CN110906610A

CN110906610A - Air-cooled refrigerator

Info

Publication number: CN110906610A
Application number: CN201811082667.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李春阳; 娄喜才; 徐同; 刘昀曦
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Co Ltd
Current assignee: Haier Smart Home Co Ltd; Chongqing Haier Refrigeration Electric Appliance Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-09-17
Filing date: 2018-09-17
Publication date: 2020-03-24
Anticipated expiration: 2038-09-17
Also published as: CN110906610B

Abstract

The invention provides an air-cooled refrigerator which comprises an air supply distributor, a trigger component and a controller. The air supply distributor is used for distributing cold air to air channels leading to various storage areas of the air-cooled refrigerator and is provided with a regulating piece controlled to rotate, and the air outlet area of each air outlet can be regulated through the rotation of the regulating piece. An indicating part is arranged on the transmission gear which drives the adjusting piece to rotate. The trigger component is provided with a contact point for sensing the indication part and outputs an indication signal when the contact point is triggered by the indication part. The controller can detect the running state of the air supply distributor through the indicating signal, finds out running abnormity in time, and starts the distributor heating device when the abnormity occurs, and eliminates the freezing of the air supply distributor by using heat, thereby improving the running reliability of the air-cooled refrigerator for intensively distributing cold air.

Description

Air-cooled refrigerator

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of cold storage and frozen storage, in particular to an air-cooled refrigerator.

Background

For air-cooled refrigerators, the freshness-retaining properties of food are to a large extent dependent on the circulation of the air flow in the storage compartment of the air-cooled refrigerator and the temperature differences between the various parts of the refrigerator. The air flow in the refrigerator is reasonable in circulation, and the smaller the temperature difference is, the better the preservation performance of the refrigerator is.

In most of the air-cooled refrigerators, the evaporator is disposed in a single accommodating chamber, and the accommodating chamber of the evaporator is communicated with each storage region by a complex air duct system, so that the existing air duct system has a complex structure and occupies a large space.

In order to solve this problem, an air-cooled refrigerator has been proposed in the related art in which cool air is distributed in a concentrated manner by an air supply distribution device. The air-cooled refrigerator adjusts the shielding area of the air duct through the moving parts, so that the air output of each storage area is controlled, however, the moving parts have the problems of freezing, blocking and the like in the long-term operation process, so that the operation is not in place, the failure is easy to occur, and the refrigeration reliability of the refrigerator is reduced.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to overcome at least one defect of the existing air-cooled refrigerator and provides an air-cooled refrigerator with high operation reliability.

Particularly, the invention provides an air-cooled refrigerator, which comprises:

an air supply distributor for distributing cool air to air ducts leading to respective storage areas of an air-cooled refrigerator, comprising: the air conditioner comprises a shell, a fan and a fan, wherein the shell is provided with a plurality of air outlets arranged along the circumferential direction, and each air outlet is communicated with an air duct; an adjuster having one or more blinding portions disposed inside the housing; the turntable part is fixedly connected with the adjusting part, and a gear ring is arranged on the periphery of the turntable part; the transmission gear is arranged on the radial outer side of the turntable part, the tooth edge of the transmission gear is meshed with the gear ring, and an indicating part is arranged at the position, close to the tooth edge, of one end face of the transmission gear; the motor is connected with the transmission gear and used for driving the transmission gear to rotate so as to enable the adjusting piece to rotate along the circumferential direction of the shell and adjust the air outlet area of the shielding part for shielding the air outlets; and a dispenser heating device configured to be controlled to activate heating of the supply air dispenser;

a trigger member having a contact for sensing the indication portion and outputting an indication signal when the contact is triggered by the indication portion;

a controller configured to: and the distributor heater is connected with the triggering component and the distributor heater, and is configured to determine the operation state of the regulating part according to the received indication signal, and after the abnormal operation of the regulating part is determined, the distributor heating device is controlled to be started so as to heat the air supply distributor and remove the frost freezing the air supply distributor.

Optionally, the air-cooled refrigerator further includes: the refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body, a refrigerator body and a refrigerating device, wherein a storage space and a refrigerating cavity are limited in the refrigerator body, the storage space is divided into a plurality of storage areas, and the refrigerating cavity is arranged at the rear side of one of the storage areas and used for arranging a heat exchanger of the air-cooled refrigerator; the air channel assembly is arranged between the storage space and the refrigeration cavity, and is limited with an airflow distribution cavity and an air channel; and the air supply distributor is arranged in the air flow distribution cavity.

