Refrigerator and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention belongs to the field of refrigerators, and particularly provides a refrigerator and a control method thereof. The control method comprises the steps that the working accumulated time length of an air adjusting device of the refrigerator in the current liquid supplementing period is obtained and recorded as the first accumulated time length; if the first accumulated duration reaches a first time threshold value, whether a liquid supplementing container of the refrigerator needs liquid supplementing or not is judged; if liquid supplementing is needed, liquid supplementing prompt information is sent out; and if not, a liquid supplementing pump of the refrigerator is controlled to rotate for a preset duration. According to the refrigerator, when the liquid supplementing container needs liquid supplementing, the liquid supplementing prompt information can be sent out, a user is reminded to supplement liquid to the liquid supplementing container, and therefore the situation that the user forgets to supplement liquid to the liquid supplementing container is effectively avoided, and the air adjusting function of the refrigerator is ensured.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of refrigerators, and specifically provides a refrigerator and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Currently, some refrigerators are equipped with an atmosphere-controlled space and an atmosphere-controlled device, so that the atmosphere-controlled device can reduce or increase the oxygen content in the atmosphere-controlled space.

[0003] The existing gas conditioning device generally includes a container defining a reaction chamber, a cathode disposed at the open end of the reaction chamber, an anode disposed in the reaction chamber, and an electrolyte filled in the reaction chamber. The gas conditioning device contacts the air in the low oxygen space through the cathode, so that oxygen undergoes a reduction reaction at the cathode, namely: 2 +2H 2 O+4e - →4OH - . An oxidation reaction occurs at the anode, and oxygen is generated, namely: 4OH - →O 2 +2H 2 O+4e - .

[0004] During the operation of the gas conditioning device, the oxygen generated by the gas conditioning device will carry a small amount of electrolyte to escape, causing the electrolyte in the gas conditioning device to gradually decrease. In order to ensure the normal operation of the gas conditioning device, some refrigerators are also equipped with a liquid replenishment container and a liquid replenishment pump, so that the liquid (such as water or electrolyte) in the liquid replenishment container can be transported to the gas conditioning device through the liquid replenishment pump.

[0005] However, since the loss of water in the atmosphere-controlled device is small, the refilling container will be used for a long time after each refilling, which makes it easy for users to forget to refill the refilling container regularly. Moreover, the atmosphere-controlled device and the refilling container may leak during use, and it is difficult for users to find out after the atmosphere-controlled device and / or the refilling container leaks, which seriously affects the food safety in the refrigerator. Summary of the invention

[0006] One object of the present invention is to solve the problem that the atmosphere adjustment function of the existing refrigerator is affected because the user forgets to refill the liquid refilling container with water.

[0007] A further object of the present invention is to detect whether a liquid replenishing container is leaking.

[0008] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a refrigerator control method in a first aspect, comprising:

[0009] Obtaining the cumulative working time of the gas conditioning device of the refrigerator in the current liquid replenishment cycle, and recording it as the first cumulative working time;

[0010] If the first accumulated time reaches a first time threshold, determining whether the liquid replenishing container of the refrigerator needs to be replenished;

[0011] If fluid refilling is required, a fluid refilling reminder message will be issued;

[0012] If liquid replenishment is not required, the liquid replenishment pump of the refrigerator is controlled to rotate for a preset time.

[0013] Optionally, the step of obtaining the cumulative working time of the atmosphere conditioning device of the refrigerator in the current liquid replenishment cycle and recording it as the first cumulative working time includes:

[0014] Obtaining actual accumulated working time of the gas conditioning device at each power in the current liquid replenishment cycle;

[0015] Determine the respective equivalent accumulated durations T according to the powers corresponding to the respective actual accumulated durations;

[0016] The sum of all the actual accumulated time durations T is calculated to determine the first accumulated time duration that the gas conditioning device works in the current liquid replenishment cycle.

[0017] Optionally, the step of determining the respective equivalent cumulative durations T according to the powers corresponding to the respective actual cumulative durations includes:

[0018]

[0019] Wherein, k is the correction coefficient, p is the current power of the gas conditioning device, and p 0 is the maximum power of the gas conditioning device, and t is the actual cumulative time of the gas conditioning device at power p.

