Patent ID: 7237395

Claim:
A method for regulating refrigerant flow in a sealed refrigerant system comprising a fresh food path to a fresh food evaporator in a fresh food compartment and a freezer path to a freezer evaporator in a freezer compartment wherein the fresh food path and the freezer path are in flow communication with a compressor, said method comprising: providing a three-way valve in flow communication with the compressor for regulating refrigerant flow through the fresh food path and the freezer path; directing the refrigerant flow by moving the three-way valve to one operational position of a plurality of operational positions, the plurality of operational positions comprising a first operational position for directing the refrigerant flow from the fresh food path to the freezer path and a second operational position for directing the refrigerant flow from the freezer path to the fresh food path, with the three-way valve in the first operational position, a fresh food fan coupled to the fresh food evaporator continues to operate for a first time period and a freezer fan coupled to the freezer evaporator is activated after a second time period, and with the three-way valve in the second operational position, the freezer fan continues to operate for a third time period and the fresh food fan is activated after a fourth time period.