Optionally, the indication part is a protrusion protruding from the end face; the trigger part is a limit switch matched with the protrusion.

Optionally, the distributor heating device is annular and is disposed at the outer periphery of the housing; or the distributor heating device is annular or plate-shaped and is arranged on one side of the air supply distributor close to the gear ring.

Optionally, the controller is further configured to: and controlling the motor to drive the adjusting piece to rotate in a test mode, and determining the running state of the air supply distributor according to the indicating signal obtained in the test rotation process.

Optionally, the motor is a stepping motor, and the controller is further configured to control a rotation angle of the adjusting member by controlling the number of steps of the stepping motor, so as to adjust the air outlet area of the air outlet.

Optionally, the controller, when driving the adjusting member to perform the test rotation, is further configured to: controlling the motor to operate for a first step number in a first direction, wherein the first direction is a direction for increasing the air outlet area of the air outlet or a direction for reducing the air outlet area of the air outlet, and the first step number is set according to the step number of the motor required for enabling the transmission gear to complete at least two rotations;

the process by which the controller determines the operating state of the conditioning element from the indicator signal is further configured to: recording a first measurement step number between two adjacent indication signals, judging whether the first measurement step number is in a set step number threshold range, if not, judging that the regulating piece operates abnormally, wherein the step number threshold range is set according to the step number required by the motor to enable the transmission gear to rotate for one circle.

Optionally, the controller, upon activation of the dispenser heating device, is further configured to: and repeatedly executing the steps of driving the regulating piece to test and rotate and judging the running state of the regulating piece at regular time until the first measuring step number is determined to be within the range of the set step number threshold value or the continuous heating time exceeds the set threshold value, and then closing the heating device of the distributor.

Optionally, the controller further comprises, after determining that the first measured step number is within the set step number threshold: controlling the motor to respectively run for the maximum steps in the first direction or the second direction, wherein the maximum steps are set according to the steps of the motor required for rotating from a first limit state for enabling the air outlet to be completely shielded to a second limit state for enabling the air outlet to be completely opened; recording the actual step number between two received indication signals before reaching the first limit state, and recording as a second measurement step number;

recording the actual step number between two received indication signals before reaching the second limit state, and recording as a third measurement step number; and respectively judging whether the second measurement step number and the third measurement step number are both within the set step number threshold range, if so, confirming the normal operation state of the regulating piece, if not, controlling the heating device of the distributor to start, and re-executing the steps of driving the regulating piece to perform test rotation and determining the operation state of the regulating piece according to the indication signal.

Optionally, the controller is further configured to: and generating an alarm prompt signal when the continuous heating time exceeds a set threshold value.

The air-cooled refrigerator of the invention utilizes the air supply distributor to intensively supply cold air, and utilizes the adjusting piece to controllably shield the air outlets so as to realize the selection of the opening and closing of the air channels and the adjustment of the air outlet quantity of each air channel, thereby reasonably distributing the cold air according to the cold quantity requirements of different storage areas and enhancing the fresh-keeping performance and the operating efficiency of the air-cooled refrigerator under the condition of saving the occupied space as much as possible.

Furthermore, the air-cooled refrigerator of the invention utilizes the transmission gear to transmit the power of the motor to the rotating part of the air supply distributor, and obtains the running state of the air supply distributor through the indicating part arranged on the transmission gear so as to determine the running state of the air supply distributor in time. When the operation is abnormal, the distributor heating device is started to heat the air supply distributor so as to eliminate the abnormity of moving parts of the air supply distributor caused by freezing, automatically eliminate the refrigeration fault caused by freezing of the air supply distributor, and greatly improve the operation reliability of the air-cooled refrigerator for intensively distributing cold air.

The air-cooled refrigerator can also arrange the distributor heating device into a ring shape or a plate shape, and the distributor heating device is arranged on the periphery of the shell of the air supply distributor or a part close to the gear ring, so that the position of the air supply distributor which is easy to freeze is directly heated, the fault is solved, the energy consumption utilization rate is high, and the influence on the refrigeration function of the refrigerator is small.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Some specific embodiments of the invention will be described in detail hereinafter, by way of illustration and not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar elements or components. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the interior of the cabinet of an air-cooled refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the interior of an air-cooled refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a control part in an air-cooled refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of a supply air distributor in an air-cooled refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the supply air distributor shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a transmission structure in a supply air distributor in an air-cooled refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the drive gear of FIG. 4 at the mating configuration with the trigger member;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the steps of a controller performing a test rotation in an air-cooled refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 9 is a flowchart of a controller performing a test rotation in an air-cooled refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of the inside of a cabinet 100 of an air-cooled refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 is a side view of the inside of the air-cooled refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a control part in the air-cooled refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The air-cooled refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention may have a cabinet 100, a supply air distributor 300, an air duct assembly 200, and a refrigerating system 500.