[0020] Optionally, the step of obtaining the cumulative working time of the atmosphere conditioning device of the refrigerator in the current liquid replenishment cycle and recording it as the first cumulative working time further includes:

[0021] Obtaining the number of times the gas conditioning device works at each power during the current liquid replenishment cycle;

[0022] Determine the total cooling time of the gas conditioning device in the current liquid replenishment cycle according to the working times at each power and a preset power-cooling time mapping table;

[0023] The sum of the total cooling time and all the equivalent cumulative durations T is calculated, and the calculation result is determined as the first cumulative duration.

[0024] Optionally, the step of determining whether the liquid replenishing container of the refrigerator needs liquid replenishment includes:

[0025] Determine whether the liquid level sensor of the liquid replenishment container is triggered, so as to determine that the liquid replenishment container needs liquid replenishment when it is triggered, and determine that the liquid replenishment container does not need liquid replenishment when it is not triggered; wherein the liquid level sensor is used to detect the lowest liquid level of the liquid replenishment container.

[0026] Optionally, the control method further includes:

[0027] If the liquid level sensor is triggered, the cumulative working time of the liquid replenishing pump in the current liquid storage cycle of the liquid replenishing container is obtained and recorded as the second cumulative time;

[0028] If the second accumulated time is less than or equal to a second time threshold, a fault message indicating that the liquid replenishing container is leaking is issued.

[0029] Optionally, the step of determining whether the liquid replenishing container of the refrigerator needs liquid replenishment includes:

[0030] Obtaining the cumulative working time of the liquid infusion pump from the last time the liquid level sensor of the liquid infusion container was triggered to the current moment, and recording it as the third cumulative duration;

[0031] It is determined whether the third accumulated time has reached a third time threshold, so as to determine that the fluid replenishment container needs fluid replenishment when the third accumulated time has reached the third time threshold, and determine that the fluid replenishment container does not need fluid replenishment when the third accumulated time has not reached the third time threshold.

[0032] Optionally, the control method further includes:

[0033] Obtaining the workload of the fluid infusion pump;

[0034] When the workload is less than or equal to the preset workload and the third accumulated time does not reach the third time threshold, fault information indicating that the liquid replenishing container is leaking is issued.

[0035] Optionally, the control method further includes:

[0036] Obtaining the working current of the gas conditioning device;

[0037] When the working current is less than or equal to the preset current and the first accumulated time does not reach the first time threshold, fault information indicating that the gas conditioning device is leaking is issued.

[0038] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a refrigerator, comprising a controller, wherein the controller comprises a processor and a memory, wherein a machine executable program is stored in the memory, and when the processor executes the machine executable program, the control method described in any one of the first aspects can be implemented.

[0039] Based on the foregoing description, those skilled in the art will be able to understand that, in the aforementioned technical solution of the present invention, the cumulative working time of the refrigerator's atmosphere control device in the current refilling cycle is obtained and recorded as the first cumulative time; and when the first cumulative time reaches the first time threshold, it is determined whether the refrigerator's refilling container needs refilling; and when refilling is needed, a refilling reminder message is issued to remind the user to refill the refilling container, thereby effectively avoiding the user from forgetting to refill the refilling container and ensuring the atmosphere control function of the refrigerator.

[0040] Furthermore, by obtaining the actual cumulative working time of the gas-conditioning device at each power in the current replenishment cycle, and then determining the corresponding equivalent cumulative time T according to the power corresponding to each actual cumulative time, and then calculating the sum of all actual cumulative time T, the first cumulative working time of the gas-conditioning device in the current replenishment cycle is determined, thereby ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the first cumulative time and avoiding leakage of the gas-conditioning device due to insufficient liquid and excessive replenishment.

[0041] Furthermore, by obtaining the number of times the gas-conditioning device works at each power in the current refilling cycle; then determining the total cooling time of the gas-conditioning device in the current refilling cycle based on the number of times it works at each power and a preset power-cooling time mapping table; then calculating the sum of the total cooling time and all equivalent cumulative durations T, and determining the calculation result as the first cumulative duration, the accuracy of detecting the amount of electrolyte in the gas-conditioning device is improved.

[0042] Furthermore, by determining whether the liquid level sensor of the liquid replenishment container is triggered, it is determined that the liquid replenishment container needs liquid replenishment when it is triggered, and it is determined that the liquid replenishment container does not need liquid replenishment when it is not triggered. Then, when the liquid level sensor is triggered, the cumulative time of the liquid replenishment pump working in the current liquid storage cycle of the liquid replenishment container is obtained and recorded as the second cumulative time. Then, when the second cumulative time is less than or equal to the second time threshold, a fault message indicating that the liquid replenishment container is leaking is issued, thereby reminding the user to check whether the liquid replenishment container is leaking, thereby improving the safety of the refrigerator when in use.

