Refrigerator, temperature controlling apparatus therefor and method thereof adopting GA-fuzzy inference technique

• US 6,055,820 A
• Filed: 06/19/1997
• Issued: 05/02/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Jeong, Seong-wook, Park, Suk-hang, Kim, Yong-myoung, Kang, Yun-seog, Kim, Jae-in
• Primary Examiner(s): WAYNER, WILLIAM E
• Application Number:
  US08/878,770
• Time in Patent Office: 1,048 Days
• Field of Search: 62/186, 62/408, 454/317, 454/108, 454/153, 236/78 D
• US Class Current: 62/186
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 17/045 Air flow control arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 17/065 with compartments at different temperatures
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2317/061 through special compartments
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2317/0653 through the mullion
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2317/0682 Two or more fans
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2400/04 Refrigerators with a horizontal mullion
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2700/02 Sensors detecting door opening
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2700/123 more than one sensor measuring the inside temperature in a compartment
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2700/14 Sensors measuring the temperature outside the refrigerator or freezer
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1931 to control the temperature of one space
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1932 to control the temperature of a plurality of spaces

Abstract

In a refrigerator temperature controlling apparatus and method thereof adopting GA-fuzzy inference, the refrigerator includes a cool air passage formed at both sides of the rear surface of a housing for guiding downward the cool air passing through a guide passage, a cool air discharging adjustment blade rotatably installed in front of the housing for dispersing and concentrating the cool air produced from discharging apertures, a driving motor for driving the cool air discharging adjustment blade, and a controller with each temperature sensors in left right side walls, for comparing the temperature inferred by the GA-fuzzy inference with data learned by reference to control the cool air discharging direction. Therefore, the cooling speed becomes fast and the temperature distribution depending on the refrigerated foodstuffs is made uniform throughout the refrigeration compartment. Also, the incoming external temperature due to door openings can be compensated for.

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprising:

a main body including a freezer compartment and a refrigeration compartment, each being partitioned;

an evaporator for generating and supplying cool air to said freezer and refrigeration compartments;

a housing formed at one side of said refrigeration compartment and having a guiding said cool air generated from said evaporator to said refrigeration compartment and a cool air passage for guiding downward said cool air passing through guide passage;

a plurality of discharging apertures formed vertically of said housing and for guiding said cool air flowing along said cool air passage so as to be discharged being dispersed throughout said refrigeration compartment; and

wherein said plurality of discharging apertures are situated at the center portion of said housing and arranged vertically to correspond to each partitioned area of said refrigeration compartment, and said cool air passage comprises first and second passage portions arranged both sides of said discharging apertures, a first linking path for linking said first passage portion and said discharging apertures and a second linking path for linking said second passage portion and said discharging apertures.

2. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said discharging aperture comprises a first discharging portion directly connected to said first linking path and a second discharging portion directly connected to said second linking path, and said first and second discharging portions are interconnected, and are reciprocally stepped such that said first discharging portion is inclined toward said first linking path, and said second discharging portion is inclined toward said second linking path.

3. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 2, wherein the upper side of inlets of said first and second linking paths are rounded, and the lower side is formed by flanges to be extended more outwardly than said upper side thereof.

4. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 3, wherein a flange being at the lower portion is extended more outwardly than that being at the upper portion.

5. A refrigerator comprising:

a housing installed in the rear wall of said refrigeration compartment;

a cool air passage installed at one side of said housing for guiding the cool air;

a plurality of discharging apertures interconnected with said cool air passage;

at least one plate member each installed at said cool air discharging apertures so as to be rotatable centering around a shaft; and

a dispersion guiding blade vertically constructed on said plate member for dispersing the cool air.

6. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 5, wherein said cool air passage is installed within said housing and is divided to have a first passage portion and a second passage portion.

7. A refrigerator having a cool air dispersing apparatus installed in the rear wall of a refrigeration compartment for unifying the temperature distribution of said refrigeration compartment, comprising:

a housing;

a guide passage installed at one edge of said housing for guiding the cool air;

first and second passage portions installed within said housing, divided from said cool air passage and nearly being parallel with each other;

a plurality of discharging apertures installed in a predetermined position between said first passage portion and said second passage portion and each interconnected with said first and second passage portions;

cool air discharging adjustment blades each installed at said cool air discharging apertures so as to be rotatable centering around a shaft; and

a grill opposed to said cool air discharging adjustment blades for protecting said cool air discharging adjustment blade so that the cool air discharged from said first and second passage portions is circulated throughout said refrigeration compartment during the rotation of said cool air discharging adjustment blade.