The case 100 may have a storage space therein, which is divided into a plurality of storage areas. The rear side of the storage space may be provided with the air duct assembly 200 and the refrigeration cavity 210, and the refrigeration system 500 includes a heat exchanger 510 disposed in the refrigeration cavity 210.

The refrigeration system 500 may employ a compression refrigeration system and the heat exchanger 510 may be an evaporator of the compression refrigeration system. The compression refrigeration system enables the evaporator of the compression refrigeration system to release cold energy through a refrigerant compression cycle. The compression refrigeration system 500 generally has four major components, namely a compressor 520, a condenser (not shown), a throttling device (not shown), and an evaporator, which directly or indirectly provides cooling energy into the storage compartment. The working principle is as follows: the compressor 520, which is a power of the refrigeration cycle, is driven by the motor to rotate continuously, extracts vapor in the evaporator, and increases the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant vapor through compression, thereby creating a condition for transferring the heat of the refrigerant vapor to an external environment medium, i.e., compressing the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant vapor to a high-temperature and high-pressure state. The evaporator is used as heat exchange equipment, the throttled low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant liquid is evaporated (boiled) in the evaporator to be changed into vapor, ambient heat is absorbed, ambient temperature is reduced, and the purpose of refrigeration is achieved. Since the compression refrigeration cycle is well known to those skilled in the art, the operation principle and construction thereof will not be described herein.

The refrigeration system may also be other types of refrigeration systems, such as a semiconductor refrigeration system, for example, a cold side heat exchanger of a semiconductor refrigeration system disposed within the refrigeration cavity 210, as is known to those skilled in the art. The air duct assembly 200 distributes the cooling energy generated by the heat exchanger 510 to the various storage areas.

Since the return air may also frost on the supply air distributor 300, the adjuster 30 or the rotary drive mechanism 430 may be caught in a serious case. Most operational anomalies in the conditioner 30 have been tested as a result of this problem. In order to solve the problem, the air supply distributor 300 is correspondingly provided with the distributor heating device 600, when the air supply distributor 300 frosts to cause the adjusting piece 30 to be frozen, the distributor heating device 600 is started, and the freezing is eliminated by means of heat, so that the fault is solved.

The plurality of storage regions may include a first storage region 110 and a second storage region 130 disposed below the first storage region 110. In some embodiments of the present invention, the first storage region 110 may be a refrigerating compartment and the second storage region 130 may be a freezing compartment. A temperature-changing space 120 may also be provided between the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment.

The duct assembly 200 is mounted to the rear of the cabinet 100 and may be disposed between the storage space and the refrigeration cavity 210, for example, the refrigeration cavity 210 is disposed at the rear side of the duct assembly 200, and the second storage area 130 is preferably disposed at the front side of the duct assembly 200. The duct assembly 200 has an airflow distribution chamber for accommodating the air distributor 300 therein, and ducts leading to the plurality of storage areas, which supply air to the storage areas through air supply ports leading to the storage areas.

The controller 400 of the air-cooled refrigerator may use a main control chip of a main control board of the air-cooled refrigerator 10 or other dedicated controllers, and the controller 400 may also include a plurality of sets of control devices to jointly implement its functions, such as controlling the refrigeration system 500, the dispenser heating device 600, the air supply dispenser 300, and the like.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural view of the supply air distributor 300 in the air-cooled refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 5 is an exploded view of the supply air distributor 300 shown in fig. 4.

The supply air distributor 300 includes a housing 20 and a regulating member 30. The housing 20 may have at least one inlet 21 and a plurality of outlets 22 such that airflow enters the housing 20 through the at least one inlet 21 and exits the housing 20 through the plurality of outlets 22. A plurality of air outlets 22 are arranged along the circumference of the housing 20, and each air outlet 22 is used for communicating with one air duct.

Disposed within the housing 20 is a supply air fan 60, the supply air fan 60 configured to induce an airflow from the intake vent 21 into the housing 20 and out of the housing 20 via one or more of the plurality of exhaust vents 22. The air supply fan 60 may be a centrifugal impeller, and is disposed in the casing 20, and the air supply distributor 300 has a compact structure, occupies a small space, and increases the amount of air supplied.