[0043] Other beneficial effects of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can more clearly understand the improved purposes, features and advantages of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, some embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the same reference numerals indicate the same or similar components or parts in different drawings; the drawings of the present invention are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0045] In the attached figure:

[0046] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the effect of a refrigerator provided by the present invention;

[0047] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the effect of the atmosphere conditioning part of the refrigerator in some embodiments of the present invention;

[0048] Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of a controller in some embodiments of the present invention;

[0049] Figure 4 is a flow chart of the main steps of the control method in some embodiments of the present invention;

[0050] Figure 5 is a flow chart of the steps of determining whether a fluid replenishment container needs fluid replenishment in an example of the present invention;

[0051] Figure 6 It is the power-cooling time mapping table in the present invention;

[0052] Figure 7 is a partial step flow chart of a control method in some embodiments of the present invention;

[0053] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the effect of the air conditioning part of the refrigerator in some other embodiments of the present invention;

[0054] Fig. 9 is a partial step flow chart of the control method in some embodiments of the present invention;

[0055] Fig.10 It is a partial step flow chart of the control method in other embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described below are only some embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments of the present invention, and these embodiments are intended to explain the technical principles of the present invention, rather than to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Based on the embodiments provided by the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work should still fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0057] It should be noted that in the description of the present invention, the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inside", "outside" and the like indicating directions or positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, which are only for the convenience of description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0058] Furthermore, it should be noted that in the description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0059] In addition, it should be noted that in the description of the present invention, the terms "cold" and "heat" are two descriptions of the same physical state. That is, the higher the "cold" of a certain target object (such as an evaporator, air, condenser, etc.), the lower the "heat" it has, and the lower the "cold" it has, the higher the "heat" it has. A certain target object will release "heat" while absorbing "cold", and will absorb "heat" while releasing "cold". A certain target object stores "cold" or "heat" to keep the current temperature of the target object. "Refrigeration" and "heat absorption" are two descriptions of the same physical phenomenon, that is, a certain target object (such as an evaporator) will absorb heat while cooling.

[0060] Finally, it should be noted that in the description of the present invention, each functional module can be a physical module composed of multiple structures, components or electronic components, or a virtual module composed of multiple programs; each functional module can be a module that exists independently of each other, or a module divided according to the function of an integral module. Those skilled in the art should understand that, under the premise of being able to implement the technical solution described in the present invention, no matter how the composition, implementation and positional relationship of each functional module change, they will not deviate from the technical principle of the present invention, and therefore should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0061] like Figure 1 As shown, in the present invention, the refrigerator includes a cabinet 100, and the cabinet 100 defines an atmosphere-conditioned space 101. The oxygen content in the atmosphere-conditioned space 101 can be adjusted to increase or decrease the oxygen content.

[0062] like Figure 2 As shown, in some embodiments of the present invention, the refrigerator further includes an atmosphere control device 200, a liquid replenishing container 300 and a liquid replenishing pump 400. The liquid replenishing pump 400 is used to transport the liquid in the liquid replenishing container 300 to the atmosphere control device 200, and can also be used to transport the electrolyte in the atmosphere control device 200 to the liquid replenishing container 300.

[0063] In some embodiments of the present invention, the liquid in the liquid replenishing container 300 may be water or an electrolyte.

[0064] like Figure 2 As shown, in some embodiments of the present invention, the gas conditioning device 200 includes a housing 210, a cathode membrane group 220 and an anode plate 230. An opening 211 is provided on one side wall of the housing 210, and the cathode membrane group 220 is installed at the opening 211 of the housing 210 and is used to shield the opening 211 to prevent the electrolyte in the housing 210 from leaking from the opening 211. The anode plate 230 is arranged in the housing 210.

[0065] In some embodiments of the present invention, the cathode membrane group 220 is used to consume oxygen through an electrochemical reaction, and the anode plate 230 is used to generate oxygen through an electrochemical reaction.

[0066] Among them, the cathode membrane group 220 may include a catalytic layer, a first waterproof and breathable layer, a conductive layer, and a second waterproof and breathable layer arranged in sequence. The catalytic layer may use a precious metal or rare metal catalyst, such as metal platinum, metal gold, metal silver, metal manganese, or metal rubidium. The first waterproof and breathable layer and the second waterproof and breathable layer may be waterproof and breathable membranes, so that the electrolyte cannot seep out of the housing 210, while air can pass through the first waterproof and breathable layer and the second waterproof and breathable layer into the housing 210. The conductive layer may be made into a corrosion-resistant metal current collecting net, such as metal nickel, metal titanium, etc., so that it not only has better conductivity, corrosion resistance, and supporting strength.

