METHOD FOR OPERATING A DOMESTIC REFRIGERATOR, AND DOMESTIC REFRIGERATOR

Abstract

A domestic refrigerator has at least one refrigerated cabinet, to which a frost-free evaporator, which can be cooled under control, and a fan, which can be driven independently therefrom, are assigned and which is separated from a freezer compartment by a partition. A control method includes an evaporator cooling phase to cool the frost-free evaporator, which comprises phase the fan is switched off. The refrigerator has a control device, which is designed to cool the frost-free evaporator and to operate the fan. The control device is further configured to run an evaporator cooling phase for cooling the frost-free evaporator when the fan is switched off. The method is particularly advantageous for side-by-side refrigerators.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A method for operating a household refrigerator, the method which comprises: providing the refrigerator with at least one refrigerator compartment having assigned thereto a frost-free evaporator, which can be cooled under control, and a fan, which can be driven independently of the evaporator, and a freezer compartment separated from the at least one refrigerator compartment by a partition; and performing an evaporator cooling for cooling the frost-free evaporator, while the fan is switched off.

17. The method according to claim 16, which comprises starting the evaporator cooling at a predetermined time instant.

18. The method according to claim 17, which comprises starting the evaporator cooling after a predetermined duration has passed since a completion of a last compartment cooling of the refrigerator compartment.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the predetermined duration is a duration which is dependent on an ambient temperature of the household refrigerator.

20. The method according to claim 16, which comprises assigning the frost-free evaporator an evaporator temperature sensor and assigning the partition a partition temperature sensor, and starting the evaporator cooling at a time instant when a partition temperature sensed by the partition temperature sensor is equal to or lower than an evaporator temperature sensed by the evaporator temperature sensor.

21. The method according to claim 16, which comprises completing the evaporator cooling at a time instant when a duration of the evaporator cooling has reached a predetermined duration.

22. The method according to claim 16, which comprises starting the evaporator cooling at a predetermined time instant and completing the evaporator cooling at a time instant when a duration of the evaporator cooling has reached a predetermined duration.

23. The method according to claim 16, which comprises measuring an evaporator temperature with an evaporator temperature sensor assigned to the frost-free evaporator, and completing the evaporator cooling at a time instant when one or more of the following is true: the evaporator temperature reaches or falls below a predetermined temperature threshold value; and/or a difference between a current evaporator temperature and an evaporator temperature at a start of the evaporator cooling reaches or exceeds a predetermined temperature difference; and/or the evaporator temperature reaches or does not meet a partition temperature measured by a partition temperature sensor assigned to the partition.

24. The method according to claim 16, which comprises additionally sensing a compartment temperature of the at least one refrigerator compartment by a refrigerator compartment temperature sensor.

25. The method according to claim 16, which comprises ventilating the refrigerator compartment subsequent to the evaporator cooling, and thereby operating the fan without cooling the frost-free evaporator.

26. A household refrigerator, comprising: at least one refrigerator compartment, a frost-free evaporator and a fan assigned to said refrigerator compartment, and a freezer compartment separated from said refrigerator compartment by a partition; and a control device configured to cool said frost-free evaporator and to operate said fan, said control device being configured to carry out an evaporator cooling for cooling said frost-free evaporator while said fan is switched off.

27. The household refrigerator according to claim 26, further comprising an evaporator temperature sensor for sensing an evaporator temperature.

28. The household refrigerator according to claim 26, further comprising at least one of a refrigerator compartment temperature sensor or a partition temperature sensor.

29. The household refrigerator according to claim 26, further comprising a timer for determining a duration since a completion of a last refrigerator compartment cooling.

30. The household refrigerator according to claim 26, wherein the household refrigerator is a double refrigerator having at least one refrigerator compartment and at least one freezer compartment arranged laterally adjacent the refrigerator compartment and separated therefrom by said partition.

31. The household refrigerator according to claim 26, wherein said frost-free evaporator is accommodated in an evaporator housing and disposed to be forcedly ventilated by said fan.

Description

[0042] FIG. 1 shows a front view of a drawing of an opened household double refrigerator;

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a sectional representation in a side view of a cut-out from the household double refrigerator in the region of a refrigerator compartment; and

[0044] FIG. 3 shows a control diagram for controlling a frost-free evaporator and a fan, which are assigned to the refrigerator compartment of the household double refrigerator.

[0045] FIG. 1 shows a front view of a drawing of an opened household double refrigerator 1 in a side-by-side arrangement. The refrigerator 1 has a freezer compartment 2, which can be closed by a left refrigerator door 3, and a refrigerator compartment 4, which can be closed by a right refrigerator door 5. The freezer compartment 2 and the refrigerator compartment 4 are separated from one another by a partition 6. Each of the two compartments 2 and 4 has a number of subdivisons which are separated from one another e.g. by shelves 7.

[0046] FIG. 2 shows a sectional representation in the side view of a cutout from the household double refrigerator 1 through the refrigerator compartment 4 with a view at right angles onto the partition 6.

[0047] With respect to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the refrigerator 1 has at least one cooling system (not shown) which, as basically known, has at least one compressor, a frost-free evaporator, a condenser/capacitor and a throttle, which are connected to one another by a refrigerant circuit guiding a coolant.

[0048] The refrigerator 1 further has a control device 8 for controlling the components of the refrigerator 1. The control device 8 is currently designed to provide or carry out a frost-free function and a compartment ventilation for the freezer compartment 2 and, separately thereof, for the refrigerator compartment 4.