The adjusting member 30 has one or more shielding portions 32 disposed between the air supply fan 60 and the housing 20, and the adjusting member 30 is configured to be controlled to rotate along the circumferential direction of the housing 20 to adjust the air outlet area of the shielding portion 32 shielding the air outlets 22, so as to change the air supply areas of the air ducts and adjust the air supply amount accordingly. For example, the adjusting member 30 may be configured to be controlled to completely shield, partially shield or completely open the air outlets 22, so as to adjust the air outlet area of each of the air outlets 22. For example, the adjustment member 30 may allow each outlet vent 22 to be fully concealed, partially concealed, or fully opened at different locations.

The adjusting member 30 of the air supply distributor 300 in the embodiment of the present invention can controllably distribute the cool air flowing from the air inlet 21 to the plurality of air outlets 22, and can control opening and closing of the air outlet duct communicated with each air outlet 22 and/or adjust the air outlet volume in each air outlet duct, thereby meeting the cooling capacity requirements of different storage areas.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the housing 20 of the supply air distributor 300 may include a base 23 and a perimeter wall 24. The circumferential edge of the base 23 consists of a first edge section and a second edge section, preferably in the shape of a circular arc. The peripheral wall 24 has first and second

peripheral wall sections

241, 242 extending from the first and second edge sections, respectively, to one side of the base 23. The first peripheral wall section 241 may have a plurality of air outlets 22 formed thereon. In some embodiments, the first peripheral wall section 241 is a complete circular arc-shaped peripheral wall section, on which a plurality of air outlets 22 are opened, and each air outlet 22 may have an opening edge. In some embodiments, the first perimeter wall segment 241 may include at least 3 circular arc shaped perimeter wall segments, and a space between two circular arc shaped perimeter wall segments. The interval between every two circular arc-shaped peripheral wall sections is an air outlet 22. During machining, each circular arc-shaped peripheral wall segment may extend from a plurality of positions of the first edge segment of the base 23 to one side of the base 23. Further, the second edge section is also preferably designed in a circular arc shape concentric with the first edge section, so that the first peripheral wall section 241 and the second peripheral wall section 242 are on the same cylindrical peripheral wall, i.e. the first peripheral wall section 241 is coaxial with the second peripheral wall section 242.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the inner surface of the base 23 is further formed with a mounting recess 28, and the blower fan 60 is mounted to the mounting recess 28. For example, the supply fan 60 may be mounted to the inner surface of the mounting cavity 28. The base 23 may be ring-shaped to allow the supply fan 60 to extend into the housing 20 from a central ring-shaped aperture defined by the base 23 when the supply fan 60 and the base 23 are mounted to the remaining components of the air-cooled refrigerator 10, respectively.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the housing 20 further comprises a dispenser cover 25, which is disposed at an end of the first peripheral wall section 241 remote from the base 23 to define with the base 23, the peripheral wall 24 an air outlet space, i.e. the interior space of the housing 20. To facilitate mounting of dispenser cover 25, housing 20 may further include a plurality of snap arms 26 extending from a plurality of locations on the edge of dispenser cover 25, respectively, toward base 23, each snap arm 26 having a snap groove or protrusion formed on an inner surface thereof. A plurality of protrusions 27, or a plurality of catching grooves, respectively, are formed on the outer surface of the first peripheral wall section 241 to be engaged with each catching groove, respectively, so that the dispenser cover 25 is caught to the base 23. The dispenser cover 25 may be formed with at least one intake vent 21.

The shielding portions 32 of the adjuster 30 may be provided at intervals in the circumferential direction of the base 23. At least part of the surface of the shield 32 facing the peripheral wall 24 is arranged coaxially with the first peripheral wall section 241. The adjustment member 30 is rotatably mounted to the housing 20 about the axis of the first peripheral wall section 241 for controlled movement of the one or more shutters 32 to positions that fully obscure, partially obscure, or fully open each outlet vent 22 when rotated to different rotational positions. The shield 32 can be a curved shield, the outer surface of which can be sealingly attached to the inner surface of the first peripheral wall section 241 at all times when the adjuster 30 is rotated about the axis of the first peripheral wall section 241, so that the curved shield can controllably open or close the one or more outlet openings 22 at different rotational positions.

In some embodiments, the number of the outlets 22 is three, and the outlets are sequentially spaced in the circumferential direction of the base 23. The three outlets 22 include a first outlet 221, a second outlet 222, and a third outlet 223, which are sequentially spaced along a circumferential direction of the base 23 and along a counterclockwise direction. The shielding portions 32 are sequentially spaced along the circumferential direction of the base 23 and along the counterclockwise direction to correspond to the first outlet 221, the second outlet 222, and the third outlet 223.