[0067] The anode plate 230 may also be provided with a plurality of through holes to allow the electrolyte and air to pass through.

[0068] Continue reading Figure 2 The shell 210 is provided with an exhaust port 212 to discharge the oxygen generated by the anode plate 230 .

[0069] Further, although not shown in the figure, in the present invention, the housing 210 can be connected to the air-conditioning space 101 through its opening 211, so that the air-conditioning device 200 consumes oxygen in the air-conditioning space 101, thereby reducing the oxygen content in the air-conditioning space 101. The housing 210 can also be connected to the air-conditioning space 101 through its exhaust port 212, so that the air-conditioning device 200 provides oxygen to the air-conditioning space 101, thereby increasing the oxygen content in the air-conditioning space 101.

[0070] Continue reading Figure 2 The liquid replenishing container 300 may further include a liquid level sensor 310 to detect the liquid level of the electrolyte in the liquid replenishing container 300 through the liquid level sensor 310 .

[0071] like Figure 3 As shown, in some embodiments of the present invention, the refrigerator also includes a controller 500, which includes a memory 510 and a processor 520, and the memory 510 stores a machine executable program 511. When the machine executable program 511 is executed by the processor 520, it implements the control method described in any of the following embodiments.

[0072] The memory 510 may include a memory and a non-volatile memory 510 (non-volatile memory), and provide execution instructions and data to the processor 520. Exemplarily, the memory may be a high-speed random access memory 510 (Random-Access Memory, RAM), and the non-volatile memory may be at least one disk storage.

[0073] In this embodiment, the processor 520 is an integrated circuit chip that has the ability to process signals. The processor 520 can be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor 520 (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, microprocessors, and any other conventional processors.

[0074] Refer to the following Figure 4 The control method of the refrigerator in some embodiments of the present invention is described in detail.

[0075] like Figure 4As shown, in some embodiments of the present invention, the control method of the refrigerator includes:

[0076] Step S110, obtaining the cumulative working time of the refrigerator's atmosphere conditioning device 200 in the current liquid replenishing cycle, and recording it as the first cumulative working time.

[0077] The rehydration cycle is the period between two adjacent rehydration operations of the gas conditioning device 200. Since the frequency of operation of the gas conditioning device 200 is related to the frequency of opening / closing the gas conditioning space 101, the duration of each rehydration cycle is generally different. The current rehydration cycle is the rehydration cycle at the current moment.

[0078] The accumulated duration may be the actual working duration of the gas conditioning device 200, especially when the gas conditioning device 200 operates at a constant power each time. The accumulated duration may also be the equivalent working duration of the gas conditioning device 200, especially when the gas conditioning device 200 can operate at different powers. The latter is taken as an example to further illustrate step S110.

[0079] like Figure 5 As shown, if the accumulated duration is the equivalent working duration of the gas conditioning device 200, step S110 further includes:

[0080] Step S111, obtaining the actual accumulated working time of the gas conditioning device 200 at each power in the current liquid replenishment cycle.

[0081] exist Figure 5 In the example shown, the gas conditioning device 200 determines the current operating power each time it works, and records the actual operating time at the current power. Then, all the actual operating times corresponding to each power are summed to determine the total actual accumulated time corresponding to each power.

[0082] Step S112, according to the power corresponding to each actual cumulative duration, determine the corresponding equivalent cumulative duration T. The specific calculation method is as follows:

[0083]

[0084] Wherein, k is the correction coefficient, p is the current power of the gas conditioning device 200, and p 0 is the maximum power of the gas conditioning device 200, and t is the actual cumulative time of the gas conditioning device 200 at the power p.

[0085] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that by using the above formula to determine the cumulative time T when the gas conditioning device 200 is running at each power, the accuracy of the judgment in step S110 can be improved. The reason is that the greater the operating power of the gas conditioning device 200, the higher the temperature of the electrolyte, and the easier it is to evaporate; the smaller the operating power of the gas conditioning device 200, the lower the temperature of the electrolyte, and the less likely it is to evaporate.

