Air Damper Units for Refrigerators and Control Methods Therefor

Abstract

An air damper unit for a refrigerator includes a printed circuit board, a sliding door movably mounted to the printed circuit board, a damper position sensor for detecting the position of the sliding door, and a driving mechanism. The sliding door regulates the air flow from a freezer compartment into a refrigerator compartment. A microcontroller is mounted on the printed circuit board for controlling the operation of the sliding door. The microcontroller controls the driving mechanism according to a signal corresponding to a position of the sliding door from the damper position sensor. The continuous feedback from the damper position sensor enables the microcontroller to more effectively control the operation of the sliding door and maintain the temperature setting of the refrigerator compartment.

1 . An air damper unit for a refrigerator, comprising:
 a printed circuit board defining at least one aperture therethrough;   a sliding door movably mounted to the printed circuit board adjacent to the aperture for regulating the opening of the aperture; and   a damper position sensor for detecting the position of the sliding door relative to the aperture.   
   
   
       2 . The air damper unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a microcontroller mounted on the printed circuit board. 
   
   
       3 . The air damper unit of  claim 2 , further comprising a driving mechanism for driving the sliding door. 
   
   
       4 . The air damper unit of  claim 2 , wherein the driving mechanism includes a bi-directional motor and a screw. 
   
   
       5 . The air damper unit of  claim 4 , wherein the sliding door is driven by the screw and the screw is driven by the bi-directional motor. 
   
   
       6 . The air damper unit of  claim 3 , wherein the microcontroller controls the driving mechanism according to the position of the sliding door. 
   
   
       7 . The air damper unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a defroster mounted on the printed circuit board. 
   
   
       8 . The air damper unit of  claim 7 , wherein the defroster includes a plurality of resistors adjacent to the sliding door. 
   
   
       9 . The air damper unit of  claim 1 , wherein the damper position sensor is selected from a group consisting of potentiometer and hall effect sensor. 
   
   
       10 . The air damper unit of  claim 1 , wherein the damper position sensor includes a variable resistor on the printed circuit board and a moving contact on the sliding door. 
   
   
       11 . The air damper unit of  claim 10 , wherein the variable resistor is provided along a periphery of the sliding door and the moving contact is provided at the periphery of the sliding door. 
   
   
       12 . The air damper unit of  claim 1 , wherein the damper position sensor includes a plurality of fixed contacts on the printed circuit board, and a moving contact on the sliding door. 
   
   
       13 . The air damper unit of  claim 1 , wherein the sliding door has a circular shape and is rotatably movable relative to the circuit board. 
   
   
       14 . The air damper unit of  claim 1 , wherein the sliding door has a rectangular shape and is movable in a linear direction relative to the circuit board. 
   
   
       15 . The air damper unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a knob mounted to the sliding door for manually moving the sliding door relative to the circuit board. 
   
   
       16 . The air damper unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a housing for receiving the printed circuit board and the sliding door therein, the housing having an aperture adjacent to the aperture of the printed circuit board. 
   
   
       17 . The air damper unit of  claim 16 , further comprising a fan mounted to the housing and disposed in the aperture of the housing. 
   
   
       18 . The air damper unit of  claim 16 , further comprising an air filter mounted on the housing for covering the aperture of the housing. 
   
   
       19 . An air damper control system for an air damper unit having a sliding door, comprising:
 a microcontroller; and   a damper position sensor operably connected to the microcontroller for detecting the position of the sliding door,   wherein the microcontroller controls the operation of the sliding door according to a signal corresponding to the position of the sliding door from the damper position sensor.   
   
   
       20 . The air damper control system of  claim 19 , further comprising a printed circuit board on which the microcontroller is disposed. 
   
   
       21 . The air damper control system of  claim 20 , wherein the damper position sensor includes at least one fixed contact on the printed circuit board and a moving contact on the sliding door. 
   
   
       22 . The air damper control system of  claim 21 , wherein the fixed contact is in the form of a variable resistor. 
   
   
       23 . The air damper control system of  claim 21 , further comprising a plurality of discrete fixed contacts. 
   
   
       24 . The air damper control system of  claim 20 , further comprising a temperature sensor on the printed circuit board. 
   
   
       25 . The air damper control system of  claim 19 , further comprising a driving mechanism for driving the sliding door. 
   
   
       26 . The air damper control system of  claim 25 , wherein the driving mechanism is controlled by the microcontroller. 
   
   
       27 . A method of operating an air damper unit, the air damper unit including a sliding door and a driving mechanism, the method comprising:
 detecting the position of the sliding door; and   operating the sliding door according to the position of the sliding door.   
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising generating a position signal corresponding to the position of the sliding door. 
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising using a microcontroller to control the operation of the sliding door according to the position signal. 
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising providing a continuous feedback of the position of the sliding door to a microcontroller. 
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising using a damper position sensor to provide a continuous feedback of the position of the sliding door.