The supply air distributor 300 further includes a rotary drive mechanism 430, and the rotary drive mechanism 430 includes: turntable part 31, transmission gear 50 and motor 40. Wherein the turntable part 31 is fixedly connected with the adjusting piece 30, for example, each shielding part 32 extends from one surface of the turntable part 31. The turntable part 31 may be disk-shaped or ring-shaped, and a ring gear 52 is provided on the outer periphery of the turntable part 31.

The motor 40 may be disposed radially outward of the turntable portion 31. The transmission gear 50 is configured to decelerate transmission of the rotational motion output from the motor 40 to the adjusting member 30. The transmission gear 50 may be provided on the radially outer side of the turntable portion 31 with its rim engaged with the ring gear 52, and an indicating portion 51 may be provided at a position of one end face of the transmission gear near the rim. The triggering part 420 may have a contact point sensing the indication part 51 and output an indication signal when the contact point is triggered by the indication part 51.

The dispenser heating device 600 is configured to be activated to heat the supply air dispenser 300 under control, and because the air flow from the storage area is relatively humid, there is a possibility of frost forming at the supply air dispenser 300, and in the severe case, the adjustment member 30 or the rotational drive mechanism 430 may be caught. Most operational anomalies in the conditioner 30 have been tested as a result of this problem. The dispenser heating device 600 is used to heat the supply air dispenser 300 and eliminate frost thereof when it is determined that the supply air dispenser 300 has the above-described problem. The dispenser heating device 600 may be heated by various heating methods, such as heating wires, infrared heating, microwave heating, and the like.

One specific configuration of the dispenser heating device 600 is annular as a whole, and is provided on the outer periphery of the housing 20. Another configuration is that the distributor heating device 600 is annular or plate-shaped and is provided on the side of the air supply distributor 300 close to the ring gear 52. The structures are arranged aiming at the area which is easy to freeze, and the abnormal movement fault caused by freezing can be easily recovered as soon as possible.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of a transmission structure in the blowing air distributor 300 in the air-cooled refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the driving gear 50 and the trigger part 420 in fig. 6 at a fitting structure.

The indication part 51 of the transmission gear 50 may be a protrusion protruding from the end surface thereof, and the trigger part 420 may be a limit switch engaged with the protrusion. The telescopic contact of the limit switch can output an indication signal when the protrusion rotates to be opposite to the telescopic contact. In other alternative embodiments, the protrusion may be a recess, and those skilled in the art may also use other position detection means such as a hall device.

Since the air-cooled refrigerator 10 of the present embodiment has the position detecting component disposed on the transmission mechanism, rather than directly on the adjusting member 30 or the turntable 31, on the one hand, the influence on the air supply is avoided, and on the other hand, the risk of freezing caused by these detecting components is avoided by reducing the components on the air flowing path, thereby improving the reliability of the detecting components.

The drive gear 50 may be connected to the output shaft of the motor. The ring gear 52 may be formed integrally with the turntable portion 31 or may be separate and fixed to the turntable portion 31. For example, the ring gear 52 includes an annular rib extending from the other surface of the turntable portion 31 coaxially with the turntable portion 31, and a plurality of teeth extending outward from an outer peripheral surface of the annular rib and arranged at intervals in a circumferential direction of the annular rib. In some embodiments, the inner surface of the base 23 is formed with an annular groove 231, and the ring gear 52 is mounted in the annular groove 231 to smooth the movement of the adjuster 30.

In order to protect the motor 40, the housing 20 further includes a motor accommodating portion 29 provided on an outer surface of the first peripheral wall section 241 and/or the second peripheral wall section 242, and defining therein an accommodating chamber accommodating the driving gear 50 and the motor 40. The motor housing 29 may include a cavity 291 extending outwardly from an outer surface of the first peripheral wall 241, and a cover 292 removably mounted to the cavity.

The motor 40 may be connected to the transmission gear 50, and is configured to drive the transmission gear 50 to rotate, so that the adjusting member 30 rotates along the circumferential direction of the housing 20, and the air outlet area of the shielding portion 32 shielding the plurality of air outlets 22 is adjusted. The motor 40 may be a stepping motor, so that the number of steps of the motor 40 is adjusted to allow the adjusting member 30 to reach a designated position.