[0086] Step S113, calculating the sum of all actual accumulated time durations T to determine the first accumulated time duration of the gas outlet regulating device 200 working in the current liquid replenishing cycle.

[0087] Specifically, the sum of all actual accumulated durations T may be directly taken as the final first accumulated duration; and steps S114 to S116 may be continued to be performed to obtain a more accurate first accumulated duration.

[0088] Step S114, obtaining the working times of the gas conditioning device 200 at each power in the current liquid replenishing cycle.

[0089] Step S115, according to the working times at each power and the preset power-cooling time mapping table (such as Figure 6 As shown), determine the total cooling time of the gas conditioning device 200 in the current liquid replenishment cycle.

[0090] exist Figure 6 In the power-cooling time mapping table shown in , the percentage in the power column is the percentage of the maximum power of the gas conditioning device 200. The cooling time can be the actual cooling time corresponding to each power, or it can be an equivalent time set manually.

[0091] As described above, the greater the operating power of the gas conditioning device 200, the higher the temperature of the electrolyte. Based on this, the greater the operating power of the gas conditioning device 200, the longer it takes for the electrolyte to cool to the temperature of the environment where the gas conditioning device 200 is located after stopping operation.

[0092] Step S116, calculating the sum of the total cooling time and all equivalent cumulative durations T, and determining the calculation result as the first cumulative duration.

[0093] Specifically, in the current rehydration cycle, the cooling time of each operation of the gas conditioning device 200 is obtained and summed to determine the total cooling time. The total cooling time is then summed with the equivalent cumulative time T calculated in step S113 to calculate the final first cumulative time.

[0094] Step S120: If the first accumulated time reaches the first time threshold, it is determined whether the liquid replenishing container 300 of the refrigerator needs to be replenished.

[0095] In some embodiments of the present invention, when the first accumulated working time of the gas conditioning device 200 reaches the first time threshold, it indicates that the electrolyte in the gas conditioning device 200 has dropped to the lowest liquid level and needs to be replenished, otherwise the gas conditioning function of the gas conditioning device 200 will be affected.

[0096] Based on this, the first time threshold may be any feasible duration, such as 3 days, 7 days, 10 days, 1 month, etc.

[0097] In step S120, “determining whether the liquid replenishing container 300 of the refrigerator needs liquid replenishment” may specifically be the following example 1 or example 2:

[0098] As a first example, the liquid level sensor 310 may be used to detect whether the liquid in the liquid replenishing container 300 has dropped to the lowest liquid level.

[0099] As a second example, when the liquid replenishing pump 400 has worked for a certain period of time (for example, any feasible period of time such as 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2.5 minutes, or 3 minutes), it can be determined that the electrolyte in the liquid replenishing container 300 has dropped to a minimum liquid level.

[0100] The following text will combine Figures 7 to 9 Some further embodiments and some embodiments described provide further explanations on step S120.

[0101] Step S130: If fluid replenishment is required, a fluid replenishment prompt message is issued.

[0102] In the present invention, the refill reminder information and / or fault information can be sent in any feasible way, such as being presented in the form of text and / or graphics on a display screen on the refrigerator, being sent in the form of voice, being sent to the user's corresponding terminal device in the form of a signal, etc.

[0103] Exemplarily, a display screen is provided on the front end surface of the gas conditioning device 200 and / or the liquid replenishing container 300, and the liquid replenishing prompt information and fault information are presented on the display screen in the form of text and / or graphics.

[0104] Step S140: If liquid replenishment is not required, control the liquid replenishment pump 400 of the refrigerator to rotate for a preset time.

[0105] In the present invention, when the liquid replenishing pump 400 rotates for a preset time, the amount of liquid supplied to the gas regulating device 200 is just enough to raise the liquid level of the electrolyte in the gas regulating device 200 from the lowest liquid level to the set highest liquid level.

[0106] Among them, the highest liquid level can be set by the manufacturer's technicians when the refrigerator leaves the factory.

[0107] For this purpose, the preset time length may be any feasible time length, such as 30S, 65S, 130S, 400S, etc. The preset time length may be determined by experiments, observing and counting the operation time of the refill pump 400 when the liquid level of the electrolyte in the gas-conditioning device 200 rises from the lowest liquid level to the highest liquid level; it may also be determined according to the rotation speed and displacement of the refill pump 400 and the volume of the gas-conditioning device 200.