8. A refrigerator comprising:

a main body including a freezer compartment and a refrigeration compartment, each being partitioned;

an evaporator for generating and supplying cool air to said freezer and refrigeration compartments;

a housing formed at one side of said refrigeration compartment and having a guide passage for guiding said cool air generated from said evaporator to said refrigeration compartment and a cool air passage for guiding downward said cool air passing through said guide passage;

a plurality of discharging apertures formed vertically of said housing and for guiding said cool air flowing along said cool air passage so as to be discharged being dispersed throughout said refrigeration compartment;

a cool air discharging adjustment blade rotatably installed at said housing for controlling said discharging direction of said cool air which is discharged through said discharging apertures;

a driving motor rotating said cool air discharging adjustment blade; and

wherein said cool air discharging adjustment blade comprises a distributing plate having an upper plate and a lower plate spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and a middle plate; and

a dispersion guiding blade vertically connecting said upper plate and said middle plate and a second dispersion guiding blade for vertically connecting said middle plate and said lower plate.

9. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 8, wherein said first and second dispersion guiding blades have a concave portion and a convex portion each successively being rounded.

10. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 9, wherein said concave portions of said first and second dispersion guiding blades or said convex portions thereof are opposite to each other, respectively.

11. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 8, wherein said cool air discharging adjustment blade includes a cool air guiding portion having said distributing plate and dispersion guiding blade, said cool air guiding portion includes an upper cool air guiding portion, a middle cool air guiding portion, and a lower cool air guiding portion, each corresponding to the upper, middle and lower portions of said refrigeration compartment, and integrally connected by a supporting member.

12. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 11, wherein said dispersion guiding blade of said upper cool air guiding portion and that of said middle cool air guiding portion are disposed to be almost perpendicular to each other, and said dispersion guiding blade of said upper cool air guiding to portion and that of said lower cool air guiding portion are disposed to form an angle of about 45°

.

13. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 12, wherein assuming the height of said refrigeration compartment is H, said upper cool air guiding portion is positioned at 3/4H of the height thereof, said middle cool air guiding portion is positioned at 1/2H of the height thereof, and said lower cool air guiding portion is positioned at 1/3H of the height thereof.

14. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 12, wherein said cool air discharging adjustment blade includes an upper cool air discharging adjustment blade and a lower cool air discharging adjustment blade, which is coupled in pairs, said upper and middle cool air guiding portions being disposed in said cool air discharging adjustment blade, and said lower cool air guiding portion being disposed in said cool air discharging adjustment blade.

15. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:

a first temperature sensor installed in the upper end of one side wall of said refrigeration compartment;

a second temperature sensor installed in the lower end of the other side wall of said refrigeration compartment;

a position detecting switch turned on/off in accordance with the rotation position of said cool air discharging adjustment blade; and

a controller connected with said first and second temperature sensors and said position detecting switch in a circuit manner for determining the rotation position of said cool air discharging adjustment blade for intensive cooling.

16. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 15, wherein said position detecting switch is installed in said housing of the upper portion of said cool air discharging adjustment blade, and there is provided an operating protrusion for switching on/off said position detecting switch by being rotated with said cool air discharging adjustment blade in the upper portion thereof.

17. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 16, wherein said operating protrusion is formed such that the portion in contact with said position detecting switch is rounded.

18. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 8, wherein said driving motor is installed in said housing of the upper portion of said cool air discharging adjustment blade, and is installed in a motor case.

19. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 18, wherein an internal refrigerator lamp is installed in said housing disposed adjacent to said driving motor.

20. A refrigerator comprising:

a main body including a freezer compartment and a refrigeration compartment, each being partitioned;

an evaporator for generating and supplying cool air to said freezer and refrigeration compartments;

a housing formed at one side of said refrigeration compartment and having a guide passage for guiding said cool air passing through said evaporator to said refrigeration compartment;

a cool air passage formed at both sides of said housing so as to be connected with said guide passage and having a first passage portion and a second passage portion each for guiding a flow of the cool air passing through said guide passage;

a plurality of discharging apertures disposed vertically between said first and second passage portions for guiding the cool air flowing along said cool air passage to be discharged to said refrigeration compartment;

a cool air discharging adjustment blade rotatably installed in front of said housing for dispersing or concentrating the cool air discharged through said discharging apertures; and

a driving motor for rotating said cool air discharging adjustment blade.

21. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 20, wherein said cool air passage further includes a first linking path for linking said first passage portion with said discharging apertures and a second linking path for linking said second passage portion with said discharging apertures, said respective discharging apertures having a first discharging portion directly linked with said first linking path and a second discharging portion directly linked with said second linking path, said first and second discharging portions being interconnected and being reciprocally stepped such that said first discharging portion is inclined toward said first linking path and said second discharging portion is inclined toward said second linking path, respectively.

22. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 21, wherein the upper side of inlets of said first and second linking paths are rounded, and the lower side thereof is formed by flanges so as to be extended more outwardly than the upper side thereof.

23. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 22, wherein the lower flanges are extended more outwardly than the upper ones.

24. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 21, wherein said cool air discharging adjustment blade comprises:

a distributing plate having a middle plate positioned in the boundary surface of said first and second discharging portions, a upper plate and a lower plate spaced apart up and down from each other by a distance corresponding to the heights of said first and second discharging portions; and

a dispersion guiding blade portion having a first dispersion guiding blade vertically connecting said upper plate and said middle plate and a second dispersion guiding blade for vertically connecting said middle plate and said lower plate.

25. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 24, wherein said first and second dispersion guiding blades have a concave portion and a convex portion each successively being rounded.

26. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 25, wherein the concave portions of said first and dispersion guiding blades or the convex portions thereof are opposite to each other, respectively.

27. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 24, wherein said distributing plate has an upper cool air guiding portion, a middle cool air guiding portion, and a lower cool air guiding portion, each corresponding to the upper, middle and lower portions of said refrigeration compartment, and integrally connected by a supporting member.

28. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 27, wherein said dispersion guiding blade of said upper cool air guiding portion and that of said middle cool air guiding portion are disposed to be almost perpendicular to each other, and said dispersion guiding blade of said upper cool air guiding portion and that of said lower cool air guiding portion are disposed to form an angle of about 45°

.

29. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 28, wherein assuming that the height of said refrigeration compartment is H, said upper cool air guiding portion is positioned at a point 3H/4 of the height thereof, said middle cool air guiding portion is positioned at a point 1H/2 of the height thereof, and said lower cool air guiding portion is positioned at a point 1H/3 of the height thereof.

30. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 20, further comprising:

a first temperature sensor installed in the upper end of one side wall of said refrigeration compartment;

a second temperature sensor installed in the lower end of the other side wall of said refrigeration compartment;

a position detecting switch turned on/off in accordance with the rotation position of said cool air discharging adjustment blade; and

a controller electrically connected with said first and second temperature sensors and said position detecting switch for determining the rotation position of said cool air discharging adjustment blade for performing intensive cooling.

31. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 30, wherein said position detecting switch is installed in said housing of the MINI upper portion of said cool air discharging adjustment blade, and there is provided an operating protrusion for switching on/off said position detecting switch by being rotated with said cool air discharging adjustment blade in the upper portion thereof.

32. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 31, wherein said operating protrusion is formed such that the portion in contact with said position detecting switch is rounded.

33. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 20, wherein said driving motor is installed in said housing of the upper portion of said cool air discharging adjustment blade, being installed in a motor case, and an internal refrigerator lamp is installed adjacent to said driving motor.

34. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 20, wherein a concave groove is formed in the rear surface of said refrigeration compartment so that said housing is installed and the front surface of said housing is coplanar with the rear surface of said refrigeration compartment.

35. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 34, wherein a seal plate is provided between the rear surface of said housing and said concave groove.

36. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 20, wherein a grill of a matrix shape is provided in the front of said housing to cover said cool air discharging adjustment blade.

37. A refrigerator comprising:

a housing installed in the rear wall of said refrigeration compartment;

a cool air passage installed at one side of said housing for guiding the cool air;

a plurality of discharging apertures interconnected with said cool air passage;

cool air discharging adjustment blades each installed at said cool air discharging apertures so as to be rotatable centering around a shaft; and

a driving motor installed at said housing being in the upper portion of said cool air discharging adjustment blades for rotating said cool air discharging adjustment blades, said driving motor being integrally formed in a motor case.

38. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 37, wherein there is provided a position detecting switch interlocked with an operating protrusion positioned in the upper end of said cool air discharging adjustment blades in the lower portion of said driving motor.

39. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 37, wherein an internal refrigerator lamp is installed adjacent to said driving motor.

40. A refrigerator temperature controlling method using GA-fuzzy inference comprising the steps of:

determining whether there is an initial input;

inferring the temperatures of respective predetermined positions of said refrigeration compartment from temperature information input from at least two refrigeration compartment temperature detecting means by a first GA-fuzzy function, if there is an initial input;

determining the optimal position of a cool air discharging adjustment blade for determining the cool air discharging direction by a second GA-fuzzy function using the temperature inferred for the respective positions of said refrigeration compartment;

moving the position of said cool air discharging adjustment blade for determining the cool air discharging direction in accordance with said determined optimal position;

determining whether a predetermined time has lapsed after said initial inputting step;

reinferring the temperature of the predetermined position by the first GA-fuzzy function using the inferred temperatures of said respective predetermined positions of said refrigeration compartment as the temperature pattern data for said cool air discharging direction learned by reference, if a predetermined time has lapsed;

determining the position of said cool air discharging adjustment blade by said second GA-fuzzy function inferred using the reinferred temperatures of said respective predetermined positions and the currently input temperature of said refrigeration compartment temperature detecting means;

determining whether said determined position of said cool air discharging adjustment blade is optimal; and

moving said cool air discharging adjustment blade to the optimal position by driving a swing motor, if it is determined that the position is not optimal.

41. A refrigerator temperature controlling method using GA-fuzzy inference as claimed in claim 40, wherein, assuming that the temperatures of said respective predetermined positions are R1 and R2, the inferred temperatures of said respective predetermined positions are T1 and T2, and the weighed value of the rule calculated in the stage is W, the first GA-fuzzy function is expressed as:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">W=MIN [1, MAX {0, (1.4-R1)/1.14}]

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">T1=W(-1.536+0.451R1+0.771R2)+(1-W)(0.141+1.055R1-0.041R2)

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">T2=-0,648-0.045R1+1.106R2

where MIN represents a function selecting a minimum factor among the factors within the parentheses, and MAX represents a function selecting a maximum factor among the factors within the parentheses.

42. A refrigerator temperature controlling method using GA-fuzzy inference as claimed in claim 40, wherein, assuming that the temperatures of said respective predetermined positions are R1 and R2, the inferred temperatures of said respective predetermined positions are T1 and T2, the weighed value of the n-th rule calculated in the stage is Wn (n is number of the rule and a positive integer), and said respective predetermined positions of said cool air discharging adjustment blade is represented by Pn, the second GA-fuzzy function is expressed as:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">W.sub.1 =MIN [1, MAX {0, (3.49-R1)/1.33}]

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">W.sub.2 =MIN [1, MAX {0, (4.49-R2)/1.9}]

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">Opt. pos.=W.sub.1 W.sub.2 P1+W.sub.1 (1-W.sub.2)P2+(1-W.sub.1)W.sub.2 P3+(1-W.sub.1)(1-W.sub.2)P4

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">P1=5.4+0.452R1-0.27T1+0.45T2-0.52R2

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">P2=2.7-0.2R1+0.27T1+0.33T2+0.03R2

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">P3=7.7+0.29R1-0.32T1-0.29T2+0.22R2

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">P4=1.4+3.7R1-0.36T1+0.19T2-2.65R2

where MIN represents a function selecting a minimum factor among the factors within the parentheses, and MAX represents a function selecting a maximum factor among the factors within the parentheses.