The air supply distributor 300 is disposed in the air flow distribution chamber, and is arranged such that the rotation axis of the adjuster 30 is along the front-rear direction of the air-cooled refrigerator 10, and the plurality of air outlets 22 of the adjuster 30 can be supplied into the respective storage areas of the refrigerator 10 through different air paths of the air path assembly 200, and the air volume of each storage area is adjusted by the adjuster 30.

The controller 400 of the air-cooled refrigerator 10 is connected to the trigger 420 and the motor 40, respectively, and can control the rotation steps and the rotation direction of the motor 40, and can know the operation state of the air supply distributor 300 by receiving the indication signal of the trigger 420. When the controller 400 controls the air supply distributor 300 to rotate, the rotation angle of the adjusting member 30 can be controlled by controlling the number of steps of the stepping motor 40, so as to adjust the air outlet area of the air outlets 22.

When the running state of the air supply distributor 300 needs to be tested, the controller 400 may control the motor 40 to drive the adjusting member 30 to perform the test rotation, and determine the running state of the air supply distributor 300 according to the indication signal obtained in the test rotation process.

The controller 400 may use a main control chip of a main control board of the air-cooled refrigerator 10 or other special controllers, and in addition, the controller 400 may also include a plurality of groups of control devices to realize the functions thereof together.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating the steps of the controller 400 performing the test rotation in the air-cooled refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the controller 400 may perform the following steps:

step S802, controlling the motor 40 to operate for a first number of steps in a first direction, where the first direction is a direction that increases the air outlet area of the air outlet 22 or a direction that decreases the air outlet area of the air outlet 22, and the first number of steps is set according to the number of motor steps required for the transmission gear 50 to complete at least two rotations, that is, when the motor 40 completes the first number of steps, the transmission gear 50 can complete at least two rotations (for example, complete two rotations), and the indicating portion 51 receives at least two indication signals;

step S804, recording a first measurement step number between two adjacent indication signals received in the test rotation process;

step S806, determining whether the first measured step number is within a set step number threshold range, where the step number threshold range is set according to the step number required by the motor 40 to rotate the transmission gear 50 for one rotation, for example, the motor 40 is required to complete 10 steps when the transmission gear 50 rotates for one rotation, and then the step number threshold range may be set to 9-12 steps;

step S808, if the first measured step number is not within the range of the set step number threshold, that is, the control of the motor 40 does not cause the adjusting element 30 to complete the expected operation, then it may be determined that the adjusting element 30 is abnormally operated, and then the refrigeration system 500 is turned off and the dispenser heating device 600 is controlled to be activated, so as to heat the air supply dispenser 300 and remove the frost from freezing the air supply dispenser 300. In this heating state, the controller 400 may also control the air supply fan 60 accordingly, for example, to turn off the air supply fan 60 or supply air with breeze.

The controller 400, upon activation of the dispenser heating device 600, is further configured to: the steps of driving the regulating member 30 for test rotation and judging the operation state of the regulating member 30 are repeatedly performed at regular time until it is determined that the first measured step number is within the set step number threshold range or the continuous heating time exceeds the set threshold, and then the dispenser heating device 600 is turned off.

After determining that the first measured step number is within the set step number threshold range, the controller 400 may further confirm the operation state again in order to further improve the reliability. The process of the controller 400 confirming the operation state may include: controlling the motor 40 to run for the maximum number of steps in the first direction or the second direction respectively; recording the actual step number between two received indication signals before reaching the first limit state, and recording as a second measurement step number; recording the actual step number between two received indication signals before reaching the second limit state, and recording as a third measurement step number; and respectively judging whether the second measurement step number and the third measurement step number are both within the set step number threshold value, if so, confirming the normal operation state of the regulating part 30, and if not, closing the refrigeration system 500 and the distributor heating device 600, and re-executing the steps of driving the regulating part 30 to perform test rotation and determining the operation state of the regulating part 30 according to the indication signal.

The maximum number of steps is set based on the number of motor steps required to rotate from a first limit state in which the outlet 22 is completely shielded to a second limit state in which the outlet 22 is completely opened. I.e. it is ensured that the motor 40 can still perform a corresponding rotational drive within a set number of steps when the position of the first limit state or the second limit state is reached.

The controller 400 also generates an alarm prompt signal in the case that the continuous heating time exceeds a set threshold or the number of repeated executions exceeds a second threshold. Namely, under the condition that the fault can not be recovered through the reciprocating motion, the user is reminded to intervene through an alarm prompt signal.