[0108] Based on the foregoing description, those skilled in the art will understand that, in some embodiments of the present invention, the cumulative working time of the refrigerator's atmosphere control device 200 in the current refilling cycle is obtained and recorded as the first cumulative time; and when the first cumulative time reaches the first time threshold, it is determined whether the refrigerator's refilling container 300 needs refilling; and when refilling is needed, a refilling reminder message is issued to remind the user to refill the refilling container 300, thereby effectively avoiding the user from forgetting to refill the refilling container 300 and ensuring the atmosphere control function of the refrigerator.

[0109] Refer to the following Figure 7 The control methods in some further embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

[0110] It should be noted that, for the convenience of description and to enable those skilled in the art to quickly understand the technical solution of the present invention, only the differences between some further embodiments and some of the previous embodiments are described in detail below. For the similarities between some further embodiments and some of the previous embodiments, those skilled in the art can refer to the description of some of the previous embodiments.

[0111] like Figure 7 As shown, in some further embodiments of the present invention, "determining whether the liquid replenishing container 300 of the refrigerator needs liquid replenishment" may include step S210: determining whether the liquid level sensor 310 of the liquid replenishing container 300 is triggered, so as to determine that the liquid replenishing container 300 needs liquid replenishment when triggered, and determine that the liquid replenishing container 300 does not need liquid replenishment when not triggered.

[0112] Among them, the liquid level sensor 310 is as follows Figure 2 As shown, it is arranged at the bottom of the liquid replenishing container 300 to detect the lowest liquid level of the liquid replenishing container 300 .

[0113] Continue reading Figure 7 After step S210, the refrigerator control method further includes:

[0114] Step S220: If the liquid level sensor 310 is triggered, the cumulative working time of the liquid replenishing pump 400 in the current liquid storage cycle of the liquid replenishing container 300 is obtained and recorded as the second cumulative time. At the same time, the liquid replenishing pump 400 can be controlled to stop working.

[0115] The liquid storage cycle is the period between two adjacent liquid replenishments (replenishment by the user) of the liquid replenishment container 300, and the current liquid storage cycle is the liquid storage cycle at the current moment.

[0116] The second accumulated time is the actual rotation time of the infusion pump 400.

[0117] Step S230: If the second accumulated time is less than or equal to the second time threshold, a fault message indicating that the liquid replenishing container 300 is leaking is issued.

[0118] For the manner of issuing the fault information indicating that the liquid replenishing container 300 is leaking, please refer to the above description of step S130.

[0119] In step S230, if the second accumulated time is less than or equal to the second time threshold, it means that the liquid extracted from the liquid refilling container 300 by the liquid refilling pump 400 is less than the amount of liquid in the liquid refilling container 300 each time. The reason is that the liquid refilling container 300 has leaked, resulting in a reduction in the liquid in the liquid refilling container 300.

[0120] The second time threshold may be any feasible time length, such as 1 min, 2 min, 5 min, 10 min, etc. The second time threshold may be determined by experiment, when the refilling of the refilling container 300 is completed, observing the time length experienced by the refilling pump 400 when the liquid level sensor 310 is just triggered. Then the time length is used as the second time threshold, or the result obtained by subtracting M seconds from the time length is used as the second time threshold. M is a value selected from 1 to 10.

[0121] Furthermore, although not shown in the figure, in the present invention, a water replenishment reset function key is provided on the refrigerator. After the user completes water replenishment, the user operates the water replenishment reset function key to reset the action time of the liquid replenishment pump 400 pumping water from the liquid replenishment container 300.

[0122] Among them, the water replenishment reset function key can be a physical button set on the refrigerator, or it can be a virtual function key displayed on the display screen.

[0123] Furthermore, a liquid level scale line may be provided on the liquid replenishing container 300 so that the user can determine whether the liquid replenishing container 300 is fully replenished with water by observing the liquid level scale line.

[0124] Based on the foregoing description, those skilled in the art will understand that, in some further embodiments of the present invention, the liquid level sensor 310 disposed on the liquid replenishing container 300 can detect whether the liquid replenishing container 300 is leaking and alert the user.

[0125] Refer to the following Figure 8 and Fig. 9 The control methods in some other embodiments of the present invention are described in detail.

[0126] It should be noted that, for the convenience of description and to enable those skilled in the art to quickly understand the technical solution of the present invention, only the differences between some embodiments and some of the previous embodiments are described in detail below. For the similarities between some embodiments and some of the previous embodiments, those skilled in the art can refer to the description of some of the previous embodiments.