43. A refrigerator temperature controlling apparatus adopting GA-fuzzy inference, comprising:

compressor controlling means;

damper opening controlling means;

cool air discharging direction controlling means for controlling the rotation or swing of a cool air discharging adjustment blade of a circular plate member to determine the cool air discharging direction;

cool air discharging adjustment blade position detecting means for setting the cool air discharging direction using the information applied from said cool air discharging direction controlling means;

at least two refrigeration compartment temperature detecting means disposed in a predetermined distance;

freezer compartment temperature detecting means;

external temperature detecting means;

temperature variation calculating means for respectively calculating the temperature variations of said respective refrigeration compartment temperature detecting means;

temperature-varied data storing means detected by said respective refrigeration compartment temperature detecting means depending on said cool air direction; and

controlling means for receiving predetermined information from said refrigeration compartment temperature detecting means, external temperature detecting means, temperature variation calculating means, temperature-varied data storing means and cool air discharging adjustment blade position detecting means to control the internal temperature of said refrigerator by GA-fuzzy inference for inferring the controlled amount of said compressor controlling means, damper opening controlling means and cool air discharging direction controlling means.

44. A refrigerator temperature controlling apparatus adopting GA-fuzzy inference, as claimed in claim 43, comprising:

inferring means for inferring the temperature value of another predetermined portion of said refrigeration compartment from at least two temperature values detected by said refrigeration compartment temperature detecting means using GA-fuzzy inference, said inferring means including a microprocessor for receiving the temperature value inferred from said inferring means and predetermined information from said refrigeration compartment temperature detecting means, external temperature detecting means, temperature variation calculating means, and temperature-varied data storing means, and performing a GA-fuzzy controlling routine for inferring the controlled amount of said compressor controlling means and damper opening controlling means using GA-fuzzy inference, an operating routine for receiving and operating the information inferred from said GA-fuzzy controlling routine and said cool air discharging adjustment blade position information, and a load controlling routine for receiving the output information of said operating routine and the output information of said cool air discharging adjustment blade position detecting means to control the controlled amount of said compressor controlling means, damper opening controlling means and cool air discharging direction controlling means.

45. A refrigerator temperature controlling apparatus adopting GA-fuzzy inference, as claimed in claim 44, wherein said GA-fuzzy controlling routine includes fuzzy model discriminating means operated by a fuzzy membership function for receiving and determining data learned by reference, storing the ambiguous temperature state of the refrigerated foodstuff accommodated from said refrigeration compartment temperature detecting means and that of the refrigerated foodstuff inferred previously, and GA for inferring the internal refrigeration compartment temperature state which is changeable at times from the temperature of said refrigeration compartment in a predetermined time using an objective function having correlation between an experimental value and an inferred value to supply the inferred information to said fuzzy model discriminating means.

46. A refrigerator temperature controlling apparatus adopting GA-fuzzy inference, as claimed in claim 45, wherein said GA-fuzzy inference infers the internal refrigeration compartment temperature which is changeable at times by the process of obtaining an answer set of conditional determination and execution rules by the genetic algorithm using the Takagi-Sugeno-Kang method, written in the following conditional statement L_n¹ ;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">IF x.sub.1 is A.sub.1.sup.i, x.sub.2 is A.sub.2.sup.i, . . . , x.sub.m is A.sub.m.sup.i,

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">THEN y.sub.n.sup.i =C.sub.0.sup.i +C.sub.1.sup.i X.sub.1 +C.sub.2.sup.i X.sub.2 +C.sub.3.sup.i X.sub.3 +C.sub.4.sup.i X.sub.4

where x₁ through x_m are various conditional variables such as the detected temperatures (R1 and R2 ) of the refrigeration compartment, inferred temperature (T1 and T2), the external temperature or the foodstuff temperature, A₁ through A_m are membership values, y_nⁱ which is an objective function is the linear equation corresponding to the consequent, C₀ through C_m are parameters of conclusion parts, and i, m and n are positive integers.

47. A refrigerator temperature controlling apparatus adopting GA-fuzzy inference, as claimed in claim 44, wherein said in said operating routine, the output information of said GA-fuzzy controlling routine and the output information of said cool air discharging adjustment blade position detecting means are operated to obtained the controlled amount of said cool air discharging direction controlling means and supplying the same to said load controlling routine.

48. A refrigerator temperature controlling method by controlling the cool air discharging direction by which the cool air generated from a refrigeration compartment is supplied to said refrigerator using a cool air discharging adjustment blade which is rotatable in terms of a shaft, said method comprising the steps of:

detecting temperature values of respective predetermined positions of said refrigeration compartment in a predetermined time period by at least two temperature detecting means disposed with a predetermined interval through GA-fuzzy inference; and

comparing the temperature values detected in said detecting step to set cool air discharging direction so that cool air is discharged to the portion having the highest temperature value.