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US 8,984,902 B2Granted
System to control external condensation on a refrigerator
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsBrent Alden Junge, Eric Paez, Joseph Thomas Waugh, Kristin Marie Weirich
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cooling system for an appliance includes an evaporator stage, a compressor stage coupled to the evaporator stage and a condenser stage coupled to the compressor stage. The condenser stage includes a condenser and a condenser cooling fan for cooling the condenser, and a condenser loop coupled between the condenser stage and the evaporator stage. A humidity sensor is configured to detect a humidity level in an area of the cooling system and a controller is configured to cycle an operating state of the condenser cooling fan from ON to a low speed or OFF prior to an end of a cooling cycle.
Claims20
A cooling system for an appliance, comprising:
- an evaporator stage;
- a compressor stage coupled to the evaporator stage;
- a condenser stage coupled to the compressor stage, the condenser stage including a condenser and a condenser cooling fan for cooling the condenser;
- a condenser loop coupled between the condenser stage and the evaporator stage;
- a humidity sensor configured to detect a humidity level in an area of the cooling system;
- a controller configured to cycle an operating state of the condenser cooling fan from ON to a low speed or OFF at a pre-determined time prior to an end of a cooling cycle and increase a temperature of a surface of the appliance thermally coupled to the condenser loop to a pre-determined level prior to the end of the cooling cycle, wherein the temperature of the surface of the appliance remains substantially at a temperature near a dew point during the end of the cooling cycle;
- and
- a temperature sensor coupled to the controller and for monitoring a temperature of one or more of the evaporator stage, the condenser stage, the compressor stage and the surface of the appliance, the controller being configured to detect an over temperature condition based on the monitored temperature and automatically cycle the condenser cooling fan ON,
- wherein the controller is further configured to:
- determine a compressor run time for the compressor stage during the cooling cycle;
- determine the pre-determined time prior to the end of the cooling cycle to cycle the operating state of the condenser cooling fan from ON to the low speed or OFF using the compressor run time, the detected humidity level, and an ambient temperature;
- and
- if the compressor stage does not cycle off within a pre-determined time period after cycling the condenser cooling fan to the low speed or OFF, cycling the condenser cooling fan ON.
10 more elements
A refrigerator comprising:
- a cabinet defining a plurality of storage compartments;
- a cooling system configured to cool the storage compartments during a cooling cycle, the cooling system comprising a condenser and a condenser cooling fan;
- a controller, the controller being configured to control the condenser cooling fan by cycling the condenser cooling fan to a low speed or an OFF state at a pre-determined time prior to an end of the cooling cycle and increase a temperature of a surface of the refrigerator thermally coupled to a condenser loop of the cooling system to a pre-determined level prior to the end of the cooling cycle, wherein the temperature of the surface of the refrigerator remains substantially at a temperature near a dew point during the end of the cooling cycle;
- a temperature sensor coupled to the controller and for monitoring a temperature of one or more of the condenser and the surface of the refrigerator, the controller being configured to detect an over temperature condition based on the monitored temperature and automatically cycle the condenser cooling fan to an ON state;
- and
- a humidity sensor configured to detect a humidity level in an area of the cooling system,
- wherein the controller is further configured to:
- determine the pre-determined time prior to the end of the cooling cycle to cycle an operating state of the condenser cooling fan from the ON state to the low speed or the OFF state using the compressor run time, the detected humidity level, and an ambient temperature;
- and
- if the compressor stage does not cycle off within a pre-determined time period after cycling the condenser cooling fan to the low speed or the OFF state, cycling the condenser cooling to the ON state.
7 more elements
A method comprising:
- determining an ambient humidity level in an area of an appliance;
- controlling an operating cycle of a condenser cooling fan in a cooling system for the appliance during a cooling cycle by causing the condenser cooling fan to cycle to a low speed or OFF at a pre-determined time prior to an end of the cooling cycle when the ambient humidity level exceeds a pre-determined value;
- increasing a temperature of a surface of the appliance thermally coupled to a condenser loop of the cooling system to a pre-determined level prior to the end of the cooling cycle, wherein the temperature of the surface of the appliance remains substantially above or at a temperature near a dew point during the end of the cooling cycle;
- monitoring a temperature of the cooling system and the surface of the appliance, a controller being configured to detect an over temperature condition based on the monitored temperature;
- automatically cycling the condenser cooling fan ON when the over temperature condition is detected;
- determining a compressor run time for a compressor stage during the cooling cycle;
- determining the pre-determined time prior to the end of the cooling cycle to cycle the condenser cooling fan from ON to the low speed or OFF using the compressor run time, the ambient humidity level, and an ambient temperature;
- and
- if the compressor stage does not cycle off within a pre-determined time period after cycling the condenser cooling fan to the low speed or OFF, cycling the condenser cooling fan ON.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.