[0127] like Figure 8 As shown, in some further embodiments of the present invention, different from the embodiments described above, the liquid level sensor 310 is disposed on the top of the liquid replenishing container 300 and is used to detect the highest liquid level of the liquid replenishing container 300 .

[0128] like Fig. 9 As shown, in some other embodiments of the present invention, “determining whether the liquid replenishing container 300 of the refrigerator needs liquid replenishment” may include step S310 and step S320, which are specifically as follows:

[0129] Step S310, obtaining the cumulative working time of the liquid replenishing pump 400 from the last time the liquid level sensor 310 of the liquid replenishing container 300 was triggered to the current moment, and recording it as the third cumulative time.

[0130] Step S320, determining whether the third accumulated time has reached a third time threshold, so as to determine that the liquid replenishing container 300 needs liquid replenishment when the third accumulated time has reached the third time threshold, and determining that the liquid replenishing container 300 does not need liquid replenishment when the third accumulated time has not reached the third time threshold.

[0131] In step S320, when the fluid replenishment container 300 is filled with liquid, that is, when the liquid level sensor 310 is triggered, the fluid replenishment pump 400 runs for a cumulative third time threshold, which is just enough to evacuate the liquid in the fluid replenishment container 300, or just enough to reduce the liquid in the fluid replenishment container 300 to the lowest liquid level.

[0132] For this purpose, the third time threshold may be any feasible time length, such as 1 min, 2 min, 5 min, 10 min, etc. The third time threshold may be determined through experiments, by observing the time length during which the liquid infusion pump 400 evacuates the liquid in the liquid infusion container 300 (or the liquid in the liquid infusion container 300 drops to the lowest liquid level) when the liquid infusion container 300 is filled, that is, when the liquid level sensor 310 is triggered. This time length is then used as the third time threshold.

[0133] Continue reading Figure 7 After step S320, the refrigerator control method further includes:

[0134] Step S330, obtaining the workload of the infusion pump 400.

[0135] Specifically, the workload of the infusion pump 400 may be determined by acquiring the operating voltage and / or the operating current of the infusion pump 400 .

[0136] In addition, when the working voltage of the infusion pump 400 is constant, the working current of the infusion pump 400 may be obtained instead of obtaining the workload of the infusion pump 400 .

[0137] Step S340: When the workload is less than or equal to the preset workload and the third accumulated time does not reach the third time threshold, a fault message indicating that the liquid replenishing container 300 is leaking is issued.

[0138] For the manner of issuing the fault information indicating that the liquid replenishing container 300 is leaking, please refer to the above description of step S130.

[0139] In step S340 , if the workload is less than or equal to the preset workload, it means that the liquid infusion pump 400 cannot continue to pump liquid out of the liquid infusion container 300 , and starts to pump out liquid, that is, starts to run idle.

[0140] For this purpose, the preset load may be any feasible value such as 1 / 10, 1 / 5, 1 / 3, etc. of the working load when the infusion pump 400 works normally.

[0141] Further, when the third accumulated time does not reach the third time threshold, the workload is less than or equal to the preset load, indicating that the consumption of the electrolyte in the liquid replenishing container 300 is faster than the normal consumption rate, and there is a leakage.

[0142] Refer to the following Fig.10 The control method of the refrigerator in other embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

[0143] like Fig.10 As shown, compared with any of the embodiments described above, in some other embodiments of the present invention, the control method of the refrigerator further includes:

[0144] Step S410, obtaining the working current of the gas conditioning device 200.

[0145] Specifically, when the gas conditioning device 200 is working, the working current flowing through the gas conditioning device 200 is obtained through the current detection device or the circuit board.

[0146] Step S420: When the working current is less than or equal to the preset current and the first accumulated time does not reach the first time threshold, a fault message indicating that the gas conditioning device 200 is leaking is issued.

[0147] For the manner of issuing the fault information indicating the leakage of the gas conditioning device 200, please refer to the description of step S130 above.

[0148] In step S420, the working current is less than or equal to the preset current, indicating that the electrolyte in the gas conditioning device 200 drops below the anode plate 230, and the anode plate 230 and the cathode membrane group 220 cannot be connected through the electrolyte. At this time, the current is 0 or very small.

[0149] For this purpose, the preset current may be 0, or 1 / 10 of the working current when the gas conditioning device 200 works normally, or any other feasible value.

[0150] Furthermore, when the first accumulated time does not reach the first time threshold, the working current is less than or equal to the preset current, indicating that the consumption of the electrolyte in the gas conditioning device 200 is faster than the normal consumption rate, and there is a leakage.