[0049] A frost-free or fin evaporator 9 of a cooling system and a ventilator 10 which can be driven independently thereof (also referred to as “evaporator fan”) are assigned to the refrigerator compartment 4. This is implemented here by way of example in that they are arranged within an air-permeable evaporator housing 11 in a rear spatial area of the refrigerator compartment 4.

[0050] An (“evaporator”) temperature sensor 12, which is connected in particular to the control device 8, is arranged here on the frost-free evaporator 9, e.g. on its cooling fins. The evaporator temperature sensor 12 senses a temperature (“evaporator temperature”) on the frost-free evaporator 9.

[0051] A further (“refrigerator compartment”) temperature sensor 13 which senses the temperature (“refrigerator compartment temperature”) of the refrigerator compartment 4, can also be disposed in the refrigerator compartment 4. The refrigerator compartment temperature sensor 13 is advantageously at a distance from the partition 6. Moreover, the refrigerator 1 can have a (“partition”) temperature sensor 14 for sensing a temperature (“partition temperature”) of the partition 6.

[0052] By means of the control device 8, the frost-free evaporator 9 and/or the fan 10 can be operated independently of one another within the scope of different operating sequences or modes:

[0053] a) With a “compartment cooling”, the refrigerator compartment 4 is cooled down comparatively quickly and significantly by activating or cooling down the frost-free evaporator 9 and at the same time operating the fan 10. The compartment cooling can be initiated, for instance, when a noticeable increase in the compartment temperature above a corresponding limit value has been established, e.g. by the evaporator temperature sensor 12. The compartment cooling may be required e.g. after opening the door 5, after positioning warm food etc. The compartment cooling can be carried out in accordance with the frost-free method.

[0054] b) With a “compartment ventilation”, the fan 10 is operated for in each case a limited duration when the frost-free evaporator 9 is switched off or not actively cooled. As a result the air circulates in the refrigerator compartment 4 over the frost-free evaporator 9, on which the moisture of the air at least partially condenses out from the refrigerator compartment 4.

[0055] c) With an inventive “evaporator cooling”, a cooling process for cooling down the frost-free evaporator 9 is carried out, wherein the fan 10 remains switched off. As a result, the temperature on the frost-free evaporator 9 drops reliably below a value at which the compartment air—in particular with a subsequent compartment ventilation, practically only condenses on the frost-free evaporator 9. Therefore the left wall of the refrigerator compartment 4, which borders the freezer compartment 2 as the partition 6, is prevented from being colder than the frost-free evaporator 9, and condensate forms there, in particular also during a compartment ventilation. The cooling process can be considered to be a phase between activating and then deactivating the frost-free evaporator 9 or the associated compressor.

[0056] Here, for instance, the following variants of the evaporator cooling can be implemented:

[0057] c1) The evaporator cooling is started in a time-dependent manner, for instance at a predetermined time instant (e.g. a predetermined time of day etc.), after starting up a predetermined duration since the last compartment cooling etc. It is completed again in a time-dependent manner, e.g. after a predetermined duration has elapsed since the start of the evaporator cooling.

[0058] c2) The evaporator cooling is started in a sensor-controlled manner, e.g. when the partition temperature equates to or is lower than the evaporator temperature. It is then completed again in a time-dependent manner, e.g. after a predetermined duration has elapsed since the start of the evaporator cooling.

[0059] c3) The evaporator cooling is started in a sensor-controlled manner and completed in a sensor-controlled manner. It can be started and completed as described in c2) for instance when the evaporator temperature drops below a predetermined threshold value, has reached a predetermined temperature difference compared with the start of the evaporator cooling, is again lower than the partition temperature, possibly by a specific temperature difference etc.

[0060] FIG. 3 shows a control diagram for controlling the frost-free evaporator 9 (top timeline) and the fan 10 (bottom timeline), which are assigned to the refrigerator compartment 4 of the household double refrigerator, as an application of a switch-on state (status “off” or “0” or status “on” or “1”) against time t.

[0061] In the time intervals [t1; t2] and [t5; t6], only the frost-free evaporator 9 is cooled, while the fan 10 is switched off. This corresponds to the evaporator cooling.

[0062] In the time interval [t3; t4], the fan 10 is switched on, while the frost-free evaporator 9 is not cooled. This corresponds to the compartment ventilation.

[0063] In the time interval [t7; t8], the frost-free evaporator 9 is cooled and the fan 10 is operated at the same time. This corresponds to the compartment cooling.

[0064] The present invention is naturally not restricted to the exemplary embodiment shown.

[0065] Therefore the frost-free compartment cooling and the compartment ventilation can be carried out analogously for the freezer compartment 2, as indicated in FIG. 1 by the evaporator housing 11 drawn in the freezer compartment 2.

[0066] A compartment ventilation, as shown in the time interval [t3; t4], can also connect directly to the time interval [t1; t2] and/or [t5; t6] used for evaporator cooling purposes.

[0067] In general, “a”, “an”, etc. can be understood as singular or plural, in particular in the sense of “at least one” or “one or more”, etc., provided this is not explicitly excluded, e.g. by the expression “precisely one”, etc.

[0068] A numerical value can also include the given value as well as a typical tolerance range, provided this is not explicitly excluded.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0069] 1 Household double refrigerator [0070] 2 Freezer compartment [0071] 3 Left refrigerator door [0072] 4 Refrigerator compartment [0073] 5 Right refrigerator door [0074] 6 Partition [0075] 7 Shelf [0076] 8 Control device [0077] 9 Frost-free evaporator [0078] 10 Fan [0079] 11 Evaporator housing [0080] 12 Evaporator temperature sensor [0081] 13 Refrigerator temperature sensor [0082] 14 Partition temperature sensor [0083] t Time [0084] ti Time instant i