Apparatus and method to control a linear compressor

Abstract

An apparatus and method that controls the opening/closing of a discharge passage of refrigerant in a linear compressor. The apparatus of the present invention includes a discharge passage opening/closing control unit to control an opening/closing rate of the discharge passage through which high-pressure refrigerant generated by a compression operation of the linear compressor is discharged and moved. The method of the present invention includes sensing an operating state of the linear compressor, comparing the sensed information with a preset value and determining whether the operating state of the linear compressor is abnormal, and controlling the discharge passage of the linear compressor if the operating state of the linear compressor is abnormal.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.