Patent ID: 8127563

Claim:
A linear-compressor control system comprising an electronic circuit controlling a linear compressor through an electric motor, the linear compressor comprising a cylinder and a piston; the piston being arranged inside the cylinder and being driven by the electric motor and moving axially within the cylinder along a piston stroke between a top dead end and a bottom dead end, a compression chamber being arranged close to the top dead end and the piston compressing a fluid within the compression chamber, wherein: the electronic circuit controls the electric motor intermittently through an on-time (t L ) and an off-time (t D ), throughout a time of operation of the linear compressor, the linear compressor being associated to a cooling closed circuit that comprises an evaporator and a condenser, a compressed fluid within the compression chamber being discharged into the cooling closed circuit, generating an evaporation pressure (P E ) inside the evaporator and a condensation pressure (P C ) inside the condenser, the evaporation pressure (P E ) and the condensation pressure (P C ) being kept constant throughout the time of operation of the linear compressor through an average value of on-time (t L ) of compressor capacity throughout the time of operation of the linear compressor, the electronic circuit actuating the electric motor and keeping the piston stroke constant, generating a constant compression capacity while the electronic circuit controls the electric motor for operation during the on-time (t L ), the system being configured so that the electronic circuit controls the on-time (t L ) and the off-time (t D ) to keep the compression capacity substantially constant throughout the time of operation of the linear compressor, and the off-time (t D ) being shorter than a time necessary for the evaporation pressure (P E ) and the condensation pressure (Pc) to match each other after the linear compressor has been turned off.