Temperature control method of refrigerator

Abstract

When a user manually sets a desired (target) temperature for a refrigerator chamber, a control mechanism automatically determines a range of target temperatures having upper and lower limits. Actuation and deactuation of the refrigeration cycle is controlled in response to a comparison of the chamber temperature with the upper and lower limits, respectively. When an outside temperature surrounding the refrigerator rises above a reference temperature, those upper and lower limits are automatically lowered. Also, the control mechanism compares the manually set temperature with a range of temperatures which the refrigerator is capable of achieving and automatically selects an achievable temperature if the manually selected temperature lies outside the achievable range. Moreover, a quick-freeze operation of the control mechanism enables a freezing chamber to be brought rapidly to a cold temperature. Furthermore, the temperature balance between freezing and refrigerating chambers of the refrigerator is controlled by an actuator-driven damper. Once a sensor signals that the damper has arrived at an open or closed position, the damper is continued to be driven for a predetermined time period to compensate for the possibility that the damper-arrival signal was produced prematurely.