure low-temperature liquid. The liquid evaporates into low-temperature gas in the auxiliary refrigerating evaporator 52 to absorb the heat energy of the refrigerating chamber R. The liquid finally evaporates into low-temperature gas completely, which is inhaled into compressor 1 after being heated by gas returning pipe 6, and thereby forms cycle; here the freezing evaporator 41 and refrigerating evaporator 51 are not involved in refrigeration cycle, and auxiliary refrigerating evaporator 52 generates all the cooling capacity, which can be utilized as refrigerating chamber, to largely reduce the electricity consumption and save energy. This is a very practical function.
The main operation control of the compressor adopts refrigerating temperature sensor, and system matching principle is, under the target surrounding temperature (for example, 25°C, or other temperatures, according to the average surrounding temperature of the target market or the climate type the refrigerator is designed for), to reach the refrigerating target temperature (for example, 5°C) and freezing target temperature (for example, -18°C) simultaneously, and to further enhance the cycle system efficiency of the refrigerant and enable the refrigerator to reach the optimal energy saving target under the common target surrounding temperature when refrigerating and freezing are operating simultaneously.
The typical temperature control strategy of the refrigerator according to the present invention is as follows: When surrounding temperature rises or refrigerating load changes, the refrigerating temperature rises to a point which is higher than a certain level (refrigerating target temperature + X), then the solenoid valve of the auxiliary refrigerating cycle loop will be switched on to reduce the temperature of the refrigerating chamber solely and reach the refrigerating target temperature. When freezing temperature drops to a point which is lower than a certain level (freezing target temperature - Y), the solenoid valve of the freezing will be switched off to cut off the freezing cycle loop and reduce the energy loss. Generally, X is 1~3°C, and Y is 2~5°C.
Embodiments 5:
INDUSTRIAL PRACTICALBILITY
I. The refrigerator is electrified and initialized, the main CPU tests whether "Freezing Off" is activated, if it is activated, then the solenoid valve switches off the freezing cycle loop and switches on the auxiliary refrigerating cycle loop simultaneously, when the predefined temperature of refrigerating chamber is reached, it returns to the beginning to repeat the test; if "Freezing Off" is not activated, the solenoid valve switches on freezing cycle loop and switches off auxiliary refrigerating cycle loop, and it proceeds to Step II;
II. The temperatures of refrigerating chamber and freezing chamber are tested, and when the temperature of the refrigerating chamber or the temperature of the freezing chamber is higher than the predefined startup temperature, compressor is initiated; if the temperature of the freezing chamber is too low and the temperature of the refrigerating chamber is higher than the predefined startup temperature, the solenoid valve switches off the freezing cycle loop and switches on the auxiliary refrigerating cycle loop to reduce the temperature of the refrigerating chamber to the predefined temperature, then it returns to Step I.