Patent ID: 7459868

Claim:
An apparatus for controlling an operation of a reciprocating compressor which determines a stroke estimate value corresponding to a point when a discharge valve of the reciprocating compressor is opened as a stroke reference value, and controls a voltage applied to the reciprocating compressor according to determined stroke reference value, the apparatus comprising: a stroke calculator configured to calculate a stroke estimate value based on a value of a voltage applied to a motor of the reciprocating compressor and a value of a current applied to the motor of the reciprocating compressor; an inflection point detector configured to detect an inflection point based on a phase difference between a stroke of the reciprocating compressor and the current applied to the motor based on stroke estimate values and current values during one period and to output an inflection point detect signal; a stroke reference value corrector configured to determine a stroke estimate value corresponding to a point when the inflection point is generated as a stroke reference value based on the inflection point detect signal; and a stroke controller configured to control the voltage applied to the motor according to the determined stroke reference value.