[0151] It can be seen that other embodiments of the present invention can also detect whether the gas conditioning device 200 has leaked liquid and promptly remind the user.

[0152] So far, the technical solution of the present invention has been described in combination with the above multiple embodiments, but it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments. Without departing from the technical principles of the present invention, those skilled in the art can split and combine the technical solutions in the above embodiments, and can also make equivalent changes or replacements to the relevant technical features. Any changes, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the technical concept and / or technical principles of the present invention will fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a refrigerator, comprising: Obtaining the cumulative working time of the gas conditioning device of the refrigerator in the current liquid replenishment cycle, and recording it as the first cumulative working time; If the first accumulated time reaches a first time threshold, determining whether the liquid replenishing container of the refrigerator needs to be replenished; If fluid refilling is needed, a fluid refilling reminder message will be issued; If liquid replenishment is not required, the liquid replenishment pump of the refrigerator is controlled to rotate for a preset time.

2. The control method according to claim 1, wherein: The step of obtaining the cumulative working time of the air conditioning device of the refrigerator in the current liquid replenishment cycle and recording it as the first cumulative working time includes: Obtaining actual accumulated working time of the gas conditioning device at each power in the current liquid replenishment cycle; Determine the respective equivalent accumulated durations T according to the powers corresponding to the respective actual accumulated durations; The sum of all the actual accumulated time durations T is calculated to determine the first accumulated time duration that the gas conditioning device works in the current liquid replenishment cycle.

3. The control method according to claim 2, wherein: The step of determining the respective equivalent cumulative durations T according to the powers corresponding to the respective actual cumulative durations comprises: T = kpt p0 Wherein, k is the correction coefficient, p is the current power of the gas conditioning device, p0 is the maximum power of the gas conditioning device, and t is the actual cumulative time of the gas conditioning device at power p.

4. The control method according to claim 2, wherein: The step of obtaining the cumulative working time of the air conditioning device of the refrigerator in the current liquid replenishment cycle and recording it as the first cumulative working time also includes: Obtaining the number of times the gas conditioning device works at each power during the current liquid replenishment cycle; Determine the total cooling time of the gas conditioning device in the current liquid replenishment cycle according to the working times at each power and a preset power-cooling time mapping table; The sum of the total cooling time and all the equivalent cumulative durations T is calculated, and the calculation result is determined as the first cumulative duration.

5. The control method according to claim 1, wherein: The step of determining whether the liquid replenishing container of the refrigerator needs to be replenished includes: Determine whether the liquid level sensor of the liquid replenishment container is triggered, so as to determine that the liquid replenishment container needs liquid replenishment when it is triggered, and determine that the liquid replenishment container does not need liquid replenishment when it is not triggered; wherein the liquid level sensor is used to detect the lowest liquid level of the liquid replenishment container.

6. The control method according to claim 5, further comprising: If the liquid level sensor is triggered, the cumulative working time of the liquid replenishing pump in the current liquid storage cycle of the liquid replenishing container is obtained and recorded as the second cumulative time; If the second accumulated time is less than or equal to a second time threshold, a fault message indicating that the liquid replenishing container is leaking is issued.

7. The control method according to claim 1, wherein: The step of determining whether the liquid replenishing container of the refrigerator needs to be replenished includes: Obtaining the cumulative working time of the liquid infusion pump from the last time the liquid level sensor of the liquid infusion container was triggered to the current moment, and recording it as the third cumulative duration; It is determined whether the third accumulated time has reached a third time threshold, so as to determine that the fluid replenishment container needs fluid replenishment when the third accumulated time has reached the third time threshold, and determine that the fluid replenishment container does not need fluid replenishment when the third accumulated time has not reached the third time threshold.

8. The control method according to claim 7, further comprising: Obtaining the workload of the fluid infusion pump; When the workload is less than or equal to the preset workload and the third accumulated time does not reach the third time threshold, fault information indicating that the liquid replenishing container is leaking is issued.

9. The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: Obtaining the working current of the gas conditioning device; When the working current is less than or equal to the preset current and the first accumulated time does not reach the first time threshold, fault information indicating that the gas conditioning device is leaking is issued.

10. A refrigerator, comprising a controller, wherein the controller comprises a processor and a memory, wherein a machine executable program is stored in the memory, and when the processor executes the machine executable program, the control method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 can be implemented.

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