The controller 400 is further configured to drive the conditioning piece 30 for a test rotation upon acquisition of any one of the following triggering events:

receiving a starting signal of the refrigerating system 500 of the air-cooled refrigerator 10, for example, before the air-cooled refrigerator 10 starts refrigerating each time, firstly determining whether the function of the air supply distributor 300 is normal, so as to avoid that the refrigerating of the air-cooled refrigerator 10 can not meet the user requirement due to the fault in the refrigerating process;

after the cooling time of the air-cooled refrigerator 10 exceeds a set time, for example, after the air-cooled refrigerator 10 continuously runs for more than two hours (the specific time here is an example, and the actual implementation can be flexibly configured), a test process is performed to avoid freezing due to continuous cooling.

The initial state of the adjusting member 30 may be a first limit state or a second limit state, and the adjusting member 30 may be controlled to return to the revealing state after each air supply distribution or test rotation is completed.

The following is a specific example of the air-cooled refrigerator of the present embodiment completing one test rotation. Fig. 9 is a flowchart of a test rotation performed by the controller 400 in the air-cooled refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the controller 400 may perform the following steps:

step S902, detecting a trigger event for performing the test, where the trigger event may be a start signal of the refrigeration system 500 of the air-cooled refrigerator 10 and a completion signal of defrosting of an evaporator of the air-cooled refrigerator 10, and the refrigeration time of the air-cooled refrigerator 10 exceeds a set time period;

step S904, controlling the motor 40 to operate for a first number of steps M in a first direction;

step S906, recording a first measurement step number Δ M1 between the reception of two adjacent indication signals,

in step S908, it is determined whether or not M1 is equal to or less than Δ M1 is equal to or less than M2, and M1 to M2 are step threshold ranges set according to the number of steps required for the motor 40 to rotate the pinion one revolution.

Step S910, if the condition that M1 is not more than or equal to Δ M1 is not more than or equal to M2 is not satisfied, the refrigeration system 500 is closed, the dispenser heating device 600 is started, and the heat is utilized to eliminate freezing;

step S912, judging whether the continuous heating time exceeds a set threshold value;

step S920, if the condition that M1 is not less than Δ M1 is not less than M2 is satisfied, the motor 40 is controlled to respectively operate the maximum steps Mmax in the first direction,

step S922, recording a second measurement step number Δ M2 between two indication signals received before the limit state is reached;

step S924, judging whether M1 is more than or equal to Δ M1 is more than or equal to M2;

in step S926, if the condition that M1 is not less than Δ M2 is not less than M2 is met, controlling the motor 40 to operate the maximum number of steps Mmax in a second direction opposite to the first direction;

step S928, recording a third measurement step number Δ M3 between two indication signals received before the limit state is reached;

step S930, determining whether M1 is equal to or greater than Δ M3 is equal to or greater than M2, if not, turning off the refrigeration system 500 and turning on the dispenser heating device 600 to remove the freezing by using heat;

step S932, if the condition that M1 is not less than Δ M3 is not less than M2 is met, determining that the air supply distributor 300 is normal, and executing a subsequent control flow; the subsequent flow may include: resetting the position of the adjusting member 30 (for example, returning to the fully open position of the air outlet 22), starting refrigeration, adjusting air volume, and the like;

and step S934, if the continuous heating time exceeds a set threshold value, generating an alarm prompt signal. That is, the failure of the air supply distributor 300 cannot be recovered by heating, and the user is reminded to intervene by an alarm prompt signal.

The air-cooled refrigerator 10 of this embodiment utilizes air supply distributor 30 to concentrate the air supply to cold wind, utilizes regulating part 20 to shield a plurality of air outlets 22 in a controllable way to realize the selection of the opening and closing of wind channel and the regulation of each wind channel air-out amount of wind, thereby can be according to the cold volume demand of different storage district, rationally distribute cold wind, under the condition of saving occupation space as far as possible, reinforcing air-cooled refrigerator 10's freshness preservation performance and operating efficiency. Further, the air-cooled refrigerator 10 of the present embodiment detects the rotation motion by using the indication part 51 and the trigger part on the transmission gear 50, so that the controller 400 can determine the operation state of the adjusting part 30 according to the indication signal, find the operation abnormality in time, and start the distributor heating device 600 to heat the air supply distributor 300 after finding the operation abnormality to eliminate the moving part abnormality of the air supply distributor 300 caused by freezing, automatically eliminate the refrigeration fault caused by freezing of the air supply distributor 300, and greatly improve the operation reliability of the air-cooled refrigerator 10 which distributes cold air intensively.

Thus, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the invention may be directly determined or derived from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be understood and interpreted to cover all such other variations or modifications.

