System to control external condensation on a refrigerator

摘要

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.

主权项

1. 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; andif 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.