Control System and Method for Operating a Cooling System

• US 20090187286A1
• Filed: 06/01/2007
• Published: 07/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Embraco Indústria de Compressores e Soluções em Refrigeração LTDA
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool SA (Whirlpool Corporation)
• Inventors: Magalhaes Medeiros Neto, Luiz, Pereira da Silva, Douglas
• Granted Patent: US 8,417,387 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/299
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 2500/19 Calculation of parameters
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 2700/15 Power, e.g. by voltage or current
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 2700/19 Pressures
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 49/02 for compression type machines, plants or systems
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2700/04 Sensors detecting the presence of a person
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2700/12 Sensors measuring the inside temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2700/14 Sensors measuring the temperature outside the refrigerator or freezer
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 29/00 Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices

Abstract

The present invention relates to a control system for operating a cooling system comprising components at least including a compressor (2), an evaporator (3), a pressure control element (6) and a condenser the (4), and also having a control circuit (9) having electrical connections with at least some cooling system components, through which the control circuit (9) continually measures and stores, over time intervals, electrical operating variables of the cooling system, the control circuit establishes interrelationships among at least some measured values and some stored values of the electrical operating variables of the cooling system and generates a control signal for the cooling system based on at least some measured values and stored values of the electrical operating variables and on the interrelationships established among at least some measured and stored values of the electrical operating variables of the cooling system.

Claims

1. Control system for operating a cooling system comprising as components at least a compressor, an evaporator, a pressure control element and a condenser, and also having a control circuit, characterized in that the control circuit has electrical connections with at least some cooling system components, through which the control circuit continually measures and stores, over time intervals, electrical operating variables of the cooling system which consist of electrical signals of the components of the cooling system, the control circuit establishes interrelationships among at least some measured values and some stored values of the electrical operating variables of the cooling system and generates a control signal for the cooling system based on at least some measured values and stored values of the electrical operating variables and on the interrelationships established among at least some measured and stored values of the electrical operating variables of the cooling system.

2. Control system, according to claim 1, characterized in that the control circuit comprises a record of a standard functional profile of the cooling system that has values of functional physical variables of the cooling system, values of electrical operating variables of the cooling system and interrelationships among the values of physical variables and the values of electrical operating variables.

3. Control system, according to claim 2, characterized in that the control circuit performs comparisons and interrelationships among the values of electrical operating variables of the cooling system measured and stored, and the values of functional physical variables and the values of electrical operating variables of the standard functional profile record of the cooling system.

4. Control system, according to claim 3, characterized in that the control circuit generates the control signal for the cooling system based on the comparisons and interrelationships established among the values of electrical operating variables of the cooling system measured and stored and the values of functional physical variables and the values of electrical operating variables of the standard functional profile record of the cooling system.

5. Control system, according to claim 1, characterized in that the cooling system also comprises supplementary elements chosen from the group consisting of a ventilator, heating resistors, a cooling fluid flow control valve, an air flow control regulator, a lamp inside the cooled space and a lamp outside the cooled space.

6. Control system, according to claim 5, characterized in that the control circuit has electrical connections with at least some supplementary elements of the cooling system, through which the control circuit continually measures and stores, over time intervals, electrical operating variables of the cooling system.

7. Control system, according to claim 1, characterized in that the control circuit measures and stores functional physical variables of the cooling system, establishes interrelationships among the measured and stored values of the functional physical variables and of the electrical operating variables and generates the control signal also based on the physical operating variables of the cooling system and their interrelationships.

8. Control system, according to claim 7, characterized in that the functional physical variables of the cooling system are chosen from the group consisting of external environment temperature, temperature of the cooled space, pressure and temperature of the cooling fluid.

9. Control system, according to claim 7, characterized by also comprising sensors that read at least some of the functional physical variables of the cooling system.

10. Control system, according to claim 1, characterized in that the control circuit stores the control signal generated for the cooling system continually over time intervals.

11. Control system, according to claim 1, characterized by also comprising user-interfacing means for adjusting the functional parameters of the cooling control system.

12. Control system, according to claim 11, characterized in that the user-interfacing means display the working conditions and the measured values of the cooling system variables.

13. Control system, according to claim 2, characterized in that the standard functional profile of the cooling system can be updated based on the functional physical variables and on the electrical operating variables of the cooling system measured and stored over a set time interval.

23. Control method for operating a cooling system, characterized by being applied to a control system for operating a cooling system as defined in claim 1.

14. Control method for operating a cooling system that comprises as components at least one compressor, an evaporator, a pressure control element and a condenser, and that also has a control circuit, characterized by comprising the following steps:

measuring electrical operating variables of at least some of the cooling system components, continually over time intervals, by means of an electrical connection between the control circuit and at least some of the cooling system components, wherein the electrical operating variables consist of electrical signals of the components of the cooling system;

storing the measured values of the electrical operating variables of the cooling system;

establishing interrelationships among at least some of the measured and stored values of the electrical operating variables of the cooling system; and

generating a control signal for the cooling system based on at least some measured and stored values of the electrical operating variables and on the interrelationships established among at least some measured values and stored values of electrical operating variables of the cooling system.

15. Control method, according to claim 14, characterized by also comprising a step of establishing a standard functional profile of the cooling system comprising values of functional physical variables of the cooling system, values of electrical operating variables of the cooling system and interrelationships among the values of physical variables and the values of electrical operating variables.

16. Control method, according to claim 15, characterized by also comprising a step of performing comparisons and interrelationships among measured and stored values of electrical operating variables of the cooling system and values of functional physical variables and values of electrical operating variables of the standard functional profile of the cooling system.

17. Control method, according to claim 14, characterized by also comprising the steps of reading and storing functional physical variables of the cooling system, establishing interrelationships among the measured and stored values of the functional physical variables and the measured and stored values of electrical operating variables and generating the control signal of the cooling system also based on the measured and stored values of the functional physical variables of the cooling system and their interrelationships.

18. Control method, according to claim 17, characterized in that the step of reading and storing functional physical variables of the cooling system comprises measurements by way of sensors and storage of variables chosen from among the group essentially comprising:

external environment temperature, temperature of the cooled space, pressure and temperature of the cooling fluid.

19. Control method, according to claim 14, characterized by also comprising a step of storing the control signal generated for the cooling system continually over time intervals.

20. Control method, according to claim 14, characterized by also comprising a step of identifying a malfunction of at least one of the cooling system components by interpreting the measured and stored values of electrical operating variables of the cooling system.

21. Control method of a cooling system according to claim 14, characterized by comprising a step of updating the standard functional profile of the cooling system.

22. Control method of a cooling system according to claim 14, characterized in that the step of measuring electrical operating variables also comprises reading and storing continually over time intervals electrical operating variables of at least some supplementary elements of the cooling system chosen from the group consisting of a ventilator, heating resistors, a cooling fluid flow control valve, an air flow control regulator, a lamp inside the cooled space and a lamp outside the cooled space, by means of an electrical connection between the control circuit and at least some supplementary elements of the cooling system.