Claims

1. An air-cooled refrigerator comprising:

an air supply distributor for distributing cool air to air ducts leading to respective storage areas of the air-cooled refrigerator, comprising:

the shell is provided with a plurality of air outlets arranged along the circumferential direction, and each air outlet is used for being communicated with one air duct;

an adjuster having one or more blinding portions disposed inside the housing;

the turntable part is fixedly connected with the adjusting part, and a gear ring is arranged on the periphery of the turntable part;

a transmission gear arranged at the radial outer side of the turntable part, the tooth edge of the transmission gear is meshed with the gear ring,

an indicating part is arranged at the position, close to the tooth edge, of one end face of the transmission gear;

the motor is connected with the transmission gear and used for driving the transmission gear to rotate so as to enable the adjusting piece to rotate along the circumferential direction of the shell and adjust the air outlet area of the shielding part for shielding the air outlets;

a distributor heating device configured to be controlled to activate heating of the supply air distributor;

2. The air-cooled refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising:

the refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body, a door body and a refrigerator body, wherein a storage space and a refrigeration cavity are limited in the refrigerator body, the storage space is divided into a plurality of storage areas, and the refrigeration cavity is arranged at the rear side of one of the storage areas and is used for arranging a heat exchanger of the air-cooled refrigerator;

the air duct assembly is arranged between the storage space and the refrigeration cavity, and is limited with an airflow distribution cavity and the air duct; and the air supply distributor is arranged in the airflow distribution cavity.

3. The air-cooled refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the air-cooled refrigerator is a refrigerator that uses air as a cooling medium

The indicating part is a bulge protruding from the end face;

the trigger part is a limit switch matched with the protrusion.

4. The air-cooled refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the air-cooled refrigerator

The distributor heating device is annular and is arranged on the periphery of the shell; or

The distributor heating device is annular or plate-shaped and is arranged on one side of the air supply distributor close to the gear ring.

5. The air-cooled refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the air-cooled refrigerator

The controller, further configured to: and controlling the motor to drive the adjusting piece to rotate in a test mode, and determining the running state of the air supply distributor according to the indicating signal obtained in the test rotation process.

6. The air-cooled refrigerator of claim 5, wherein the air-cooled refrigerator is a refrigerator

The motor is a stepping motor, and

the controller is also configured to control the rotation angle of the adjusting piece by controlling the step number of the stepping motor, and adjust the air outlet area of the air outlet.

7. The air-cooled refrigerator of claim 6, wherein the air-cooled refrigerator is provided with a cooling device

The controller is also configured to, when driving the adjusting member to perform a test rotation: controlling the motor to operate for a first step number in a first direction, wherein the first direction is a direction for increasing the air outlet area of the air outlet or a direction for decreasing the air outlet area of the air outlet, and the first step number is set according to the motor step number required for enabling the transmission gear to complete at least two rotations;

the process by which the controller determines the operating state of the regulating member from the indication signal is further configured to: recording a first measurement step number between two adjacent indication signals, judging whether the first measurement step number is in a set step number threshold range, if not, judging that the regulating piece operates abnormally, wherein the step number threshold range is set according to the step number required by the motor to enable the transmission gear to rotate for one circle.

8. The air-cooled refrigerator of claim 7, wherein the controller, upon activation of the dispenser heating device, is further configured to:

and repeatedly executing the steps of driving the regulating piece to test and rotate and judging the running state of the regulating piece at regular time until the first measuring step number is determined to be within the range of the set step number threshold value or the continuous heating time exceeds the set threshold value, and then closing the heating device of the distributor.

9. The air-cooled refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the controller, after determining that the first measured number of steps is within a set threshold number of steps, further comprises:

controlling the motor to respectively run to the first direction or the second direction for the maximum steps, wherein the maximum steps are set according to the steps of the motor required by rotating from a first limit state enabling the air outlet to be completely shielded to a second limit state enabling the air outlet to be completely opened;

recording the actual step number between two received indication signals before the first limit state is reached, and recording the actual step number as a second measurement step number;

recording the actual step number between two received indication signals before reaching the second limit state, and recording as a third measurement step number;

and respectively judging whether the second measurement step number and the third measurement step number are both within a set step number threshold range, if so, confirming the normal operation state of the regulating piece, if not, controlling the heating device of the distributor to start, and re-executing the steps of driving the regulating piece to perform test rotation and determining the operation state of the regulating piece according to the indication signal.

10. The air-cooled refrigerator of claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to:

and generating an alarm prompt signal when the continuous heating time exceeds a set threshold value.