A short-circuit protection control system and control method for refrigerators
By detecting load short circuits and shutting down abnormal loads through software, the problem of high hardware protection costs caused by load short circuits in refrigerators is solved, enabling normal operation of refrigerators and saving costs.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- NANJING SKYWORTH ELECTRICAL APPLIANCE RES INST
- Filing Date
- 2023-06-16
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-26
AI Technical Summary
Existing refrigerators are prone to short circuits when the load point fails, causing the refrigerator to malfunction. Existing hardware protection measures increase costs and consume time.
A software detection method is used to determine whether the load is short-circuited by the MCU on the main control board, and the abnormal load is shut down by program control to avoid hardware modification.
It enables the identification and shutdown of short-circuit loads without affecting the normal use of the refrigerator, thus avoiding increased hardware costs and wasted time.
Smart Images
Figure CN116753669B_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical fields:
[0001] This invention relates to a short-circuit protection control system and control method for refrigerators, belonging to the field of air-cooled refrigerator technology. Background technology:
[0002] Some refrigerators experience short circuits when certain load points fail, preventing the refrigerator from functioning properly. However, the operation of these loads does not affect the refrigerator's normal cooling function (e.g., a short circuit caused by a failed negative ion generator). Currently, most failure protection is implemented in hardware. One approach is to add fuses or other protective measures at the load end, while another is to modify the circuit to add voltage protection. Both approaches have drawbacks: increased cost and time consumption.
[0003] Therefore, it is indeed necessary to improve existing technologies to address their shortcomings. Summary of the Invention:
[0004] This invention provides a short-circuit protection control system and control method for refrigerators to solve the problems existing in the prior art. It does not require hardware modification and uses software detection. If a short circuit is detected in a load, the load is shut down to prevent it from operating, thus avoiding risks without affecting use.
[0005] This invention adopts the following technical solution: a short-circuit protection control system for a refrigerator, including a main control board, a display board, and a load. The main control board integrates an MCU. The main control board and the display board are connected by a wiring harness. The main control board and the load are also connected by a wiring harness. During refrigerator operation, the main control board starts communicating with the display board. The system uses program control to determine whether a low-voltage interrupt will be triggered at the moment of power-on. The system uses the load running time to determine whether the connection is normal. If the load running time is short and a reset is triggered, it is considered that an abnormal short circuit has occurred. At this time, the output function of the load is shut down by the program.
[0006] The present invention also adopts the following technical solution: a control method for a short-circuit protection control system applied to a refrigerator, comprising the following steps:
[0007] Step 1: When the software runs, it first initializes the controls, and then initializes all loads after power-on.
[0008] Step 2: The timer starts counting and checks whether the load short-circuit flag is set. If it is set, it is considered that the load is short-circuited, and short-circuit protection is required to shut down the short-circuited load.
[0009] Step 3: If the load short-circuit flag is not set, the load is operating normally at this time;
[0010] Step 4: The load starts running. If no low-voltage interrupt is triggered at this time, the process ends, that is, short-circuit protection is not checked, and the refrigerator runs normally. If a low-voltage interrupt is triggered at this time, the timer running time needs to be checked. If the timer running time is greater than Ts, it is determined that the load is running normally, the load short-circuit flag is not set, and the load runs normally according to the refrigerator control.
[0011] Step 5: When a low-voltage interrupt is triggered, if the timer duration is ≤ Ts, it is considered that the load is abnormal and cannot start normally. The load short-circuit flag is set. At this time, the value of the load short-circuit flag is remembered. If the load is abnormally short-circuited, the hardware protection will reset the MCU and the refrigerator will start running again.
[0012] Step 6: After load initialization, the load short-circuit flag is set, which means the load is considered to be short-circuited. At this time, short-circuit protection is required to shut down the short-circuited load.
[0013] Furthermore, Ts is the shortest time for a reset to occur after the short-circuit load is turned on.
[0014] Furthermore, a load short circuit refers to a short circuit that occurs the instant the load is turned on, which then briefly lowers the supply voltage, ultimately causing the MCU supply voltage to fall below the MCU's normal operating range, triggering a low-voltage interrupt and a reset in the control MCU.
[0015] Furthermore, a normal power outage of the refrigerator will also trigger a low-voltage interrupt. After the program recognizes that the load is not short-circuited, it controls the load to function normally, and the refrigerator also operates normally.
[0016] The present invention has the following beneficial effects:
[0017] (1). This invention can identify a short circuit in the refrigerator load through a program and then shut down the function to allow the refrigerator to operate normally.
[0018] (2). This invention can distinguish between a load abnormal short circuit and a refrigerator power outage and power restoration. Attached image description:
[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the short-circuit protection control system of the present invention applied to a refrigerator.
[0020] Figure 2 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating the short-circuit protection control system of the present invention applied to a refrigerator. Detailed implementation method:
[0021] The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0022] This invention relates to a short-circuit protection control system for a refrigerator, comprising a main control board, a display board, and a load. The main control board integrates an MCU, and is connected to both the display board and the load via wiring harnesses. During refrigerator operation, the main control board communicates with the display board. Because the main control board integrates an MCU, the system uses program control to determine whether a low-voltage interrupt will be triggered at power-on, identifying whether the interruption is caused by a normal power outage or a load short circuit. The system uses the load's running time to determine if the connection is normal. If the load's running time is short and a reset is triggered, an abnormal short circuit is considered to have occurred, and the program disables the load's output function.
[0023] The phenomenon of load short circuit is as follows: a short circuit occurs at the moment the load is turned on, which then briefly pulls down the supply voltage, eventually causing the MCU supply voltage to fall below the normal operating range of the MCU, causing the control MCU to trigger a low-voltage interrupt and generate a reset phenomenon.
[0024] The control method of the present invention applied to the short-circuit protection control system of a refrigerator is as follows:
[0025] Step 1: When the software runs, it first initializes the controls, and then initializes all loads after power-on.
[0026] Step 2: The timer starts counting and checks whether the load short-circuit flag is set. If it is set, it is considered that the load is short-circuited, and short-circuit protection is required to shut down the short-circuited load.
[0027] Step 3: If the load short-circuit flag is not set, the load is operating normally at this time;
[0028] Step 4: The load starts running. If no low-voltage interrupt is triggered at this time, the process ends, that is, the short-circuit protection is not checked, and the refrigerator runs normally. If a low-voltage interrupt is triggered at this time, the timer running time needs to be checked. If the timer running time is greater than Ts, it is determined that the load is running normally, the load short-circuit flag is not set, and the load can run normally according to the refrigerator control. Here, Ts is the shortest time to generate a reset after the short-circuit load is turned on.
[0029] Step 5: When a low-voltage interrupt is triggered, if the timer duration is ≤ Ts, it is considered that the load is abnormal and cannot start normally. The load short-circuit flag is set. At this time, the value of the load short-circuit flag is remembered. If the load is abnormally short-circuited, the hardware protection will reset the MCU and the refrigerator will start running again.
[0030] Step 6: After load initialization, the load short-circuit flag is set, which means the load is considered to be short-circuited. At this time, short-circuit protection is required to shut down the short-circuited load.
[0031] This invention allows the program to distinguish between a short circuit caused by an abnormal load and a MCU reset caused by a power outage and subsequent power restoration after the refrigerator is powered on. If the program identifies a short circuit, it controls the shutdown of that load function, allowing the refrigerator to operate normally. If the program identifies a normal power outage, no special action is taken.
[0032] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make several improvements without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these improvements should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.
Claims
1. A control method for a short-circuit protection control system applied to a refrigerator, the short-circuit protection control system for a refrigerator including a main control board, a display board, and a load, wherein the main control board integrates an MCU, the main control board and the display board are connected via a wiring harness, the main control board and the load are connected via a wiring harness, during refrigerator operation, the main control board starts communicating with the display board, and uses program control to determine whether a low-voltage interrupt will be triggered at the moment of power-on, and uses the load running time to determine whether the connection is normal, if the load running time is short and triggers a reset, it is considered that an abnormal short circuit has occurred, at which time the output function of the load is shut down by the program, characterized in that: The steps are as follows: Step 1: When the software runs, it first initializes the controls, and then initializes all loads after power-on. Step 2: The timer starts counting and checks whether the load short-circuit flag is set. If it is set, it is considered that the load is short-circuited, and short-circuit protection is required to shut down the short-circuited load. Step 3: If the load short-circuit flag is not set, the load is operating normally at this time; Step 4: The load starts running. If no low-voltage interrupt is triggered at this time, the process ends, that is, the short-circuit protection is not checked, and the refrigerator runs normally. If a low-voltage interrupt is triggered at this time, the timer running time needs to be checked. If the timer running time is greater than Ts, where Ts is the shortest time to generate a reset after the short-circuit load is turned on, it is determined that the load is running normally at this time, the load short-circuit flag is not set, and the load runs normally according to the refrigerator control. Step 5: When a low-voltage interrupt is triggered, if the timer time is ≤ Ts, where Ts is the shortest time to generate a reset after the short-circuited load is turned on, it is considered that the load is abnormal and cannot be turned on normally. The load short-circuit flag is set. At this time, the value of the load short-circuit flag is remembered. If the load is abnormally short-circuited, the hardware protection will reset the MCU and the refrigerator will start running again. Step 6: After load initialization, the load short-circuit flag is set, which means the load is considered to be short-circuited. At this time, short-circuit protection is required to shut down the short-circuited load.
2. The control method for a short-circuit protection control system applied to a refrigerator as described in claim 1, characterized in that: A load short circuit refers to a short circuit that occurs the instant the load is turned on, which briefly lowers the supply voltage, eventually causing the MCU supply voltage to fall below the MCU's normal operating range, triggering a low-voltage interrupt and a reset in the control MCU.
3. The control method for a short-circuit protection control system applied to a refrigerator as described in claim 2, characterized in that: A normal power outage in the refrigerator will also trigger a low-voltage interrupt. After the program recognizes that the load is not short-circuited, it controls the load to function normally, and the refrigerator also operates normally.